page_title: Nakhi people
section_title: Customs
hierarchical_section_title: Nakhi people / Customs
caption_attribution_description: English: 2010-03-26
context_page_description: The Nakhi or Nashi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China.
  The Nashi are thought to have come originally from northwestern China, migrating south toward Tibetan populated regions, and usually inhabiting the most fertile river-side land, driving the other competing tribes farther up the hillsides onto less fertile land. The Nashi, along with Bai and Tibetans, traded over the dangerous overland trading links with Lhasa and India, on the so-called Tea and Horse Caravan routes. They were brought to the attention of the Western world by two men: the American botanist Joseph Rock and the Russian traveller and writer Peter Goullart, both of whom lived in Lijiang and travelled throughout the area during the early 20th century. Peter Goullart's book Forgotten Kingdom describes the life and beliefs of the Nashi and neighbouring peoples, while Joseph Rock's legacy includes diaries, maps, and photographs of the region, many of which were published in National Geographic. The two were friends and left the region together when the Communist troops came in.
context_section_description: Cremation has been a tradition since ancient times, although burial was adopted in most Nashi areas during the late Qing Dynasty and remains the preferred method of disposing of the dead today. Religious scriptures are chanted at the funeral ceremony to expiate the sins of the dead.
  Among the Nashi in Yongning County in Yunnan and the Yanyuan County in Sichuan, there still exist remnants of the Mosuo matrilineal family structure, which was vigorously but unsuccessfully eradicated during the Communist era.
  As the heads of the family, a woman leaves her inheritance to her descendants either from the mother, or through her sisters and their offspring.
  In Nashi society, women do most of the household and farm work, and while they keep to the kitchen when guests are present, they are essential to the household and are therefore influential in family decisions.
  In 2005, Kuang Jianren, a famous Chinese film script writer produced "Snow Bracelet", a film based on the life of (Naxi) Nashi ethnic minorities in Yunnan.
  A few Nashi men carry on the ancient Chinese tradition of hunting with falcons. This practice is rarely found in other parts of China today.
caption: Another woman in traditional Nashi dress.
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