Recording the Xibe Family
1 min readAlthough the charming summer atmosphere was absent from the Ili Prairie in October, a unique refreshing feeling was in the air. We hurried to Chapchal Xibe Autonomous County to experience the customs of the Xibe ethnic group quickly.
Interior of a Xibe house, exhibited at Xinjiang Museum
Mother Xili as a sacred custom of the Xibe people is held only in an extended family and is usually not displayed to strangers. It is a sacred family ceremony. Mother Xili is the name of their original goddess, who blesses a growing family member. Xili in the Xibe language means continuation and mother means grandmother or a female forebear. Ordinarily, Mother Xili is gathered up and wrapped with paper, enshrined at the northwestern corner of the west room. On every eve of the New Year, Mother Xili will be untied and the rope will be pulled from the northwestern corner to the southeastern corner with its two ends tied to the rafters of the room. Family members display offerings, burn incense and kowtow. On February 2 in the lunar calendar, Mother Xili will be gathered up, wrapped and placed to its previous place. In the era without script Mother Xili was actually the pedigree of the Xibe people, a mark of the continuation of a family.
