Night marriage is a kind of an exclusive and traditional custom among national minority in Yunnan province. Especially in lijiang Nakhi autonomous region which is the matriarchal clan society.

Not all people including Chinese have no much knowledge of minority’s night marriage. How do they start their night marriage?

I have been told by the local that if a man is supposed to try night marriage in lugu lake and he fall in love with a young lady at the first sight. He must buckle three times in that lady’s palm whom he loved. The successful night marriage is depend on lady’s reaction in which way she buckled his palm three times back which means she agreed with your night marriage. The lady will hang a color ribbon or some other stuffs on her roof or window represents she will date tonight or no disturbing. During creeping on lady’s room at night , the man have to be cautious of which room he should walk in. for example, if you went in a wrong room like the lady’s grandmother room, her grandmother will not let you go. Men have no responsibility to undertake if womenfolk are pregnant. However, he can take a look his kids if he wanted. Womenfolk took a series of lovers throughout their lives, and the children of these “walking marriages” remain in their mothers’ homes under a matriarch’s supervision. So there is a proverb: lijiang is the women’s world, men’s paradise. Nakhi people advocate fat as beauty. As far as I saw, the local civilians indeed are black and thin because of its temperatures and altitudes.

There is an another weird phenomenon about the definition of love in nakhi minority region. But its rarely pure and sincere love like those brave young lovers. Love too deeply, but out of objective reasons and they cannot live together. If one is disheartened to suicide for love, their Parents won’t blame him/her or be heart-broken ,instead, they will cheer for their children’s brave actions. I have watched the love show performed by the ordinary people. these are precious and unique national cultural and their customs of legacy of their forefather.

nakhi custume