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 Luguhu Lake is located at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan, 2,685 meters in altitude. The area of lake surface is 52 square kilometers.
I went to there in 2004 first time and then, what I more cared for is its beautiful view. This time, when I visited it second time last week, I paid more attention to its human cultures.
Last Sunday, July 8, 2007, after flying for 2 hours and be in a bus for about 6.5 hours, we arrived in Lugu Lake in a rain.
Even though the weather was not good enough, we still kept our schedule and visited a Musuo family and to learn something about this ancient and mysterious nation...
Mosuo People have a population of 50,000. They are famous for their unique customs and cultures:
First of all, Mosuo nation is the last living matriarchal society in the world and it is still keeping the ancient tradition of the maternal society. In their world, women have the highest right as the highest rulers. Every family has an eldest woman as their highest leader to master whole of the biggest things of economy and life...
Secondly, instead of getting marry, their girls and boys keep the traditional of "Zou Hun -- Walking Marriage or Visiting Marriage", that means that a girl and a boy can be lovers and have their baby together, but, they never really get marry. As soon as a girl and a boy fall in love each other, they can have a data in the girl's room and live together in the nights freely. Then, the boy must leave from the girl's home in the morning and not even to eat there. Their babies will be raised by their uncles -- the brothers of the girl's and the boy has no the responsibility to raise their own babies...
 Every evening, the brothers leave the clan house and the lovers enter; every morning, the lovers leave and the brothers come back. This is the typical matriarchal visiting marriage, which still exists among the Mosuo today. A Mosuo man has his rights and duties in the house of his mother, not in the house of his lover, where he is only a guest.
Lovers can end their relationship at any time; a woman may signal her change of heart by simply no longer opening the door.
Thirdly, Mosuo people's religion is Naturism. The Gamu Mountain is their Goddess Mountain. In August "Turn-Mountain Festival", the Mosuo people will come together, climbing the Gamu Mountain to show their respects. After dying Mosuo people usually perform cremate. They believe that human has the soul, it has to be freed from the dead body and becoming the "Skirt Soul" to the Heaven. They also believe that a child has no soul yet, so if a child died, the body has to be buried...
Even though I had experienced a very hard traveling time from Shenzhen to Lugu Lake, then to Lijiang by airplane and by bus for about 15 hours, on the very bad mountain road, made me threw up seriously, however, I did feel good for I had learned so many things about the mysterious nation.
For helping you to learn something more about Mosuo, I have found some data for you. You can hit the links below to learn them:
Mosuo People's Customs No. 1
Mosuo People's Customs No. 2
Mosuo People's Customs No.3
 If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com. You are welcome to publish your opinions in Forum For Friends as well.
Shirley Zhang
Written and Edited on Sun, July 16, 2007
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