Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 18, 2025
All the methods of torture which in the old days were associated with the Chinese are still in vogue, in many cases in an aggravated form. I have personally seen the tortures, and have listened to the stories of the victims, but it would not bear description in print. It must not, however, be understood that to be a Nou-su is to be a landlord. By no means.
The near kindred, on hearing of the death of a relative, take a fowl and strangle it; the shedding of its blood is not permissible. This fowl is cleaned and skewered, and the mourner then proceeds to the house where the deceased person is lying, and sticks this fowl at the head of the corpse as an offering. "Formerly the Nou-su burned their dead.
People who have lived in the district for many years do not agree, so that for a mere traveler the task of getting infallible data would be quite formidable. No tribe is more widely known than the Nou-su, with their innumerable tribal distinctions and hereditary peculiarities so perplexing to the inquirer into Far Western China ethnology.
For the most part, the Nou-su are not idolaters; no idols are in their houses.
To one who has traveled in this neighborhood for any length of time, it must be apparent that the unique method generally adopted by the Nou-su, that is, the landlord class, to get rich quickly is to kill off their next-door neighbor.
Among the Europeans who have suffered death at their hands, it is probable that in some way the cause was traceable to their own bearing towards the people either a total lack of knowledge of their language or an attitude which caused suspicion. Among the Nou-su, strong as this feudal life still is, the Chinese are fast gaining permanent influence.
The landlords prey upon their weaker brethren, and at last, with infinite sagacity, the Chinese Government steps in to stop the quarrels, confiscates the whole of the property, and thus reduces the Nou-su land to immediate control of Chinese authorities. "The Nou-su are, of course, entirely dependent upon the land for their living.
At the present time the refinements of Chinese civilization have been adopted by a large number of Nou-su, and the homes of the wealthier people are as well furnished as those of the middle-class Chinese of the district. The women of the households also spend much time making their own and their children's clothes.
The Miao or, at least, the Hua Miao, own no lands, and are body and soul in the tyrannic clutch of the tyrannic I-pien. Then, again, in the Nou-su tribe there are various hereditary distinctions enabling a man to claim caste advantage.
"The fear of disease lies heavily upon the Nou-su people, and their disregard of the most elementary sanitary laws makes them very liable to attacks of sickness. They understand almost nothing about medicine, and consequently resort to superstitious practices in order to ward off the evil influences.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking