Shui Shu custom

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Shuishu custom

Applicant: Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province

Item No.: 518

Project No.: Ⅹ - 70

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Guizhou Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province

Protection unit: Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (Institute of cultural relics management and protection of Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture)

Introduction to Shuishu custom:

Applicant: Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province

"Shui Shu" is a unique rudiment created by the ancestors of Shui nationality. Shui language calls it "Sui". It is a comprehensive record and reflection of folk knowledge and culture of Shui nationality, involving astronomy and calendar, primitive beliefs, ethics, production and life, etc. it is mainly spread in the southwest areas of Shui nationality.

The character symbol system of Shuishu is unique. There are not only a kind of Chinese character similar to Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, but also many hieroglyphic symbols, as well as pictorial characters with paragraph meaning. Because of its few words (only a few hundred words) and unique symbol system, the text can't express its meaning independently. Instead, it depends on Mr. Shuishu who has a teacher relationship, that is, the "worshippers" (all men) who can read and use Shuishu. According to the relevant items in Shuishu, combined with the oral content, the interpretation can be meaningful. Therefore, for thousands of years, Shuishu has been handed down by generations of Shuishu teachers through oral and hand copied forms. It is a combination of the ancient Shui Characters and oral and heart taught cultural heritage. Shuishu custom is the formation, development and inheritance of Shuishu, which constitutes the custom related to Shui People's life.

The inheritance of Shuishu custom has formed two parts of Shuishu: one is the handwritten copy compiled with the ancient characters of shuizu, and the other is the oral and psychological instruction of Shuishu, which is used to make up for a large number of important meanings, rituals and congratulatory speeches that cannot be recorded due to the imperfect development of characters. There are many kinds of water books, including reading books and application books. There are dozens of applied volumes, such as recitation volume, time volume, 28su volume, and more than ten recitation volumes, such as Zhengqi volume and Haizi volume.

Shuishu is known as the Encyclopedia of Shui nationality. The Shui People's funeral, sacrifice, marriage, construction, travel, divination and production are all based on the Shui book, and then strictly follow its restrictions, thus forming the Shui Book custom. The combination of Shuishu and Shuishu is an important prerequisite for inheriting the traditional culture of Shui nationality.