Marymasa Village

　　The Mali Masa village is a characteristic ethnic group settlement in Tacheng Town, Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The following is an introduction from the aspects of settlement distribution, cultural customs, language and writing, and tourism development:

　　Settlement Distribution

　　The Mali Masa people mainly reside in Tacheng Town, Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. As of 2020, the population was approximately 2,000. According to a 2022 field survey, this group is concentrated in Gaogu, Haini Natural Village of Haini Administrative Village, and Guanliluo, Xin Village of Kona Administrative Village in Tacheng Town.

　　Cultural Customs

　　Religious Customs: The beliefs of the Mali Masa people in Ruke Village are in a state of fusion, with the coexistence of multiple religions being prominent. Primitive religion, Dongba religion, and Tibetan Buddhism are all believed in. In the local people's religious life, they exist as a complex whole and cannot be completely separated into three unrelated parts. Some villagers cannot even distinguish the boundaries between the three, and in their world of belief, the concepts of "primitive religion," "Dongba religion," and "Tibetan Buddhism" are unfamiliar; only concrete entities of faith such as "Dongba," "Living Buddha," and "Mountain God" exist.

　　Traditional Marriage Customs: Marriage generally goes through several steps: courtship, proposal, setting a date, wedding, and returning home. During courtship, Mali Masa men and women date, and their parents are generally unaware. When proposing, the matchmaker is usually someone eloquent from the family, typically hired by the man's family to go to the woman's family, bringing gifts such as wine, tea, and sugar. The woman's parents mainly consider factors such as whether the couple's birth charts are compatible, whether their ages are similar, the man's family circumstances, and his health. If they approve, they offer the matchmaker a toast; otherwise, they do not. Usually, the matchmaker needs to visit the woman's family about three times before they agree. The wedding usually lasts two days. On the first day, the man's family sends some betrothal gifts to the woman's family, and on the second day, the bride is brought home.

　　Family System: Monogamy is practiced, lineage is patrilineal, and property is inherited by males. Generally, families consist of two or three generations living together, a typical patriarchal extended family. The male head of the household makes the major decisions for the family, and the wife, as his capable assistant, also holds a certain amount of authority in the family, and can even manage all household affairs if her husband is not capable. However, women are restricted from participating in social activities, working outside the home, or engaging in business. They cannot slaughter poultry and livestock, do farm work such as plowing and sowing, eat at the table when guests are present, or take a leading role in dances and other entertainment activities in the village. If a family has several sons, they generally separate after marriage. When and how they separate is decided by the elders; often, the eldest son and several older sons move out to establish new homes, while the youngest son remains in the ancestral home with his parents. When separating, the parents' retirement land is usually reserved. After the parents' death, the retirement land can be distributed according to a prior agreement or the opinion of the family elders. However, if the mother brought private land from her natal family when she married, it can only be inherited by her daughter; if there is no daughter, her natal family can reclaim it. After the death of his wife, a husband can remarry. Widows with children can only take in a son-in-law; those without children can remarry, but when remarrying, they can only take their personal belongings and cannot take any property from their former husband's family. There is a tradition of respecting the elderly in the family, and children have the obligation to support their parents. Those who fail to show filial piety will face strong social condemnation.

　　Language and Writing

　　Mali Masa Language: In the long-term interaction with surrounding Tibetan, Lisu, Naxi, and other ethnic groups, the Mali Masa people gradually absorbed many words from Naxi, Tibetan, Lisu, and Chinese languages, innovating and transforming them in daily life, eventually blending them into the unique Mali Masa language of today.

　　Mali Masa Script: This is an ancient ethnic script used by the Naxi people in Mali Masa, mainly distributed in Tacheng Township, Weixi County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. This script belongs to the logographic writing system, mainly using pictographs and ideograms as the main methods of character formation. No phonetic characters or seal carvings have been found. Professor Wang Yuanlu of East China Normal University, through a series of papers such as "A Study of the Origin and Structure of Mali Masa Script," systematically demonstrates that its script attributes are a variant of the Naxi script and reveals the characteristics of a small number of characters influenced by Chinese characters and Tibetan script. The Mali Masa script is an ethnic script used only by about 100 Naxi residents in Tacheng Township, Weixi County, Yunnan Province. According to research in 2023, this script is still actively used, but there is no modern seal carving art application.

　　Tourism Development

　　In recent years, the Weixi County government has allocated special funds for the new rural construction of the "Mali Masa people." With the establishment of the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, "Watching the Shenchuan Reba, observing the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys, and appreciating the Masa customs" has become a resounding slogan for Tacheng Town to attract tourists, and tourism and leisure facilities such as the Masa Scenic Area and Masa Villa have also emerged.