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The Place In China Where The Women Lead

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There's a pristine² lake in southwest China. And the women who live there run that society. It's home to one of the world's only matrilineal societies and, also, a popular tourist destination. Tourism has helped bring money to a very poor region. But it's also eroded³ their traditional family structures. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has the story.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in foreign language).

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁴: On the banks of Lugu Lake, a barn dance is the main nightly entertainment. Locals of the Mosuo ethnic⁵ group put on traditional costumes and sing and dance around a fire for Chinese and foreign tourists.

One of the singers is 34-year-old Nazhu Zhuoma. Most of her family's income comes from tourism. Every family in the village gets a cut of dance-ticket sales. She also rents out an inn on the lake for out-of-town businessmen to run. Here's how she says her family divvies up the work.

NAZHU ZHUOMA: (Through interpreter) My mom feeds the pigs and chickens. I take care of relations with the businessmen and paperwork for the inn, such as permits and contracts.

KUHN: Her mom is the honorary head of the household. But Nazhu herself manages the family's money. And she decides how many kids to have.

ZHUOMA: (Through interpreter) I don't think I ever discussed whether or not to have children with my husband. It seems he didn't really have much to do with it.

KUHN: She and her husband, Zhaba Songding, did manage to have two kids. He takes care of them while she works. But he doesn't live with her. He spends the nights with his wife and the days with his mom. It's called a walking marriage. And the dudes do the walking. Before he got his wife's family's permission to marry her, Zhaba admits he didn't get much sleep.

ZHABA SONGDING: (Through interpreter) I had to sneak⁶ into her home after her family had gone to sleep around midnight or 1 a.m. and leave at around 5 or 6 a.m. before they woke up.

KUHN: In traditional Mosuo families, brothers and sisters live their whole lives together in the same house. They live with their mothers and their mothers' relatives. Everyone shares the family's belongings⁷ equally, as well as responsibility for raising their sisters' kids.

The kids take their mother's surname. Thanks to this arrangement, the Mosuo say, their society has no widows or orphans⁸, no war or crime. But they also admit the system was a way to survive extreme poverty and isolation⁹.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHAIN)

KUHN: In the morning, mostly Chinese tourists pile onto rowboats to tour the lake. Many arrive via a new airport and roads. While many Mosuo people want the tourists' business, others are getting fed up with the increase in traffic, noise and garbage. Tour guide Geze Duoji adds that many Chinese tourists see the Mosuo and their matrilineal society as primitive¹⁰ and weird¹¹.

GEZE DUOJI: (Through interpreter) Many people say, you're so backward. Now that you've met advanced people like us, why do you still practice these walking marriages? It makes me furious.

KUHN: Even worse, he says, some male tourists think that they can take liberties with Mosuo women.

DUOJI: (Through interpreter) So we have to beat them up. After that, they behave better.

KUHN: Geze says that with more money, the Mosuo increasingly find they don't need large matrilineal families to survive. He estimates that around a quarter of the roughly 40,000 Mosuo people have abandoned their traditional family structure. Nazhu Zhuoma says that the prospect¹² of freedom from family pressures once tempted¹³ her to leave her mother's home.

ZHUOMA: (Through interpreter) But because I'm an only daughter, I know I must inherit the family line. I mustn't shirk my responsibility to my family.

KUHN: Tour guide Geze Duoji notes that the provincial¹⁴ government has banned the building of new hotels on Lugu Lake in an apparent attempt to preserve the environment and Mosuo culture. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Lugu Lake, Yunnan province.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

3 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

7 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

8 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

9 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

10 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

11 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

12 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

13 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

14 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。