Maonan people

The Maonan people (; Maonan: Anan, literally "local people") are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are a total of 124,092 Maonan as of 2010, mostly living in northern Guangxi and southern Guizhou in southern China.

The Maonan people's autonyms are ʔai¹ na:n⁶ (a Maonan person), kjɔŋ⁵ na:n⁶ (the Maonan people). Their language is called va⁶ na:n⁶ (Lu 2008:33).

Language

Society

More than 80% of the Maonan share the same surname: Tan (). Maonan with the surname Tan believe that they are descended from the old inhabitants of the province of Hunan that migrated to Guangxi and married Maonan women. Other common surnames found in this ethnic group are: Lu (卢/盧), Liu (刘/劉), Shi (石), Qin (覃), Wei (韦/韋) and Yuan (袁).

The towns of the Maonan do not surpass more than 100 dwellings. Their towns are organized by clan. Their dwellings are very similar to those of the Zhuang; they are usually made up of two floors and constructed out of planks and clay. The upper floor is used as the living quarters while the lower one serves as a granary and stable.

Traditionally, the marriages were arranged by the parents when the future newlyweds are still children. Traditionally when a Maonan woman became a widow, the brother of her late husband took her as his wife.

During the funeral service, the children of the deceased had to "buy" water of a river to be able to wash the corpse. Before proceeding to the burial, the blood of a chicken was poured on the land to purify it and to bless the spirit of the dead person.

Cuisine

Maonan cuisine includes many pickled dishes, of which the most famous ones are known as the sa:m¹ səm³ ta⁵ ma:u⁶na:n⁶ (three-sour-middle-Maonan) "The Three Maonan Sour Dishes" (Lu 2008:47).