Chapter 1107: Father and Daughter at Odds

Of course, they did not accept Han people's things wholesale; for instance, they were quite dissatisfied with certain aspects of Han culture.

These minority groups each had their own cultural customs, picking some to accept and some to resist,

while what the Han people were best at was learning and integrating.

Learn the other's strengths, then find ways to make them give up their shortcomings.

Take the Daur people, for example: they respect the old and love the young, elders must lift their chopsticks first at meals; when young people see elders on the road, they must dismount and salute; when walking, elders must go in front…

And this strict etiquette was built on a foundation of patriarchal authority, and through such rituals the patriarchal order was reinforced.

Among the Daur, the division of labor between men and women was clear: men were responsible for farming, herding, and hunting — heavy labor; women were confined to a defined sphere of activity, handling housework, child-rearing, and courtyard planting, providing stable rear support for the men.

So within the Daur, women were explicitly placed in a subordinate position, required to observe the behavioral norms of elders and men — for instance, at meals, women not only had to serve dishes and ladle out rice, but also had to eat last.

But the Oroqen and Hezhen peoples, whose numbers were equally considerable, were comparatively more egalitarian, and closer to the culture of the Great Ming Han.

In both tribes, men and women participated in labor together, only the division of tasks differed, each doing what was within their ability, so women's status was not low.

Therefore, after Heilongjiang's rapid development, the people of these two tribes were the quickest to integrate into it; large numbers entered the workshops — men into the steel mills, women into the textile workshops.

They worked alongside Han women, and when they went home they taught their children to study hard, so that in the future they could go to Jingcheng to take the imperial examinations; if they could cultivate the Dao like the National Preceptor, both attaining the Great Dao and serving the country, that would be the best.

The Daur, however, looked at the women all over the streets with displeasure; some clansmen strictly kept the women of their households from contact with Han people, and even when hiring a textile Mr. for the clan, they refused a female Mr., yet they were unwilling to let a male Mr. teach the women of the clan, fearing he would lead the clan's women astray.

Unable to advance, unable to retreat, they simply refused to learn weaving, preferring to spend more money to buy cloth.

Pan Yun had brought Zhu Jianji here, first, to let him see how changes in productive forces affected relations of production;

second, to see the great fusion of peoples, and to let him think about how, in the future, he should act to ensure harmony and unity among the various peoples.

At this moment, they were sitting at a tea stall, watching a Daur father come running from afar, who swiftly rummaged in the haystack behind the tea stall and pulled out a filthy child of eleven or twelve.

The child wore a tattered leather jacket, and on her head a huge hat that nearly covered her entire face.

In the struggle the hat fell off, and only then did the onlookers see she was a girl.

The father dragged her along and began to scold her loudly, rattling off a torrent of words.

Zhu Jianji said uncertainly, "Teacher, is that Khitan?"

Pan Yun nodded: "It's one of the Khitan languages. The Daur are a descendant people of the Khitan; their language shares common ground with the Khitan taught at the Court of Imperial Entertainments."

Zhu Jianji only felt it sounded vaguely familiar, but could not understand a single word.

Pan Yun, seeing his bewildered look, couldn't help but smile. The Daur father dragged the little girl past behind her; without even turning her head, she reached out and seized the hand dragging the little girl.