The Mulam ethnic minority has a population of 159,328 (as of 1999), of which the majority live in Luocheng County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Others are scattered in neighboring counties.
The Mulam language is a member of the Zhuang-Dong Austronesian of the Chinese-Tibetan Phylum, but because of extensive contacts with the majority Hans and local Zhuangs, many Mulams speak one or both of these languages in addition to their own. The Mulams have no written language of their own, and the Chinese characters are commonly used for communication.
In their own language, Mulam means mother. Historical records trace the Mulam ethnic minority back to the period of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), when their society seems to have been entering the feudal stage. The Mulams lived in Luocheng city of present Guangxi Province and called themselves Lings or Jins, but the neighboring Zhuang people called them Bujins and the Hans called them Mulao. After liberation, following consultations of the ethnic minority, it was officially named the Mulam ethnic minority.
Their main occupation is agriculture, with paddy and corn as the main crops. The farming economy of the Mulams is comparatively advanced, and their farming techniques, crop varieties and tools are basically the same as those of their Han and Zhuang neighbors. Also well developed are sideline products, such as coal-mining industry, which has become one of their economic mainstay industries.
The main religion practiced now is Daoism. Some also follow Buddhism. They celebrate a festival almost every month, the most important of which is the Yifan Festival celebrated once every three years. At this celebration, pigs and sheep were slaughtered, dramas and lion and dragon dances are performed. The lunar New Year's Day is the Mulam's New Year, and the eighth day of the fourth lunar month is the Ox Birthday, when the oxen are given a rest and fed glutinous rice, and wine and meat are offered to the Ox God. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated.
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