Mosuo Legends

The Mosuo are a matriarchal society mostly residing in Sichuan and Yunnan, China. I liked their legend of creation a lot, so I made a translation of it.

Original texts: 【芭纳木】摩梭民间故事：先祖路依若, 【芭纳木】摩梭民间故事：人犬换寿.

Warnings for typical legend illogicality and absurdness! In addition, nearly all of them are orally passed down and inconsistencies may appear.

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A long, long time ago, the ancestor of the Mosuo people Luyiruo and his little brother lived a peaceful life of farming. They didn't know that a disaster would soon come.

The brothers were farming as usual when a crow circled above their heads, cawing. Luyiruo's little brother was heartless; he grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it at the crow, thinking that its cawing meant bad luck. Luyiruo, however, was very caring. He didn't chase the crow away, but instead asked it what it wanted to say.

The crow told them, "a flood is coming, one that will wipe out all life on land. You need to be prepared. Slaughter two sheep, make sacks from their skins, tie them to a tree, and hide inside. That's the only way you can survive."

The crow instructed the little brother to sew his sack with a thick needle and thin thread, and to tie it to the trunk of the tree; while it instructed Luyiruo to sew his with a thin needle and thick thread, and to tie it to the tip of the tree.

The brothers did as the crow told them. The flood came. It drowned over the little brother's sack first, and the water leaked inside; he drowned soon after, paying for his heartless actions. Luyiruo's waterproof sack floated above the water; he survived because of his kindness. After a long time, the flood ceased, and Luyiruo got out of his sheep skin sack. When he landed on the ground, the vast plains were devoid of life. He was the only one left.

A lonely life was miserable. Luyiruo prayed to gods all the time, praying for a partner who could sing and dance with him. So the Sky God sent down the God of Life, Abado. Abado came with a rhododendron branch, carved it into a little person and gave it to Luyiruo, saying, "bury this in the soil. Seven years later, it will grow into a partner who can sing and dance with you." Rhododendrons are sacred trees, and this is why the Mosuo use them in rituals. Luyiruo heard "seven years," knelt down and begged it to be faster, or he would die of loneliness. Abado agreed, and changed it to seven months — but not a minute less, because all good things need time.

Luyiruo buried the little wooden figure into the soil and waited around it every day. On the seventh day, he couldn't wait any longer, and dug the figure out to see how it was growing. The figure could move its toes and chin now, but it was far from a real human. Luyiruo got mad. "You will never actually turn into someone who could sing and dance with me!" With that, he threw it far away.

Luyiruo's actions had enraged Abado, so he couldn't rely on them anymore. He had to seek new options. He decided that he would find someone from the sky. With great effort, this brave human being arrived at the Sky Kingdom. He reached a well, and, being so tired, sat down to have a drink. Just then, the Eldest Sky Daughter came to get water, and ran into him. Her eyes were vertical, and she was brilliantly smart. The Eldest Sky Daughter asked him where he came from and what he wanted to do. He answered honestly. The Sky Daughter was so happy, because she always thought that the ground was better than the sky, where everything was really boring. She saw her opportunity to go live on the land, and agreed enthusiastically to help Luyiruo out.

The Eldest Sky Daughter knew that her father would not let Luyiruo have it easy, so she went back first and stole the ring on her father's thumb and had Luyiruo put it on.

The Sky God got the message that someone wanted to marry one of his daughters. He thought that this person must be brave, and decided to test him. He called the man forth, and set a tiger on him. The tiger saw one of the Sky God's belongings on Luyiruo, and backed down. The Sky God then let the leopard out, who also backed down. The Sky God set all of the most vicious animals on Luyiruo, but they all scattered away. The Sky God realized that Luyiruo was no ordinary man.

The second day, the Sky God said to Luyiruo, "so you want to marry one of my daughters to sing and dance with you? That's okay, but you have to pass all my tests first. Go cut down all the trees on the mountain!" Luyiruo went to the mountain, but he only cut down three trees before collapsing. The Eldest Sky Daughter came to his aid. She told him, "start from the bottom, and slice one mark into each tree. Finally, just cut down the tree at the top." Luyiruo did as she said. When the topmost tree fell, all the other trees fell one by one.

The Sky God then ordered him to burn down the mountain so crops can be planted. Luyiruo spent a lot of time lighting just three fires. When he was complaining about how hard it was, the Eldest Sky Daughter came to his aid again. "It's not hard," she said, "pile up the wood first, and light up the pile at the bottom." Luyiruo did as she said. When the bottommost fire was lit, the fire burned all the way to the top. Soon, the entire mountain was cleared out.

Then, the Sky God ordered him to plant buckwheat. He gave him three sheng of buckwheat, and told him to grow thirty-three dan from it. The mountain was so big, how could he plant all of those seeds and harvest thirty-three dan? Luyiruo was stuck again. The Sky Daughter appeared again and taught him a spell. Luyiruo chanted the spell while scattering the seeds, and soon all the seeds were planted. The buckwheat was ready for harvest. Luyiruo took all thirty-three dan to the Sky God, but he insisted that a little bit was missing. The Eldest Sky Daughter told him that the Sky God sent a pigeon and ate a little bit. He had to kill the pigeon to get it back. She gave him a bow and some arrows from the Sky Kingdom. Luyiruo was worried that he would miss. He stood near the Sky Daughter's loom and hesitated to shoot. The Sky Daughter panicked and threw the shuttle his way, hitting his arm and letting the arrow loose. It hit the pigeon. Luyiruo got the remaining buckwheat from inside the pigeon's belly.

The Sky God was difficult. He set up more tests for Luyiruo. This time, he had to get some tiger milk. Who dared get near the vicious tiger? Luyiruo was troubled, but he still decided to carry on. In a shrub, he saw a weasel with cubs, and got some weasel milk to fool the Sky God. The Sky God poured the milk in front of some farm animals. No other animal reacted, but all the chicken ran away. Now the Sky God knew Luyiruo was trying to fool him with weasel milk, and ordered him to go looking again.

This time, he met a wolf with cubs. He took back some wolf milk. The Sky God poured the milk in front of some farm animals. This time, no other animal reacted, but all the pigs ran away. Now the Sky God knew Luyiruo was trying to fool him with wolf milk, and ordered him to go looking again.

The third time, he met a leopard with cubs. He took back some leopard milk. The Sky God poured the milk in front of some farm animals. This time, no other animal reacted, but all the horses ran away. Now the Sky God knew Luyiruo was trying to fool him with leopard milk, and told him that if he couldn't get tiger milk next time, he would have to go home.

At this crucial moment, the Eldest Sky Daughter appeared again. She told him, "the tiger's nest is under the rocks at the mountaintop. When it's snowing, the mother will go out to hunt. You need to kill a tiger cub, wear its pelt, and play with the other cubs. Act like them as much as possible, and when the mother comes back, you can get tiger milk." She also gave him a pig's bladder to put the milk in. Luyiruo did as she said, and successfully brought back tiger milk. The Sky God poured the milk in front of some farm animals. This time, every animal ran away. Luyiruo's tests were finally complete, and he can now take a Sky Daughter home.

The Sky God turned his daughters into vicious animals and had them run towards Luyiruo. Whoever he could catch would be the one to sing and dance with him.

The Eldest Sky Daughter turned into a tiger and ran out. Luyiruo freaked out and failed to catch her. She helped him this whole way, but it ended like this; what a great pity. The Second Sky Daughter turned into a leopard and leapt out. Luyiruo was still scared, and failed to catch her. The Youngest Sky Daughter turned into a boa and flew at him. Luyiruo thought, this is my last chance, and closed his eyes, reaching out, grabbing hold of the boa's tail. The boa turned back into the Youngest Sky Daughter. Her eyes were horizontal like ours, because we're descended from her. People often said that if Luyiruo married the vertical-eyed Eldest, we would be a lot smarter, and could live life a lot easier. But it was the Sky's will that we shall struggle to live.

Just like that, Luyiruo found a partner and went back to the land to live. The Sky God gave many gifts to them, like grains, plants, and farm animals. Originally, the Sky God didn't give us the cat, but it snuck down and helped us catch mice, so we treat cats like gods too. The Sky God also didn't give us delicious oatmeal, but the Youngest Sky Daughter hid some in her pubes. This is why we don't use oatmeal in rituals.

Before they left, the Sky God reminded them, "no matter how much land you have, it will be rife with weeds if no one takes care of it; no matter how many animals you have, they will be hunted and die if no one guards them; no matter how big your house is, it will be destroyed by wind and rain if no one maintains it." Luyiruo learnt the words of his father-in-law by heart and returned to the land.

The couple planted crops and fed animals, living a life full of hope. The land was full of life.

The Eldest Sky Daughter was sad and jealous because she didn't fulfil her own wishes. She came down to the land to get revenge on her little sister and her husband. They had planted a large swathe of barley in front of their home. The Eldest Sky Daughter turned into a deer and ate all the barley. The Youngest knew it was her big sister's doing, and ordered Luyiruo to get out his bow and arrows and shoot the deer. Luyiruo didn't want to do so, and the Youngest did it herself. She tucked her dress onto her waist and ran outside with the bow. Luyiruo, not wanting to hurt the Eldest, snatched the bow and shot, purposefully only hitting a hoof. The deer ran away, leaving a trail of blood. Luyiruo chased after her. The Eldest lured Luyiruo far away, mountain after mountain, until they reached a spring. She revealed her true form, said farewell, and tricked Luyiruo into drinking the spring water, which made him fall into a deep sleep. Only then did the Eldest leave them be and return to the sky.

The Youngest was waiting for Luyiruo back home. She waited for years. There was a monkey on the mountain who wanted to marry the Youngest Sky Daughter. He saw his chance and came to her, saying he could help her find Luyiruo, but he didn't have shoes. She made him a pair of grass shoes, but he only took a few steps before it wore down and he returned. She made him another pair with iron. The monkey scrubbed it against a rock until it wore down too, and he returned again. The Youngest Sky Daughter was dejected, and simply decided to just marry the monkey. They had a lot of little monkeys.

Decades passed with Luyiruo sleeping by the spring. An autumn frost woke him. He drank some water from the spring, and saw in the reflection that his hair had gone gray. He walked home on a crotch, and seeing the monkey there, he got mad and killed the monkey. The little monkeys are the Youngest Sky Daughter's children, so he kept them. But he thought all the fur on the monkeys were ugly, so he boiled a pot of water and burned the fur off them. The little monkeys covered their heads and ran, so the fur on their heads, armpits, and pubic areas was untouched, which is why we grow fur on these places.

From now on, Luyiruo and the Youngest Sky Daughter lived together peacefully. They worked, sang, danced.

But there was a problem. Everyone was immortal; no one would die. Pretty soon, the land was overcrowded. The Sky God thought that all life should both start and end. He sent the God of Life, Abado, to assign an age to all life.

Abado came down to land again. They first gave all plants an age, and moved on to the animals. He secretly sent a dream to Luyiruo to listen close and claim a long age for humans. But he overslept.

Abado yelled, "a thousand!" The alert crane answered their call, so the crane got the longest age. Abado then yelled, "a hundred!" The aware duck answered their call, and got a hundred years, went away shaking its duck butt. Abado went on assigning ages while Luyiruo was still sleeping at home. When they reached sixty, the smart dog answered, and got sixty years. They got all the way to thirteen when Luyiruo snapped awake and hastily answered. This is how humans were doomed to die at thirteen because we liked sleeping too much. Luyiruo turned to walk home sadly.

Abado chased after him and told him, "why don't you talk to the dog? They're the closest animals to humans. Maybe you can trade!" Luyiruo thought, true. Ever since I came back with the Youngest Sky Daughter, the dog had followed loyally by my side. It guarded my home and animals, kept the elderly in company, and gave the young joy. Surely, it will agree? So he said goodbye to Abado, found the dog, and asked to trade ages with it. The dog thought, even though I spent a lot of effort getting these sixty years, I rely on humans a lot. It agreed, but under these three conditions: first, humans must never harm dogs; second, during holidays, after rituals, humans have to feed the dogs first before they can start; third, when dogs die, they have to be buried in the yard with a sack of bones. Luyiruo agreed to these conditions with gratitude. He thought about another animal equally loyal to humans — the cat, who snuck down from the sky to help humans, so he added cats to the same conditions.

From now on, humans can live to sixty years. This is also why the Mosuo hold their adulting ceremony at thirteen years old, because the new life that dogs gave us have started.

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You notice how the Second Sky Daughter only appeared once? The second child syndrome is truly a staple of humanity LOL.

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