Bouyei ethnic group's badge

Apart from the blood connection with the ethnic heritage, there is another way to select totem, such as reliance. The nomadic tribe and hunters are used to living with horse, nearly all their activities rely on it. In the Daur ethnic group, people call horse ”Wen Gu” and regard it as the God of its tribe, women are forbidden to riding with it, and it can go anywhere and bite anything it like, even the farmland.

As a matter of fact, the word ‘Totem,’ which originated in an Indian language in South America, is a foreign word and was translated according to its pronunciation. Though it’s impossible to find the word in the Chinese ancient books, historical recordings and the admiration to totems are abundant in the books. However, nowadays totem has changed from the ancient badge symbolizing a group’s relatives, spirits and Gods into an advertisement propagating activities or an adornment decorating houses or cars.

By Jia Jia

Editor: Liu Fang