Erche's Mother wanted
her to be a boy, but what she got was a little girl who continuely cried for three months straight. Ama is what Erche calls her mother. Girls are of more value for the Moso women, but they want to have boys because they herd the yaks and do all the farming.
Moso women live in the home their mother was raised in. They raise their children and get help from uncle instead of the child's father.
Erche's Ama leaves her mother's home and meets Zhemi who is Erche's Father. When Erche's Grandmother dies her Ama is very sad because she chose to leave and was distance from her mother and she regrets that decision once her mother has passed on. When someone passes away in their culture no one is allowed to bath for 49 days. No one under 13 or pregnant is allowed to attend the (burning) funeral.
Erche's Ama leaves her mother's home and meets Zhemi who is Erche's Father. When Erche's Grandmother dies her Ama is very sad because she chose to leave and was distance from her mother and she regrets that decision once her mother has passed on. When someone passes away in their culture no one is allowed to bath for 49 days. No one under 13 or pregnant is allowed to attend the (burning) funeral.
Erche speaks about the Han people who come into her village and try to pressure communism onto her people. The Red Guards as they are called, are a group who carry red banners and sing songs through out the village and are pro communism. There is also mention of the Yi tribe. This tribe raided her village and would kidnap little Moso children and make them slaves.
Erche was so poor that she had never worn shoes. She tells a story of her Father Zhemi bringing her a gift of red shoes and how meaningful that was for her and she treasured those shoes until she burnt the bottoms of them and had to go back to be shoe less once again. When Echre was about eight years old her mother sent her to leave in the mountains with her uncle who needed her to help him farm, because after the death of his wife he refused to ever find love with anyone else. It was rough on the farm and Erche was so desperate for warmth that she would sit underneath the yaks and let them urinate on her, because their stream was very hot and would actually leave blisters on her legs. The 10th year of the revolution brought on a lot of change for the small Moso village. The Lamas books had been burned and there were no longer anymore festivals and even the traditional clothing style had changed. Moso women did not believe in marriage, because love to them is like the seasons it comes and goes. With the revolution however people were actually getting married and Erche's bother went to live with his wives family.
When women in the village turn 13 they have a skit ceremony which symbolizes them becoming a woman. They are showered with clothing and jewelry. It is tradition to burn the old clothes as a symbol of becoming a new woman. When Erche becomes a woman she was able to leave her uncle on the mountain and return home to her Ama to begin her new fate.
It is very important to the Moso women to have many children and they begin starting their families at a very young age. The tradition of the Moso culture would be to stay in the village in the mother's home and raise a large family that is made of both men and women so that everyone can work and produce what is needed to survive.
Around 13 years old Erche is asked to join a Moso singing group that is consist of her and two other Moso girls. The girls travel to Yanyuan to be in a singing contest. The city is completely different and strange for Erche. She lives with Mr. Li and his family and becomes a successful singer who travels all over china and even goes to places like Beijing. She begins to earn a good amount of money from singing and is recognized as a star in her homeland.
Erche did not want to be a star in her small village, she wanted fame all around the world. She continues to visit her family but she always travels back to the city to continue perusing her singing career. She had many love interest but she did not let love or any man come in between her and her dream of forever being a successful Moso singer.
It is very important to the Moso women to have many children and they begin starting their families at a very young age. The tradition of the Moso culture would be to stay in the village in the mother's home and raise a large family that is made of both men and women so that everyone can work and produce what is needed to survive.
Around 13 years old Erche is asked to join a Moso singing group that is consist of her and two other Moso girls. The girls travel to Yanyuan to be in a singing contest. The city is completely different and strange for Erche. She lives with Mr. Li and his family and becomes a successful singer who travels all over china and even goes to places like Beijing. She begins to earn a good amount of money from singing and is recognized as a star in her homeland.
Erche did not want to be a star in her small village, she wanted fame all around the world. She continues to visit her family but she always travels back to the city to continue perusing her singing career. She had many love interest but she did not let love or any man come in between her and her dream of forever being a successful Moso singer.
Around the age of sixteen she leaves her homeland again and hurts her Ama's feelings.
Ama thought that Erche was going to leave and never return again. However after going back to Mr. Luo's home were she attended a conservatory school for five years she does return to her Ama's home.
Erche's fame never got the best of her. She remained loyal to her culture and her family.
The stardome Erche gained did not cause her to forget who she was or where she came from. Erche is a role model and her story is a wonderful inspiration to other young women and even men who are born into unique cultures.
No matter where your born or how poor you are, anything is possible and can be achieved if your set your mind on achieving it.
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