Kazakh people in the Tianshan Mountains of Qinghai Province

3 min read

On a galloping, fine horse followed by hounds with an eagle perched on his arm: this is a typical image of Kazak people on the hunt. They live mostly in their autonomous prefectures and counties in Xinjiang, and also in places of Gansu and Qinghai. Their total population:1.25 million people.

Their places are surrounded by the Tianshan, Altai and Talbahahe Mountains, with Junggar and Ili valleys in the middle, crisscrossed by several rivers and dotted by plateau lakes. The surroundinghills make fine pastures for summer, while riverbanks and hilly lands are ideal for winter pasturing.

For generations, the majority of Kazak people have wandered as a nomadic nationality, while a small number have farmed. Because of the environment, most are excellent hunters. They use no firearms but a traditional helper: the eagle. Training an eagle for hunting requires much skill and effort.

The eagle is a ferocious, swift and legendary bird of prey, viewed as a symbol of courage and might for thousands of years. It is not easy to capture and train, yet the Kazak hunters know how.

After capturing a big one with a net, clips or a trap, or taking a baby bird from a nest in the mountains, the Kazak hunters wash its body and stomach repeatedly to get rid of its “wild scent.”After being’ conditioned”for half a month, the eagle is domesticated. Feeding is a tactful process. Shredded meat is washed clean, held in a leather-gloved hand and revealed a little for the bird to peck. By then, the bird is extremely hungry and at the sight of meat rushes to it desperately. The hunter backs away, step by step, increasing the distance each time, thus forcing the bird to fly to him. Each time, he feeds the bird just half full. When the bird can fly swiftly and perch on his arm to peck the meat, the training is almost completed. To make trainer familiar to the bird, the trainer sometimes mixes the food with his saliva. Up to then, all the training happens indoors. Next comes the more important outdoor training

When hunting, Kazak hunters keep the eagle a little hungry in order to retain its desire to kill, anage-old lesson handed down from ancestors. The bird is kept blindfolded and its feet chained untila prey is spotted.

Most hunting is done in winter, when wild rabbits, foxes and gazelles are on the move. Each hunting trip is rewarding. Although a hunting eagle is not the largest bird, it is by all means the most ferocious fighter. There was a popular saying among the Mongolian people when they tried to conquer the central Asia,”A well-trained hunting eagle is priceless, even more than a fine horse.”In the past, such an eagle cost more than a girl’s dowry.

Hunting on horseback with ferocious eagles and dogs by their sides, Kazak men appear combative.However, otherwise, they are just humorous, happy herdsmen. They have many folk stories to tell, ballads to sing and aphorisms to pass down generation after generation. The best performers among them are called A Ken,a name of much respect given to story tellers and ballad singers. They are folk artists but different from those in other nationalities, as Kazak story tellers sing in an improvised manneraccompanied by their own musical instruments. Thanks to these versatile artists, the history of Kazak has been preserved.

The Kazak men are handsome, while Kazak girls are pretty. They have a special entertaining game called”girls’ chase,”where girls find boyfriends of their own free will. The”girls’ chase”is heldon holidays. Before it starts, participating tribes settle on choosing players and horses. Their horses are fine, and the rides for girls must be better than those for boys. The pair will go to the designated spot, side by side, and on the way, the boy can say anything to the girl, and can even kiss her. The girl is not supposed to get angry. However, as soon as they reach the designated spot, the boy immediately turns around for a desperate escape. The girl follows in a hot pursuit, brandishing a whip. She means to whip him as punishment for what he has done or said. However, if the girl likes the boy, her whipping is feigned or falls on the young man’s back very gently. This form of courtship has enabled many young people to find true love and to marry.