Material culture of the Chuvash. Traditional dwelling of the peoples of the Samara region Mordovians Tatars Chuvash

The Chuvash people developed at the junction of forests and steppes. Geographical conditions influenced the nature of the settlement structure. Chuvash Yal settlements were located, as a rule, near water sources: rivers, springs, along ravines, most often, and were hidden from prying eyes in forests or green trees planted near houses. The favorite trees of the Chuvash were willow and alder (sirek); it is no coincidence that many villages surrounded by alder thickets received the name Sirekle (Erykla).

In the northern and central regions Chuvash villages were located crowded together, in bushes: daughter villages - Kasa settlements - are grouped around the mother village, forming a whole nest of settlements. In the south, among the lower Chuvash living in open areas, a riverine type of settlement is observed in which the village is extended in a chain along the river. Settlements of this type are larger in size than with nest settlement.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Chuvash settlements did not have a clear layout, but consisted of separate neighborhoods inhabited by relatives. Therefore, it was difficult for a stranger to immediately find the desired estate. The crowding of houses and buildings also increased the potential for fire disasters.

The layout of the estate, its fencing, the placement of the house inside the Chuvash estate, noted A.P. Smirnov, is completely similar to the layout of the estate in Suvar. The estate of a Chuvash peasant consisted of a house and outbuildings: a cage, a barn, a stable, a stable, a summer kitchen, and a bathhouse. Rich peasants often had two-story buildings. This is how the ethnographer G. Komissarov described a Chuvash estate of the 19th century: In the yard they build: a hut, a canopy behind it, then a barn, then a barn, where they put firewood and put carts and sleighs; on the other side of the yard, on foreground, counting from the street, a cellar is built, then a storage room, then a barn again. In the background there is a povet, a hayloft, a stable and fenced-off premises for corralling livestock, called “vylyakh-karti”. They build a shack somewhat separately, which in the old days served as a summer home, and now they cook food and wash clothes in it. Another barn (a grain barn) is being built in the garden, and a bathhouse is also being built in the ravine." 40

In the old days, houses were built in a black style, with doors facing east. The house usually consisted of a hut and a vestibule, covered with a gable thatch or plank roof.

Since the beginning of this century, the exterior of the home began to be decorated with wooden carvings. The main motif of the ornament to this day remains solar signs - circles, crosses.

Later, long benches and wooden beds appeared. Dwellings equipped with stoves and chimneys became widespread among the wealthy part of the Chuvash peasantry in the second half of the 19th century. Of course, the modern appearance of Chuvash dwellings is incomparable to what ethnographers captured at the beginning of the 20th century; today in the house you can see modern rubble appliances and furniture, but the craving for the traditional still remains, although it manifests itself in a stylized form - the use of embroidered and woven products and wooden carvings in national style for decoration appearance and home interior.

Wooden utensils. Wood processing was highly developed among the peoples of the forest belt, including the Chuvash. Almost all household utensils were made of wood. There were many woodworking tools: a drill (păra), a brace (çavram păra) used for drilling holes and holes in solid material; chisel, chisel (ăйă) – tools for gouging out holes, sockets, grooves (yra); a large chisel (kara) is used for cutting out grooves in logs, boards, in the manufacture of mortars, troughs, tubs and other chiseled products.

According to the manufacturing method and nature of use, wooden utensils can be divided into several groups: 1) hollowed-out utensils with a solid bottom; 2) hollowed-out vessels with an inserted bottom; 3) riveted products; 4) dishes made of birch bark, bast, bark; 5) wicker utensils made of wicker, bast, shingles, roots.

Tableware was made from soft (linden, willow, aspen) and hard (oak, birch) tree species, from a single piece of wood or rhizome. Made from strong roots best samples large ladles - bratin (altăr), small ladles for beer (kurka). They are shaped like a boat. The nasal side of the large bucket is raised upward and, turning into a narrow neck, is dismembered, forming a completion in the form of two horse heads (trigger duck). The unique two- and three-hole buckets “Tĕkeltĕk” and “Yankăltăk” are interesting. Honey and beer were poured into them at the same time, and “dust” (balm) from various herbs was also poured into a three-section ladle. These “paired ladles” (yĕkĕrlĕ kurka) were intended only for newlyweds. Small ladles, which were the pride of the family, were decorated with beautiful intricate carvings. They are also often boat-shaped. The handle is high with a slotted loop ending in a hook for hanging. The patterns on the handle are different: these are solar motifs, plaits, recesses, grooves, sculptural forms.

In everyday life, the Chuvash widely used utensils made of birch bark - sewn tues and cylindrical bodies (purak).

Wicker containers were used to store and carry food and various things; a wide range of bast braids known as common name purse (kushel). Food and small belongings for the road were placed in a kusheel - a neatly made wicker bag with a lid. Pester (pushăt, takmak, peshtĕr) was in some places the bag of the manager of the wedding train (tui puçĕ). Ritual dishes were placed in this bag - bread (çăkăr) and cheese (chăkăt). Along with the bags, they used a wicker bast bucket for water and beer. Bread was proofed in wicker cups before baking, and wicker boxes were used as salt shakers. A vessel for water (shiv savăchĕ) and a container for gunpowder were taken with them when hunting.

Many utensils were woven from wicker. A basket for spoons (çăpala pĕrni) was made from bird cherry or willow twigs. There were vessels woven from shingles, wicker and strips of birch bark, bast, and tufts of grass. This is how bread bowls were made, for example. A hay purse (lăpă), various baskets (çatan, karçinkka), bodies, kurmans, chests, furniture, and fishing tackle were woven from willow vines.

Clay dishes. People have been making pottery since ancient times. Its production in Volga Bulgaria was at a high level. However, from the 16th century. local traditions in the manufacture of highly artistic ceramics are gradually forgotten. After joining the Russian state, the need for pottery was satisfied mainly by the products of urban artisans.

Pottery was made from pre-prepared clay. The clay was placed in a wooden box and thoroughly crushed with feet and hands so that it was soft, elastic and did not break when twisted into a rope. After this, clay blanks were made of various sizes depending on the size of the dishes. Blanks are small pieces of clay rolled into a thick and short rope.

The vessel was formed on a hand or foot potter's wheel. After drying, the manufactured dishes were covered with glaze, which gave them strength and shine. After that, it was fired in a special oven.

Chuvash potters made a variety of dishes: pots, korchagi (chÿcholmek, kurshak), milk jugs (măylă chÿlmek), beer jugs (kăkshăm), bowls (çu dies), bowls (tăm chashăk), braziers, washstands (kămkan).

They came in all different shapes and styles. Abashevo, Imenkovo, Bulgar and other styles differed in type, shape, and ornament.

Metal utensils (cast iron, copper, tin) were also used in Chuvash households.

One of the ancient vessels that no family could do without was a cast iron cauldron (khuran). The farm had several types of boilers of various sizes.

The cauldron in which dinner was cooked hung over the fireplace in the hut. A large boiler for brewing beer, food during major holidays, and heating water was suspended above the fireplace of the shack (summer kitchen). Cast iron appeared relatively late in the Chuvash economy. One of the ancient utensils is a frying pan (qatma, tupa).

Along with cast iron utensils, copper utensils were used: a copper jug ​​(chăm), a washstand (kămkan), a valley (yantal), a vessel for drinking honey and beer, which in some cases was shaped like an ambling horse (çurhat). The kitchen utensils also included other metal objects - a poker (Turkka), a grip, a mower (kusar), knives (çĕçĕ), a tripod (takan).

Wealthy families purchased a samovar. WITH late XIX V. Under urban influence, iron buckets and glass bottles appear in the villages. Metal spoons, ladles, cups, pots, basins, troughs became widespread already in Soviet times.

40. Social and family life

The basis social organization The Chuvash were a community, which initially (XVI - XVII centuries) coincided with a settlement, i.e. a village, village. Subsequently, with the appearance of daughter villages that sprang from the mother village, the community became a whole nest of settlements with a common land area: arable land, forest. The complex communities thus formed consisted of 2-10 settlements, located at a small (2-3 km) distance from each other. Complex communities arose in the forest belt, since the development of new lands was associated with the clearing of land for arable land and the formation of cassi districts, while in the south, due to the lack of forests, villages formed settlements and communities remained simple. Complex communities existed not only among the Chuvash, but also among the Mari, Udmurts, and less often among the Tatars.

The community served as the main economic unit within which issues of land use, taxation, and recruitment were resolved. Village meeting - supreme body community management - regulated the timing of agricultural work, the performance of religious rituals, performed primary judicial functions - punishment for theft, arson. The community also cared about moral character its members, condemning violations of generally accepted norms, such as drunkenness, foul language, and immodest behavior. The community, and after it the family, regulated the behavior of the ordinary person.

Among the Chuvash for a long time There was a type of large paternal family, consisting of several generations, usually three: children, a married couple and the parents of one of the spouses, most often the husband’s parents, since patrilocal marriage was common among the Chuvash, i.e. After the wedding, the wife moved to live with her husband. Usually he stayed in the family with his parents younger son, i.e. there was a minority. There were frequent cases of levirate, when the younger brother married the widow of his older brother, and sororate, in which the husband, after the death of his wife, married her younger sister.

In matters of marriage, the Chuvash did not adhere to strict rules regarding the nationality and age of the bride and groom. Marriages with Russians, Mordovians and representatives of other faiths - Tatars - were allowed, and in terms of age the bride could be 6 - 8 years older than the groom. The Chuvash had a custom of marrying sons very early (at 15-17 years old) and marrying daughters quite late (at 25-30 years old). This was done for economic reasons.

The head of a large patriarchal family was the eldest man - the father or the eldest of the brothers. He managed the economic activities within the family, income, and kept order. Women's works More often than not, the eldest of the women, the grandmother, was in charge.

Marriage was concluded in two ways: by kidnapping the bride and by a thuja wedding. The first was used when the groom was unable to pay the bride price. The wedding was preceded by an engagement, at which they agreed on the size of the ransom and dowry, and the timing of the wedding. the wedding began 2-3 weeks after the engagement and lasted from 3 to 7 days. To this day, regional differences in the performance of the wedding ceremony have remained: in the set of characters, musical accompaniment, and others. There are 3 main types of weddings according to three ethnographic groups of Chuvash living within the Chuvash Republic.

A Chuvash wedding is a very bright and interesting spectacle, a theatrical performance in which a certain set of characters participate: khaimatlakh - imprisoned father, man-keryu - elder son-in-law, kesen keryu - younger son-in-law, kher-sum - bridesmaids, tui-pus - leaders weddings, etc., each of whom performs his assigned duties during the wedding. The wedding began in the afternoon, towards evening, and continued over the next few days. The conclusion of a marriage was associated with the introduction of a new member into the house, the family - a daughter-in-law, a daughter-in-law, therefore special attention was paid to this moment. The bride had to go, accompanied by the groom's relatives, to the spring for water and thereby, as if to honor the spirit of water, gave gifts to new relatives as a sign of respect.

The transition to the position of a married woman was recorded in the ritual of putting on a woman's headdress, hushpu.

The Chuvash wedding, unlike the Russian one, was held in the summer, at the end of June - beginning of July, before the start of the harvest. This is probably why the riding Chuvash have preserved to this day the custom of decorating the site of the intended celebration with linden or rowan branches.

In a modern Chuvash wedding, many traditional features lost and replaced by elements of Russian wedding rituals. This influence was especially noticeable at the wedding of Chuvash living outside the Chuvash Republic.

41. Family and kinship relations, life of the Chuvash.

According to the ideas of the ancient Chuvash, every person had to do two important things in his life: take care of his old parents and honorably escort them to the “other world”, raise children as worthy people and leave them behind. A person’s entire life was spent in the family, and for any person one of the main goals in life was the well-being of his family, his parents, his children.

Parents in a Chuvash family. The ancient Chuvash family kil-yysh usually consisted of three generations: grandparents, father and mother, and children.

In Chuvash families, old parents and father-mothers were treated with love and respect. This is very clearly visible in Chuvash folk songs, which most often tell not about the love of a man and a woman (as in so many modern songs), but about love for one’s parents, relatives, and one’s homeland. Some songs talk about the feelings of an adult dealing with the loss of his parents.

They treated their mother with special love and honor. The word “amăsh” is translated as “mother”, but for his own mother the Chuvash have special words “anne, api”; when pronouncing these words, the Chuvash speaks only about his mother. Anne, api, atăsh are a sacred concept for the Chuvash. These words have never been used in swear words or in ridicule.

The Chuvash said about the sense of duty to their mother: “Treat your mother with pancakes baked in the palm of your hand every day, and even then you will not repay her with good for good, labor for labor.” The ancient Chuvash believed that the most terrible curse- maternal, and it will definitely come true.

Wife and husband in a Chuvash family. In ancient Chuvash families, the wife had equal rights with her husband, and there were no customs that humiliated women. Husband and wife respected each other, divorces were very rare.

The old people said about the position of the wife and husband in the Chuvash family: “Hĕrarăm - kil turri, arçyn - kil patshi. A woman is a deity in the house, a man is a king in the house.”

If there were no sons in a Chuvash family, then the eldest daughter helped the father; if there were no daughters in the family, then the youngest son helped the mother. All work was revered: be it a woman’s or a man’s. And if necessary, a woman could take on men’s work and a man could perform household duties. And no work was considered more important than another.

Children in a Chuvash family. The main goal family was raising children. They were happy about any child: both a boy and a girl. In all Chuvash prayers, when they ask the deity to give many children, they mention yvăl-khĕr - sons-daughters. The desire to have more boys rather than girls appeared later, when land began to be distributed according to the number of men in the family (in the 18th century). It was prestigious to raise a daughter or several daughters, real brides. After all, according to tradition in woman suit included a lot of expensive silver jewelry. And only in a hardworking and rich family it was possible to provide the bride with a worthy dowry.

The special attitude towards children is also evidenced by the fact that after the birth of their first child, the husband and wife began to address each other not upăshka and aram (husband and wife), but asshĕ and amăshĕ (father and mother). And the neighbors began to call the parents by the name of their first child, for example, “Talivan amăshĕ - Talivan’s mother”, “Atnepi ashshĕ - Atnepi’s father.”

There have never been abandoned children in Chuvash villages. Orphans were taken in by relatives or neighbors and raised as their own children. I. Ya. Yakovlev recalls in his notes: “I consider the Pakhomov family to be my own. I still have the warmest, kindred feelings for this family. This family did not offend me; they treated me like their own child. For a long time I did not know that the Pakhomov family was strangers to me... Only when I turned 17... did I find out that this was not my own family.” In the same notes, Ivan Yakovlevich mentions that he was very loved.

Grandparents in a Chuvash family. One of the most important educators of children were grandparents. Like many nations, when a girl got married, she moved into her husband’s house. Therefore, children usually lived in a family with a mother, father and his parents - with asatte and asanne. These words themselves show how important grandparents were to children. Asanne (aslă anne) literally translated is the elder mother, asatte (aslă atte) is the elder father.

Mother and father were busy at work, older children helped them, and younger children, starting from 2-3 years old, spent more time with asatte and asanne.

But the mother’s parents also did not forget their grandchildren; the children often visited Kukamai and Kukachi.

All important problems in the family were solved by consulting with each other, and they always listened to the opinions of the elderly. All affairs in the house could be managed by the eldest woman, and issues outside the home were usually decided by the eldest man.

One day in the life of a family. A typical family day began early, at 4-5 o'clock in winter, and at dawn in summer. The adults got up first and, having washed, got to work. Women lit the stove and put out bread, milked cows, cooked food, and carried water. The men went out into the yard: they gave food to the cattle and poultry, cleaned the yard, worked in the garden, chopped wood...

Younger children were awakened by the smell of freshly baked bread. Their older sisters and brothers were already up and helping their parents.

By lunchtime the whole family gathered at the table. After lunch, the work day continued, only the oldest could lie down to rest.

In the evening they gathered around the table again and had dinner. Afterwards, in inclement times, they sat at home, minding their own business: men weaved bast shoes, twisted ropes, women spun, sewed, and tinkered with the little ones. The rest of the children, sitting comfortably near their grandmother, listened with bated breath. old tales and different stories.

Girlfriends came to the older sister, started jokes, sang songs. The brightest of the younger ones began to dance, and everyone clapped their hands and laughed at the funny kid.

Older sisters and brothers went to get-togethers with their friends.

The youngest was placed in a cradle, the rest lay on bunks, on the stove, next to their grandparents. The mother was spinning yarn and rocking the cradle with her foot, a gentle sound sounded Lullaby, the children's eyes were sticking together...

According to one hypothesis, the Chuvash are descendants of the Bulgarians. Also, the Chuvash themselves believe that their distant ancestors were the Bulgars and Suvars, who once inhabited Bulgaria.

Another hypothesis says that this nation belongs to the associations of Savirs, who in ancient times migrated to the northern lands due to the fact that they abandoned generally accepted Islam. During the time of the Kazan Khanate, the ancestors of the Chuvash were part of it, but were a fairly independent people.

Culture and life of the Chuvash people

The main economic activity of the Chuvash was settled agriculture. Historians note that these people succeeded in land management much more than the Russians and Tatars. This is explained by the fact that the Chuvash lived in small villages with no cities nearby. Therefore, working with the land was the only source of food. In such villages there was simply no opportunity to shirk work, especially since the lands were fertile. But even they could not saturate all the villages and save people from hunger. The main crops grown were: rye, spelt, oats, barley, wheat, buckwheat and peas. Flax and hemp were also grown here. To work with agriculture, the Chuvash used plows, roe deer, sickles, flails and other devices.

In ancient times, the Chuvash lived in small villages and settlements. Most often they were erected in river valleys, next to lakes. Houses in villages were lined up in a row or in a heap. The traditional hut was the construction of a purt, which was placed in the center of the yard. There were also huts called la. In Chuvash settlements they played the role of a summer kitchen.

The national costume was clothing typical of many Volga peoples. Women wore tunic-like shirts, which were decorated with embroidery and various pendants. Both women and men wore a shupar, a caftan-like cape, over their shirts. Women covered their heads with scarves, and girls wore a helmet-shaped headdress - tukhya. The outerwear was a canvas caftan - shupar. In the autumn, the Chuvash dressed in a warmer sakhman - an underwear made of cloth. And in winter, everyone wore fitted sheepskin coats - kyoryoks.

Traditions and customs of the Chuvash people

The Chuvash people take care of the customs and traditions of their ancestors. Both in ancient times and today, the peoples of Chuvashia hold ancient holidays and rituals.

One of these holidays is Ulakh. In the evening, young people gather for an evening meeting, which is organized by the girls when their parents are not at home. The hostess and her friends sat in a circle and did needlework, and at this time the guys sat between them and watched what was happening. They sang songs to the music of an accordion player, danced and had fun. Initially, the purpose of such meetings was to find a bride.

To others national custom is Savarni, the festival of farewell to winter. This holiday is accompanied by fun, songs, and dances. People dress up the scarecrow as a symbol of the passing winter. Also in Chuvashia, on this day it is customary to dress up horses, harness them to festive sleighs and give children rides.

Mancun holiday is Chuvash Easter. This holiday is the purest and brightest holiday for the people. Before Mancun, women clean their huts, and men clean up the yard and outside the yard. They prepare for the holiday, fill full barrels of beer, bake pies, paint eggs and cook National dishes. Mancun lasts seven days, which are accompanied by fun, games, songs and dances. Before Chuvash Easter, swings were installed on every street, on which not only children, but also adults rode.

(Painting by Yu.A. Zaitsev "Akatuy" 1934-35.)

Holidays related to agriculture include: Akatuy, Sinse, Simek, Pitrav and Pukrav. They are associated with the beginning and end of the sowing season, with the harvest and the arrival of winter.

The traditional Chuvash holiday is Surkhuri. On this day, the girls told fortunes - they caught sheep in the dark to tie a rope around their necks. And in the morning they came to look at the color of this sheep; if it was white, then the betrothed or betrothed would have blond hair and vice versa. And if the sheep is motley, then the couple will not be particularly beautiful. In different regions, Surkhuri is celebrated on different days - somewhere before Christmas, somewhere on New Year, and some celebrate on the night of Epiphany.

The Chuvash people developed at the junction of forests and steppes. Geographical conditions influenced the nature of the settlement structure. Chuvash Yal settlements were located, as a rule, near water sources: rivers, springs, along ravines, most often, and were hidden from prying eyes in forests or green trees planted near houses. The favorite trees of the Chuvash were willow and alder (sirek); it is no coincidence that many villages surrounded by alder thickets received the name Sirekle (Erykla).

In the northern and central regions of Chuvashia, the villages were located crowded together, in bushes: daughter villages - Kasa settlements - are grouped around the mother village, forming a whole nest of settlements. In the south, among the lower Chuvash living in open areas, a riverine type of settlement is observed in which the village is extended in a chain along the river. Settlements of this type are larger in size than with nest settlement.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Chuvash settlements did not have a clear layout, but consisted of separate neighborhoods inhabited by relatives. Therefore, it was difficult for a stranger to immediately find the desired estate. The crowding of houses and buildings also increased the potential for fire disasters.

The layout of the estate, its fencing, the placement of the house inside the Chuvash estate, noted A.P. Smirnov, is completely similar to the layout of the estate in Suvar. The estate of a Chuvash peasant consisted of a house and outbuildings: a cage, a barn, a stable, a stable, a summer kitchen, and a bathhouse. Rich peasants often had two-story buildings. This is how the ethnographer G. Komissarov described a Chuvash estate of the 19th century: In the yard they build: a hut, a canopy behind it, then a barn, then a barn, where they put firewood and put carts and sleighs; on the other side of the yard, in the foreground, counting from the street, a cellar is being built, then a storage room, then a barn again. In the background there is a povet, a hayloft, a stable and fenced-off premises for corralling livestock, called “vylyakh-karti”. They build a shack somewhat separately, which in the old days served as a summer home, and now they cook food and wash clothes in it. Another barn (a grain barn) is being built in the garden, and a bathhouse is also being built in the ravine." 40

In the old days, houses were built in a black style, with doors facing east. The house usually consisted of a hut and a vestibule, covered with a gable thatch or plank roof.

Since the beginning of this century, the exterior of the home began to be decorated with wooden carvings. The main motif of the ornament to this day remains solar signs - circles, crosses.

Later, long benches and wooden beds appeared. Dwellings equipped with stoves and chimneys became widespread among the wealthy part of the Chuvash peasantry in the second half of the 19th century. Of course, the modern appearance of Chuvash dwellings is incomparable to what ethnographers captured at the beginning of the 20th century; today in the house you can see modern rubble appliances and furniture, but the craving for the traditional still remains, although it manifests itself in a stylized form - the use of embroidered and woven products and wooden carvings in the national style to decorate the exterior and interior of the home.

Wooden utensils. Wood processing was highly developed among the peoples of the forest belt, including the Chuvash. Almost all household utensils were made of wood. There were many woodworking tools: a drill (păra), a brace (çavram păra) used for drilling holes and holes in solid material; chisel, chisel (ăйă) – tools for gouging out holes, sockets, grooves (yra); a large chisel (kara) is used for cutting out grooves in logs, boards, in the manufacture of mortars, troughs, tubs and other chiseled products.

According to the manufacturing method and nature of use, wooden utensils can be divided into several groups: 1) hollowed-out utensils with a solid bottom; 2) hollowed-out vessels with an inserted bottom; 3) riveted products; 4) dishes made of birch bark, bast, bark; 5) wicker utensils made of wicker, bast, shingles, roots.

Tableware was made from soft (linden, willow, aspen) and hard (oak, birch) tree species, from a single piece of wood or rhizome. The best examples of large ladles - bratin (altăr), and small ladles for beer (kurka) - were made from a strong root. They are shaped like a boat. The nasal side of the large bucket is raised upward and, turning into a narrow neck, is dismembered, forming a completion in the form of two horse heads (trigger duck). The unique two- and three-hole buckets “Tĕkeltĕk” and “Yankăltăk” are interesting. Honey and beer were poured into them at the same time, and “dust” (balm) from various herbs was also poured into a three-section ladle. These “paired ladles” (yĕkĕrlĕ kurka) were intended only for newlyweds. Small ladles, which were the pride of the family, were decorated with beautiful intricate carvings. They are also often boat-shaped. The handle is high with a slotted loop ending in a hook for hanging. The patterns on the handle are different: these are solar motifs, plaits, recesses, grooves, sculptural forms.

In everyday life, the Chuvash widely used utensils made of birch bark - sewn tues and cylindrical bodies (purak).

Wicker containers were used to store and carry food and various things; a wide range of bast braids are known collectively as koshel (kushel). Food and small belongings for the road were placed in a kusheel - a neatly made wicker bag with a lid. Pester (pushăt, takmak, peshtĕr) was in some places the bag of the manager of the wedding train (tui puçĕ). Ritual dishes were placed in this bag - bread (çăkăr) and cheese (chăkăt). Along with the bags, they used a wicker bast bucket for water and beer. Bread was proofed in wicker cups before baking, and wicker boxes were used as salt shakers. A vessel for water (shiv savăchĕ) and a container for gunpowder were taken with them when hunting.

Many utensils were woven from wicker. A basket for spoons (çăpala pĕrni) was made from bird cherry or willow twigs. There were vessels woven from shingles, wicker and strips of birch bark, bast, and tufts of grass. This is how bread bowls were made, for example. A hay purse (lăpă), various baskets (çatan, karçinkka), bodies, kurmans, chests, furniture, and fishing tackle were woven from willow vines.

Clay dishes. People have been making pottery since ancient times. Its production in Volga Bulgaria was at a high level. However, from the 16th century. local traditions in the production of highly artistic ceramics are gradually being forgotten. After joining the Russian state, the need for pottery was satisfied mainly by the products of urban artisans.

Pottery was made from pre-prepared clay. The clay was placed in a wooden box and thoroughly crushed with feet and hands so that it was soft, elastic and did not break when twisted into a rope. After this, clay blanks were made of various sizes depending on the size of the dishes. Blanks are small pieces of clay rolled into a thick and short rope.

The vessel was formed on a hand or foot potter's wheel. After drying, the manufactured dishes were covered with glaze, which gave them strength and shine. After that, it was fired in a special oven.

Chuvash potters made a variety of dishes: pots, korchagi (chÿcholmek, kurshak), milk jugs (măylă chÿlmek), beer jugs (kăkshăm), bowls (çu dies), bowls (tăm chashăk), braziers, washstands (kămkan).

They came in all different shapes and styles. Abashevo, Imenkovo, Bulgar and other styles differed in type, shape, and ornament.

Metal utensils (cast iron, copper, tin) were also used in Chuvash households.

One of the ancient vessels that no family could do without was a cast iron cauldron (khuran). The farm had several types of boilers of various sizes.

The cauldron in which dinner was cooked hung over the fireplace in the hut. A large boiler for brewing beer, food during major holidays, and heating water was suspended above the fireplace of the shack (summer kitchen). Cast iron appeared relatively late in the Chuvash economy. One of the ancient utensils is a frying pan (qatma, tupa).

Along with cast iron utensils, copper utensils were used: a copper jug ​​(chăm), a washstand (kămkan), a valley (yantal), a vessel for drinking honey and beer, which in some cases was shaped like an ambling horse (çurhat). The kitchen utensils also included other metal objects - a poker (Turkka), a grip, a mower (kusar), knives (çĕçĕ), a tripod (takan).

Wealthy families purchased a samovar. Since the end of the 19th century. Under urban influence, iron buckets and glass bottles appear in the villages. Metal spoons, ladles, cups, pots, basins, troughs became widespread already in Soviet times.

There are almost one and a half million in Russia, they are the fifth largest people in our country.

What do the Chuvash do, their traditional activities

Arable farming has long played a leading role in the traditional Chuvash economy. They cultivated rye (the main food crop), spelt, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, peas, hemp, and flax. Gardening was developed; onions, cabbage, carrots, rutabaga, and turnips were planted. From the mid-19th century, potatoes began to spread.

The Chuvash have long been famous for their ability to cultivate hops, which they also sold to neighboring peoples. Historians note that back in the 18th century, many peasants had capitally built, with oak pillars, field hop plants. At the beginning of the 20th century, wealthy owners acquired their own dryers and presses for producing hop briquettes, and instead of traditional, only slightly cultivated varieties, more productive ones were introduced - Bavarian, Bohemian, Swiss.

In second place in importance was livestock farming - large and small cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry were raised. They also engaged in hunting, fishing, and beekeeping.

The most common handicrafts were woodworking: wheelwork, cooperage, carpentry. There were carpenters', tailors' and other artels. Many carpenters in coastal villages were engaged in the manufacture of boats and small vessels. On this base, at the beginning of the 20th century, small enterprises arose (the cities of Kozlovka and Mariinsky Posad), where they built not only boats, but also schooners for the Caspian crafts.

Among the crafts, pottery, wicker weaving, and wood carving were developed. Carvings were used to decorate utensils (especially beer ladles), furniture, gate posts, cornices, and platbands.

Until the 17th century, there were many metal processing specialists among the Chuvash. However, after the ban on foreigners to engage in this craft, even at the beginning of the 20th century, there were almost no blacksmiths among the Chuvash.

Chuvash women were engaged in making canvas, dyeing fabric, and sewing clothes for all family members. Clothes were decorated with embroidery, beads and coins. Chuvash embroidery of the 17th-19th centuries is considered one of the pinnacles of folk culture; it is distinguished by its symbolism, variety of forms, restrained colorfulness, high artistic taste of the craftswomen, and precision of execution. The peculiarity of Chuvash embroidery is the same pattern on both sides of the fabric. Today, modern products using the traditions of national embroidery are manufactured at the enterprises of the Paha Törö (Wonderful Embroidery) association.

By the way, the Chuvash are the most numerous Turkic people, the majority of which professes Orthodoxy (there are small groups of Muslim Chuvash and unbaptized Chuvash).

One of the most famous ancient holidays associated with agriculture that exists today is. Literally translated as wedding of arable land, it is associated with the ancient Chuvash idea of ​​the marriage of the plow (masculine) with the earth (feminine). In the past, Akatui had an exclusively religious and magical character, accompanied by collective prayer for a good harvest. With baptism, it turned into a community holiday with horse racing, wrestling, and youth entertainment.

To this day, the Chuvash have preserved the ritual of pomochi - nime. When there is a big and difficult job ahead, which the owners cannot cope with themselves, they ask their fellow villagers and relatives for help. Early in the morning, the owner of the family or a specially selected person goes around the village, inviting people to work. As a rule, everyone who hears the invitation comes to help with tools. Work is in full swing all day, and in the evening the owners arrange a festive feast.

Traditional elements have also been preserved in family rituals associated with the main moments of a person’s life in the family: the birth of a child, marriage, departure to another world. For example, among the riding Chuvash, back in the last century, there was such a custom - if children died in a family, then the subsequent ones (regardless of the name given at baptism) were called by the name of birds or wild animals - Çökç(Martin), Kashkar(Wolf) and so on. They tried to ensure that the false name became established in everyday life. They believed that in this way they would deceive evil spirits, the child would not die, and the family would survive.

Chuvash wedding ceremonies were very complex and varied. The full ritual took several weeks and consisted of matchmaking, pre-wedding rituals, the wedding itself (which took place in both the bride’s and the groom’s houses), and post-wedding rituals. A specially selected man from the groom's relatives kept order. Now the wedding has been somewhat simplified, but the main traditional elements saved. For example, such as “buying the gate” at the entrance to the bride’s yard, the bride’s crying and lamentation (in some places), changing a girl’s headdress to a married woman’s headdress, the newlywed going to fetch water, etc., special wedding songs are also performed.

They mean a lot to the Chuvash family ties. And today the Chuvash tries to observe a long-established custom, according to which once or twice a year he had to invite all his relatives and neighbors to a feast.

Chuvash folk songs usually talk not about the love of a man and a woman (as in many modern songs), but about love for relatives, for one’s homeland, for one’s parents.

In Chuvash families, elderly parents and fathers and mothers are treated with love and respect. Word " amăsh"translated as "mother", but the Chuvash have special words for their own mother" Anna, api", pronouncing these words, the Chuvash speaks only about his mother. These words are never used in abusive speech or ridicule. About the sense of duty to the mother, the Chuvash say: “Treat your mother with pancakes baked in your palm every day, and even then you will not repay her good for good, labor for labor."

In the formation and regulation of moral and ethical standards among the Chuvash, public opinion has always played a large role: “What will they say in the village” ( Yal myeon kalat). The Chuvash had special respect for the ability to behave with dignity in society. They condemned immodest behavior, foul language, drunkenness, theft... Special demands were placed on young people in these matters. From generation to generation the Chuvash taught: "Don't disgrace the name of the Chuvash" ( Chavash yatne an çert) .

Elena Zaitseva