KINGDOM OF WOMEN

High above the mountains in South Western China, where Yunnan and Sichuan (of panda fame) border each other, lies the seldom-visited Lugu Lake. Along its banks, we find the Mosuo people who have continuously practiced the matriarchal systems for centuries. Whether out of volition, or of necessity, the Mosuo women have taken on leader ship in their society for the past two thousand years.

In the Mosuo households, the eldest female dominates every aspect of the daily lives and are the principal, if not the sole providers for each household. Like the hearth, which is the center of Mosuo lives, the women are the center of Mosuo society.

Through “Kingdom of Women”, we uncover the ties that bind the Mosuo society known as “Axia”. Loosely translated as ‘the Walking Marriage’. Axia is the term the Mosuo use to when the highly precarious form of union between Mosuo women and their men. By practicing Axia, men and women of the Mosuo tribe form sexual unions for an indefinite duration as agreed upon by both parties. There is no marriage contract in any real sense and the offspring resulting from these unions are taken and raised by the women and their clans. Most likely, because the man who fathered a child dose not live in the same household, he can make no claim over the assets of the child’s maternal family. When a man grows old, he is then taken care of, not by the children he sired, but by the offspring of the man’s own birth sisters. Axia is considered the foundation of Mosuo matriarchy.

In “Kingdom of Women”, we also observe in detail the religious belief and activities of the Mosuo. The Mosuo have a distinct concept of god and of heaven while following mainly the religious teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. By the banks of Lugu, one frequently finds white chantries and colorful banners of Buddhist worship. They symbolize the faith and hopes of the Mosuo who perceive them as the beacon leading to heaven.

Secluded in their own corner of the world, life in this matrilineal society has remained tranquil because its people have held on to their religious beliefs; however, fears that the way of the Mosuo may die are now becoming real urgent concerns. In his interview, the Mosuo Lama, Yeshe Tsultim predicts a short-lived future for the Mosuo way of life. Yeshe Tsultim, having recently returned from England to the region, observes that modern civilization is forcing its way through into cultures of all corners of the world. Soon, modern civilization will also encroach upon the Mosuo, and the delicate matrilineal system by the Lugu Lake may well disappear within the next five years.

Much of human antiquity is now lost to us. If the Mosuo way of life should vanish now, it will become exceedingly difficulty for peoples of the future to understand the extraordinary way of life under Mosuo matriarchy. This documentary film, with its comprehensive research and careful investigations, serves as a unique testament to a rarely seen social system.