Lugu Lake () is located in the northwest of the Yunnan plateau, with the middle of the lake forming the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan Province. The formation of the lake is thought to have occurred in a geological fault belonging to the geological age of the Late Cenozoic. It is an alpine lake at an elevation of and is the highest lake in the Yunnan Province. The lake is surrounded by mountains and has five islands, four peninsulas, fourteen bays and seventeen beaches.
The lake's shores are inhabited by many minority ethnic groups, such as the Mosuo, Norzu, Yi, and Pumi. The most numerous of these are the Mosuo people (also spelt "Moso"), said to be a sub clan of the Naxi people (as per Chinese records of Minorities in China) with ancient family structure considered as "a live fossil for researching the marital development history of Human beings" and "the last quaint Realm of Matriarchy." It is considered as the home of the Moso Tribe However, Mosuo have a separate identity from the Naxis, as it is said that the Chinese used the word Mosuo as a generic term for different ethnic groups, including the Naxi.
Lugu Lake is called the "mother lake" by the Mosuo people. The lake is also well known in Chinese travel pamphlets as the region of "Amazons," "The Kingdom of Women" and "Home of the Matriarchal Tribe", this last name highlighting the dominant role of the Mosuo women in their society. The marriage rites of the Mosuo people are known as "azhu marriage" ceremony and this unique aspect of their social culture has given the title "exotic land of daughters" to the area. It is also known as "A Quaint Realm of Matriarchy." The matriarchal and matrilineal society of the Mosuos is also termed the "Women's World."
Etymology In the Mosuo language, Lugu means "falling into the water" and hu means "lake" in Chinese, which combined give the name of the lake.
Geography
Lugu Lake is a natural lake in the Hengduan Mountain System, and has a horseshoe shape. It is bounded within geographic coordinates of and . It is located in a high plateau amidst the Xiaoliangshan hills of Western Yunnan. The Lion Mountain that surrounds the lake, which is worshipped as the goddess Gammo, is the chief deity of the Mosuo people who inhabit the area. The lake has a drainage catchment of . The lake's main storage is from rainfall and its waters display a turquoise blue colour. The south shoreline of the lake is located in Yi Autonomous region of Ningland. The lake has a length of with a width of (mean width is ) and a water spread area of ( is also mentioned) and an average depth of . The maximum depth in the lake is reported at ( is also mentioned in some references) which makes it the second deepest lake in China, after the Fuxianhu Lake. Lugu Lake is hemmed on both sides by steep mountains and partially forested slopes; it is fed by the Mosuo River and drained by the Gaizu River, which joins the Yalong River and eventually merges into the Jingshajiang River or the Yangtze River. Geologically, it is inferred as one of the youngest fault lakes in the Yunnan Plateau.
The Gaizu River, flowing out of the lake at its southeast end, has a controlled outlet that is only operated during the rainy season and remains closed from September to May. Lugu Lake is snowbound for three months a year; in the autumn and spring, it has a cool and dry climate with warm daytime temperatures.
Its waters exhibit transparency to a depth of and the lake itself has four prominent peninsulas and five islands. The five islands are: Heiwawu Island in the centre of the lake is inhabited by a variety of birds, Liwubi Island, Lige Island, Nixi Island (the smallest island, which is an oblong-shaped rock covered with shrubs and moss), and Lama Island. Three peninsulas and an island are linked to a seawall on the shore by a stone-paved path.
The winding shoreline of the lake is occupied by several ethnic minorities belonging to the Mosuo, Norzu, Yi, and Pumi tribes. Villages on the shore include Luoshui and Lige, which are tourist centres. Thus many beaches have been developed, which have become tourist attractions. A walking tour along the periphery of the lake is a common way of viewing the lake and its precincts.
Until 1982 there were no roads to the lake. The lake is away from the Lijiang city, the headquarters of the Ninglang province, along a road that passes through some of the most scenic sights en route between Zhongdian and Dequin. The road, however, is affected by bad weather. The village roadhead on the shores of the lake that is connected with Lijiang city is known as Luoshui, a village, part of a larger Luoshui Administrative Village.
Luoshui village on the Yunnan side and Mukua village on the Sichuan side of the lake can be approached by canoes via the Lama Island. The canoes are known as "zhucaochuan" in the local language, which means the "pig-trough boats". The trek route, which is popular among Buddhist pilgrims, starts at Luoshoi and also ends there. Buddhism is prevalent around the lake, as the shores of the lake have Tibetan-type monasteries, mostly of the Gelugpa Order, established by the people who have settled around the lake; the important monasteries on the shore are: The Daming Gonpa or Yradzong Gonpa, Shubi Gonpa, Ozer Gonpa, Galong Gonpa and the Dzembu Monastery, the last named belongs to the Sakya Order.
The history of the place, however, is also well known for its matriarchal culture and also the dress of the Mosuo women and girls in particular, which is distinctly conspicuous for its maroon blouses and skirts that establish an aura of authority.
Climate
History Kublai Khan, with his Mongolian army, established his army headquarters south of Lugu Lake. A feudal government ensued when officers and troops were stationed here. Kublai Khan introduced Buddhism and enforced rules of civil administration, coupled with religious tenets around Lugu Lake and Yongning. It was during this time that the practice of monogamous marriage practised by officials of Mongol army also came into vogue among the ethnic Mosuo people, particularly in the Yankouba and Tuodian villages.
Legend An ancient legend linked to the lake is that a beautiful female spirit by the name of Gemu had many local mountain spirits as her male friends. The young spirit was pretty and also had male friends among the male spirits from other mountain regions. During one of her intimate dalliances with a local male spirit, a mountain spirit from a distant mountain came to her house on horseback. When he found her in the company of a local male spirit, he felt humiliated and quickly turned his horse round and started going back. Gemu heard the neigh of the horse and realized that a distant mountain spirit had come on horseback to visit her. She came out of the house and started running after the visitor spirit. She could only see a large hoof print at the foot of the mountain where the male spirit had disappeared. As it was getting dark, Gemu could not proceed further and she started weeping frenziedly, which resulted in the hoofprint turning into a lake with her tears. When the male spirit heard her crying, and saw that the hoofprint had turned into a lake with her tears, he lovingly threw a few pearls and flowers into the lake. The pearls are identified now as the islands in the lake and the flowers which floated to the lake shore are said to be scented azaleas and other flowers, which bloom every year.
Another legend narrated about the creation of the lake is that Gemu had many lovers. One such lover was a god named Waru Shila. During their first meeting and romance amidst a garden of flowers they were oblivious to their surroundings without even realizing that daybreak had occurred. In order to escape discovery of their affair, Waru Shila fled from the scene on his horse towards the hill, while Gemu fondly looked at him from the shore of Lugu Lake. While trying to look back at his fiancée, Waru Shila was holding the reins of the horse very tight. As a result, the horse stumbled and fell. This caused a deep depression in the ground. Since daybreak had occurred, Waru could not return to his heaven and therefore transformed himself into a mountain, to the east of the lake. Looking aghast at this turn of events, Gemu cried intensely, which resulted in the depression being filled by her tears and eventually turning into Lugu Lake. She then cast seven of her pearls into the lake, which became the seven islands. She also turned herself into a mountain in order to keep a watch on the lake and to look at her lover in the east, who had also earlier turned into a mountain.
Flora and fauna Lugu Lake, set in the subalpine zone in the southern Hengduan Mountains, is a pine-covered ecoregion. Apart from hosting endemic species of fish, Lugu Lake is visited by wintering water birds. The catchment of the lake in the Ninglang province has a fairly rich forest cover. The plant and tree species identified in the forest are: Yunnan pines, Chinese pines, lacquer, camphor, Bombax ceiba (the red kapok) and dragon spruce trees.
The fauna found in the area include fox, musk deer, vultures, hawks and leopard.
Avifauna The reported avifauna consists of migrant birds such as the bar-headed geese. Black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) are found in the Lugu Lake area which is under the Vu (vulnerable category as per IUCN).
Aquatic fauna Four endemic species of fish were reported in the lake - three Schizothorax species and one Misgurnus anguillicaudatus. The endemic species of fish in the genus of Schizothorax include the thick lip species known as S. labrosus. These are also called snow trout as they have the shape of a trout with tiny scales.
Fish species and the development of fisheries in Lugu Lake have been researched during 2001, 2002 and 2004. The studies reported that there are now 12 fish species in Lugu Lake, which belong to 10 genera, four families and three orders. Changes to the proliferation of fish in the lake has been due to the deposition of silt in the lake following heavy deforestation of lake's catchment. In addition to the four endemic species, eight exotic species were identified and these dominate the fish population in the lake to the detriment of the endemic species. Fishing is normally carried out using gillnets. The nets are spread over the lake's entire length and width at different depths with mesh size varying to suit needs; they are usually spread from late afternoon to the morning hours of the following day. The eight exotic species, introduced to the lake in 1958 as part of commercial fishing activity, dominate the fishing resources of the lake, and three of the native species have been declared endangered. As a result of commercial fishing activity, the fish resources initially netted amounted to 500 tonnes. However, overfishing in the last few decades by trawlers has resulted in a drastic decline of the yield and in 1980 it was reported to be only 30 tonnes. The main reasons attributed for this decline are the heavy deforestation that occurred once in 1970 and then again between 1980 and 1990, which caused heavy siltation of the lake; the siltation advanced into the lake causing destruction of many spawning grounds of the three Schizothorax fishes, followed by the decrease of their stocks. Another reason given for the decrease in endemic fish stocks is the introduction of the exotic species, which has led to a decline in the indigenous Schizothoracid species.
Mosuo people