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Witness History: China's 'Kingdom of women'

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China's 'Kingdom of women'

16/04/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, China's 'Kingdom of women'

An ancient matrilineal society which doesn't believe in marriage and where the women rule

High in the Himalayan foothills is an ancient matrilineal society which doesn't believe in marriage.  The women rule and the men don’t mind.

The Mosuo community in China’s Himalayan foothills is matrilineal, so a family’s ‘bloodline’, inheritance and power is passed down through the female side.  There is no such thing as marriage and monogamy is actively discouraged.  The women rule and the men don’t mind.  Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Choo Wai Hong, a Singaporean corporate lawyer who came across the community as she travelled through her ancestral homeland of China.  She liked it so much she learnt the language and built a house there.
(PHOTO: Mosuo Women.  Credit Patrick AVENTURIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

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