The Chuvash people developed at the junction of forests and steppes. Geographical conditions influenced the nature of the settlement structure. Chuvash Yal villages 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 shed, 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 equipment 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 the 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 peculiar 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 vine.
Clay dishes. People have been making pottery since ancient times. Its production in Volga Bulgaria stood at 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, pots (chÿlmek, kurshak), jugs for milk (măylă chÿlmek), for beer (kăkshăm), bowls (çu dies), bowls (tăm chashăk), braziers, washstands (kămkan).
They were the most different forms and styles. Abashevo, Imenkovo, Bulgar and other styles differed in type, shape, and ornament.
IN household The Chuvash also used metal utensils (cast iron, copper, tin).
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 equipment 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.
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.
Another 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. People prepare for the holiday by filling full barrels of beer, baking pies, painting eggs and preparing national dishes. Mancun lasts seven days, which are accompanied by fun, games, songs and dances. Before Chuvash Easter, swings were placed 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 in New Year, and some celebrate on the night of Epiphany.
SCIENTIFIC GUIDELINES
UDC 390 (=471.344)
TRADITIONS OF HOUSE BUILDING AMONG THE CHUVASH
Magnitogorsk State Technical University named after. G.I. Nosova
e-mail: [email protected]
V.V. MEDVEDEV
The construction of the house was accompanied by ritual actions. They protected the future home, ensuring prosperity and a prosperous family life. The article analyzes the Chuvash rituals associated with choosing a house location, starting construction, laying the foundation and raising the mat. The construction of the dwelling took place in a location that corresponded to the characteristics of the landscape and corresponded to the worldview of the Chuvash. Prosperity in the house and long life family life depended on the correct laying of the foundation. Prosperity in the family was symbolized by coins, rowan branches and the hair of domestic animals. They completed the construction of the house by laying the mat on the frame. Matica defined the home center. The choice of a place for construction, the beginning of construction and the completion of one of the stages were important events in the Chuvash house-building tradition. For the best reconstruction, ethnocultural parallels are given
Key words: house, rituals, construction, foundation, matitsa, Chuvash.
The Chuvash gave the house the most prosperous and convenient place in their yard. The dwelling was called purt “hut, house”, consonant with the Mari word port “hut” and the Finnish pirtti “smoking hut”, “bathhouse”1. The Sami also called their log huts pyrt2. To designate a dwelling, the Chuvash also used other terms: durt, sort, kil, purt-durt, durt-yor and kil-durt3. The Chuvash have two types of huts: the traditional Khura purt “chicken hut” and the late Shury purt “white hut”, which has a stove with a chimney and pipe4.
The completed type of residential premises found in Chuvash settlements today is the log building. Naturally, initially it consisted of a single-chamber four-walled hut. The Chuvash built such dwellings by the middle of the 19th century, adding a porch to them that served as a vestibule. A square-shaped adobe stove measuring 4.5 x 5 m or more was installed in the house. The building was called tyvatkal purt “quadrangular hut”5. Similar dwellings, as well as five-walled and six-walled houses, were known back in Volga Bulgaria6. Square or rectangular kork building at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. served as a winter home for the Udmurts7.
The first comprehensive information about appearance and the interior of the Chuvash dwellings were collected during the period of academic expeditions of the 18th century. The Chuvash then lived in courtyards surrounded by fences, in the center of which they built houses that had neither hallways nor closets. In the huts there were beds and bunks, which served as a bed and a place for storing household things. In winter, young, fragile animals were kept under the bunks8.
G.F. Miller said about Chuvash houses that “smoke windows and butts were made above the stoves and hearths. In their huts everywhere, they, like the Tatars, have wide benches or shelves so that a person can lie stretched across them; only 1
1 Egorov V.G. Etymological dictionary of the Chuvash language. Cheboksary, 1964. P. 172.
2 Kharuzin N.N. Essay on the history of the development of housing among the Finns. M., 1895. P. 16.
3 Salmin A.K. Semantics at home among the Chuvash. Cheboksary, 1998. P. 8.
4 Ashmarin N.I. Dictionary of the Chuvash language. Cheboksary, 1999. T. 9-10. P. 88.
5 Matveev G.B. Chuvash folk architecture: from antiquity to modern times. Cheboksary, 2005. P. 27.
6 Valeev F.Kh., Valeeva-Suleimanova G.F. Ancient art of Tataria. Kazan, 1987. P. 68.
7 Shutova N.I. About one ancient Turkic feature in traditional Udmurt ideas: archaeological and ethnographic aspect // Integration of archaeological and ethnographic research. Omsk, 2010. P. 207.
8 Lepekhin I.I. Daily travel notes in different provinces Russian state in 1768 and 1769. St. Petersburg, 1771. P. 138.
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The benches are not the same width throughout the hut. The windows are mostly pressed, which makes them very warm in winter, or made of thin birch bark.”9
The layout and home interior of living quarters among the Chuvash, who settled on the territory of the modern Republic of Bashkortostan, are illustrated with materials from the 1929 expedition. Among the surviving graphic images are plans of dwellings. The drawings indicate the development of the single-chamber house among the population. A non-permanent canopy was added to the hut. The design of hut + canopy + hut is known. The number of window openings varied. The single-chamber building was illuminated by two to four windows. The number of windows depended on the openings in each frame and on the presence or absence of a window in the entryway. For example, the plan of a wealthy house in the village of Kistenli-Bogdanovka has ten window openings. There are four windows cut out in each log house and two in the entryway10 11.
The construction of a residential building was preceded by a careful choice of location. The traditional nesting (cumulus) layout of the Chuvash yards was replaced by a street layout, which introduced changes to the location of houses and buildings. The nested form of the settlement provided the opportunity to occupy the most suitable site for construction. The Chuvash took into account the distance to another house, the presence of a natural reservoir, wells, and soil quality. The most significant criterion was the behavior of domestic animals. The resting place chosen by the cow was considered the most suitable. The Chuvash believed that a hut built here would be warm. And the places where geese landed, on the contrary, were considered unsuitable11. According to legends, the Udmurts, when choosing a place to build a kuala, observed the behavior of a bull. They followed the bull: where he stopped, there they founded a new village12.
For practical reasons, the Chuvash followed the sun, choosing the well-lit side. In the spring, we observed the decline in water and the first streams at the proposed site for the construction of a house. The rapid melting of snow, the dry ground was considered good sign. The choice of site was determined by lot. The settlers in the new territory, under the leadership of old people, gathered together to draw lots. The old men chose a long pole or staff and brought out future householders in pairs, who moved their palms along the length of the pole from top to ground. The first one to touch the ground chose the plot.
A detailed study of the site for a future home is also characteristic of the East Slavic tradition, according to which, from everything that was actually suitable, it was necessary to choose only that which could be considered such from a ritual-mythological point of view. In this case, a balance was established between the sacred and the profane, the cosmic and the earthly13. Entrusting the choice of a home to cattle is typical for the Eastern Slavs. Animals act as objects whose behavior is associated with a point in the space being developed14.
Opposite to successful loci are unsuitable plots of land, which included the territory of burnt houses, abandoned bathhouses, crossroads and old roads. The boundaries and dimensions of the new dwelling should not coincide with the previous house15. The Chuvash tried to remove the burned houses outside the settlement. The construction of a new dwelling, if there was no possibility of moving to another site, began away from the fire that occurred. It was considered undesirable to build a house on the site of an active or abandoned road. Vyatka residents avoided construction on the forest road that ran through the village16. Prohibitions were associated with being on roads, intersections and other disadvantaged areas otherworldly force, which had the possibility
9 Miller G.F. Description of the pagan peoples living in the Kazan province, such as the Cheremis, Chuvash and Votyaks. St. Petersburg, 1791. P. 9.
10 Scientific archive of the Chuvash State Institute of Humanities (hereinafter referred to as CHGIGN). Dept. III. Unit hr. 212. No. 1720.
11 Salmin A.K. Decree. op. S. 8.
12 Orlov P.A. The material world of the Udmurts (towards the semantics of material culture): dis... cand. ist. Sciences: 07.00.07. Izhevsk, 1999. P. 48.
13 Bayburin A.K. Dwelling in the rituals and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. L., 1983. P. 26.
14 Ibid. pp. 37-38.
15 Bayburin A.K. Ritual in traditional culture. Structural and semantic analysis of East Slavic rituals. St. Petersburg, 1993. P. 155.
16 Shchepanskaya T.B. The culture of the road in the Russian mythological and ritual tradition of the 19th-20th centuries. M., 2003. pp. 28-29.
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potential to cause harm. For example, the road was often used by sorcerers and healers; it connected the world of living people and dead ancestors.
An incorrectly chosen location for the construction of a home was the cause of failure and family discord17. The Chuvash believed that a person, having spent the night on the site planned for a house, would determine its properties. A sound, good sleep was considered a good sign. They also raised a hut on the site of an old ant heap, as it was drier and more convenient18. The Komi-Zyryans also resorted to the help of ants. Ants and a small amount of rubbish from the anthill were brought from the forest in a birch bark box. The box was placed on the site of the future building. If the place is good, then the ants will settle on it, otherwise they left the box19.
An example of a change in tradition with the street-block arrangement of houses in a settlement is the plot given by P.P. Fokin about the allocation of settlements from the village. Russian Vasilievka, Samara region. Old-timers talked about watching animals in a half-joking tone. “We should have brought them in and waited for them to settle down and calm down. But we, the settlers, had to maintain a row along the street line, maintain the boundaries of the plots, and the distance between the houses. So, if we wanted, we would not be able to follow these signs,” writes the author20. The refusal to build on a site favored by geese also confirms another requirement - from the start of construction until moving into the hut, bare-legged birds were not allowed into it, since they attracted poverty to the new house21.
Having decided on the location of the future hut, they laid the foundation. The action was accompanied by the rite of nikyos patti “porridge to the deity of the foundation.” The silver coin and wool were placed in the ketessi “corner of the deity of Tur” (southeast side), either on the foundation pillar, or after the first or third crown. In the center of the base of the new hut, they cooked porridge and read a prayer for the well-being of the family22. Silver was supposed to fill the house with wealth, wool - with warmth23. The Chuvash of the Bolsheshatma parish of the Yadrinsky district of the Kazan province, laying the foundation, laid out copper crosses in the corners, protecting them from evil spirits. When saying a prayer, they turned to face the east24.
The Chuvash dedicated a silver coin to the deity Khurtsurt, “the guardian of the hearth”25. With the adoption of Orthodoxy, the Chuvash began to borrow Russian traditions. When starting construction, coins and crosses were placed together in the corners. A priest was invited to consecrate a future or already completed house26.
The coins placed at the corners of the first crowns of the dwelling were called purt nikyosho27. Before the construction of the log house began, the Chuvash began to dig the underground. A crown was assembled around it, inside which Nikos patti porridge was cooked. Neighbors and the old man who led the ceremony were invited to the porridge. Turning to the east, they said the words of prayer. The old man threw a spoonful of porridge into the fire, after which they began to eat and treat themselves to beer. According to the remark of V.K. Magnitsky, in addition to coins, a handful of rye was placed in the corners28. If the coin represented wealth, wool - the warmth of the future building, then rye, naturally, meant a satisfying life and prosperity in the house.
During field trips, informants also recalled that a dug-out bush of young rowan along with its roots was lowered into the underground. The action is explained by the fact that the family, like a bush with roots, must firmly establish itself in a new place. Rowan protected the household and home. In a conversation with ethnographers E.A. Yagafova and I.G. Petrov suggested that the rowan bush in this situation was one of
17 Orlov P.A. Decree. op. P. 48.
18 Chuvash: ethnographic research. Spiritual culture. Cheboksary, 197o. Part 2. P. 72.
19 Belitser V.N. Essays on the ethnography of the Komi peoples. M., 1958. S. 213-214.
20 Fokin P.P. Construction rituals of the modern Chuvash family // Ethnology of Chuvash religion. Cheboksary, 2003. Vol. I. S. 67-68.
21 nA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 168. L. 363.
22 Salmin A.K. Chuvash folk rituals. Cheboksary, 1994. P. 103.
23 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 150. L. 514; ON CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 154. L. 238.
24 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 168. L. 305.
25 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 158. L. 12.
26 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 176. L. 357.
27 Ashmarin N.I. Decree. op. P. 90.
28 Magnitsky V.K. Materials for the explanation of the old Chuvash faith: Collected in some areas of the Kazan province. Kazan, 1881. pp. 108-109.
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forms of the household deity Jöröh. It is no coincidence that the tree was used as a talisman and kept in the house, on the estate or planted in the yard. For example, when installing new gates, rowan branches are thrown into the void of metal pillars. They are also laid in the foundation along with coins and wool.
Since folk culture is characterized by variability, different settlements know different things used when laying a house, and different angles suitable for this. The variety of names is also characteristic. So, in the village Bishkain, Aurgazinsky district of the Republic of Belarus, ritual actions are denoted in one word - nikyos “foundation, basis”29. Variation is also found in the choice of the person pawning the items. This role is played by the future owner, the eldest man in the family, the eldest woman or a pregnant woman. If there was no pregnant woman among the relatives during construction, she was invited from among neighbors and close friends. If there was no man in the family, the eldest woman would throw a jacket over herself and, holding a man’s hat or mitten under her left armpit, say a prayer and words of good wishes for the building under construction and the residents.
Pawning coins, wool or cereals is still practiced today. In a log house they are placed under the crowns, in a brick construction - under the first row following the foundation.
According to legends, in addition to coins and wool, the Chuvash sacrificed a dog or a wolf, which was laid under the foundation30. When establishing new settlements, they also buried the corpse of a dog or wild wolf in the ground31.
Sacrifice of objects for the benefit of a new home and holding prayers are found in the culture of the Bashkirs. At the site chosen for construction, a white stone was laid - the “foundation stone”, and coins were placed in the corners. They made a sacrifice and arranged a general treat for all those present and those who met on the street. Having laid the foundation, they invited a person who said a prayer and wished for prosperity and happiness32. We observe similar actions among the Mordovians. Before the construction of the foundation, a prayer was held in honor of the earth goddess. They buried bread and a chicken head under the front corner of the future house, left a coin, scattered grain, or sprinkled the blood of a donated chicken on the logs. The procedures brought wealth and prosperity33.
Having finished work with the foundation of the dwelling, they began to build the walls. The log houses were raised by laying the crowns one by one according to the way they were cut, in accordance with the numbering. The Chuvash denoted walls with the word perene, which also means log. Such a coincidence confirms the development, first of all, of log house construction in relation to other types of dwellings in post, frame-post and adobe technology.
On the erected log house, a maccha kashti “matitsa” was erected in one or two final rows. Small huts had one frame, while larger log houses had two. A strong log or timber was used under the mat. It was positioned perpendicular to the front door34. In laying matitsa along the log house, they noticed the difference between Chuvash huts and Russian dwellings35. One matrix was laid from high-quality coniferous wood, and two from deciduous trees, for example, aspen36. The number depended on the size and design of the house.
Undoubtedly, the installation of the matrix symbolized the completion of work on the log house, since the walls were erected, and, at the same time, a new stage of work on the roof of the house began. The uniqueness of the matitsa in the space of the hut, in relation to other building elements, is revealed by folklore materials:
Entri shalta, pudyo tulta “Andrey in the hut, head out” (matitsa)
30 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 35. L. 89.
31 Salmin A.K. Traditional rituals and beliefs of the Chuvash. St. Petersburg, 2010. P. 191.
32 Maslennikova T.A. Decoration of Bashkir folk dwellings (XIX-XX centuries). Ufa, 1998. P. 45.
33 Kornishina G.A. House and ritual in the traditional culture of the Mordovians // Humanitarian: actual problems humanities and education. 2012. No. 2 (18). P. 83.
34 Matveev G.B. Peasant construction equipment (Northwestern regions of Chuvashia) // Questions of material and spiritual culture of the Chuvash people. Cheboksary, 1986. P. 37.
35 ON CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 35. L. 78.
36 Matveev G.B. Chuvash folk architecture: from antiquity to modern times. P. 43.
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Retyuk retyom, Senchuk pechchen “Redyuk is a whole row, and Senchuk is one” (matitsa and ceiling boards)
Per saltak dine pin saltak pud hurat “A thousand soldiers lay their heads on one soldier” (matitsa and ceiling boards)37.
Matitsa demarcated the territory of a residential building. It was the boundary between the “internal”, “front” part and the “external”, “rear” part, associated with the entrance/exit. An outsider, having visited a house, should not cross the border and go behind the mother without the invitation of the owners38. Among the Chuvash, matchmakers who came to the bride’s house were located on a bench near the door or under the ceiling mat. Only after talking with the owners and receiving an invitation to the table, they crossed the border and moved to another part of the house, located behind the mat39. When treating a patient, the healer sat him under the mat, listing the variants of the disease40.
A.K.’s idea is fair. Baiburin that the place under the matitsa and its center should be considered the middle of the house, the topographical center, where a significant number of rituals were performed that were not associated with sitting at the table or with the stove41.
Raising the matitsa was always accompanied by ritual actions. The log intended for the mother was wrapped in a fur coat and raised in this form. This technique was used to express the wish that the house would remain warm. “When lifting the mat, no matter how hard it is, not one of the workers should groan or scream. When they put the motherboard in place, they do not knock on it with an ax or any other object... If these requirements are not followed, then, according to the builders, the hut will be smelly, carbon monoxide, damp and smoky,” we read in N’s notes. .IN. Nikolsky42. Ukrainian carpenters also tried not to knock on the motherboard, since in this case the owners would have a constant headache43.
There are different methods for lifting the matrix. In addition to covering with a fur coat, they hung a jug of beer, bread or a khuplu pie, and placed a spoonful of porridge at the ends of the matitsa. Having lifted the mat, the cord was cut. They picked up the loaf or watched the fall and the side on which the bread fell. The fate of the household depended on this44. The Russians wrapped bread, sometimes vodka and salt, in a tablecloth or fur and hung it from the matitsa. One of the builders scattered grain and hops near the house. At the top, the rope holding the tablecloth was cut. Like the Chuvash, in some settlements they picked up the package, and in other villages they watched the manner of its fall. The situation on earth predicted the future45.
Informants confidently associate the installation of the matrix with the completion of one of the construction stages. Before lifting, two, four or six craftsmen involved in working with the matrix were seated on the log house. When there were not enough men, adult women rose to the top. Before getting up, they announced in a playful manner: “The uterus asks for vodka!” Bread or a khupla and a bottle of moonshine, vodka, and home-made beer were tied to the matitsa with a rope. They lifted it very carefully, showing mutual respect and maintaining silence. The carpenters sitting on the log house drank a glass and lowered the bottle down. In addition to the bottle, a treat was tied to the mat, which, after trying, was also lowered down. Among the riding Chuvashs. Antonovka, Gafuriysky district of the Republic of Belarus, under the laid matica in the center of the house, the owners set the table for the builders46. In the village Naumkino, Aurgazinsky district of the Republic of Belarus, for insufficient food, the craftsmen hid an empty bottle from the mother on the roof of the house with the neck towards the windy side so that it would buzz during strong gusts47.
The rope with the hanging bread was cut off. A loaf falling flat side down was a good sign; a rounded side of the bread foreshadowed misfortune. Besides
37 Romanov N.R. Chuvash proverbs, sayings and riddles. Cheboksary, i960. P. 206.
38 Bayburin A.K. Dwelling in the rituals and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. P. 145.
39 ON CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 177. L. 67-68.
40 NA CHGIGN. Dept. I. Unit hr. 154. L. 22.
41 Bayburin A.K. Decree. op. P. 146.
42 Nikolsky N.V. A short course in Chuvash ethnography. Cheboksary, 1928. Issue. 1. P. 38.
43 Zelenin D.K. East Slavic ethnography. M., 1991. P. 316.
44 Matveev G.B. Decree. op. P. 43.
45 Zelenin D.K. Decree. op. pp. 315-316.
46 PMA - 2011 (RB, Gafuriy district, Antonovka village).
47 PMA - 2013 (RB, Aurgazinsky district, Naumkino village).
SCIENTIFIC GUIDELINES
Series History. Political science. Economy. Computer science. 2015 No. 1 (198). Issue 33
pie, bread, bottles and snacks, the installation of the mother mat is associated with the placement of coins and wool, i.e. repeated the same steps as when laying the foundation. The coin and wool symbolized the prosperity and warmth of the future building. In the village Bishkain, Aurgazinsky district of the Republic of Belarus, flour, millet and other cereals were rolled into a ball of wool.
Ukrainians of the Republic of Bashkortostan wrapped a matitsa in a scarf and placed grain and coins under it, which guaranteed a happy life. Under the influence of the Bashkirs, the Ukrainians replaced money with wool, “a symbol of happiness and prosperity among pastoral peoples”48. The use of coins and wool confirms the role of matitsa as the locus of concentration of the family’s material well-being49.
Ritual actions under the matitsa at home during wedding celebrations, seeing off a recruit and other situations confirm “the decisiveness of the events taking place in the life of an individual, family and clan... the fateful task is being solved: to be behind the matitsa or to stay on this side”50.
Thus, the Chuvash, like many other peoples, accompanied the construction of a new house with ritual actions. The location for the future home was chosen in accordance with religious beliefs, but paying attention to the features of the landscape. TO significant events belongs to the correct laying of the foundation, ensuring a comfortable and happy life in a new place. Symbols of prosperity were coins, wool, and rowan branches. The construction of the log house ended with the installation of the mat, which personified the middle of the hut space, its center. Naturally, home rituals are diverse, containing a large number various kinds procedures. However, the choice of the location of the house, the beginning of construction and the completion of one of the stages are important events in the Chuvash house-building tradition.
HOUSEBUILDING TRADITIONS OF CHUVASHIANS
Housebuilding accompanied by ceremonials. They are protected oncoming houses, providing prosperity and domesticity. In the article was analyzed Chu-vashian ceremonials of choicing place for a home, starting building, taking basement of home and putting joist. House installation was occurring in a locus, that consistent landscape peculiarity and respondent to Chuvashians ideology. Prosperity and domesticity depended on taking a proper basement. The welfare domesticity embodied by coins, rowanberry branches, wools of pets. Housebuilding was finishedig by putting joyist on a frame. Joist defined the center of the house. Choicing place for a building, starting to building and finishing it was important events of Chuvashians housebuilding traditions. There are ethnocultural parallels for better reconstruction.
Key words: home, ceremonies, building, base, joist, ehuvash.
Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University
e-mail: [email protected]
48 Babenko V.Ya. Ukrainians of the Bashkir SSR: behavior of a small ethnic group in a multiethnic environment. Ufa, 1992. P. 125.
49 Shklyaev G.K. Rituals and beliefs of the Udmurts associated with housing // Folklore and ethnography of the Udmurts: rituals, customs, beliefs. Izhevsk, 1989. pp. 32-33.
50 Salmin A.K. Semantics at home among the Chuvash. pp. 56-57.
Most Chuvash still live in villages (yal). In the northern regions of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which are older in settlement, villages are usually located in clusters, often including up to a dozen villages. In the southern part of the republic, settled later, the distribution of villages is more even. The names of most northern villages have the prefix pasa, which means the end, or settlement. In the southern regions, names with such a prefix are not found, but many villages are settlements from ancient northern settlements. Here they bear the names of old villages with the addition - Novoye, Polevoe, etc. Southern villages are usually larger than northern ones (sometimes up to 500-800 households; in the northern ones - 80-100 households).
An old Chuvash village in the northern regions is characterized by a division into ends. This was often due to the fact that the terrain was heavily cut up by ravines, and the ends were the parts of the village located in separate spaces between the ravines. Often the ends stood out and: with even terrain. These ends probably represented groups of relatives' estates. Northern villages are also characterized by crooked streets, as if laid between separate, disorderly nests of estates. Nowadays, in connection with the ongoing massive housing construction in such villages, new straight streets are being laid and old ones are being redeveloped. In the southern regions, the street layout previously prevailed, without ends, often along the river.
Chuvash estates in most cases have the shape of an elongated rectangle and are separated from one another by an alley, usually planted with trees or shrubs. As a rule, estates are divided into two parts: the front - the courtyard itself, on which the residential building stands and most of the outbuildings are located, and the back, where the vegetable garden is laid out, and the bathhouse is also located here. In the past, at the rear of the estate there was a threshing floor with chaff, and often a granary for storing grain. In new estates, such a clear division of the estate into two parts is often not observed, since there are fewer outbuildings (many of them are no longer needed), and they do not separate the front yard from the back of the estate.
Previously, when setting up a residential building, the orientation towards the sunny side was mandatory. It was often placed inside the estate with an entrance facing east and a window to the south, regardless of the orientation of the estate in relation to the street. Nowadays, new houses are usually built with the façade facing the street, and windows are cut in them in accordance with the internal layout.
The main type of house (purt), both before and now, is a log four-wall, cut into a cup. Recently, the five-walled structure has become increasingly widespread, better suited to the needs of collective farmers. The log house is usually placed on oak chairs; the space between the chairs is taken up with short logs or blocks, which are placed under the lower crown of the frame across the wall. Each house has an underground with a depth of about 1.5 m. The height of the frame from the floor to the mat (maccha) varies from 2 to 2.3 m, and in new large houses it even reaches 3 m. A four-walled structure most often has three windows in front and two in the side wall; a five-wall structure has more windows, and they are usually located on three sides of the house.
IN last years They began to build not only log houses on a brick or stone foundation, but also completely brick ones. In the area of railway stations, where a lot of slag accumulates, slag concrete houses were often erected.
Most houses have gable roofs on rafters. In the southern regions, hip roofs are more common, and only very old houses have male roofs. Previously, most houses were covered with thatched roofing, reinforced with transverse beams. Only a few houses, those of the more prosperous ones, were covered with shingles or planks. Nowadays, all roofs of new houses are covered with planks, iron or slate. The pediment of a gable roof is usually covered with planks and is often decorated with shaped boards.
After the reform of 1861, the Chuvash began to decorate the outside of their houses, which they had not done before. The platbands of houses (especially of rich peasants) were decorated with chisel carvings, and the frieze with bas-relief ship carvings. Pediments and platbands were sometimes painted polychrome. The corners of the log houses were covered with longitudinal boards with carved planks for paneling.
Currently, the decoration of Chuvash homes has undergone significant development. If previously only wealthy peasants decorated their houses, now all collective farmers have this opportunity. Sawn threads are widely used in the exterior design of residential buildings. The polychrome coloring is also preserved.
In the XVIII - early XIX V. The Chuvash did not build canopies. The door of the house faced the outside: a window was cut in its upper part so that the rays of the rising sun could immediately penetrate into the hut. In the middle of the 19th century. a cage appeared behind the house, and between it and the living part of the house there was a vestibule, in front of which they later began to build a porch with a staircase. The entrance to the cage was not from the entryway, like that of Russian peasants, but separate. As a result, the Chuvash house received a three-part structure: hut - canopy - cage.
Ancient Chuvash houses were heated with an adobe stove with a black firebox (kamaka); a cauldron was suspended over an open pole. At the beginning of the 20th century. The black firebox began to quickly disappear, and now all rural houses are heated by a Russian stove, on the side of which there is a hearth with a hanging boiler. Among part of the population of the southern regions of Chuvashia, a common hearth is attached to the side of the stove, with a boiler embedded in it, like the Tatars. In new houses, the side of the stove is finished as a Dutch oven, without a stove bench.
IN old houses the stove was usually placed in the corner, close to the back and blank walls of the house, with the firebox facing the front wall. The entire front part of the hut was occupied by wide bunks, as in a Tatar dwelling. Movable benches were placed along the walls, sometimes a table was placed near the side wall, in Later, the Chuvash hut took on the layout and furnishings of a Russian peasant hut. A partition appeared that separated the kitchen: it ran along the side of the stove to the front wall. The bunks disappeared or remained only in the kitchen. Wide, fixed benches were built along the front and side walls. and at the back, next to the entrance, there is a platform like a Russian conic with the introduction of a firebox. in white Polati appeared (more often in the southern regions); The front corner of the hut with its shrine and table gradually began to stand out.
After collectivization, when the financial situation of the peasants improved sharply, the Chuvash began to build new types of houses and rebuild old ones. Housing construction expanded especially widely in the post-war period. They are building, as before, four- and five-wall buildings, but they are planned differently. New four-walls are often made slightly longer than the previous ones. The stove is placed more than 1 m away from the rear wall and the firebox is facing the side wall with the window. A small room is formed between the stove and the back wall; sometimes a window is cut into it in a blank wall. A partition with a door is placed along the line of the side of the stove, separating the clean front half of the house. The latter is sometimes also divided by a partition, thus creating a large room and a bedroom.
For heating, an additional small brick stove is installed here, which has a common chimney with the main stove. Large-family collective farmers, as well as the rural intelligentsia, most often build themselves five-walled buildings, in which both living halves are usually connected by a door.
One half, which is entered from the vestibule, is usually used as a kitchen and dining room; the second half, heated mostly by a Dutch oven, is divided into two or three rooms. The floors in new houses must be painted, and in many houses the walls are also painted.
The new houses of the Chuvash already have modern furnishings. Many collective farmers have bookcases and wardrobes, radios, a large number of indoor plants* tulle curtains on the windows, embroidered rugs on the walls. The interior of the house gradually takes on the appearance of a city apartment. The front corner is decorated with a good painting or family photographs. In the kitchen, although a hanging boiler remains obligatory, a stove is often installed on a stove and food is cooked in pots, which the Chuvash did not have before.
In addition to the residential building and the cage, which was almost always combined with the house under one roof, on the Chuvash estate there were log buildings for livestock, sheds, a barn for storing grain, sometimes a bathhouse * and also a lada - a typical Chuvash building that served as a summer kitchen and place for making beer.
The cage was built from thick logs, on chairs, like residential buildings, with a good floor and ceiling, but no windows. The roof protruded over the log house* forming a canopy. Before the entrance to the cage there was a wide porch up to 0.5 m high, sometimes with two steps.
Barns were often made similar in type to a cage, but they were divided by a log partition into two rooms with separate entrances. In one of them, grain reserves were stored in bottoms and tubs, in the other - household utensils, harnesses, etc.
Los is a small building made of thin logs or slabs, without a ceiling or windows. The roof was gable, made of shingles or planks, and often one slope was made higher than the other to create cracks for smoke to escape. The floor is earthen. Inside there is an open hearth with a hanging boiler. Along the walls there are low earthen bunks, covered on the front side with boards or beams. Various household utensils were stored on bunks and shelves. Some families had a low plank table in one of the corners, at which they ate in the summer, sitting on bunks. This structure, apparently, was a relic of an ancient Chuvash dwelling, like the “kudo” among the Mari and the “kuala” among the Udmurts.
As already noted, in new estates the number of outbuildings has sharply decreased; even the cage disappears, being replaced by a closet in the entryway of the house*
Each village has a school, a reading hut, a first-aid post, and in many villages there is a village club or cultural center, a hospital, one or more shops, and in some - public baths. The outbuildings of the collective farm are mostly located on the outskirts; these are premises for livestock, grain storage, silos, grain dryers, etc. In many villages, water pumps have been built, supplying water from wells and other reservoirs, water dispensers have been installed, and in large villages there are water towers. All this significantly changed the appearance of the settlements.
In a number of villages there are bakeries, canteens, sewing workshops, shoe repair is organized, hairdressing salons, photography and other public service enterprises are open. In large settlements, sidewalks began to be built, and flower beds were installed near public buildings. Chuvash villages are distinguished by an abundance of greenery.
In recent years, many state farms and enlarged collective farms have begun rebuilding villages according to a master plan. New construction is associated with the redevelopment of old settlements or their expansion. IN regional centers, where a large population not directly associated with agriculture (employees, workers) build urban-type apartment buildings, often two-story.
According to the 1959 census, 26% of the population of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (267,749 people) lives in cities and urban-type settlements. There are currently seven cities, of which Cheboksary, Alatyr, Tsivilsk and Yadrin were founded back in the 16th century, and Kanash and Shumerlya turned into cities already in Soviet times due to the development of industry. Now there are six urban-type settlements in Chuvashia: Kozlovka, Kirya, Vurnary, Ibresi, Buinsk, Urmary.
During Soviet times, the city of Cheboksary, the capital of the republic, especially grew. Before the October Revolution there were only about 5 thousand inhabitants, but according to the 1959 census, there were more than 104 thousand people in Cheboksary. Now Cheboksary is a modern city with multi-storey buildings and various utility companies. A satellite city is being built not far from Cheboksary. Large construction is also underway in Kanash, Shumerla and Alatyr, although there are still many rural-type buildings in them. The remaining cities and workers' settlements consist mainly of small one- and two-story houses and outwardly resemble large villages. Among the residents of the new cities there are many Chuvash, mostly recent peasants who have now become workers.
Food
The food of the Chuvash, like all ancient farmers, was dominated by herbal products: flour, cereals, vegetables, oils from oilseeds. Milk and dairy products were of less importance: butter, buttermilk, cottage cheese, cheese, etc. Relatively little meat was consumed, even by the middle peasantry. Most Chuvash peasants were forced to sell more valuable products (meat, butter, eggs) in order to make ends meet on their farm.
Bread was almost always baked sour, from rye flour, and only for holiday cookies was wheat flour used, mostly purchased, which was available only to wealthier families. Pancakes and pancakes were baked from spelled, buckwheat, and less often barley, oatmeal or pea flour. Grain grinding and peeling were carried out on water and windmills and grain crushers, but small amounts of grain almost up to last decades ground in wooden hand mills and peeled in wooden mortars.
Vegetables were consumed in large quantities - cabbage, onions, turnips, radishes, carrots, horseradish, as well as wild herbs: sorrel, hogweed, nettle, etc., which, together with vegetables, served as a seasoning for dishes, filling for pies, etc. mid-19th century great place Potatoes took over the Chuvash diet.
The Chuvash middle peasant had the opportunity to consume meat only on major holidays, mainly in the fall, when livestock was stabbed. Only a rich Chuvash could eat meat - beef and lamb, if not constantly, then often. Pork began to be eaten more often only in the last century. In the past, especially the lower Chuvash, willingly ate horse meat, but more often it served as ritual food during prayers. Poultry meat was rarely eaten. Only in the fall were they slaughtering roosters; chicken was too valuable. Geese and ducks, as noted, were bred only by wealthy peasants.
They ate little fish, and then mainly in the Volga and Sur settlements. The Chuvash, who lived in places remote from rivers, bought fish only when they had to come to the city.
A number of dishes were prepared from eggs, but only for honored relatives or guests. Eggs were eaten very rarely. They were sold to buy various necessary items from traveling traders.
Milk and dairy products were widely used in peasant nutrition. Fresh milk was given only to children; adults hardly drank it. They sold the oil. Skim milk, or churning (uyran), was used as a seasoning for liquid dishes or washed down with porridge. Cottage cheese and a kind of chakat cheese were made from skim milk. To prepare sour milk (turah), skim milk, or less often whole milk, was fermented. By adding water to the turs, they got a refreshing drink, turakh uyranyo.
In addition to animal oil, the Chuvash prepared large quantities of vegetable oil from flax, hemp, and poppy seeds. Poppy “milk” was used as a seasoning for porridge.
The main first course was usually soup (yagika, or shurpe) with potatoes and other seasonings made from flour, vegetables, herbs, etc. Sometimes it was cooked without meat, seasoning only with animal or vegetable oil or churning (uyran). The riding Chuvash cut the boiled meat into small pieces and put it in the soup; the lower Chuvash took the meat out of the soup and served it as a second course with boiled potatoes.
Porridges were a regular dish - spelled, buckwheat, millet, lentil. They often ate peas. Thick porridges were eaten as a second course, seasoned with animal or vegetable oil or washed down with uiran, less often with milk. The main course was often served with potatoes boiled in their skins, or peeled and mashed, which were eaten with butter or milk. Often, especially in the fields, oatmeal was brewed, which was also flavored with oil or uran. Jelly, sour and unleavened, was made from oatmeal and pea flour.
For family and public holidays, they prepared huran kupli - pies boiled in a cauldron and filled with cottage cheese and eggs, mashed potatoes with butter or sour cream, and sometimes with meat and onions. A cup of melted butter was served to the table, into which the khuran dolls were dipped. TO festive table They served several types of scrambled eggs. Hard-boiled eggs, cut in half and fried in a frying pan with butter, were considered a particularly tasty dish.
Tultarmagi were also considered a tasty dish - intestines stuffed with fatty meat with barley, spelled or millet porridge, which were boiled in a cauldron and then lightly fried. Fresh animal blood along with small pieces of lard were baked in a roasting pan and served hot.
The original dish was the Chuvash sausage sharttan: the cleaned stomach of an animal, usually a lamb, was stuffed with small pieces of meat and lard, then sewn up and placed in a frying pan in the oven for 3-4 hours. After cooling, it was cut into thin slices and served to guests as a delicacy. Sometimes sharttan was prepared for the purpose of preserving meat; for this purpose it was salted more heavily, then hung. In this form it could be stored for a long time. In the summer they made soup from it.
From dough, mostly sour, into holidays, and also baked flatbreads and donuts for parties; small balls of butter dough (yawa) or small flat cakes (yusman) in the past served as a ritual dish during prayers.
They also baked pies with various fillings and puremech - a type of cheesecake with cottage cheese or potatoes. Sometimes they baked closed pies just like the Russians. Particularly characteristic of the Chuvash was khuplu or pelesh: an unleavened flatbread was placed in a deep frying pan so that it covered the entire inner surface of the frying pan; a thick layer of finely chopped raw or lightly cooked meat was placed on it, and thinly sliced slices were placed on top of it lard, and all this was covered with another cake. Khupla was baked in the oven and served in a frying pan. The elder cut the top crust according to the number of eaters and distributed a piece to each. Then everyone ate the filling with spoons, biting into the top crust. Then they ate the bottom crust, soaked in lard, which was also first cut into pieces according to the number of eaters. Sometimes the khupla was filled with porridge with raisins, richly flavored with butter.
Chuvash cuisine had many tasty and nutritious dishes, but they were prepared only on holidays and for guests. Families, even those of the middle peasants, ate very little, mainly bread, a box of uran, porridges and jelly.
The Chuvash spent a lot of food not for family consumption, but for sacrifices. During public prayers, a significant number of livestock and poultry were slaughtered in every locality. A lot of grain was spent on preparing ritual beer. Eggs, chakat, porridge and other products were spent on family prayers and sacrifices.
The most common drink was beer (sara), which was prepared in almost every household, with the exception of poor households. They drank Russian kvass in small quantities.
In Soviet times, due to the sharp rise in material and cultural level Among the Chuvash, their diet also changed. The products basically remained the same, but the most valuable of them (meat, butter) began to be used in large quantities and all the Chuvashs. The diet included fruits, sugar and confectionery, which previously, and then in minimal quantities, were consumed only by the rich. Along with many dishes preserved from the old cuisine, goulash, stewed meat with potatoes, fried potatoes with butter or meat and other dishes that passed over mainly from Russian cuisine, partly through public catering, became common. The table setting changed: wooden utensils disappeared, and each person began to be served with separate plates and cutlery. The Chuvash diet is becoming more caloric and varied, and methods of preparing dishes and serving are improving.
