What would the days be like without fathers？ Maybe not so bad， according to experts on the Mosuo culture of the Chinese Himalaya.

Men of the Mosuo， who live around Lugu Lake on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces， do help to raise kids—just not their own， with whom the men typically have only limited relationships. Instead the men help look after all the children born to their own sisters， aunts， and other women of the family.

The women of the Mosuos villages head the households， make business decisions， and own property， which they pass on to their matrilineal heirs. In the unique Mosuo tradition called the walking marriage， women invite men to visit their rooms at night—and to leave in the morning. Women may also change partners as often as they like， and carry no social stigma.

“The lack of live-in fathers shouldn't be taken as evidence that the Mosuo don't value family life，” said Lombard， of the Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association. “In fact， they value it above all other relationships.”

沒有父親的日子該怎么過？也許沒那么悲傷——在中國喜馬拉雅山脈一帶專門研究摩梭族文化的專家如是說。

摩梭人生活在云南省和四川省交界處的瀘沽湖一帶，那里的男子在養(yǎng)兒育女問題上事實上也確有幫助——但他們所養(yǎng)育的偏偏不是自己的孩子，沒什么直接血緣關(guān)系。相反，這些男子幫助養(yǎng)育的孩子都是自己的姐妹、姨媽、姑媽及家族內(nèi)的其他女人生的孩子。

在摩梭族農(nóng)村，婦女自主安排并承擔(dān)一切生計，她們擁有財產(chǎn)權(quán)，并有權(quán)把財產(chǎn)傳給母系繼承人。當(dāng)?shù)赜幸粋€十分獨特的走婚習(xí)俗，也就是到了晚上，女子可以把男子請到家里來過夜，第二天一早，男子便可離開。女子是可以隨時隨意更換男子的，完全不會背負(fù)不好的社會名聲。

瀘沽湖摩梭族文化發(fā)展協(xié)會的拉姆巴德說：“生活中缺少父親，并不能因此說明摩梭人就不重視家庭生活。相反，他們會把那種家庭關(guān)系看得高于其他一切關(guān)系。”