On the distant African continent, there is the mysterious country of Eswatini, which is known in the world as a short-lived kingdom.
The average life expectancy in the country is only 35 years, and most of them are suffering from AIDS!
Not only that, the King of Eswatini was also very arrogant and extravagant, taking the lead in marrying nearly hundreds of women, turning the traditional festival into a large-scale concubine selection scene.
What is even more shocking is that although the entire country has a population of only 1.15 million, nearly 43% of the population is infected with HIV, and about 40% of these people are pregnant women.
So is no one in charge of such a ridiculous thing? What other strange customs and Xi customs and habits are there in Eswatini?
Strange little country
Eswatini is a landlocked country in Africa, with a very small land area and a poor population, with Mozambique to the east and South Africa on the other three.
Since the Xinhai Revolution on the mainland, the absolute monarchy system of more than 2,000 years has ended.
But in Eswatini, it is still an absolute monarchy and one of the few remaining monarchies in the world.
So what is the reason for this?
Despite its small size, Eswatini is blessed with abundant natural resources and unrivalled beauty, which has attracted the attention of many countries, including the United Kingdom.
In the late 19th century, Britain developed rapidly and began to expand its colonies outward.
During this period, the British defeated the Afrikaners and added Welshland to the protectorate.
Later, with the influx of foreign capital, Eswatini's resources were massively exploited.
For a time, this small African country far from the rest of the world developed rapidly, and Britain also benefited a lot from it.
Not only that, but while Britain shared the pie, it also turned the then king of Eswatini, Sobhuza II, into his puppet.
But for the royal family of Eswatini, this is also a "win-win" thing.
Under the protection of the British, the royal family of Eswatini lived in luxury, not to mention not worrying about being overthrown by the people below.
Especially in terms of marriage, Eswatini has always retained polygamy.
It is said that at that time Sobhuza II had more than a hundred wives and more than a thousand offspring in his lifetime. Even the current king of Eswatini married fifteen women and conceived thirty-five children......
However, although the Eswatini royal family is doing well, the people below do not enjoy any of the benefits of capital, and most of them are still engaged in agricultural activities.
Until now, agriculture and animal husbandry have remained the mainstay of Eswatini, and unlike other countries, gold is not a necessary circulation, while cattle are the real hard currency.
In Eswatini, it's not about who has the money, it's about who owns more cattle.
As a result, most of the cattle were in the hands of the nobility and the royal family, while the rest of the common people depended on God for food.
Although Sobhuza II had the support of the British, the long period of oppression had already made the people miserable, and gradually various voices of opposition appeared.
However, under the circumstances, the concept of "apartheid" prevailing in South Africa flowed into Eswatini, which also made the people dare not act rashly against the royal family, but this was also temporary.
The clever Britons certainly noticed the situation, but they only cared if Eswatini's resources could be used by them, so Britain didn't care about social changes in Eswatini at all.
Gradually, this discontent grew so fierce that it threatened the very foundations of the Eswatini royal family, but after World War II, Britain fell behind other countries and stopped caring about the Eswatini royal family.
Then, in 1968, Eswatini gained independence, but the long-term colonial rule seems to have caused Eswatini people to lose their sense of autonomy, thinking that life after independence will be better and better, but they did not expect that society is gradually regressing.
However, for Eswatini people, this is not the biggest problem, and it is more difficult to challenge the strange behavior of the royal family that is suffering from the epidemic of AIDS......
The king is obsessed with choosing a concubine
The Reed Festival is a traditional festival in Eswatini that is celebrated by Eswatini with a big performance in late August and early September.
At this time, nearly 100,000 passionate and hot women will gather for a coming-of-age ceremony that has lasted for hundreds of years.
I saw the Eswatini princess wearing a fiery red headdress, leading several girls to the performance venue slowly, these girls were dressed in tassels and short skirts, showing an unrestrained smile, then tourists would stop and watch.
The maiden held twenty reeds that had been picked in advance, and these things were essential gifts for the sacrifice in the palace of the Queen Mother.
According to Eswatini tradition, these reeds represent their purity, so maidens must ensure that the reeds are not broken.
However, since 1999, the Reed Festival has lost its original meaning and has become an event for the king to choose his concubines.
On the last day of the Reed Festival, when all the maidens are ready, the king himself comes to the scene to choose the concubine of his choice.
At this time, the girls need to dance in unison, and the king will slowly appreciate and choose the girls he is satisfied with to fill the harem.
According to statistics, the 55-year-old current king of Eswatini, Mswati III, is the king who has the most wives in the world's remaining monarchies.
And the main way that Mswati was able to marry so many wives was through the festival of reeds to select the right maiden.
Prior to this, the Reed Festival was a traditional festival for cultivating the sense of labor and interpersonal communication among young girls, but since Mswati began to choose concubines, this festival has gradually changed its taste, and it has become a way for the king to enrich his harem.
But for the girls, it's also an opportunity to get ahead quickly.
In ordinary people's homes, even food and clothing are a problem, but if you can become a king's woman, you won't have to worry about it in this life.
At the festival of reeds, the maidens would dress themselves carefully, put on gorgeous dresses and headdresses, and perform beautiful dances to attract the king's attention, but more often than not, hoping that they would fly up the branches and become phoenixes.
However, the woman chosen by the king is both lucky and unlucky, so why say that?
The king had so many women that he could not even get the rain and dew, which meant that no woman could be favored all the time.
Most of them are only favored by the king at the beginning, and after a while, they are forgotten by the king.
What woman can tolerate her husband not loving her?
In such a situation, the king will choose to expel the king for fear of losing the face of the royal family.
However, compared to Mswati III, his father was even more absurd.
He had more than 100 wives and more than 1,000 children in his lifetime!
To support such a huge harem, money is indispensable.
And what a ridiculous thing that Mswati III has the fifteenth richest fortune in the world – the super-rich in a poor country.
However, the most troubling issue is Eswatini's high rate of HIV infection.
AIDS is rampant
Although the king of Eswatini was rich, the people under him were poor, and most of them lived hungry and fed, not to mention basic health care and education.
Eswatini also faces an even more serious health crisis: the AIDS epidemic that has shattered the superficial modernization of this small and impoverished country.
How high is the HIV infection rate in Eswatini? Almost one in four adults will have AIDS!
But what is the reason for this?
After Eswatini returned from South Africa in 1987 and brought the country's first case of AIDS, HIV has spread rapidly in Eswatini without anyone being able to control it.
Over time, the rate of AIDS infection has increased eightfold, and Eswatini has become the country with the highest rate of HIV infection in the world.
There are many reasons for this, such as polygamy speared by kings, the lack of effective security measures, male supremacy, and traditional sexual culture.
However, the most fundamental reason is that due to the lack of educational resources, Eswatini people lack a correct understanding of HIV/AIDS and are unwilling to test for HIV or use safe measures......
Faced with this dilemma, many stupid Eswatini people still believe in some superstitious rumors that having sex with a virgin can cure AIDS, which is simply absurd!
By 1998, almost half of Eswatini's middle-aged men and women were infected with AIDS, with women contracting twice as much as men, and the average life expectancy in Eswatini had plummeted to 35 years.
The AIDS epidemic has not only severely affected the physical well-being of Eswatini, but has also taken huge social and economic costs.
Problems such as population decline, labor shortage, declining social productivity, and rising poverty have followed.
Faced with the dire situation of the country, it was certainly impossible for the king Mswati III to sit idly by, so he issued a series of ridiculous policies.
At first, he simply called on the people to be ethical and change their bad sexual behavior, but these speeches seemed to be of little use, and the AIDS infection rate was still increasing, and not only that, but even the majesty of the king was challenged.
In a fit of rage, the king had no choice but to issue a special decree: forbidding women from wearing trousers throughout the country, which sounded like an absurd thing.
He believes that it is uncivilized and immoral for women to wear pants, in addition to this, wearing pants will also cause temptation and distress to men, and even destroy the order of society, which in turn affects the foundation of the country.
Therefore, in order to protect women from aggression and reduce the spread of AIDS, the king forbade women to wear trousers instead in traditional long skirts, otherwise they were severely punished.
This is not enough, what is even more bizarre is that in the face of the growing crisis, the king still does not realize the source of the problem. In 2001, Mswati III enacted an Abstinence Act.
In this law, Mswati III tried to control the population from sexual activity for five years, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is skinny.
However, this decree not only did not organize the epidemic of AIDS, but also increased the prevalence of abortion.
In addition, the Eswatini government has come up with a way to put a stamp on the buttocks of people with AIDS, which can be seen when they have sex.
There is no doubt that the policy was opposed by a large number of people as soon as it was introduced, and in desperation, the government had to abandon this method and began to look for a new source.
Subsequently, the United Nations could not stand it anymore and included AIDS prevention and control as one of the priority areas for funding, so Eswatini, with the highest HIV infection rate in the world, began to receive assistance from all over the world.
In 2006, Eswatini decided to urge men to practice circumcision, and loudspeaker propaganda could be heard on the streets at that time.
Gradually, circumcision became a nationwide movement, and many men consciously went for circumcision at the initiative.
Thanks to the efforts of all sectors of society, the rate of HIV infection, which has been high, has finally shown a downward trend, and although it is not known what the real reason for the decline is, the results are satisfactory.
Epilogue:
In general, Eswatini is a mysterious and unrestrained country, with rich resources and colorful culture, although some Xi customs are derailed from modern civilization, but it is also a kind of cultural diversity.