What are the categories of Dai folk songs?

The Dai folk songs can be divided into labor songs, mountain songs, narrative songs, custom songs and other categories.

There are many kinds of labor songs, and there are as many kinds of labor as there are labor. Most of them reflect people's labor life and their prayers and joy for a good harvest.

Mountain songs are mainly love songs, mostly sung by young men and women in the mountains and forests. They are sung in solo and duet forms. There is a big difference in the styles of the songs in each Dai settlement. When the same tune is sung with different words, the other elements can be changed except for the tonal backbone tone and the ending tone at the end of the sentence and the end of the song, which remain unchanged.

There are three kinds of narrative songs: mythological narrative songs, heroic narrative songs and tragic love narrative songs. The tunes are characterized by a distinctive chanting nature.

Custom songs can be divided into folk custom songs and religious ceremony songs. The customary songs of the Dai ethnic group are characterized by wedding and funeral songs. The song of crying marriage is called "Shouting Hai Saimi" in Dai language; the song of funeral is called "Shouting Sea" in Dai language.

Primitive religious ritual songs mainly include songs for local gods, songs for family gods, and songs for invoking spirits. The song for local gods is called "Shouting She Meng" in Dai language. Every year on July 15 of the lunar calendar in the temple to hold "worship social Meng" ceremony, singing "shout social Meng".

The Dai people also have some characteristic songs and dances, such as the Peacock Dance, the Twelve Horses Dance and the Heel Drum Dance. These songs and dances are often accompanied by beautiful dance songs.