Briefly describe the Wa ethnic group?

There are about 350,000 Wa people, mainly living in Cangyuan and Ximeng counties in Yunnan Province. They are also scattered in Menglian, Lancang, Gengma, Shuangjun, Zhenkang, Xishuangbanna and Dehong counties and states. The Wa language belongs to the Wa Deang branch of the Mon-Khmer language family of the South Asian language family. There are three dialect areas of Wa, and the so-called "A Wa" around Ximeng and Menglian, which is located in the center of the A Wa Mountains, has preserved the ancient language and cultural characteristics of the Wa, and its music has the most original Wa style. About 40 years ago, the Wa were still in a slavery society with strong remnants of primitive communes, and their productivity level was very low. "The Wa believed in primitive religions and in the spirit of all things. They often hold rituals such as pulling wooden drums, cutting the tail of cows, plagiarizing cows, and even sacrificing the head of a hunter to the valley. Some primitive customs have been gradually eliminated in recent years. The traditional folk songs of Wa are very rich, and in the process of long-term historical development, Wa has created an outstanding music culture.