What are the customs and habits of the Dai people?

(1) diet. I am used to eating two meals in the morning and evening. I have an acidophilic habit. All kinds of vegetables should be added with special acid juice, and then dried and preserved. Adding a little to cooked vegetables or soup at every meal will turn sour, which is almost an essential dish for every meal. I don't eat japonica rice, glutinous rice, steamed in a crock, and don't eat mutton. Men like drinking and chewing betel nuts.

Bamboo rice. Put the rice into the bamboo stick, fill the mouth of the bamboo stick with water, and then barbecue. When the surface of the bamboo stick is burnt, the rice is cooked. Bamboo rice is especially fragrant.

(2) Dai bamboo house. Dai villages are all at the water's edge of Pingba. Where there are green trees, there are villages. Bamboo houses can protect against moisture and heat. Dai bamboo house is full of tropical pastoral flavor. Stepping on the wooden ladder and sitting on the golden mat on the balcony, you can watch the harmonious life in the stockade. The hospitable host will take out a small bamboo table.

(3) rushing to show. Dai people call large and small festivals "swinging". According to the original meaning of Dai language, rushing to show is a grand festival or assembly. A dazzling array of booths at the venue were filled with food and supplies, especially the unique tube handkerchief, silver ornaments and soft silk of the Dai people, which attracted tourists.

(4) Water-splashing Festival. Every June 12 (7 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day), the Dai New Year begins for 3-5 days. From the early morning, activities such as sand piling, water splashing, packet loss and dragon boat racing began. Among them, the most national characteristic is splashing water. This is a carnival full of youth for men and women. In the morning, first collect flowers to build a greenhouse. Then pick clean water and pour it on the Buddha statue to welcome the dust. It often rains. Dai people think that splashing water on each other is to pray for blessings, eliminate diseases and respond to solar terms. Therefore, splashing more is a sign of friendship. Those who are splashed will be greeted with smiles. The play lasted until the water in the street turned into a river.

General situation of nationalities

Dai people in China are mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County and Menglian Dai and Lahu Wa Autonomous County. The rest are scattered in more than 30 counties in Xinping, Yuanjiang and Jinping, Yunnan Province. Living in mountainous and plain areas, it has a subtropical climate. According to the statistics of the fifth national census in 2000, the Dai population is 1 158989. The use of Dai language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. This family has pinyin characters, which are different from place to place. In 1950s, Chinese characters were reformed.

Dai people call themselves "Dai Nuo", "Dai Ya", "Dai Na" and "Dai War". In the Han and Jin Dynasties, it was called "Dian Yue", "Shan", "Good at", "Liao" or "Kuliao". In the Tang and Song Dynasties, they were called "Golden Teeth", "Hei Chi", "Rude Man" and "White Dress". In the Yuan Dynasty, Bai Yi also wrote Bai Yi, Bai Yi and Bo Yi. After the Qing Dynasty, it was called "dumping foreigners". After liberation, it was renamed Dai according to the wishes of the people of the whole country.

Dai people have a long history, as early as 1 century. There are records about Dai ancestors in China history books. 109, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty developed southwest Yi and established Yizhou County, the southwest frontier of Yizhou County in Dai area. In 69 AD, Yongchang County was added. The Dai area is under the jurisdiction of Yongchang County. At that time, the leaders of the Dai ancestors sent messengers many times to bring musicians and magicians to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to dedicate music and perform novel skills. He won the appreciation and welcome of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was awarded the golden seal and purple ribbon, and his leader was also named "Dewey of Han Dynasty", thus establishing a political affiliation with the Eastern Han Dynasty. From the 8th century to13rd century, the Dai region belonged to the Montessori regime and the Dali regime kingdom in Nanzhao, Yunnan. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Dai area belonged to Yunnan Province. The Tusi system began to be implemented in ethnic areas in the Yuan Dynasty. Set up Jinya Propaganda Department in the Dai area in western Yunnan to govern the Dai people in Dehong and other places, and set up a general military and civilian office in Che (Che) in the southern Dai area to govern Xishuangbanna and other places. On the basis of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty established the Xuanwei Department in the west. In the south, we set up a military and civilian propaganda department in the car, and set up a smaller toast area to fully implement the toast system. The appointment of hereditary chiefs and local officials in the vast Dai areas greatly strengthened the rule of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties over the Dai areas. In the Qing Dynasty, the old system of Yuan and Ming Dynasties was basically followed, but the policy of "changing the soil into the stream" was implemented in the Dai areas in the mainland where the social economy was developed, and the stream officials were appointed to rule directly. During the rule of the Kuomintang government, counties and administrative offices were set up in the frontier Dai areas, and the policy of ethnic oppression continued, which deepened the suffering of the Dai people.

socioeconomics

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the historical conditions in the border areas and the Dai inhabited areas in the mainland were different, the social development was unbalanced, and they all had their own characteristics in the form of land possession, class composition, exploitation mode and political system. These characteristics reflect the historical process of Dai society from feudal landlord economy to feudal landlord economy. In Jingdong, Xinping, Yuanjiang and other areas, the Dai and Han people lived together alternately, absorbed the advanced production tools and technologies of the Han people, developed rapidly in productivity, and entered the feudal landlord economy earlier. The Dai people are directly oppressed and exploited by the landlord class and the Kuomintang government at home and abroad. The Dai society in the border areas such as Xishuangbanna and Dehong has developed slowly, especially in Xishuangbanna, which still retains a relatively complete feudal Lord economy.

After the founding of New China, the Dai people realized regional ethnic autonomy and the right to be masters of their own affairs. Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture was founded in 1953, and changed to an autonomous prefecture in 1955. Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Region was founded in 1953, and 1956 was changed into an autonomous prefecture. From 1954 to 1980, Menglian Dai, Lahu and Wa Autonomous County, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County, Xinping Yi and Dai Autonomous County and Yuanjiang Hani Yi and Dai Autonomous County were established successively. Land reform and socialist transformation of ownership were carried out in different ways and embarked on the socialist road, with great economic and cultural development. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China 40 years ago, water conservancy has been vigorously built, farmland capital construction has been accelerated, and advanced production technologies have been popularized. The production of Pu 'er tea, which is well-known at home and abroad, has developed rapidly. Rubber trees have been successfully planted in Xishuangbanna, and the output has increased significantly. Local and rural industries have developed rapidly, and factories and mines such as mining, machinery, electric power, chemistry, ceramics, leather, paper making, salt making, food processing, tea making, sugar pressing and rubber making have been established successively. Menghai Tea Factory, Nujiangba Sugar Factory, Xishuangbanna Jingdezhen Factory, Dehong Xinhua Factory and mangshi Machinery Factory are all well-known enterprises in the province, and their total industrial output value is increasing. Especially with the rapid development of electric power industry, hundreds of small power stations have been built in villages and towns of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Before 1950s, the traffic in Dai areas was very blocked. Now, cars have passed through the county, and most towns and villages have built roads. Civil aviation routes from Kunming to Simao and from Kunming to Baoshan were opened. Handicraft industry and commercial service industry have made great progress. Primary schools have been established all over the country, and many middle schools and secondary specialized schools have been established one after another. Many schools teach in Dai language. Xishuangbanna and Dehong Autonomous Prefecture have run Dai newspapers, broadcast in Dai, and translated and published various books.

Before the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), malaria, cholera, typhoid fever, plague and other deadly infectious diseases, especially malaria, were prevalent in the frontier areas where the Dai people lived in concentrated communities, and most of the Dai people lacked medical care and medicine. At present, hospitals, health and epidemic prevention stations, malaria prevention centers and maternal and child health care institutions have been rapidly established. There are hospitals in rural areas, and many villages have medical stations. Plague has long been eradicated, infectious diseases such as malaria, cholera and typhoid fever have been controlled, and people's health level has been significantly improved. Especially since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, industrial and agricultural production, handicrafts and sideline production in Dai areas have developed rapidly, people's lives have improved significantly, and Dai areas have prospered. Now it has become a rich and beautiful "Peacock Town".

Culture and art

Dai people have their own calendar, and the era began in 638 AD. There are books that calculate solar eclipses; There are historical documents and colorful poems, legends, stories, fables and other literary works. There are about 500 long narrative poems of the Dai people, which are unparalleled among all ethnic groups in China. At present, Dai traditional long narrative poems have a wide range of themes and rich contents, mainly including Busanggai, Wasanggai and Kunsa, Balawu Shooting, which praises the pioneering deeds of ancestors, and Wang Shuo of Wang Zhao, Meng Mao and War History of Jingshao, which reflect historical events and expose the greed and cruelty of the ruling class, such as He Sanluo. Dai people can sing and dance well. Singing "Zanha" (a folk singer) is a popular folk art activity. Peacock dancers in dance are famous at home and abroad for their unique national style, elephant foot drums and gongs. Sculpture and painting are exquisite and elegant, and the solemn temple tower and the bamboo bridge flying over the river show unique architectural art.

Social customs and habits

The family and marriage of the Dai nationality once had obvious feudal color, which was manifested as hierarchical internal marriage. There is a strict hierarchical marriage between chiefs, and polygamy is prevalent. Most farmers have a patriarchal monogamous family, and parents and unmarried children are family members. Young men and women are quite free in social activities before marriage and can fall in love freely. It is very popular for unmarried young people to "talk less" (find unmarried women to fall in love) on festivals or major occasions. Visiting widows is a popular custom. Through burial, the burial places of nobles and poor people are strictly separated. After the monks and buddhas died, they were cremated first, and then their ashes were buried in a crock behind the temple.

Dai clothing, men wear collarless double-breasted or large-breasted small sleeve coat, long-sleeved trousers, blankets when it is cold, and white or green cloth to cover their heads. The custom of tattooing is very common. When the boy was eleven or twelve years old, he was asked to tattoo various animals, flowers, geometric patterns or Dai patterns on his chest, back, abdomen, waist and limbs as decorations. Women traditionally wear short sleeves and skirts. Dai women in Xishuangbanna wear white or scarlet underwear with small waist, wide hem and various tube skirts. Women in mangshi and other places wear light-colored double-breasted blouses, trousers and small waists before marriage, and change them into double-breasted blouses and black skirts after marriage. The women's clothing of the Dai people in the mainland is basically the same as that of the frontier, but it has regional characteristics, so it is often called "Huayao Dai" and "Dai Xiu Dai" by other ethnic groups.

The Dai people mainly eat rice, while the Dehong area eats japonica rice, and Xishuangbanna likes glutinous rice. I like drinking, eating hot and sour, and aquatic products such as fish and shrimp. Generally, people have the habit of chewing betel nut. Most villages are built by the water, surrounded by bamboo and streams. Gan Lan architecture is the characteristic of Dai folk houses, which is divided into upper and lower floors. In most parts of Dehong, Dai people live in thatched bungalows and quadrangles.

Religious beliefs and important festivals

The religious beliefs of the Dai people are closely related to their social and economic development. In the past, the Dai people in the frontier generally believed in Hinayana Buddhism, while retaining the remnants of primitive worship of ghosts and gods. There are many Buddhist temples in rural areas, and their organizational system is closely coordinated with feudal ruling institutions. In Xishuangbanna, almost all underage men used to live a monk's life, chanting scriptures, and then go home, and some even practiced becoming monks themselves. Buddhism has obvious influence on the daily life, customs and habits of Dai people.

Dai festivals are mostly related to religious activities, mainly related to the door god festival, the opening ceremony and the water splashing festival. It closes in the middle of June and opens in the middle of September. During the three months from the closing day to the opening day, religious activities such as worshipping Buddha and listening to Buddha's lectures are the most frequent in a year, and the elderly are more frequent. After the opening ceremony, the normal life before the festival will be resumed. Songkran Festival is the Dai New Year, which is about 10 day after Tomb-Sweeping Day in summer. There will be water splashing, dragon boat racing, flying high and other activities, which is the biggest festival every year.