Dai traditional customs

The Dai nation stands for the "Dai nation" and calls itself the pronunciation between "di" and "tài". It is one of the ethnic minorities in China and the main ethnic group in Thailand and Laos. Originating in the middle and upper reaches of the Lancang River and Nujiang River, it established political power on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau many times. Later, due to the squeeze of the Central Plains Dynasty and other ethnic groups, it gradually migrated to the Indochina Peninsula and the South Asian subcontinent, distributed in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, India, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and other countries, with a total population of about 68 million, with a total population of about 47 million in Thailand, about 5 million in Laos, about 8.5 million in Myanmar, about 4.25 million in India, and about 1.33 million in Vietnam. There are about 1.23 million in China and about 660,000 in Cambodia.

In the historical records of China, the Dai people have been successively called "Ailao","Shan","Wuman","Baiman","Baiyi","Golden Teeth","Black Teeth","Baiyi","Boyi","Bayi", etc.; Before the Second World War, under the impetus of the Kingdom of Siam, the international community began to collectively refer to the Dai and Thai distributed in various countries as "Thai"; After the Second World War, governments of various countries named the Dai and Tai distributed in their respective territories. They were still called "Thai" in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other countries,"Lao" in Laos,"Shan" in Myanmar,"Assam" in India, and "Dai" in China.

The Dai people also have their own language and writing. There are three major dialects and several sub-dialects in the language: Taitai, Lanna, and Siam. There is a small pronunciation gap between adjacent dialects. As the spatial distance increases, the gap also increases. However, no matter where the dialect can be simple. Communication. There are seven types of characters: Siamese, Lancang, Lanna, Duanti, Pangti, Nadi, and Ahong. They all evolved from the Indian Brahmi script. They are all written from left to right, and from top to bottom. The line breaks only differ in physical structure. Today, due to the formation of the concept of a modern country, Sukhoti (Thai) is used throughout Thailand, Lancang (Lao) is used throughout Laos, Dai people in other areas use the language of their country, and only a few people still use their own language.

There are two types of Dai calendars, the Big Dai Calendar and the Small Dai Calendar. The Da Dai calendar was the earliest calendar used by the Dai people. It was created by the Dai ancestors on the basis of the Han lunar calendar. Nowadays, only the Da Dai (Thai) people with strong national consciousness still insist on using this calendar, so it is called the "Da Dai Calendar". The Xiao Dai calendar is actually the Burmese calendar. It was introduced to the Dai areas from Myanmar. The Xiao Dai (Thai) people were the first Dai people to accept this calendar, so they are called the "Xiao Dai calendar".

Due to the wide distribution of Dai people, Dai people vary in social development from place to place, so they also have slight differences in ideological concepts, mainly reflected in their concepts of marriage and family.

In southern Yunnan, the Dai people in southern Yunnan still retained many remnants of pairing marriage before liberation, which showed that family and marriage relationships were unstable, and marriage and divorce were relatively free. However, due to the existence of the family and the village community, the marriage of young people is directly related to the rights and obligations they should enjoy to the family and the village community, so the consent of the family head and the village community head is required.

When a man and a woman are in a mature relationship, the man invites his uncles and aunts to go to the woman to propose marriage. At this time, the woman's parents generally do not speak as usual. The family head and the village head will answer, asking about the number of years of "visiting" and how to entertain relatives and friends. After the head head of the family head will approve, they can get married. After marriage, the man must work at the woman's house for several years before he can take his wife back. When establishing a new family, the village community will allocate the "share of land". If the two parties disagree and obtain the consent of the leader, they will pass a pair of wax strips to each other to complete the divorce procedure; if the man has not heard from him for several months, the woman can find another spouse; if one party dies, no matter how old, divorce procedures will also be completed, that is, place a pair of wax strips on the coffin of the deceased and send the coffin to the entrance of the building, which means that the deceased is divorced.

the Dai people in western Yunnan, family marriage has a more distinctive feudal color, and marriage is entirely based on sale and arrangement. The general betrothal gift costs 300 yuan, and there are also many other expenses, such as "opening money","closing money","worship money","Buddha's fee","family identification fee","matchmaker's fee", etc., there are more than a dozen types. This essentially becomes the value of women.

Many young men from poor families have adopted the form of stealing relatives and collecting marriage because they cannot afford this fee. That is, after the man and the woman have matured, they determine the date of "marriage robbery". The young man accompanied his partner, armed with machetes and copper coins, to the predetermined place to ambush. When the girl came, he "snatched" and ran away. The girl pretended to shout to inform her family, and the man removed the copper coins and fled. As a fait accompli, the matchmaker was sent to the woman's house to propose marriage. The two parties invited the leader, relatives and friends to discuss and resolve the matter. After the betrothal gift was determined, the marriage was officially married.

In addition, the phenomenon of marriage is also common among the Dai people in western Yunnan, but it is completely different in nature from the Dai people in southern Yunnan. It is not a legacy of primitive customs, but a product of feudal marriage. Those who are married have extremely low social status, and their children have no property inheritance rights.

The Dai people in southwestern Yunnan, represented by Lincang Geng Ma and Pu 'er Menglian, have both the remnants of pairing marriage and a strong feudal color. It should be the marriage customs of the Dai people in southern Yunnan and the Dai people in western Yunnan. Effective combination of concepts.

Dai buildings are influenced by natural environments such as climate, altitude, terrain, and building materials, and social environments such as population, economy, religion, politics, science and technology, and ideology. They mainly include beautiful and dexterous ganlan-style buildings represented by Dai residences in Xishuangbanna, thick and solid flat-topped earthen houses represented by Dai residences along the Yuanjiang River and Honghe River, and elegant and rich Buddhist temples buildings.

In the river valley dam area where people live along the water, due to the influence of the ecological environment such as hot, humid, rainy, and lush bamboo and wood, the main residential buildings of the Dai people are "ganlan"(commonly known as bamboo buildings). The upper and lower floors are made of wood and bamboo piles; the floors, walls and roofs are covered with thatched grass and tiles. The upper perthals raise livestock and stack crops. The entire building space is tall, and the walls and floors are made of bamboo or wood, which helps keep the room dry and cool.

Nowadays, with the strengthening of ecological protection and economic development, some places have begun to replace bamboo and wood structures with concrete brick structures, but they still retain the form of "dry railing" or the shape of a herringbone house hat, so they are still accustomed to calling it "Bamboo building". Melons, fruits and trees are planted or small fish ponds are excavated in the wide courtyards around the bamboo buildings. They can not only cover the sun and shade, but also serve as an undefended natural green "wall". The bamboo fences erected at random on the outside are not for protection from people. They only serve to prevent livestock from entering.

Dai women's dress is colorful and beautiful. Dai women generally have slim figures, pure and beautiful faces, look slim and graceful, so they are known as the "Golden Peacock". Not only are they beautiful, but they are also good at dressing up, each dressing themselves up like flowers with unique costumes.

Dai women generally like to wear short-sleeved jackets and tube skirts to fully display their slender and slender figures. Wear a white or scarlet underwear on top, and a tight-fitting short shirt on the outside, round neck and narrow sleeves. There are large plumes and pairs of plumes. There are various colors such as water red, tender powder, light yellow, light green, snow white, sky blue, etc. Most of them are sewn with materials such as Georgette, silk, and Chanliang. The short shirt with narrow sleeves is tightly wrapped around the arms, with almost no gap. Many people also like to sew it with flesh-colored clothing materials. If you don't look carefully, you can't see the sleeves. The front and rear skirts are just up to the waist, tightly wrapping your body, and then use a silver belt to tie the short-sleeved shirt and the skirt. Under it is a skirt that reaches your ankles. The waist is slender and small, and the hem is wide. This costume of Dai women fully demonstrates the beauty of the "three measurements" of women's chest, waist and buttocks. In addition, the fabrics used are soft and bright, giving people a graceful, elegant and elegant feeling whether they walk or do things.

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Dai men generally wear collarless plumes or large plumes with small sleeves, long tube pants under them, and head with white cloth, blue cloth or red cloth. Some wear top hats, making them look elegant and elegant.

Dai people, regardless of men and women, always like to carry a satchel made of woven cotton on their shoulders when they go out. The satchel is bright in color, simple in style, and has a strong color of life and national characteristics. The pattern has rare birds and animals, trees, flowers or geometric figures, and the image is lifelike and lifelike. Each pattern contains specific content, such as: red and green are to commemorate the ancestors; the peacock pattern expresses good luck; the elephant pattern symbolizes a bumper harvest of grains and a beautiful life, which fully demonstrates the Dai people's yearning and pursuit for a better life. Moreover, men, women and old like to wear slippers barefoot.

Most Dai people eat twice daily, eating rice and glutinous rice as their staple foods. They are usually eaten right now. People believe that only when japonica rice and glutinous rice are eaten right now can they lose their original color and aroma. Therefore, they do not eat or rarely eat rice overnight, and they are accustomed to eating rice with their hands.

Dai dishes and snacks are mainly sour, such as sour bamboo shoots, sour pea powder, sour meat and wild sour fruits; they like to eat dried cabbage (dry the green vegetables, boil them in water, and then dry and store them). The reason why Dai people often eat sour dishes is that they often eat glutinous rice food that is not easy to digest, and sour food helps digestion. Migrant workers often eat in the wild, using banana leaves or rice to serve some rice, accompanied by salt, chili, sour pork, roast chicken, special sauce, and moss pine.

The Dai people sacrifice collectively to "Sheman"("Piman") twice a year. Once before planting seedlings, they pray for a bumper harvest, and once after the autumn harvest, they sacrifice their gratitude. They must kill a cow or pig. Men from each family prepare tribute and send it to "Sheman"("Piman"). In front of "Piman","Tauman" presided over the sacrifice. After reading the sacrificial words, everyone ate together.

Special Food

Sour meat Traditional Dai dishes are made with pickled beef and then stir-fried. It is characterized by a strong sour aroma that helps digestion. The method is to wash fresh yellow beef with rice, cut it into large pieces and place it in a basin, add fresh prickly ash leaves, salt, and rice, mix well, put it into a crock, pour it in white wine, compact it, cover it, use plant ash and mud to seal the mouth of the jar, and pickle it for a month. Cut the marinated beef into shredded strips and stir-fry with the green garlic sprouts until done.

Huoyu Dai traditional home-style dishes are characterized by soft, tender, fresh and sweet, original flavor. The preparation method is to remove the gills and internal organs of fresh fish, wash them, and mix chopped green onion, shredded ginger, shredded garlic, shredded green pepper, shredded green ginger leaves, shredded coriander, shredded wild prickly ash leaves, mint, fennel leaves, shredded fragrant grass leaves, tsaofruit powder, monosodium glutamate, salt, and cooking wine to make a filling, put into the fish belly, fold the head and tail, then bind with citronella grass to form a cross, wrap banana leaves outside, bury them in charcoal or hot ash after burning firewood, and cook until done. Remove the banana leaves and citronella grass, and place them on a plate.

pickled Niutou Dai traditional home-style dishes. The method is to remove the hair and hoof of the cow's head and feet, chop them into pieces, boil them well, remove the bones, cut them into meat strips, put them into a basin and add rice washing water to soak for 3-4 hours, take out and wash them with cold water, and then put wild pepper leaves, red pepper powder, ginger and mashed garlic into a beef basin, add salt and white wine, mix well to taste, place them into a crock jar to compact, cover and seal, and serve it half a month later. It can be steamed or stir-fried when eating. It is a cold dish served with wine. It is crisp, tender, sour, spicy and cool.

In winter and spring, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the wind is clear and cool. When you walk into the Dai village, you can easily see a fruit tree that is particularly popular among local people-sour horn. It has a tall tree body, rough trunk, sparse branches and leaves, and a string of brown bent hook-shaped pods hanging on the branches. Sour horn is also known as sour bean, tamarind, luhuangzi, sour plum (Hainan),"Muhan"(Dai language), Tianmukan, and Tongxuetu. It is a tropical and subtropical evergreen tree in the family Hemataceae. This genus contains only one species of sour horn, and there are two types: sweet type and sour type. Sulcus rubra likes hot climate and can grow normally in areas with an average annual temperature of 18ºC-24ºC and an annual rainfall of 500- 1,200 mm.

Due to the humidity and heat of Dai areas, there are many species of insects. Using insects as raw materials to make various flavors of dishes and snacks is an important part of Dai food. Insects that are often eaten include cicadas, bamboo insects, large spiders, field turtles, ant eggs, etc. Cicadas are caught in summer. Every evening, when the cicada community is in the grass, the cicada wings are soaked by dew and cannot fly. The women quickly pick the cicadas into bamboo baskets, go back, and put them into a pot to bake and make sauce. Cicada sauce has the medical effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, removing pain and swelling.

Dai people generally like to eat ant eggs. What they often eat is a kind of yellow ants that nest in trees. When taking the ant eggs, the ants are driven away first, and then the eggs are taken. Ant eggs vary in size. Some are as big as green beans, some as small as rice grains, white and bright. They are washed and dried, and fried with the eggs. They are delicious and can be eaten raw or cooked. They can be made into sauce when eaten raw. When cooked, they are fried with eggs. Commonly used sour fruits, bitter gourd, bitter bamboo shoots, and Chongtian peppers, supplemented by wild pepper, Coriander, garlic, citronella, full of flavors.

Dai people are also fond of alcohol, but the alcohol is not high. It is brewed at home and tastes sweet. Tea is a local specialty, but the Dai people only drink big leaf tea without spices. When drinking, only stir-fry it slightly over the heat until burnt, brew it and drink it with a slight paste taste. I like to chew betel nut and mix it with tobacco and lime all day long. Because the lips and teeth are black when chewing for a long time, and the liquid in the mouth is like blood, people think it is beautiful. The pottery burning industry is relatively developed, and most dining utensils are mostly fired by women.

The Dai people are a nation with a long history and unique culture. There are many Dai festivals, and the three most important traditional festivals of the Dai people are most concerned about.

The Bathing Buddha Festival ("Shuanlan" in Dai language), also known as the "Water-Splashing Festival", originated from a ritual of Brahmanism in ancient India and was later absorbed by Buddhism. It was introduced into Dai areas with Buddhism from the end of the 12th century to the early 13th century AD. With the deepening of Buddhism's influence in Dai areas, Bathing Buddha Festival has become a Dai custom and has been passed down for hundreds of years.

The Buddha Bathing Festival is generally held in June of the Dai calendar, which is equivalent to mid-April of the Gregorian calendar. On the Buddha Bathing Festival, we need to use clear water to wash away the dust for the Buddha, then splash water on each other to play and wish each other well. Later, it gradually developed to use basins and buckets, and sing while pouring. The more they pour, the more intense they pour, the sound of drums, gongs, water splashing, and cheers. The sound of sound rang out. In Xishuangbanna, the Buddha Bath Festival is promoted by the government as the "Water-Splashing Festival." Every year, traditional entertainment activities such as dragon boat racing, high lifting, and flying lanterns are held, as well as various song and dance evenings, attracting tourists from China and all over the world. In Dehong area, Buddha Bath Festival is still just a religious festival.

The Summer Festival ("Haowa" in Dai language), also known as the "Closing Festival", originated from the ancient Indian Buddhist custom of settling down in the rainy season and was introduced to the Dai area with the spread of southern Buddhism.