Some taboos and customs of the Dai people

The Dai people have rich taboos and customs, involving clothing, food, housing, transportation, life, old age, illness, death, marriage, funeral, farming, hunting, annual festivals, etc., and are almost everywhere. Xiaobian has compiled some relevant content here for everyone. Let's learn about it together!

The wood used by the Dai people to build houses is forbidden. It is forbidden to have two forks, otherwise it will catch fire when thunder; only two strands of wood with three forks can be cut off, otherwise there will be ghosts. If you change a fire pit in your home, you must change the stairs, and if you change the stairs, you must also change the fire pit. The stairs can only be made with seven, nine or eleven levels, otherwise you will die of illness. There are no beams opposite the stairs, otherwise ghosts will enter the house. The side of the stairs can only be empty, otherwise it will be the same as the collar and you will be fined.

The Dai people are forbidden to sit on the threshold, believing that the threshold is the only way for people and ghosts. Dai people are accustomed to living upstairs, but the upstairs bedroom has only a partition separating it from the living room. There is no partition in the bedroom and it is divided into small rooms. Several generations have lived in it, separated by mosquito nets, with a certain gap in the middle, and separated by separate doors. They are not relatives of their own family. They are not allowed to enter the inner room; at the same time, outsiders are forbidden to peek because they will offend the "family god".

In the past, customs stipulated that if a male guest peeped in the master's bedroom, he had to become the master's door-to-door son-in-law or go to the master's house to do hard labor for three years. If a female guest was a female guest, he had to serve in the master's house for three years. Therefore, never peek into the owner's bedroom because of mystery. Although the customs of the past have broken, it is always unpopular to peek into the Dai family's bedroom. Outsiders are not allowed to smoke a cigarette on the lamp, otherwise they will think that they have taken away the "divine light".

Gender taboo Men are not allowed to come into contact with small hoes, farm tools, and looms dedicated to women. Men are forbidden to cross over the pig trough, otherwise they will lose their charm; women are forbidden to touch men's weapons and hunting gear, and cannot enter men's clubs. Women avoid climbing on the beams to pick up and put things; lifting the broom above the head of a man; walking over the pillow where a man sleeps. Dai people have a custom that women do not attend banquets. Women are forbidden to go upstairs; when they have to go upstairs, they must signal men to avoid them, otherwise it will be unlucky. In the old Dai people's beds in the middle hall also taboo women from sitting and sleeping. Women are forbidden to pass in front of men frequently. When women pass in front of elders or men, they must fold their skirts between their knees, bend down and walk gently, and keep saying "Suma, Suma, Tai transliteration, meaning" sorry ")".

Clothing taboos (1) Dai people should not dress casually, especially anti-dressing. In terms of dressing, it is also forbidden to distinguish between men and women, and it is forbidden for men to wear women's clothes, or for women to wear men's clothes. There are also taboos in mending: If clothes are broken, they need to be mended immediately, otherwise it will be bad luck; when mending clothes, it is forbidden to wear them on your body to mending clothes; cloth from torn pants cannot be used to mending clothes. If you make repairs, you will have bad luck, and you will not make money in doing business, and no one will want to sell things; Avoid using white line to mending clothes. When you go up the mountain to hunt, you will be beaten as a deer.

(2) Taboos on clothing placement: It is forbidden to dry in inappropriate places at inappropriate times. It is forbidden to dry women's and children's clothes outdoors at night, for fear that thieves may be contaminated with evil spirits. When drying clothes, the coat should be dried high, and the trousers and skirts should be dried low; Women are forbidden to cross the clothes, hats or headscarves used by men; Men are forbidden to walk under the clothes of women who are drying, as if a woman steps over a man's head, which is a shame and misfortune for men. In order to avoid this happening, it is forbidden to dry women's dresses to places where people pass by, and people cannot pull the clothes line where they pass; Women's dresses are forbidden to be sunned very high; Avoid crossing or stepping on or damaging clothing. Avoid using clothes as pillows.

taboos In the past, after receiving a bumper harvest or hunting food, the Dai people had to sacrifice to their ancestors and gods to thank the gods for their blessings before eating them themselves. There are also some taboos in terms of hospitality and diet. Don't entertain friends at the same time, otherwise there will be invisible obstacles preventing the two from interacting. Even if they are in the same village or city, it is also difficult for them to meet each other, and this dietary taboo also exists for family members working in other places.

The dining table cannot be placed under the main beam, otherwise it will collide with the main beam, which will be detrimental to the family god and the room. Children can't eat chicken feet, because they won't be able to weave baskets; they can't eat chicken waist, because they will break teeth and cause shoulder pain and headache; they can't eat chicken buttocks, because their mouths will grow after eating them. When steaming rice, avoid the sound of rice dumplings, otherwise it will be an unlucky sign and you should ask someone to send a ghost away.

Cleaning Taboos The Dai people are a people who love beauty and cleanliness, and they also have some taboos on environmental sanitation. The garbage in the room cannot be poured out after noon; the food that falls after dinner cannot be swept away. It is considered unlucky to sweep it. The top of the fire pond and the entire roof cannot be swept in 15 or 30 days. It is considered unlucky to sweep it. The rule for using river water inside and outside the village is to use water upstream, it is forbidden to take a bath and wash clothes, and it is not allowed to take a bath at the mouth of Sancha River. Taboo cutting nails at home; taboo for outsiders to enter the stockade with their hair unkempt.