1. Inhabited areas

The Dai people mainly live in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, and Gengma and Menglian Autonomous Counties in Yunnan Province. The rest are scattered in more than 30 counties such as Jingdong, Jinggu, Pu'er, Lancang, Xinping, Yuanjiang and Jinping. The frontier Dai area borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

The Dai villages are mostly located in the Pingba area of ??the river valley surrounded by mountains. The relatively large dams include Jinghong, Menglong, Mengzhe, Menghan, Menghai, Mangshi, Longchuan, Ganya, Mengmao, Zhefang, etc. The average altitude is between 500-1300 meters, and the terrain is low.

2. Customs and customs:

Young Dai men and women have quite free social activities before marriage and can fall in love freely. It is very popular for unmarried young people to "find love with unmarried women" during festivals or grand events. It is a popular custom to invite brides to your home.

When the Dai people hold a wedding, there is a grand "thread-tying" ceremony. The old man ties a white cotton thread to the wrists of the groom and the bride, which symbolizes tying the souls of the two people together and blessing them. The newlyweds treat each other with respect and grow old together.

3. Folk customs:

1. Clothing:

Dai costumes, men wear short shirts without collars or large fronts and small sleeves, and long trousers. The sky is covered with felt, and the head is often wrapped with white or green cloth. Women traditionally wear narrow-sleeved shorts and tube skirts.

The custom of tattooing is very common among men. It not only expresses bravery, but also can ward off evil spirits, protect the body and decorate the body. When boys are about 11 years old, they will get tattoos. Most of the tattoos are tiger, leopard, lion, dragon, snake and eagle. Most of the parts to be tattooed are the limbs, chest, abdomen, and back. It takes two days to tattoo one leg and seven to eight days to tattoo the whole body.

2. Diet:

The Dai people’s staple food is mainly rice. Dehong area eats japonica rice, while Xishuangbanna and other places like to eat glutinous rice, which is usually freshly pounded and eaten.

The Dai people also eat insects. The Dai area is humid and hot, and there are many kinds of insects. Commonly eaten insects include cicadas, bamboo insects, giant spiders, field turtles, ant eggs, etc. Catching cicadas is done in the evening in summer, when the cicadas swarm in the grass, and the cicada wings are soaked in dew and cannot fly. The women quickly pick the cicadas into bamboo baskets and bake them in a pot to make sauce after returning home.

Wine is loved by the Dai people. It is usually brewed at home, with low alcohol content and a sweet taste. Tea is a local specialty, but the Dai people only drink large-leaf tea without spices. When drinking, stir-fry on fire until charred, brew and drink with a slightly mushy taste. The habit of chewing betel nut is also widespread. Chewing betel nut must be mixed with tobacco and lime all day long.

4. Traditional festivals:

1. Close-Door Festival, "Haiwasa" in Dai language, is fixed on September 15th in the Dai calendar (mid-July in the Gregorian calendar).

2. The Open-Door Festival, called "Ongwasa" in Dai language, is fixed on December 15 in the Dai calendar (mid-October in the Gregorian calendar).

3. Water Splashing Festival is called "Sangkan Bimai" or "Lenghe Sangkan" in Dai language, which means New Year in June. The time is in late June or early July in the Dai calendar (mid-April in the Gregorian calendar). Held approximately ten days after the Qingming Festival in the lunar calendar, it symbolizes the "best days".

Extended information

The development status of the Dai people:

In the early days of the founding of New China, the Dai areas generally carried out the work of democratic establishment and elimination of bandits and spies, and they became stable. Social order, production was restored and developed, ethnic relations were smoothed, and the face of the Dai area was initially changed. In order to abolish the feudal system in Dai society, the party and the government led the Dai people to carry out democratic reform movements based on the specific conditions of the Dai areas, and at the same time implemented regional ethnic autonomy in the Dai areas.

Before the founding of New China, business in the Dai area was very sluggish, with few goods and high prices, and profiteers made huge profits from them. The majority of Dai people have been exploited.

After the founding of New China, all states and counties in Dai areas established companies such as department stores, ethnic trade, foreign trade, agricultural tools, food, medicine and catering services. The trade mode has changed from the past barter trade and small-scale trade to diversified and high-level forms such as general trade, entrepot trade, processing trade, capital cooperation, technical cooperation, international exchange and regional exhibitions.

After the founding of New China, under the leadership of the Party, the Dai people vigorously carried out farmland infrastructure construction centered on water conservancy construction, reclaimed wasteland, expanded cultivated land area, promoted advanced production technology, implemented scientific farming, and actively promoted Agricultural mechanization, etc., thus promoting the great development of agricultural production.

China Government Website-Dai Nationality