Call yourself "Dai", which means "freedom" or "person". According to the distribution area, there are "Dai Na", "Dai Ya" and "Dai Zhan". Mainly distributed in Dehong, Xishuangbanna, Gengma, Menglian, Xinping, Yuanjiang, Jinping and other places in Yunnan. The population is10255438+03000 (1990). Dai language belongs to Zhuang-Dai language branch of Zhuang-Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. There are three dialects: Dehong, Xishuangbanna and Jinping. Dai language comes from the pinyin of Sanskrit letters. After improvement in 1950s, Xishuangbanna and Dehong Dai languages are very popular now.
Religious culture
After the 10th century, Buddhism was gradually introduced into Cheng Xiao, and it was widely spread in the 15th and 6th centuries. But at the same time, it still retains the primitive religion of animism and polytheism.
Dai people have a long history and splendid culture. In terms of literature, there are thousands of Dai literature (including Baye Jing and the famous Dai calendar; Narrative poem "Calling Tree Tun and Tokyo Yena"; Hubei and Sangluo, etc. In terms of art, there is an excellent folk singer "Zanha" who sings moving; There is beautiful peacock dance; Beautiful elephant foot drums and Ming gongs; Happy Songkran Festival, etc. The main traditional national festivals are open day, closing day and water-splashing festival.
Customs and society
It is the custom of Dai people to plant teeth, dye teeth and tattoo. Young men and women, in particular, like to wear gold and silver as a complete set on their teeth. Girls have been dyeing their teeth since they were teenagers. They dye their teeth black with pot bottom ash or Chinese herbal medicine, thinking that the darker the teeth, the more beautiful they are. Tattoos are mainly for young men. Patterns include geometric patterns, birds and animals, flowers, text symbols and so on. Men who don't get tattoos will be looked down upon by girls.
The man wears a small sleeve blouse, no bad cardigan or big cardigan, long-sleeved trousers, a blanket in cold weather, and a white cloth or green cloth on his head. Women wear white or scarlet underwear, small waist and wide hem, and various dresses.
They live in a bamboo building with a "dry fence", which has two floors. The upper floor is inhabited by people, and the lower floor has no wall, which is used to raise livestock and pile things. Monogamy has the characteristics of hierarchical endogamy.
The Dai people mainly grow rice, and have a relatively complete farming system and sophisticated farming techniques. "Pu 'er tea" is well-known at home and abroad, with advanced tea-making equipment. In recent years, it has also successfully developed subtropical cash crops such as rubber. Rice is the main diet, and japonica rice is also eaten in Dehong area. Xishuangbanna and other areas like to eat glutinous rice, like to drink, like to eat hot and sour.
After the founding of New China, the land ownership of feudal lords was abolished through social reform. 1 autonomous prefecture has been established, and 1 joint autonomous prefecture and 4 autonomous counties have been established successively with Jingpo, Wa, Lahu, Hani and Yi.