Bai nationality is a unique ethnic group in Yunnan, with a population of 1482000, and about 75% of them live in Dali prefecture. Other scattered areas such as Kunming, Yuanjiang, Lijiang and Lanping, a few Bai people are scattered in Xichang, Sichuan, Bijie, Guizhou and Sangzhi County, Hunan.
Bai language belongs to Sino-Tibetan language family, and Sino-Tibetan language family belongs to Bai language branch of Tibetan-Burmese language family (some people call it Yi language branch). Many Bai people are familiar with Chinese, which has always been used by Bai people. Although the phonetic Chinese character "Bai Wen" has been borrowed in history, it has not been popularized because of the lack of unified norms.
Bai nationality has a long history and developed culture. As early as 3000 years ago, the social division of labor has developed to a certain extent. In the 2nd century BC, the Bai people in western and central Yunnan had close economic and cultural ties with the Han people in the Central Plains and surrounding areas. Since Nanzhao in the Tang Dynasty, especially during the Dali period, the Bai people have formed an ancient nation with similar language and culture, similar economic level and relatively fixed residence. After the Tang Dynasty, Dali surrendered to the central government and was more influenced by the culture and economy of the Han people in the mainland, and agriculture, handicrafts and commerce developed further. By the Yuan Dynasty, it was already a very prosperous city.
Culture and art
Dali Bai nationality has a long history and developed culture. As early as the Dali period, Bai language was recorded in Chinese characters, and historical books such as White History and National History were written. Myths and legends and folk stories are rich and colorful, which have great literary value. Among them, Wang Fuyun is a famous myth and legend.
Historical figures (heroes or important figures and their deified legends)
Legend of Wang Fuyun
In the cloudless autumn and winter in Dali and Wan Li, a magical and beautiful clean cloud called "Wang Mi Yun" often rises on the top of Cangshan Mountain. Whenever this white cloud appears, Cangshan Erhai Lake will be blustery and white waves will churn.
According to legend, Nanzhao King had a smart and beautiful princess who met a handsome young hunter while picking flowers in Cangshan. They fell in love at first sight and deeply loved each other. The princess confided her true feelings to her father and asked permission to marry her. The king was very angry and put the princess in the deep palace. The duke was heartbroken, moping all day long, not thinking about tea and rice, and looking forward to the rescue of the hunter. The princess asked the maid to go to Cangshan to find the hunter and tell her about herself and her thoughts. The hunter was very anxious when he learned that, but the princess imprisoned the deep palace and he could not get close to it. The princess misses the hunter and the hunter misses the princess more. He ran wildly on Cangshan Mountain, calling the princess's name loudly. Their pure love moved the mountain god, and the mountain god gave the hunter wings for a while. With wings, the hunter quietly flew into the palace and flew out of the palace wall with the princess. The king soon found out and sent troops after him. They ran and ran until they reached the top of Cangshan Mountain and hid in the cave. The king sent troops to Cangshan, and they were not allowed to come down. The king thought that the princess could not stand the cold of Cangshan and would give up her love and return to the palace, but she insisted on following her lover. They all live a free and miserable life in the cave.
Winter is coming, and the top of Cangshan Mountain is covered with ice and snow. The hunter was afraid that the princess would catch cold, so he stole luoquan's coat, which was warm in winter and cool in summer on the east bank of Erhai Lake, to protect the princess from the cold. After luoquan discovered it, he turned the hunter into a stone mule by magic. The princess died of grief when she knew that the hunter had been killed. Her essence turned into a white cloud and rose to the top of Cangshan Mountain to see her husband. This is Wang Fuyun.
Every autumn and winter, when Wang Fuyun reaches the top of the mountain, there is a strong wind. This is for the princess to blow away the water in Erhai Lake and see her husband sleeping on the bottom of the sea.
Folk customs (dress, etiquette, life customs, taboos, etc. )
Clothing: Bai people prefer white, and the color of their traditional clothing is also white. Men usually wear white double-breasted coats with black collars. Women wear white coats with blue, red or black vests and embroidered aprons around their waists. Married women's headdresses are usually blue. The girl tied her braid with red rope and wrapped a colorful towel around her head. Bai Liusu fluttered on the right side of her head. Can show the charm of a girl.
Customs: Dali Bai people love flowers, and almost every family grows flowers. There is a local saying that "three families look at a well and each family has several pots of flowers". Most girls' names have flower characters, such as: golden flower, silver flower, Dehua flower, beautiful flower and spring flower.
Bai people like folk songs, and Xishan in Eryuan, Dali is the hometown of folk songs. When the children there grow up to three or five years old, their parents begin to teach them to sing songs. Influenced by poetry since childhood, children aged 13 or 14 can sing hundreds of songs, and in their twenties, they can sing more than a thousand songs, and they can compose music with singing. The life of the people of this nation can not be separated from folk songs, which sing eternal stories, people's joys and sorrows, faithful love, attachment to their hometown mountains and rivers and so on. When traveling in go to dali, Bai people often get together, singing folk songs and tuning the tune. Humorous tone, rich and interesting content.
Marriage custom: Bai nationality is monogamous, and the wedding is grand and warm. According to the traditional custom, on the wedding day, the groom and the young man will get married on a big horse. After the bride marries back, she should pay New Year greetings to the elders at home, and then invite them to dinner. The bride and groom will accompany the guests for dinner. At this time, guests can ask questions to the newlyweds or let them perform programs. The wedding was shrouded in cheers and laughter. The most distinctive thing is to light Chili powder at the wedding. Many people sneeze and cough in laughter, which is very lively.
Religious belief
Besides believing in Buddhism and Taoism, Bai people generally worship the village god "Ben Zhu". Almost every village has a "main temple" with a statue of this Lord, and the villagers regard this Lord as the patron saint of a village. In the villages of Dali, there are 62 gods, including the gods of nature, such as the sun, the Hull River and the snow-capped mountains. There are tribal gods, hero gods and so on. These owners have their own historical achievements, so they are respected by people.
On Sunday, the whole village celebrates Sunday. The villagers celebrated by singing and dancing and playing with dragons and lions.
National festivals
Traditional Bai festivals include Torch Festival, going around the mountains, playing in the sea, fish pond meeting and so on. The most solemn March Street is a national festival in Dali, and it is also a grand gathering of economic and cultural exchanges and national unity among all ethnic groups in western Yunnan.
Natural scenery (tourism resources)
Dali has beautiful scenery and pleasant climate. In this beautiful and rich land, hardworking and brave people are famous for their long history and developed culture. The rich and colorful customs have attracted many tourists.
architectural style
Bai folk houses have a unique style. Housing mostly adopts the format of "three rooms and one wall" or "four access wells". They attach great importance to the decorative arts of gatehouse architecture and zhaobi, door and window carving and gable painting. The gatehouse is usually decorated with clay sculpture, wood carving, colored painting, stone carving, marble screen embossed tiles and blue bricks. Exquisite shape, overlapping arches, vigorous and steady, beautiful and generous, reflecting the architectural talent and artistic creativity of the Bai working people.
Bai people prefer white, and the overall color of their houses is white.
economic activity
In Dali, Bai tie-dyed cloth has national characteristics. They tied the cloth with thread. Tie it into various flowers, butterflies or other patterns, put it in a dye vat, and then untie the tie line to expose various white patterns where there is no dye. Tie-dyeing is usually blue, and blue is also the most beautiful. Others are green, purple, red and yellow. Tie-dyeing of Bai nationality is simple and generous, with strong national characteristics, which is deeply loved by tourists.
Dali's flavor food is famous for its casserole fish and spicy fish. The favorite of European tourists is Dali specialty milk fan, which is made of milk and fried to eat.