According to 1990, there were 347,738 Wa people in the fourth census in Yunnan. They mainly live in Cangyuan, Ximeng, Lancang, Menglian, Gengma, Shuangjiang, Zhenkang, Yongde, Jingdong, Pu 'er, Changning, Tengchong and other counties and parts of Xishuangbanna. The Wa population in Cangyuan and Ximeng Autonomous County accounts for 5 1% of the total Wa population in China, accounting for about 80% of the total population in these two counties. Menglian, Gengma, Lancang, Shuangjiang, Yongde, Zhenkang and other counties are the marginal areas of Dong nationality distribution. Wa people live alternately with Han, Dai, Lahu, Yi, Lisu, Bulang, Hani, De 'ang, Jingpo and other ethnic groups.
According to various documents, the ancestors of Dong nationality were a branch of Baipu nationality as early as the Zhou and Qin Dynasties. The "Wang", "Metaphor", "Wang Man", "Ancient Ci", "Ha Ci" and "Hawa" recorded in the documents from the Han Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties all refer to the ancestors of the Wa people.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Wa society changed from hunting and gathering to the stage of unstable agricultural economy, that is, the commune form based on clan changed to the primitive rural commune form based on geography. Great changes have taken place in Wa society in the past century. Before 1949, the social and economic development of the Wa nationality was divided into the following three types: first, the central area of the Wa nationality dominated by Ximeng, including some Wa nationality in Lancang Cangyuan during the transition from primitive society to class society; Second, the edge area of Baishan, which has the economic characteristics of feudal lords, consists of most Wa people in Cangyuan, some Wa people in Gengma, Shuangjiang and Lancang, and Wa people in Menglian and Xishuangbanna. The third is to enter the Wa areas of Zhenkang and Fengqing in the landlord economy.
Wa language belongs to the Wa branch of Mon-Khmer language family of South Asian language family, and there are four dialects. Wa people claim to be different from place to place. Meng Lian and Xi Meng call themselves "Awa" (Awa, Awa), "Lewa Wo", "Lewa" and "Rafe"; Zhenkang area calls itself "Yi"; Cangyuan, Gengma and Shuangjiang call themselves Brock, Baroque, Baroque and Baroque. Brock means people who live in the mountains, and so do the Wa people and the Wa people, indicating that the Wa people have lived in the mountains for a long time and are named after living in the mountains. Other ethnic groups have different names for Wa people. The Dai, Han and Lahu people who live with them alternately call them "A Wa" or "Wa". "Wa" is A Dai, which means slave. The name "Wa" is derogatory. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), it was renamed the Wa nationality according to the wishes of its people.
The mountains in the Wa residential area overlap and there are few flat dams, so it is called Wa mountainous area. There are many kinds of housing buildings of Wa nationality: one is "dry fence" building, and the other is floor-standing building with bamboo and wood structure. The fire pits in Dong people's houses are divided into main fire pits and guest fire pits according to different orientations. In some places, there are three fire pits at home, which are called main fire pit, guest fire pit and ghost fire pit. There are also three doors in the house, which are called the guest door, the fire door and the gate of hell.
The marriage of the Wa nationality is generally monogamous, and it is forbidden to intermarry with the same surname. Men and women freely associate before marriage, and the way of love is mainly "string women". If the two parties are in love, the man will propose to the woman's parents. After the engagement, the man often goes to the woman's house to work. The man should also give the woman a certain dowry. In the past, there were two kinds of bride price: one was called "nanny money"; The other is called "buying girls' money". The wedding ceremony is relatively simple: the groom takes the bride back, invites the village leaders and relatives and friends to have dinner, and then the men, women and children join hands and dance in a circle all night to celebrate, that is, the wedding is completed. After marriage, a wife should be absolutely loyal to her husband. In the past, the house transfer system was also popular, that is, the husband died and the wife passed it on to his brother or younger brother, but both parties agreed.
Wa people practice burial. The coffin was hollowed out with thick logs. The things buried with the deceased are generally just the general living and production tools of the deceased before his death. There is generally no grave, and husband and wife are not buried together.
Traditional Wa festivals include Spring Festival, Lamu Drum Festival, New Water Festival, New Fire Festival, Sagu Festival and New Rice Festival. The three major Buddhist festivals, namely, Sand-making Festival, Closing Festival and Opening Festival, are also important festivals in the Wa nationality areas that believe in Hinayana Buddhism, which are held in June, September and1February respectively. Every festival is a good time for Wa people to dress up, sing and dance, and often dance around the clock for several days.
The Wa people have created rich and colorful literature and art in combination with their own social practice. The more influential oral literature includes the creation myth "Sigangli" and the creation epic "Legend of Hulu". Sigangli vividly describes the origin of human beings and the ancient life of Dong people. "Four ports" are interpreted as caves or gourds, and "inside" means coming out. Sigang means that people come out of caves or gourds. Wa people in Ximeng believe that this "human cave" is on a mountain ridge in Bagadai; The Wa people in Cangyuan believe that this kind of "human gourd" grows in the area of Lime Mountain. Some Wa people also said that people were carried out by old bears from caves. Wa people everywhere regard Awa Mountain as the birthplace of mankind. Cangyuan rock painting is the oldest rock painting preserved in Yunnan. Among the more than ten rock paintings found so far, there are more than 1 100 recognizable figures. The theme of rock paintings mainly reflects the life of human beings in the Neolithic Age. In addition to gathering, hunting, domesticating livestock and other scenes, it is more a virtual reproduction of games, dances and ceremonies.
Wa folk music is also very rich. It can be roughly divided into folk songs, national instrumental music and national dance music. Among Wa folk songs, there are common historical narrative songs, love songs expressing love life, labor songs sung in labor production, children's songs sung in games, folk songs sung in wedding and funeral ceremonies, and sacrificial songs sung in sacrificial activities. Every popular festival is a grand gathering of songs and dances, and many folk dances are not accompanied by musical instruments, that is, dancing with the unified beat of folk songs. Wa folk dance is inseparable from singing. They dance every time they sing, and they sing every time they dance.
The most prominent feature of Wa religion is animism. They believe that the ghosts and gods in all things are Mu Yiji (also known as "Long Meiji") and "Ayi Russia". Muyiji is a great god who created everything. His five sons are in charge of earthquakes, thunder and lightning, and heaven and earth. People play wooden drums, make water ghosts, donate heads, drive cattle to worship him and play music to entertain him. If Muyiji is unhappy, he will say that the millet harvest is not good and flood the stockade with water. Aio is the ancestor of Wa men, and all families with men have to make sacrifices to him, including marriage, childbirth, building houses and adoption. Wa people believe that ghosts and gods vary in size. GREAT GHOST is in charge of big things, and the kid is in charge of small things. However, there is no subordinate relationship between the two, so no matter what happens, it is necessary to sacrifice ghosts, otherwise it is difficult to eliminate disasters and gain happiness. No matter big or small, they use chicken hexagrams to predict good luck and pray for the blessing of ghosts and gods.