Overview
Dance
Clothing Festivals
The Dai dai zu Dai ethnic minority group
Overview of the Dai People
The Dai people now have a population of 1,025,000 people. The Dai mainly live in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Gengma Dai Wa Autonomous County and Menglian Dai Lahu Wa Autonomous County in Yunnan Province, with a small number of Dai scattered in other nearby counties. The Dai language belongs to the Zhuang-Dong group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, and there are the Dehong and Xishuangbanna dialects. The Dai have pinyin scripts, and the scripts used in different places are slightly different, which can be divided into four kinds of Dai titiwen (Xishuangbanna Daiwen), Dai nawen (Dehong Daiwen), Dai liangwen, and Jinping Daiwen (also known as Dai duanwen). the four kinds of Dai scripts are all originated from the ancient Indian alphabets. The Dai mostly believe in Hinayana Buddhism.
The Dai are an ethnic minority with a long history. Since ancient times, the Dai ancestors have flourished in southwestern China. In the 1st century A.D., there were records of the Dai ancestors in Chinese history, calling them "Dian Yue", "Shan or Trespassing", "Bong or Hat Bong"; during the Tang and Song dynasties, they were called "Golden Tooth", "Black Tooth", "Flower Barbarians", "White Clothes", etc.; Yuan and Ming Dynasties, called them During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, they were called "Baiyi", "Baiyi" and "Boyi". Dai people used to call themselves "Dai Na", "Dai Ya", "Dai bandage", etc. After the founding of New China, according to the wishes of the Dai people, the name of the Dai people.
In 109 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up Yizhou County, and the Dai area was under the jurisdiction of Yizhou County. In 69 AD, the Dai area belonged to Yongchang County. To the Ming and Qing dynasties, the implementation of the abolition of the hereditary land in minority areas, temporary officials (i.e., the flow of officials) ruled the "return to the flow" policy, the Dai ethnic areas are gradually returned to the direct rule of the imperial court. During the Republic of China period, counties were established in the Dai ethnic areas and bureaus were set up.
The Dai people have more than a thousand years of old Dai literature, there are ancient Bayeux scriptures. The Dai have their own unique calendar. The difference between the Dai calendar and the Gregorian calendar is 638 years, that is, 639 years of the Gregorian calendar is the first year of the Dai calendar. The year of the Dai calendar is a solar year, but the month is a lunar month. The Dai calendar is divided into three seasons: January to April is the cold season, May to August is the hot season, and September to December is the rainy season. The Dai people are very fond of poetry, especially long narrative poems. Narrative poems such as "Shao Shu Tun and Nan Manona" and "E and Sang Luo" are valuable cultural heritages of the Chinese nation. There are many kinds of Dai dances, and their movements and contents mainly simulate the activities of common local animals and are personified on this basis. The Peacock Dance comes from the imitation of peacock's graceful movements as well as from the beautiful and touching legends of the Dai people. The famous dancer Knife Meilan is famous for performing the peacock dance.
The Water Splashing Festival is the most ethnic festival of the Dai people. The Water Festival is the New Year of the Dai calendar, which is held between June 6 and July 6, corresponding to the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar. On the day of the Water Splashing Festival, people worship the Buddha, and the girls wash the Buddha with fresh water with flowers floating in it, and then splash each other with water to play and wish each other good luck. At first with hands and bowls of water, and later with pots and buckets, while splashing and singing, the more intense the splash, drums, gongs, splashing, cheering into one. During the water festival, but also held a dragon boat race, put high, put flying lights and other traditional entertainment activities and a variety of songs and dances.
The Dai people live in a bamboo building is a dry-rail type of building. Bamboo building nearly square, dozens of large bamboo support, suspended pavement floor; roof covered with thatched rows, bamboo wall gap is very large, both ventilated and light, the roof of the two sides of the slope is very large, was "A" shape. The bamboo building is divided into two floors, with people living upstairs and raising livestock and stacking sundries downstairs, which is also a place for pounding rice and weaving cloth. Dai men generally wear collarless shirts with lapel sleeves and long pants, and wrap their heads in white or blue cloth. The costumes of Dai women vary greatly from place to place, but basically they are all characterized by the same features of hair binding, tube skirts and short shirts. The tube skirt is as long as the top of the foot, and the shirt is tight and short, with the hemline only reaching the waist, but the sleeves are long and narrow.
The Dai people use rice as their staple food, and the most distinctive feature is the bamboo tube rice. The production method is to put the rice into a fresh bamboo tube and add water, put on the fire grill, eat up the fragrance and delicious. Pu-erh tea is a specialty of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. It was exported to all parts of China in the Tang Dynasty, and was exported to Southeast Asia and South Asia in the Qing Dynasty, and now it has entered the markets of Japan, Western Europe and other countries and regions, and has become a famous tea both at home and abroad. Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture is very rich in specialties, only fruit has more than 110 kinds, here are many varieties of plants and animals, is the famous "plant kingdom" and "animal kingdom". 1991 Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve was officially opened to the outside world, people can personally experience nature. can personally travel to the treasure house of nature and experience the rich subtropical flavor.
(Content from the book "China's ethnic groups") Back
Dance of the Dai People
Peacock Dance - Dai language called "Jaluochong", "Bother Luochong" or "Bother Luochong". "or" Canan Luo ". This is the most popular dance of the Dai people, circulating in Yunnan Dehong Dai, Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. The rich and beautiful Dai Township, known as the "township of peacocks", used to be a place where peacocks with exquisite posture danced whenever the morning sun was shining or the setting sun was shining, so the peacock in the hearts of the Dai people is a symbol of good luck, happiness, beauty and goodness. During festivals, the Dai people gather together to watch peacock dances and dances showing the peacock's habits performed by folk artists based on folk stories, myths and legends, and Buddhist scriptures. For example, the Peacock Dance based on the mythological story "The Devil and the Peacock" is still widely spread in the folklore. The dance shows the devil wants to dominate the peacock as his wife, the peacock with a human face and a bird's body, struggling to shake their beautiful feathers, the brilliant, brilliant light so that the devil brothers blind, the peacock won the victory.
About the origin of the peacock dance in the Dai people have circulated many moving legends. Legend has it that a long time ago, the leader of the Dai people called Ma Su led four thousand people to find happiness, and after arriving at the "Lai Shao Meng", they heard the sound of fruits dropping into the water and the sound of fish eating water, and saw the peacock dancing beautifully with the beautiful sound, so they came back to imitate these sounds and the movements of the peacock. Accompanied by drums and cymbals, they danced the peacock dance. In some ancient murals and carvings of the Maung Maung temple, you can see a lot of lifelike images of peacocks with human faces and bird bodies, which are very similar to the peacock dance with spire helmets and masks on the head and peacock suits. Ming Dynasty "Nanzhao wild history" also has a record of the peacock dance: "marriage to take the eldest and youngest jumping, blowing the reed-sheng for the peacock dance ...... ", visible peacock dance history has a long history.?
The peacock dance is usually performed by one, two or three people. Whenever the dancers jump to happy, the crowd cheered "my - my", "water - water", the atmosphere is very The atmosphere is very warm. Peacock Dance has a more fixed performance program, mostly imitating the peacock flying out of the nest, sensitive vision exploration, walking peacefully, looking for water, drinking water, water, bathing, shaking wings, sun wings, wings and all things beautiful, free and happy to fly ...... and so on. Peacock dance movement is exceptionally rich, the most common hand style palm, peacock hand style "(thumb slightly inward buckle, index finger flexion back, the remaining three fingers like fan-shaped up)," eye style "(index finger and thumb slightly close, the remaining three fingers like fan-shaped up) and so on. The steps are tiptoe, "undulating step" (the power leg is driven by the heel to kick up to the buttocks and then land on the palm of the foot, and the main leg then flexes and extends) and so on. From the dance style can be summarized in the following three categories: the first for the male peacock dance. Folk dance. Knee undulation rigid. Dance posture has obvious "three bends" characteristics. The second is the female peacock dance. It is mostly performed by men in folklore. The knees undulate softly and slowly, the dance posture is beautiful and delicate, and there are often arches of the chest and shoulder rotation, reflecting its subtle and charming form, and the drum beats are light and slow. The third is the Little Peacock Dance. Often use rapid small trembling and keep a semi-squatting state of the short step, the calf is flexible and light, commonly used continuous small shrugs, drums are fast and light.
The drums of the Dai people can be roughly divided into two kinds: one is a single drum, the Dai language called "light Laleng". The other is a double-sided drum, which is called "light double la" in Dai. Because the shape of the single-sided drum is like an elephant's leg, it is named "Elephant Foot Drum".
1. Elephant Foot Drum Dance: The Dai language called "Jar Light" or "Bother Light" (the Dai language called the drum "light", dancing for "Jar"). "). "Jaguang" is the most popular men's dance in the Dai area. Whenever rice-planting and harvest time, the elephant-foot drum dance is danced to celebrate. The elephant-foot drum is not only a prop for folk dance, but also the main instrument to accompany other dances. When the Dai people are entertained, there must be drums and drums, and only with the accompaniment of the elephant foot drums can the dance be performed with sound and color and sound and enjoyment.
About the elephant foot drum and its dance folklore, according to legend: in ancient times, there is a couple, labor in the water pool side of the nap, suddenly the wind blew ripe mango from the tree down to the water, the sound of "boom - boom" sound, the sound to them brought The sound brought them joy. When they returned home, they hollowed out the tree according to the foot of an elephant and made a drum out of cowhide. They carried the drums on their backs and danced when they were in a hurry, and soon the Elephant Foot Drum Dance spread. It is also said that: a long time ago, there are two young men taming elephants in accordance with the elephant's feet made the elephant foot drum. In the Ming Dynasty, "Baiyi biography" also has: "the size of the long leather drums to hand pat the" record.When performing, the dancers carry the elephant foot drum on the left shoulder, the drum face forward, the drum tail down, the right hand to beat the drum mainly with the left hand. Generally use the fist, palm and finger to beat the drum surface, and sometimes also use the elbow, knee, heel, toe, etc. to beat. The Elephant Foot Drum Dance is robust and rough. The rise and fall of the knees and the drumming action are closely coordinated, and the knees are bent when the hands are used to beat the drum. When you raise your hands, your knees are straight. The dance steps are very rich, there are "front point step half squat", "back point step half squat", "step full squat", "eight steps half squat There are "front pointing half squat", "back pointing half squat", "stepping full squat", "half squat with eight steps", and there is also a leg as the main force, and the other leg to do the leisurely leg, lifting the leg, kicking and other gestures, as well as sucking the leg to jump, kicking the leg to jump, popping the leg to jump, jumping across the leg. The elephant foot drum has three drum shapes: long, medium and small, and there are three different jumping methods according to the shape of the drum.
The first, long elephant foot drum dance. It is mainly popular in Ruili County of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Mengding of Gengma, some areas of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Menglian. The drum is about two meters long, and because it is heavy, it is mostly used for dance accompaniment. When dancing, the pace is slow and steady, and the knees undulate powerfully. The drums are the most abundant, and have formed a certain drum language, which can express the joy, anger, sadness and happiness of the Dai people.
The second one is the elephant foot drum dance. Mainly popular in Luxi County, Yingjiang County, Gengma County, Jinggu County, Meng understand and some areas of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. The drum is about 1.5 meters long and lightweight. Its main feature is that the drum tail is swung up and flung up during the dance. As there is a tuft of peacock feathers on the tail of the drum, it looks very good when it is swung. Swinging the drum is to let the drum tail sway left and right, and flinging the drum is to press the drum head downward so that the drum tail is flung upward. The Chinese Elephant Foot Drum Dance is not only performed at festivals, but there are also special days each year for the Drum Race, where the length of the drum sound, the sound quality and the size of the drum tail swing are the winning criteria.
The third, small elephant foot drum dance. Only popular in Xishuangbanna area. The drum body is less than a meter long, rich in action, often used as a peacock dance. The movement is large, with a suction leg jump, leg jump, leg lift and other steps.
2. Jar Companion Light: "Jar Companion Light" is the meaning of dancing around the drum, it is the most popular and prevalent collective dance among the Dai people, it is not limited to the location of time, dozens of hundreds of people can be formed into a circle to dance in a clockwise direction, the festival all night long dance endlessly. The dance is simple and enthusiastic, with outstanding features, the women's knee trembling more evenly, and more smooth hand and foot dance. Generally, the dance is based on the steps of "erratic step", "undulating step", "point step", "bow and arrow step" and so on. The movements of the hands are simpler, usually alternating with the natural hand style in front of the chest, circling the wrist downwards or pulling the hand upwards from the armpit. Sister-in-laws and the elderly dance in the inner circle, the old man's movement is slow, knee undulation is obvious, often with a large amount of forward and backward to express their excitement, their movements arbitrary free play, and outside the circle of young people, it is required to move uniformly and neatly. Jar accompanied by the light of the drums is very rich.
3. Double-sided drum dance: the Dai language called "light state", "light two", "light double la", "light Hong ", "light menghuang" and so on. It has been passed down in Yingjiang County, Ruili County of Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, some areas of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, and Menghuang area of Gengma County and Cangyuan County. It is the oldest kind of drum dance of the Dai people. This kind of drum is big at one end and small at the other, and both sides are covered with skins. Small double-sided drum length of about one and a half feet, can be hung horizontally on the body, dance with the right hand with the palm of the drum, the left hand with a piece of bamboo to hit the drum, the action of the ups and downs, commonly used in deep squatting and other dance, three bends modeling is more prominent. The large double-sided drum has a diameter of 67 centimeters and a body basket of one meter. Need two people with bamboo poles to carry up, dancers swinging mallets with both hands, do cloud hand turn, suction legs, kneeling and squatting and other actions to play the drum. Some drums are placed on the ground to play, drums sound powerful. Crowds of people in a circle, holding flowers or handkerchiefs singing and dancing, with the Cannes Companion Light Dance similar to the form of performance.
Fish Dance - Dai language called "Garba". Mainly spread in Ruili County, Dehong Dai, Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, and gradually spread to other areas after liberation. It is said that when the Dai discovered fish and learned how to fish, they danced to imitate fish. There are only one or two performers in the Fish Dance, and the dancers dance with fish-shaped props on their bodies. Fish Dance is softer and more delicate than other Dai folk dances, and it is dexterous and lively. Mainly in the undulation, soft knee bends and half-palm steps, small jumps agile and lively, the performance of the fish in the calm water roaming, often using the whole foot or half-palm knee bends and breaks the walk, there is no undulation, hands and upper body only to the left and right swing. In the performance of the fish playing in the water or fighting with the rapids, often using small jumps, small jumps, small flip and other jumping movements, the image is vivid and realistic. Fish Dance mostly adopts the fish-shaped hand style (one hand with the palm of the hand over the back of the hand of the other hand, with the thumb extended), or with both hands to the outside of the circle and arms swinging back as the typical action. The drum beat of the Fish Dance is relatively slow and light, and the rich drum language is no less than the Peacock Dance.
Roc Bird Dance - Dai language called "Jialun". It is an ancient folk dance performed by the Dai people during grand festivals. It is mainly popular in Ruili County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. Legend has it that a long time ago, the rain god ran away, the Dai area does not rain, the earth was scorched, the roc bird set aside to hold the eggs of his wife in the face, and the rain god launched a fight to the death. A few days later, the roc defeated the rain god and made it rain, but the roc's wife and children had already starved to death. In order to express their respect for the roc, the Dai people created the Roc Bird Dance, which has been handed down to this day. The Roc Bird Dance is robust and rugged, with big and powerful movements. The dance mainly expresses the action of the roc bird fighting with the rain god and the temperament of defying violence. The movements change quickly and powerfully, and the modeling time is long, "three bends" dance posture with prominent angles. Such as: the appearance of the action is generally a big jump after a big dance modeling, the performance of the roc bird from the air swiftly down the spirit. More claw-type hand (fingers open into a fan) and palm-type hand, these hand styles to strengthen the strength of the action. There are only one or two performers in the Roc Bird Dance. In the past, the dance was performed with the props and masks of the roc bird, which have been discarded, so that the dance movements have been fully developed. The drums are unusually rich, and the sound of the drums is deep and powerful.
Heron dance - Dai language called "Jar Yang", "Jar Luo Yang". It is a collective dance for young people during festivals. It is mainly popular in Ruili and Luxi County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. In the past, the dancers danced in snow-white clothes with two bright red ribbons on their shoulders, which is not common now. Snow-white heron birds are commonly seen in the bamboo forests or paddy fields near Dai villages. About the origin of the heron dance folklore varies, there is a kind of story: in ancient times there was a very poor young man, more than daily labor. The heron loved him very much and danced elegantly for him, and later the young man danced affectionately with the heron. Later, people made this dance into a pair dance for young people. It is also said that a kind of ethnic group called "central" once came to the area of Dehong, and this kind of dance is to show the process of their labor in the field. Heron Dance is generally based on the dance, the action is relative, the formation is more than two horizontal rows of left and right out of the meeting into two vertical rows, four rows, two circles, and so on. One person often directs the change of various movements and figures. The movements of the Heron Dance are simple and elegant. The rhythmic treatment of the dance steps is different from other Dai folk dances. When the weak beat is taken, the knees are bent quickly and the power leg is raised nimbly; when the heavy beat is taken, the knees are straightened with tenacity and the power leg is lightly landed on the palm of the foot, which imitates the walking action of the heron. There are special movements such as clapping the hands in front of the chest and arching the chest. The drums are light and simple.
Wreath Dance - Dai language called "Jar Dong", is the collective dance of young people. It is mainly popular in some areas of Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Nowadays, it is danced only during grand festivals and has become an organized dance performance. From very early times, whenever the Water Festival and other religious festivals come, the boys and girls will go in groups to the deep forests and riverside to collect the most colorful and beautiful flowers, and then play the elephant-footed drums to sing and dance to send the flowers to the Maung Maung Temple built into a flower pavilion ......, this ancient custom has been passed down in the Dai villages. About the origin of the garland dance there is such a legend: once upon a time there was a poor young man, to go to the dam to catch the pendulum, feel their clothes tattered and tattered, they picked a lot of flowers tied into a garland set on the body, downhill with the joy of the elephant foot drums dance ......, a girl fell in love with him, along with his dance sang a song, the garland dance thus arise! The Garland Dance was born. Wreaths are made of brightly colored flowers tied to a bamboo grate that is about two meters long, and when dancing, hold the ends of the wreaths with both hands, and focus on the changes in the wreaths while moving the pace. The dance is performed with both hands holding the ends of the garlands while moving the steps, focusing on the changes of the garlands and forming patterns with national characteristics. Wreath dance to dance to the extreme music, by a command, the dancers together from the slow plate into the fast plate, there are tiptoe, "Dun wrong step small jump" and other actions.
Boring the whole - Dai language called the knife dance and stick, fist, stick this kind of dance for "boring the whole", "Jar whole", "make the whole". ". It is a male dance. Circulated in the vast Dai area, similar to the Han's martial arts. Scenic Dai countryside, Dai men are wearing a refined knife, marking their bravery and might, while the knife is also a favorable tool for production and labor. Knife dance in Dai language is called "Jarla" or "annoying pull". The movement is powerful and robust, and it mostly adopts the steps of "Big Eight Stomp", "Bouncing Legs", "Kicking Legs and Dabbing Jump" and "Squatting and Sliding", etc. These movements are very powerful and powerful. "These movements rarely appear in the Dai folk dance. Knife Dance has single knife, double knives, short knives and long knives (similar to swords) and other types and different genres such as local, mainland, Myanmar, etc. Various genres have their own strict performance programs and movements. It can be performed by one to a dozen people, and the dance is unaccompanied or accompanied by elephant foot drums. The stick, baton and boxing skills are basically similar to the knife dance.
Cannes Duo - also known as the "annoying Duo", is a prop dance. This dance used to be in the grand religious festivals only jump, so far only popular in Gengma County Meng Ding and Menglian County area. "Duo" is a deified animal, said to have a lion's head, a dog's mouth, antlers, a long neck and fine hair. In Chinese, this dance is called the "Horse and Deer Dance". Jarto still with props to jump, props body length of one zhang, neck length of eight feet, with a bamboo grate braided into a forty-five-centimeter circle, the outside with a cloth wrapped up, cut up white paper glued to the top as feathers. Generally, two people cooperate to play a deer, the front dancers decorate the deer head and the front half of the body, with a stick to support the neck to do scratching movements, the back dancers grasp the tail, to the sides to do agile small jumps and fell pouncing, prancing around and other actions. The dance steps and drum beats are similar to the peacock dance.
1. Yilaga dance, also known as "annoying Yilaga". It is popular in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. In the Dai New Year "Water Festival" and "Open Door Festival" or happy days, the Dai people have to dance this dance, because each section of the lyrics behind the "Yilaga" to do the liner notes and the name. The characteristics of the Yilaga dance are similar to those of the Jarring Light dance.
2. Butterfly Dance, the Dai language called "Jar Yan". Popular in Gengma County, Mengding and Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Ruili County area. It is said that the Butterfly Dance was created for the purpose of creating a new style of dance during the race. When the dancers will perform the butterfly-shaped props tied to the body to imitate the shape of the butterfly dance, its movements and drum beats are similar to the small peacock dance.
3. The bucket hat dance is popular in the area of Jinping County. It is hot and rainy there, and bucket hats are indispensable in daily life and labor. Therefore, there is a bucket hat dance. The action of the hats has "carrying the hat", "rolling the hat in front of the body", "rolling the shoulder hat", "swinging the hat" and so on. The knees are softly undulating during the dance, and are slightly modeled as a three-way bend, but it is not obvious.
4. Lajiao Dance, known as "Jardine" in Dai language. It is a performing ritual dance, mainly popular in Xishuangbanna. The dance is soft and subtle, commonly used in sitting, standing, kneeling and undulating steps, lifting the front side, back bending the legs and other steps, hands holding the lighted wax strip, do the hand out, outwards to draw a circle and other actions.
5. Chicken Dance, the Dai language called "Jar Cai". It is a children's dance popular in Luxi County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. The dance mainly imitates the movements of chickens, such as foraging for food and fighting with each other, and it wins by jumping for a long time and at a fast speed. There is no musical accompaniment, and the dance is usually performed by children counting.
6. Twelve Horse Dance, known as "Ma Xi Shuang" in Dai language, is a song and dance performed by twelve people, popular in Yingjiang County, Lucy County and other places in Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. The performers wear horse-shaped props around their waists, pull the reins with one hand and hold a fan with the other, and run mainly on half-pedal trembling, changing various formations. Generally singing twelve months of labor, sometimes also perform a certain storyline.
7. Cannon Yan, meaning "the dance of the little princess or young lady." In the past, only in the religious festivals or Tusi marriage, succession to jump, mainly popular in Cangyuan County Meng understand the region. The dance is mainly sung, and the content includes singing about marriage, love and twelve months of production and labor. Dance male in front of the fist, female holding a fan or handkerchief, action with the Canon light dance similar.
In addition, in Jinping County, there is also a performance of the labor life of the "Boat Dance", "Picking Flowers Dance", "Fish Fishing Dance", "Walking Dance " and so on. The Fan Dance, which has been passed down in Jinping County, is said to be a ritual dance performed when fighting ghosts. The "Elephant Dance" in Mengding area of Gengma County is called "Jar Zhang" in Dai language. It consists of two people laced with props in the shape of elephants, imitating the movements of elephants such as walking and saluting, with one person holding a red handkerchief to lead the elephants to dance. The "Women's Dance", popular in Xishuangbanna, is light and soft. Popular in Ruili County, "Jarrow ring", is an imitation of the bird dance, and the same as the small peacock dance.