Dai people call themselves "Dai", which means "freedom" or "people". According to the distribution area, there are "Dai Na", "Dai Ya" and "Dai Zhan". Dai people are mainly distributed in the southwest of Yunnan Province, living in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, dehong autonomous prefecture, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County and Menglian Dai and Lahu Autonomous County, and the rest of Dai people are scattered in Lincang, Lancang, Xinping, Yuanjiang, Yuanyang, Jinping, Jingdong and Jinggu counties. In addition, a small number of Dai people live in Huaping, Dayao and Luquan along the Jinsha River, as well as Huili and Yanbian in Sichuan. Only a small number of Dai people live in the inland areas of Yunnan Province, and most of them live in frontier areas, bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam respectively.
Dai language belongs to Zhuang-Dai branch of Zhuang-Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. There are three dialects: Dehong, Xishuangbanna and Jinping. Dai language is derived from the pinyin of Sanskrit letters. After improvement in 195s, Xishuangbanna and Dehong Dai languages are now popular. The traditional festivals of the Dai nationality are rich and colorful, and there are festivals every month for 12 months a year, which can be described as a major landscape of Dai culture. Among the traditional national festivals, the Songkran Festival, the Wadi Festival and the Wadi Festival are grand and grand. Traditional festivals of the Dai nationality in Dehong are timed according to the Dai calendar, and the forms of festivals are mostly the same, with slight differences in festival details in different regions and different eras. In Dehong Dai area, all activities related to festivals can be called "pendulum". Dai people's "pendulum" varies in time and content, scale and number of people. In the past, many "pendulum" activities were strongly religious, and they were divided into "big pendulum" organized by monks or chieftains and attended by the masses and "small pendulum" organized privately. After the founding of New China, the Dai people changed their customs and changed their "pendulum" into a festival event for material exchange and cultural exchange. Especially after the reform and opening up, the Dai "pendulum" became a grand event to expand opening up, accelerate economic development and spiritual civilization construction in ethnic areas, and promote national prosperity. Large-scale "pendulum" is usually carried out in late autumn. There are always thousands of large-scale Dai people rushing out. Mangshi's peaceful and sheltered "display" lasted for several days and nights. The display was crowded with people, and a "Ga Yang Competition" was held among villages. There were movies and wonderful cultural programs at night, and the whole display was immersed in the joy of the festival. Dai people's venues are generally located in the squares of towns or villages, with many stalls and many commodities, which are dazzling and dizzying. There are all kinds of local handicrafts, ethnic food, Dai silver jewelry, tube handkerchief, tube skirt and various agricultural and sideline products, as well as countless colorful snacks and daily necessities made in Thailand and Myanmar. The most attractive thing in the show is all kinds of entertainment activities with strong local ethnic characteristics, especially Dai opera. As soon as the gongs and drums are heard, the people who are rushing to the stage will immediately enjoy their own national drama. In addition, local ethnic cultural and artistic activities such as "Twelve Horses" and "Ga Yang Dance" of the Dai people were held in the venue, and the scene was grand and exciting. Young men and women of the Dai nationality also seek spouses by rushing, making it a place for them to seek objects, and by rushing together to talk about love, they seek their sweetheart. The Dai people display crystal (Dai calendar New Year Festival)
The Dai calendar New Year Festival is the January Festival, which is called "crystal display" in Dai language and is a traditional festival of the Dai people. Buddhist language is called "Baiga Pavilion", and the first day of the first month of the Dai calendar (the same as the first day of the tenth lunar month of the Han nationality) is the beginning of the Dai calendar. In ancient times, the first horse day of this month was regarded as New Year's Day. In this festival, the Dai people have the custom of observing the age, and in the old days they were mainly feudal lords, chieftains or stockaded village leaders. Generally, adult wood heads are burned in the fireplace in the main room, and it is better to burn the stump head for three days and three nights without extinguishing it. Dai people also do other "pendulum" activities to celebrate the New Year Festival. Such as "Baiga Pavilion" (Robe Festival) and "Guangguang Mother Race" (Sand Tower Festival). This festival is mainly popular in Dehong Dai areas, and the Dai people in Longchuan, Ruili, mangshi and other places have retained the tradition of this festival. In the past, Dai local rulers generally presided over festival ceremonies. The festival began on the evening of December 3th in the Dai calendar. On this night, the young men and women of the Dai people gathered together, beating gongs and drums to welcome the New Year, and lit a bonfire with dry wood. Everyone talked and laughed. After beating gongs and drums for a while, they stopped beating drums and laughing. The audience was silent. Four or five minutes later, a prestigious Dai elder publicly announced: The old year is over, and the new year is coming, and the people are happy and auspicious; Let 96 diseases stay away from us like the wind; Let us have only good things and no bad things; Let our place flourish, rich and beautiful. Then beating gongs and drums, it was very lively. The next day is the first day of the New Year. Competitions and dancing activities such as martial arts, shooting, horse racing, running, drum racing and playing with stones are held in various places. The winners are rewarded and won new honorary titles. At the same time, Dai villages visit each other in series, and people visit relatives and friends and entertain guests. It is said that these celebrations were forced to stop in the late Qing Dynasty, but they have been restored and improved in modern times. With the prevalence of folk Buddhist beliefs, a Buddhist ritual activity has been strengthened in many Dai areas so far, that is, the above-mentioned "Baiga Pavilion". With the widespread spread of Buddhism spreading from the south to the upper seat in Dehong Dai area, the New Year Festival in January of Dai calendar, in addition to the New Year celebrations, also strengthened activities such as "Baiga Pavilion", namely, the cassock festival and the sand tower festival. According to legend, after Sakyamuni became a Buddha, his aunt, Guo Nami, spent a day and a night in the Dai calendar on January 15th, sewing a reddish-yellow cassock for Sakyamuni. She was influenced by Buddhism and became the first female monk. Later, she got the position of Arhat Grosvenor. Since then, people have held a "Baiga Pavilion" in January of the Dai calendar, that is, the Robe Festival. On this day, the group or individual puts the prepared cassock on the Buddha statue in the Buddhist temple, and at the same time gives it to the monk in order to achieve the fruit of practice as soon as possible. In the "Ga Pavilion" activity, there will be 1, sand towers and 1, wax candles, in order to have good luck all your life, to light your heart and realize the right path. This Buddhist ceremony is called the Sand-building Pagoda Festival.
Dai people taste new rice festival
In February of Dai calendar ("cold and sweet" in Dai language), the Dai family put the cleaned rice into the barn, and every household of Dai people choose auspicious days to offer sacrifices to Buhuhao (Grandpa Gu Shen and Grandma Gu Shen) and taste the new rice. This is the Dai people taste new rice festival, which is a traditional festival of Dai people. Regarding the origin of the Dai people's tasting of the New Rice Festival, there is a folk legend that in a long time, the rice in the Dai people's place went from the root to the tip of the rice. Therefore, the Dai people have a lot of food, and they can't eat it for ten years a year. When there is more food, the Dai people will not cherish it, spoil it at will, and throw it about. Also, the grain was smashed into a cake and made into a drum pier as a bench for people to sit on. The gods were angry to see people wasting food like this. During the autumn harvest, the gods took all the seeds away. This year, people had no food to eat, so they had to go up the mountain to pick wild fruits and dig wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. Dogs can't eat wild fruits and vegetables, so they look up to heaven and cry sadly. Crying shook the gods, and the gods pitied the dogs, so they quietly dropped a few ears of millet for the dogs to eat, and the dropped ears were robbed by people. People are reluctant to eat it, so they keep it as a grain seed and plant it year after year. People don't start eating it until the quantity is large. As soon as Xingu came on stage this year, people made rice balls to worship the world and feed them to dogs. Then villages and villages, men, women and children sit around the table and taste new rice. Old people warned young people to cherish food and feed their dogs at every meal. Because there is no dog crying to touch the gods, there will be no seeds on earth. From then on, when eating new rice for the first time every year, a simple ceremony will be held. In this way, the annual rice tasting festival has been inherited to this day. During the New Rice Festival, the elders of the Dai family went to the fields with offerings on their backs, offering sacrifices to Gu Shen, asking him to go home, and asking him to bless the grain planted in the coming year not to be moldy and eaten by insects and rats, and to have a bumper harvest in the coming year. Every household prepares delicacies and invites friends and relatives to taste rich Dai dishes at home to celebrate the harvest. With the development of modern science and technology, the progress of agricultural production technology, the improvement of farmers' scientific quality, and the impact of modern lifestyle, this festival gradually faded out of people's lives, and many Dai areas no longer have this festival. Dai people patrol the dam
A traditional festival of the Dai people in Lvchun, Yunnan Province, which is held on the 13th day of the first lunar month every year.
patrolling the dam is intended to welcome the spring. During the festival, Dai people all wear festive costumes and gather under the flourishing Daqing tree to form a flower ring. In a burst of gongs and drums, the Dai people's celebrations began. While singing, the singers danced the traditional antithetical dance. At noon, it reached * * *, and after everyone enjoyed themselves, a respected old man announced the beginning of "patrolling the Tianba", so the celebration team formed an orderly team, led by eight flag-bearers and followed by a large group of people playing suona, knocking gongs and drums, setting off firecrackers and firing firecrackers. People left the village and headed for Tianba. The Dai Egg Festival < P > is a traditional festival for Dai children, which is held every year on the 1th day of the second lunar month.
On the day of the festival, every child of the Dai nationality hangs a small pocket on his chest, which contains several boiled eggs dyed yellow, red, green and purple. They go to play in groups under the shade of trees or by the river near the village, and then have dinner together, eat the protein of the eggs they brought, and leave the yolk to take home for their parents or brothers to eat, showing their respect for their parents or brothers. Dai Sand Festival
A traditional festival of the Dai people in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It is held in the middle of April of the lunar calendar every year. The festival lasts three days.
before the festival, every Dai family must dig a basket of clean sand that has not been trampled by people or cattle and horses before going to the river. During the festival, people gather together and pour out the prepared sand in turn. The most prestigious elders in the village divide the sand into two large piles and several small piles, and then pat them into cones. Small sand piles surround large sand piles. Then the picked pine branches are inserted into the sand pile, which symbolizes that the people in the whole village will never grow old; We also collected Monan rock flowers and wound them around the fence surrounded by pine and bamboo, and planted a gratifying plantain tree, in order to wish everyone a stable fate like the roots of plantain, and hope that next year's bumper harvest will be piled up like a sand pile. After all, the old man poured clean water into the sand pile to show that the drought was driven away, the weather was good and the grain harvest was good. In the evening, brothers from various ethnic groups, such as Yi and Hani, came to congratulate. The Dai elders welcomed the distinguished guests into the village, toasting and offering tea. After that, the whole village of Dai people and their guests danced and sang in a beat like a foot drum. Dai people broadcast pa
Dai language is promoted to monk, and Dai religious festival is held in April or August of Dai calendar every year.
At that time, "Ke Yong", who is a monk in the Buddhist temple, invited the godfather "Bo Wo", and the godfather prepared the yellow cassock, small round hat and all the things needed for becoming a monk. After the congratulations ceremony was held at the godfather's house, he was sent to the Buddhist temple to recite the scriptures and was enjoined to become a monk. It is very particular to send Ke Yong into the temple, both on horseback and on his back. Dai water-splashing festival
is also called "Leng He Shang Han". Dai language is the June New Year or Dai calendar New Year, a traditional festival of Dai people in Yunnan Province. It is usually held in the middle of June in the Dai calendar.
There is a legend about the Water-sprinkling Festival: In ancient times, there was a demon king who did so many evils that people hated him and tried many ways to kill him. Later, the devil snatched seven girls as his wives. The clever seven girls learned from the devil's mouth his fatal weakness, that is, tying his neck with the devil's hair can kill him. Seven girls pulled out the devil's hair while he was sleeping. le neck, the devil's head rolled down. But as soon as the head fell to the ground, the ground caught fire, and as soon as the girl picked up her head, the fire went out. In order to avoid the burning of the water-splashing festival, she and her six sisters took turns hugging the devil's head, changing it once a year. When changing people every year, people throw water on the girl who holds her head, washing away her blood stains and her fatigue for one year, so as to eliminate disasters in the new year. Since then, the Songkran Festival has been formed.
the Dai water-splashing festival lasts for three to four days. On the first day, the Dai language was called "wrist mulberry publication", which means to send it to Japan. On this day, Dai people went to the temple to worship Buddha, and piled up three or five pagoda-shaped sand piles with sand in the temple, about three or four feet high. Eight bamboo branches wrapped in colored paper were inserted into the spire, and people sat around and listened to chanting and historical legends. Some young Dai men and women went up the mountain to pick flowers for greenhouses. At noon, women washed the Buddha with clean water. After the ceremony, water splashing began, and Dai people chased and played. Dai people think this water is auspicious and can get rid of disasters and diseases. Therefore, I am very happy even if I am soaked through. On the last day of the festival, the Dai language is called "wrist beep wrist horse", that is, New Year's Day. One or two days in the middle are empty days between two years. In addition to piling sand and splashing water, traditional entertainment items such as packet loss, dragon boat race, flying high and flying lanterns will be held during the festival.
the traditional festival of the Dai people in Yunnan province is also a religious festival. It is usually held in September of Dai calendar.
At that time, all households in the Dai nationality will make up "Daxue" (a kind of thin-eyed basketry made of bamboo), stick it in the corner of the field, or hang it around the barn or the main building with straw rope, and recite the scriptures. According to folklore, "healing" can protect people and animals from food and clothing. The Dai people speak Mo
Dai language, which means "dragon festival". The traditional festival of Dai people in Yunnan Province is also a folk religious festival, which is held every year in June of the lunar calendar.
This festival is held to drive away pests, welcome planting seedlings and pray for a bumper harvest. During the festival, the whole Dai village will raise funds to kill a cow, a pig and a number of chickens. After arranging sacrifices, a sacrificial ceremony will be held. Dai people who come to participate in the sacrifice should bring their own rice. During the festival, people stop working for one to three days. During this period, all intersections must be blocked and people are not allowed to go in and out, so as not to offend the gods and bring disaster. The Dai people's dew-swaying party
is also called "dew-swaying festival", which is a traditional festival of the Dai people in Yunnan Province. Every year, the Dai calendar will be held on a day after September 15, and the festival will last for four to five days.
Before the festival, it is required to arrange the order of each "show" first, and change places every day. The village whose turn it is is is the host of the festival, who is responsible for entertaining guests from all villages in the region. During the festival, the Dai people will hold a grand dance elephant parade. At that time, the honor guard of gongs and drums will be arranged in pictographs, which will be the leaders of the parade, with bamboo sticks woven and painted elephants as the center of the procession. The elephant dancer lies on his back in the curtain under the elephant's belly, and manipulates it to perform as an elephant. The base of the elephant is loaded by four to eight people, and surrounded by gongs, it performs in the exhibition hall. Dai nationality's Haowasa
The Dai language is the Closing Day. The traditional festivals of Dai people in Yunnan Province belong to religious festivals. It starts on September 15th every year and lasts for three months, and ends in December.
In festivals, all villages of the Dai nationality hold Buddha-worship ceremonies. During the festival, people have a small prayer meeting every seven days, and there is a big prayer meeting in the middle. The Buddha and the monk concentrate on reading the scriptures for three days and three nights, and the believers in the village all go to the Buddhist temple to listen and repent. According to the customs of the Dai family, entering this period is the busy season of agriculture, so the Dai people, men, women and children all concentrate on production. Young people can love each other, but they are not allowed to get married or go out, so as not to affect production.
After three months' hard work, on December 15th of the Dai calendar, the rice was harvested and put into storage, and the Closing Festival was declared over. This day is also the beginning of Opening Day.
from the opening day, all taboos are