Dai language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. It is divided into Xishuangbanna dialect, Dehong dialect and Jinping dialect. The phonetic characters of the Dai people are derived from Sanskrit letters, which vary from place to place. In 1954, the script reform was carried out, which was divided into Dai Na (Dehong), Dai Lu (Xishuangbanna), Dai Zhan (Ruili, Gengma, Lancang and other places) and Jinping Dai. Xishuangbanna and Dehong are two Dai languages.
Third, the astronomical calendar of the Dai nationality
The Dai nationality has its own traditional calendar. Dai language is called "Zula Saha", which means "small calendar". Its origin can be traced back to the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, while the current Dai calendar began before the Ming Dynasty. It is a kind of yin-yang calendar. The year of Dai calendar is the solar calendar year, that is, one revolution around the sun; The month of the Dai calendar is a lunar month, that is, the cycle is a full moon. A year is divided into December, with 3 days in a single month and 29 days in a bimonthly month. Taking June as the beginning of the year, its first month is equivalent to October in the summer calendar. The average year is 35 or 355 days and the leap year is 384 days. The Dai calendar began in 638 AD.
iv. Dai medicine and health
As a knowledge, Dai medicine is an important part of Dai science and culture. For thousands of years, in the struggle against diseases, the Dai people have constantly summed up their experiences, collected rich folk prescriptions and collected thousands of herbs. Among them, Danghaya (a medical book) is an important medical document of the Dai people.
According to documents, when the Dai people moved to Jingyong, many people died of epidemic diseases in many villages. Only one village, in Batou, Jingyong, not only did no one die of illness, but all of them were strong. They have opened up many fields and the production has developed rapidly. One day, an old man named Bo went up the mountain to pick wild fruits. He passed by the village and was surprised to see that everyone in the village was healthy. He asked the people in the village, "What do you eat? Why is everyone strong?" The people in the village told him: "I didn't eat anything else, but when I first came, everyone went up the mountain to pick wild fruits and vegetables to eat every day. Maybe there is some reason for this."
Bo's tooth told people in other villages about this situation when he went back, and advised them to try it and go up the mountain to pick wild vegetables to eat. Everyone wanted to cure the disease, so they did as Bo's tooth said. After a period of time, it really worked and the epidemic disease was significantly reduced. Bo's teeth pay attention to picking out samples from wild fruits and wild vegetables that everyone picks back and keeping them. In the future, as long as someone in the village is sick, he will find these fruits and vegetables for the patients to eat according to the sample. Some of them will be fine after eating the disease, and some of them will be less effective, but they will be effective if they are eaten differently. In this way, he slowly summed up and accumulated experience. Whenever someone was sick (mainly malaria at that time), he was treated according to different types of diseases. With the gradual decrease of diseases and people's health, the Dai people call Bo's tooth "Moya", which means someone who can cure diseases. Since then, there have been Dai doctors. After writing, it was recorded and became a relatively complete Dai medical book today.
Traditional Dai Medical Manuscripts: Dai classical medical works. It records the theory and treatment methods of traditional Dai medicine on medicine, prescription and preparation. Up to now, there are many kinds of "Bay Leaf Book" written on Bay Leaves and "Cotton Paper Book" copied from paper supported by Broussonetia papyrifera bark. This is a treasure in China's medical heritage. At present, according to these manuscripts, Dehong Dai Medicine Prescription Collection and Xishuangbanna Dai Medicine Records have been compiled and published in Chinese and Dai languages.
V. Religious Belief of the Dai People
The Dai people are a people who believe in Southern Buddhism, and the Dai language is called "Butashana". It has a profound influence on the politics, economy, culture and art of Dai society. It was introduced into the Dai area in the 6th-8th century. Before that, Dai ancestors believed in polytheism, that is, primitive religion. Due to the widespread spread of Buddhism, Buddhist temples are very common in Dai areas. It seems natural to send a son to the temple as a monk, especially in Xishuangbanna, where almost all boys have to go to the temple to live as monks when they are 8-1 years old. They learn to read classics there, and usually return home in 1 ~ 5 years. There are 84, Tripitaka Scriptures in Dai language, most of which are inscribed on Bayeux, which is called Bayeux Scriptures. Some of them are works of Dai monks and customs that are developed and supplemented according to Buddhist meaning.
VI. Literature of the Dai nationality
Ethnic literature: The Dai people have rich folk literary works, including long narrative poems, fables, myths, legends and fairy tales. Many famous long narrative poems, such as "Zhao Shutun and Di Mu Nuo Na", "E He and Sang Luo" and "The Story of Auntie" are famous at home and abroad.
Epic: Bata Maga Pengshang Luo, also known as South Division Bata Maga Pasadai. Dai epic of creation. The content includes the creation of the world, the formation of human beings, the rise, migration and settlement of Dai ancestors. Among them, there are many Dai myths and legends of historical figures, which is an ancient book document for studying Dai ancient myths and society.
History book: The History of Lu was originally named "A Silky Book of Meng Lu" (Chronicle of the Past Dynasties in Xishuangbanna). The book records the main historical facts of the Dai nationality from 118 (Dai calendar 542), when the leader of the Dai nationality, Ba Zhen, entered Xishuangbanna and established Jing Jin Dianguo, to the liberation of Xishuangbanna in 195. This book has a translation of Li Fuyi published by Yunnan University in 1947, which is called History of the Dead, and the translation is from 118 to 1864. In 1958, Zhang Gongjin supplemented the translation of the part from 1844 to 195, entitled "Continuing the History-Events of Xishuangbanna in the Last Hundred Years". There are other detailed versions of the book. Lu Shi provides many precious materials for future generations to understand the social history of the Dai people, and it is an important historical document of the Dai people.
VII. Dai drama
There are Thai-Burmese song and dance dramas in Xishuangbanna, and Dai drama with Chinese characteristics along Tenglong border. Song and dance dramas are performed in large religious gatherings, such as the annual Buddha convention in Xuanwei Street in the car. There are song and dance performances for three nights in a row, with historical stories, religious myths and love legends, while costumes are varied, with paper tied to Jackie Chan, peacocks, turtles, cranes, deer and mussels, and colorful paintings. The actor disguised as a beautiful woman wrapped the peacock wrapped in paper in two parts, and flew with both hands catching the wings. An actor disguised as a young man dances with paper deer on his back. The big turtle uses a person to lie in the belly of the turtle, and the hands and feet are the four feet of the turtle, and there is an organ in the neck of the turtle; It can make the glans of the penis suddenly extend several feet and then retract into the abdomen, which makes the audience laugh.
Dai opera: Dai opera has a history of about 2 years. Earlier plays include Twelve Horses, Gongsun Plowing the Field, Chang Shao Dui, etc. At the beginning of this century, chieftain Yingjiang established the first Dai drama troupe. On the basis of performing the original plays, it absorbed and adapted many Peking Opera and Yunnan Opera plays, and at the same time absorbed their costumes, props, musical instruments and other elements, enriching Dai opera. Generally speaking, there are not many figures in Dai opera, which mainly reflects the working people's production, labor and living customs. The performance forms are flexible, lively, short and pithy, with a strong flavor of life and national characteristics, and are deeply loved and welcomed by the Dai people.
Dai opera: a kind of Dai opera. It is popular in Yingjiang, Luxi, Lianghe, Longchuan, Ruili and other counties in dehong autonomous prefecture, Yunnan, and the Dai people's settlements in Baoshan, Tengchong and Longling counties in Baoshan. Dai opera is based on Dai folk songs and dances such as "singing in duet" (male and female singing in duet), "playing white horse" (a kind of song and dance that everyone wishes on holidays) and "Yinhai" (a song and dance performed by cattle). After learning from Yunnan Lantern, it has developed into songs and dances such as "Twelve Horses" and "Butun La" (an old man plowing the fields) with certain plots and characters.
the performance of Dai opera is enriched by absorbing the performance skills of Han opera on the basis of refining various dances of the nation, which has distinctive national characteristics. Traditional plays include Pahan, Thousand-petal Lotus, Red Lotus Treasure, A Warm East, Langjinbu, Seven Sisters, Sinan King and so on, which are adapted from Dai folklore and folk narrative poems. There are Three Saints Returning to Heaven, Wang Mang usurping the throne, Three Rivers East, Mu Kezhai, Huaguoshan, Pan Taohui, etc., which are adapted from the Han drama and novel romance. There are Muying's First Expedition to the South and Sister Zhang, which are based on historical stories and legends. There are newly created modern plays, such as "Three Back to the Rock", "Wedding over the Stone", "Golden Lake Edge", "On the Border" and "Three Ugly Meetings". The more influential plays include Butun La, Tao Hesheng, E He and Sang Luo, Yanzuo Nong and so on.
most of the literary works of the Dai nationality are full of myth. The oldest myth about the creation of the world, the most widely circulated among the Dai people is Busanggai and Yasanggai. Up to now, the Dai people still call Busanggai and Yesanggai "our ancestors". There are magical legends about opening up Xishuangbanna, Mengzhe and Yi Wu, building villages, cutting firewood and repairing houses. In the Dai area, there are also stories about calling smart people such as Mahe, Aisu and Aisi. These idealized characters have omnipotent skills and superhuman wisdom.
Dai poetry includes ballads and long narrative poems. There are professional singers or semi-professional singers among the Dai people, and the Dai language is called "Zanha".
Zanha: Dai folk songs. "Zanha" means folk singer in Dai language. Zanha singing is a traditional literary form loved by Dai people. It is flexible and simple in form, and can be sung anytime and anywhere. It is known as the salt in the life of Dai people. Traditional songs are mostly folk stories and myths and legends, and there are also hunting songs and wine songs improvised by artists, such as "Calling Tree Tun", "Four Sweet Osmanthus Trees in Myanmar", "Celebrating the New House" and "Halujiao". The newly compiled tracks are Song of the Liusha River and Rainbow. Zanha plays an extremely important role in the inheritance and development of Dai folk literature. Their singing is beautiful and vivid, their characters are delicate and euphemistic, and they have strong artistic appeal. They have the ability to improvise and are deeply loved and welcomed by the masses.
Ancient ballads, the seeds of Dai literature, are still circulated among the people in oral and handwritten forms. Many short stories in "Dai Ancient Ballads" published by China Folk Literature and Art Publishing House (Yunnan) reflect the life, labor, thoughts and feelings of Dai ancestors in primitive times. For example, "Centipede Song" describes that human beings gradually understand the objective world through practice; The song of fetching water describes that human beings gradually change their living conditions; "Song of Picking Fruits" and "Song of Picking Mushrooms" describe the working life of human beings. These poems are simple in form and lively in rhythm.
Narrative long poems are dazzling pearls in the treasure house of Dai literature. Basically, it can be divided into three categories: mythical narrative poems, Auntie's ode, and love tragedy narrative poems. Myth narrative poems are basically similar to myths and legends. There are a great number of songs about Auntie. The word "A Luan" is said to come from Sanskrit and refers to a skilled craftsman. In Dai language, it refers to a hero who is poor, strong-willed, skilled, honest and kind, or a kind person who is blessed and capable. Buddhists describe these stories as stories about the reincarnation of Sakyamuni. There are some elements in the story of A 'lun to publicize Buddhist teachings, but the whole content is far beyond the scope of Buddhist thought, which can be called a collection of Dai folk stories, covering the social structure, political system, class relations, ethics, marriage and love at that time.
With the introduction of Buddhism into Dai areas, Indian culture has exerted great influence on Dai literature. Wu Shamali is developed from a short story in India. The plot of Ranga Xihe is similar to the Indian epic Ramayana, but the theme, characters and story structure have changed. Long poems strengthened Zhao Langma's war against the Ten Demons and became a huge picture reflecting social life, political struggle and religious struggle.
Dai Buddhism is rich in preserved classics, and the translated Sanzang Buddhist scriptures include quite a few classics in classics, laws and theories, as well as many Tibetan classics. Some of these classics are written in Pali with transliteration of Dai letters, which preserves the early features of Hinayana Buddhist scriptures, and some are works elaborated by Dai monks according to Buddhist teachings, which record many historical, geographical, linguistic and literary materials about Dai areas. Most of the classics in Xishuangbanna, Menglian, Gengma and other places are engraved on the Bayeux leaf, which is called "Bayeux leaf sutra", while in other areas, they are mostly written on the local textured cotton paper.
VIII. Dai music
Dai music has a unique national style, including folk songs, song and dance music, rap music and opera music.
folk songs: Dai folk songs include folk songs, narrative songs, sad songs and religious songs.
folk songs: most of them are solo or duet by young people in the fields and mountains. Some express their love, praise their hometown and celebrate a happy life, while others improvise. There are two kinds of folk songs in Dehong area: "Shouma" and "Shoutong Mao". The folk song in Jinping area is called "Hunmao Sao" in Dai language, which is sung by young men and women at night, accompanied by a Qin, and the tune is mostly Gong Diao, but it ends in the sign. In addition, there are different styles of folk songs in Yuanjiang and Jinggu.
Narrative songs: including "Shout Show" (parrot song), "Shout Wu Oh" (narrative song), "Shout Warm Boom" (running water song), "Sang Bak" (phoenix love poem tune), "Ye", "Suo" and "Sen". Songs that call the show green are folk songs used to sing love poems or narrative poems, which are popular in Ruili and mangshi of Dehong. The tune is full of chanting, similar to the drum tune, and is often sung by middle-aged and elderly people at home. Calling Wu Oh and Warming Boom are popular in Dehong Ruili area. The former is full of intonation, while the latter is strong in singing, and it is often used in feather mode with inflection. Sanghong is an ancient form of poetry popular in Xishuangbanna, and it is also a long lyric poem expressing the sincere love of young people. It has a song book circulating. Singing is similar to Zanha tune, with a free melody according to the word, and can be accompanied by Qian, Gui, etc., or cantata. Ye, Suo and Sen are popular in Meng 'a area on the border of Menglian County. Ye's music is more lyrical, with a little freedom of speed, mostly in feather mode, and is often accompanied by Dolo, a bowstring instrument. Suo's music is more active and faster, and mostly adopts Shang mode. Sen's melody is strong, mostly in feather mode. When singing, Suo and Sen are accompanied by plucked instruments.
elegy: Dai language called "calling for the sea in detail", including "calling for the sea", "calling for the sea", "calling for the sea", "calling for the dead" and "calling for the dead", spread all over Dehong. Calling for the sea means crying in Dai language, and women cry and sing at funerals. Shouting Haisaisao is when the girl is married and the mother and daughter are crying, and the lyrics show the love of the mother and daughter. The tunes of the two are basically the same, the range is not wide, and the melody is like the decomposition of Gong Yin triad, and the long sound at the end of the sentence is often accompanied by a strong falling sound. Shout, meaning Qin song; Shout bouncing, which means oral string songs. When singing, you don't have to be accompanied by musical instruments, but you often sing when you are sad.
Religious songs: there are Buddhist worship tunes, chanting tunes, pouring water and blessing tunes in Dehong area; In Xishuangbanna, there are Buddhist worship tune, ascending monk tune, chanting fast tune, chanting slow tune and so on. In addition, there are also the tune of offering sacrifices to gods reflecting primitive worship, the tune of teachers and mothers sung by witches, and the tune of divination sung by Liu Shen and wizards. Its * * * same feature is that the tone is close to recitation. In addition, there are hypnotic songs and nursery rhymes.
Song and dance music: Song and dance music includes peacock songs, drums, twelve horses, Yilahui and Huzha. Singing on New Year's Day, rushing to swing and celebrating, accompanied by percussion instruments such as elephant foot drums.
Peacock Song: called "Shout Luoyong" in Dai language, it is popular in Dehong area, and singing and peacock dance performance are interspersed. Music is brisk and active, mostly in the form of tone.
Drum tune: called "Shout for the Sea Light" in Dai language, which is popular in mangshi and Shefang areas of Dehong.