Xishuangbanna is located at the southern tip of Yunnan, connected with Laos and Myanmar, and close neighbors to Thailand and Vietnam, with a land area of nearly 20,000 square kilometers and a border line of 966 kilometers. She is beautiful, rich and magical, just like a bright pearl embedded in the southwest frontier of the motherland. Lancang River runs through the north and south, and is called Mekong River after leaving the country. It flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and then flows into the Pacific Ocean. It is known as the "Oriental Danube". Therefore, Xishuangbanna is not only an important channel and base for Southeast Asia and South Asia, but also a window for Yunnan to open to the outside world. Xishuangbanna governs Jinghong City, Menghai County, Mengla County and 1 1 state farms. There are 13 ethnic minorities living here, including Dai, Hani, Lahu, Bulang and Jino, accounting for 74% of the state's population.
Xishuangbanna is located in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Yunnan, with latitude 21.08 ′ ~ 22.36 ′ north and longitude 99.56 ′ ~10/.50 ′ east. It belongs to the tropical humid area south of the Tropic of Cancer. Due to the large incident angle, the lowest altitude angle from winter solstice is 45. This area is rich in heat and warm all year round. It has the characteristics of "no winter in summer and no rain in autumn". A year is divided into two seasons, namely rainy season and dry season; The rainy season lasts for five months (late May-late June 10) and the dry season lasts for seven months (late June 10- late May of the following year). Rainfall in rainy season accounts for more than 80% of the annual precipitation. This area is rich in heat, warm all year round and evergreen all year round. Because it is close to the ocean, controlled by the southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean and influenced by the southeast monsoon of the Pacific Ocean, it is humid and rainy all the year round, so the forest is dense and there are many plants. Therefore, Xishuangbanna is called "the kingdom of plants". On October 8th, 2003/kloc-0, UNESCO officially accepted Xishuangbanna as a national nature reserve and an international biosphere reserve.0000000006 At first glance, we will find that almost all other areas in Xishuangbanna at the same latitude are barren deserts or Gobi, but the land of 20,000 square kilometers here is like a jade inlaid in a crown, which is particularly dazzling. In this rich land, there are 1/4 animals and 1/6 plants, which are veritable "animal kingdom" and "plant kingdom".
The Dai people have a long history and created splendid culture in their long life, especially the Dai calendar, Dai language and colorful folk literature and art. As early as 1000 years ago, the ancestors of the Dai people wrote many beautiful and touching myths and legends, fables, novels and poems. There are more than 550 long poems written in Dai language alone. Zhao Shutun, Nanmu Nannuo and Hulu Letter are his representative works, which have been adapted into movies and plays and are deeply loved by the masses. Dai dance has a high artistic level and distinctive national characteristics, and its movements are mostly the analogy and beautification of animal behaviors, such as the popular "peacock dance" and "Elephant Foot Drum Dance".
Folk taboo
Don't touch the head of the "little monk"
According to the Hinayana religion in Xishuangbanna, men should live a religious life away from their families all their lives. Only when they encounter difficulties in social life can they alleviate their pain and have social status from birth to adulthood. When a boy is seven or eight years old, he will be a monk in a Buddhist temple for a period of time, which is the so-called "little monk". "Young monks" should take care of themselves, work, study Buddhist scriptures and carry out strict self-cultivation education in Buddhist temples. After two or three years, you can be "secular", and only secularized men can get married and start a family. People who have never been "monks" are regarded as strangers or barbarians and have no position in society. When practicing in the temple, you are not allowed to talk and laugh with women, and outsiders are not allowed to touch the young monk's head (this is completely opposite to the fact that Han people like children to touch their heads). If outsiders (especially women) touch too much, they are regarded as enemies. "Little monk" and "self-cultivation" are both invalid, so we must start from scratch. Therefore, if foreign tourists visit temples, they must remember this custom.
Bedroom taboo
Dai people are used to living upstairs, but the bedroom upstairs is separated from the living room by a wall. There is no partition in the bedroom, and generations have lived in it. Separated by mosquito nets, with a certain interval in the middle, a separate door. No outsiders are allowed to peep in the bedroom. According to the previous custom, if the host finds an outsider peeking at the host's bedroom, the man will be the host's door-to-door son-in-law, or work hard in the host's home for three years, and even the female guest will serve in the host's home for three years. Therefore, tourists should never peek at the master's bedroom because of mystery, whether they are visiting or being guests. Although the past customs have been broken now, peeking into the bedroom is always unpopular.
Living room taboo
Dai Jia's upstairs living room has three pillars, two of which are separated side by side from the living room and one is next to the fireplace. Of the two in the bedroom, the one outside is called "Auspicious Column" for resting, and the one behind is called "Ascending to Heaven Column" for people after death. When a family member dies, the family members lean on this pillar (regardless of gender) to bathe, dress and wrap their bodies, waiting for cremation. It is absolutely not allowed to rely on one by the fireplace, which is the "pillar of the sky" of Dai's family. If you lean against the post, it means disrespect to the host.
Instructions for going to Zhulou
You must take off your shoes when you enter the Buddhist temple. After entering the door, sit down in turn according to seniority and seniority; Dai people think that the threshold is the only way for people and ghosts to pass; You can't use the stool as a pillow, because the stool is only for people to sit on; Don't cross the fire pit with your feet, and don't move the iron tripod used to support the pot in the fire pit at will; When buying food in the street, you can't bargain with your toes; You can't step on the shadows of monks, let alone touch their heads. Dai people believe that "head" is the leader of people; Go upstairs lightly and don't whistle at night; Don't speak ill of others in public; Women can't go to other people's homes to play after giving birth; There is a funeral at home, and no one is allowed to go to anyone's house without it.
Hani customs and taboos
In Hani Shanzhai, when relatives, friends or guests visit, the host of the family will take the initiative to go out and warmly welcome them and help the guests take down their bags and other things. When guests sit down, if they hand you a full cup or bowl of powdered sugar, it means that they are welcome. If you fill a guest with tea for the first time, it means that he is not welcome; If you only pour a guest half a cup or half a bowl for the first time, it seems that the host is very stingy. When the host pours wine for the guest, he must also pour a cup and take a sip first. Hospitality Hani people will also take out corn, melon seeds, cigarettes and so on to entertain guests. The host family will definitely kill a chicken and cook a pot of chicken porridge with spices such as salt and pepper. Chicken porridge is a necessary dish for Hani people to entertain guests. There are many rules when eating porridge. After sitting, the host gave the chicken head and liver to the guests, and the chicken leg to the children among the guests. Show the host's respect and welcome to the guests. When the guests leave, the host will pack some tea and tobacco for the guests. There must be boiled eggs in the bag, which is the host's blessing to the guests. At the same time, the host's gift to the guest must be wrapped in banana leaves and black cotton thread, which symbolizes the profound friendship between the host and the guest.
Yi people's customs taboo
Avoid playing with your head; Swear in front of everyone; When Yi Jia has a patient, avoid saying things like death or injury; Avoid saying "kill pigs" and say "catch pigs" or "take pigs"; Avoid using praise words such as "fat", "beautiful" and "heavy" for babies; Avoid whistling at night; Don't eat the meat of primates (bears, dogs, monkeys, cats, etc.). ) enter the house and don't eat their meat; No matter men or women, avoid crossing the fire pond; Prohibit women from crossing men; Slaughter goats on the wedding day; Avoid using Artemisia sticks as chopsticks and hitting people; Avoid burning buckwheat in the guest seat; When the burnt buckwheat shell is taken out of the pond, it is strictly forbidden to turn it over immediately and pierce it with a stick. Fasting horses, mules, dogs, monkeys, crows, snakes and frogs; Avoid leaving no meat as a guest; Avoid sending meals to the host; Avoid putting hoes and axes together; Avoid finding a hoe or axe on your shoulder in the house; Pregnant women should not comb their hair or sew dowry.