According to the historical records of Yuan Dynasty, Achang nationality is one of the eight ethnic groups in Jinya area, and the historical records of Ming and Qing Dynasties are mostly written as "Chang E" or "Motang". Due to different places of residence, there are also names that call themselves "Monza", "Monza Zen", "Duisai" and "Hansa". After liberation, they were collectively called Achang nationality. Achang people have their own language, but no writing. Achang language belongs to the Burmese branch of Tibetan-Burmese family of Sino-Tibetan language family, and there are two dialects, Lianghe and Husa. Due to the long-term coexistence with Han and Dai, most Achang people are fluent in Chinese and Dai, and use Chinese. There is rich oral literature.
Achang people generally believe in Hinayana Buddhism.
Achang people are mainly engaged in agriculture and are famous for growing rice. There are many varieties of rice with good quality. The variety of "Mamagong" in Lianghe area was once called "the king of rice". For hundreds of years, Achang's ironware is very famous, and it is known as "Husa Knife" in the world.
Before liberation, Achang people had entered the stage of feudal landlord economy, and the land was privately owned, which could be freely rented and bought and sold. /kloc-since the autumn of 0/955, the party has carried out land reform through peaceful consultation in Achang nationality areas, abolished the feudal private ownership of land and the exploitation of lords and landlords, and great changes have taken place in economy, culture and education.
The main festivals of Achang nationality are Huijie Festival, Lying Snail Festival and Water Splashing Festival.
Achang people prohibit killing and injuring livestock on the first day of the first month; Women give birth to children less than 7 days, and other men are forbidden to enter the hospital.
The daily diet custom of Achang nationality is that three meals are not followed, and rice is the staple food. Rice flour is also often used as bait, and rice flour is the staple food. The bait line is convenient to eat. When eating, just scald it with boiling water and take it out with seasoning. If you cover the ingredients such as braised pork, (fire+ba) meat and shredded chicken, you can make various bait shreds; In addition to being as spicy as bait, rice noodles can also be cold-mixed, or a spoonful of hot thin bean powder (pea noodles, boiled) can be added to rice noodles, and then spices such as pepper, garlic, ginger paste and monosodium glutamate can be added to make thin bean powder juice rice noodles, which are spicy and tender and often eaten by Achang people after summer. Achang people like taro. It is said that it was essential to kill dogs and eat taro during the harvest in ancient Qingfeng. Achang women make tofu and bean powder in most cities, and often use peas as bean jelly. Meat mainly comes from pigs and cows. In addition to stewing, stewing, frying and pickling, pork is more often used as raw pork rice noodles, that is, after the pig is slaughtered, the pig skin is browned with wheat straw or rice straw, scraped clean, then chopped, mixed with vinegar, garlic, pepper and other seasonings, and eaten with rice noodles. Fish farming in rice fields is the main source of daily eating fish. When eating, fry or fry the fresh fish, then boil it in water or steam it with pickled pepper before eating. Hot and sour valley flower fish (when planting seedlings, put the fry into the ground and take the fish after the grain is cooked, called valley flower fish) is the most distinctive. Pickled pickles, bittern rot, and lobster sauce are essential all year round, and there are many meals. Wine is a perennial drink, and women often drink sweet wine made of glutinous rice, which is rich and sweet. Adults and the elderly drink more white wine. At present, most Achang people have been able to distill and brew shochu and hide it in jars for drinking and entertaining guests during festivals.
Festivals, Sacrifices, Etiquette and Dietary Customs Achang people generally believed in Hinayana Buddhism. Achang people in Lianghe and Luxi areas mainly worship ghosts and gods and ancestors. The main religious festivals include entering the depression (closing the door), leaving the depression (opening the door), burning white firewood, water splashing festival and so on. In addition to religious festivals, there are many traditional festivals unique to this nation. For example, Torch Festival, Varo Festival, Flower Watering Festival and Spring Festival. Torch Festival and Varo Festival are larger in scale and have more activities. The Lying Snail Festival is held every year on the fourth day of the first lunar month to commemorate the legendary ancestor Shepama of Achang people and benefit the people and future generations. At that time, people would sacrifice the best dishes and then kill dogs to eat dog meat and taro. If you can catch a python on the day of the sacrifice, it is considered more auspicious. Torch Festival is held on June 24th of the lunar calendar. In order to pray for abundant crops, drive away insects and prevent disasters, pigs and cows should be sacrificed. At that time, we should cook raw pork and rice noodles for everyone to share. After dark, light a torch and swim around the village. In addition, the Achang people in Lianghe and Longchuan also have the custom of tasting new year's goods on August 15th of the lunar calendar. On the festival day, they will pull out a taro with the most seeds, cut off a corn with two ears, tie it on a bamboo stick, put it in the corner, and then cook new rice to cook. After the rice is cooked, they will first serve a bowl to the dog, and finally have a family dinner. Like the local Dai people, Achang people also celebrate the Water Splashing Festival, which is a good opportunity for young people to choose their spouses. At that time, girls' families often prepared eight bowls of dishes to entertain young people who came to visit relatives. The number of people attending the dinner is the same, so everyone can sit or sit. Some chicken heads are found by girls, and those who steal chicken heads will be fined a bowl of wine, otherwise they will be fined for drinking. If the thief is caught carelessly, he will not only be punished, but also be teased by the girl. After drinking the wine, the young man should give the money to the girl according to the vegetable price, and don't let her know. At the wedding reception of Achang young men and women, the bride's uncle should be invited to sit on her head first, and a cold dish mixed with pig brain should be placed. After the banquet, my uncle will give the bride a 4.5-catty hind leg with a pig's tail called foreign meat, which means that the bride will never forget her family's kindness.
Typical foods mainly include: cold celery, frozen, sour (fire+Pakistan) vegetables and rice noodles.