Dai people regard peacocks and elephants as mascots, and folk stories are rich and colorful. Dai people like to live by the water, love cleanliness, often take a bath, and women like to wash their hair, so they have the reputation of "water nation". In the past, Dai people generally believed in Buddhism, and primitive religion spread to the south.
Dai is the main ethnic group in Thailand and Laos, accounting for 40% of the total population in Thailand. Dai is the second largest ethnic group in Myanmar and a minority in China, India, Viet Nam and Cambodia. According to the data of the sixth census in 20 10, there are more than 260,000 Dai people in China.
The language is divided into three dialects, namely Xishuangbanna Dai, Dehong Dai and Menglian Dai. Dai people also have their own characters, which can be divided into four types according to the different use areas: Dai Shu, Dai Na, Dai Qiang and Dai Duan. For a long time, the Dai people have recorded the long history of the Dai people with these words, and a large number of cultural classics and folk manuscripts have been handed down to this day. Dai folk art is also rich and colorful, especially music and dance.
Introduction of Dai diet culture;
1, Dehong Dai's staple food is japonica rice, and Xishuangbanna Dai's staple food is glutinous rice. Workers often eat outdoors. They can eat banana leaves or rice, as well as salt, pepper, sour meat, roast chicken, Mi Nan (which means sauce in Dai language) and pine. Bitter gourd is a daily vegetable with the highest yield and consumption. In addition to bitter gourd, Xishuangbanna also has a kind of bitter bamboo shoots, so there is also a bitter taste in Dai flavor. The representative bitter vegetable is a mixture of cowhide and cold dishes cooked with ingredients such as ox gall.
2. Religious Eating Habits Dai people generally believe in Southern Buddhism, and many festivals are related to Buddhist activities. During the Water-Splashing Festival, there are many Dai snacks besides wine and vegetables. There is also a crispy rice made of fried glutinous rice paste.
3. Every household should help build a house for the festivals and eating customs of Dai people in Xishuangbanna. Congratulations on the completion of the new house. The young man went upstairs first, carrying a bull's head and singing blessing song. Mature men carry boxes, married women carry bedding, and girls carry food in turn. Then they set up a tripod on the fireplace, put it on the table, set wine and prepare dishes, and sang congratulations on the new house. The villagers also send some auspicious gifts to their owners.