Much of the Dai ethnic minority’s culture has been inherited from the ancient Bai Yue culture, with a few elements from both Han Chinese culture and Indian Buddhism. This is reflected not only in their historical texts but also in their rich literary heritage, which spans poetry, legends, fables, and even children’s stories. The etching of scripture onto leaves of the pattra palm tree, known in the Dai language as “tanlan”, and the copying of scripture onto cotton paper, known as “bogalesha”, are just a couple of traditions passed down among the Dai over generations. Even the “chanting” books used in Dai religious activities can be traced back to these other ancient cultures.

And, if you thought the Chinese lunar calendar was confusing, you’ll want to look away now because the Dai have their own painfully complex calendar! Their calendar began in the year 638 AD and is particularly complicated because it incorporates features of both the lunar and solar calendar. In the Chinese religion of Taoism, it is believed that time moves in a sexagenary cycle, or a cycle of 60 combinations, which are made up of two more basic cycles known as the 10 Heavenly Stems and the 12 Earthly Branches. The Dai record days and years in a similar way and even use the Chinese terms “the Heavenly Stems” and “the Earthly Branches”.

The easiest way to explain their calendar is to simply say that the Dai follow the months of the Chinese lunar calendar but adhere to the years of our Gregorian calendar. Any discrepancies between the two systems are resolved using leap years, of which there are 7 for every 19 years. The year also features only three seasons, known as the Cold Season from January to April; the Hot Season from May to August; and the Rainy Season from September to December. However, considering the average temperature during the Cold Season is about 16°C (60.8°F), I think the term “cold” might be something of an exaggeration!

Like many of China’s ethnic minorities, the Dai adhere to numerous taboos that one should be aware of before entering their villages. For example, the Dai will only ever prepare enough rice for one day as they believe it is unlucky to eat rice that was cooked on the previous day. If you notice a village is stockaded, you must not enter as the villagers are currently worshipping the Stockade God. You must take off your shoes when entering any Dai household or Buddhist temple and, if you happen to pass by a Buddhist monk, it is forbidden to step on his shadow or touch his head. Etiquette dictates that all passers-by, regardless of faith or nationality, must show respect to a monk by placing their palms together in the universal gesture of prayer and nodding slightly.

Medicinal care will be handled by a shamanistic medicine man known as a “moya”. Strangers must not enter the house of a pregnant woman or a sick person, nor are they permitted entry to the home of a family whose relative has recently passed away. The Dai funeral is a close knit affair, so you must not attend the ceremony without express permission from the family. When a person is near death, two pieces of yellow cloth and a small bamboo tablet from the local temple are placed on their body, as it is believed these articles will aid their admission into paradise.

Once the person has passed away, monks will perform the funeral rites at the deceased’s home and the community will come to a standstill, as the Dai believe that spirits dislike the sound of work. When the coffin is carried from the house, the spouse of the deceased will cut a candle in half to symbolise their separation from the dead.

Before the funeral, the family will hang a bamboo keg near their front door, which is filled with water and a few sour leaves. After the funeral rites have been completed, all participants must sprinkle a small amount of this water over their heads and expose their skin to the smoke of a burned nut, which the Dai believe will ward off evil spirits. Common people will traditionally be buried, while monks and aristocrats are cremated. Anyone who died in accidents or as a result of violence will be buried far away from the community as it is believed that, over time, they will become evil spirits. So if you happen to be walking through the forests near a Dai village, keep a few smoking nuts handy or you might just come face-to-face with a ghost!

Long ago there was a young princess, who spent lazy afternoons wondering what type of man she would eventually marry. One day, the princess turned to her male servant and asked him, “Who do you think I will marry?”. Without missing a beat and with great confidence, the boy replied: “You are going to marry me”. The princess was deeply offended by the servant’s gross impertinence and, in a fit of rage, grasped a knife from a nearby table and threw it at him. The knife grazed the boy’s forehead, leaving a deep gash that would never fully heal. The princess had him banished from the country and assumed she would never to see him again.

As the boy grew, he worked tirelessly to become successful and eventually became king of a neighbouring nation. Rulers would often use intermarriage to show solidarity between their countries, as was the custom back then, and so a marriage was arranged between the young king and the princess that he had once served. On their wedding day, the princess looked up at her husband-to-be and noticed the deep scar on his forehead. She immediately recognised him as the servant boy she had banished all those years ago and was overwhelmed with remorse. Placing her right hand between his, she twined their hands together as a symbol of her eternal devotion to him.

This simple yet poignant gesture, known as “shu huan” or “the twining of souls”, has become an integral part of Dai marriage ever since. Sometime between the Door Opening Festival and the Door Closing Festival, this thread twining ceremony will take place as part of an engagement ritual before the official wedding. It begins with the host first praying for the couple and then taking a long white thread, which he winds around the couple’s hands. Thereafter other family members will approach the couple and perform the same gesture, followed by other guests such as friends. This act symbolises that the two have intertwined their destinies and will have a long, healthy and happy life together.

On the wedding day, members of the extended family and friends will gather in the bride’s home, where a long bamboo table has been set up. On this table, the bride’s family will have laid out two cooked chickens, a cup of wine with a betel leaf next to it, a bowl of sticky rice, salt, and a white thread. The host is offered the most honoured position at the table, while other relatives and friends arrange themselves around it accordingly. The wedding begins with the bride and groom kneeling before the host as he gives a congratulatory speech. Other guests listen with their right hands firmly on the table to show politeness.

Once the speech is finished, the bride and groom must run for the betel leaf near the cup, as the first person to get to it will supposedly have the final say in future family life! If the same were the case with our tradition of catching the bouquet, I’m sure we’d see a lot more men with flowers in hand! The couple then each pick up a dollop of sticky rice and dip it in the cup of wine as a sacrifice. In much the same manner as before, the thread twining ceremony takes place again.

After this second thread twining, the first cooked chicken is given to the host and the other is divided amongst the unmarried men in the hopes that they’ll find love that year. I suppose it’s the Dai way of saying don’t chicken out when it comes to girls! The eldest guest is then asked to knead the sticky rice into a triangle, sprinkle salt on it, and place it on a tripod above a charcoal fire. The rice is allowed to burn and fall off the tripod unhindered, which foretells the stable and unobstructed progress of the couple’s love.

Later on, when the bride becomes pregnant, strangers are forbidden to enter her house at any time. If you happen to notice a special object made of bamboo hanging near the main door of a Dai household, this means that a member of the family is pregnant and nearing childbirth. All visitors will be refused at this time, including family members.

For over 1,000 years, the people of the Dai ethnic minority have been devout Buddhists and subscribe to a sect of the religion known as Hinayana. They adopted the Indian religion sometime between the 6^th and 8^th centuries and it has had a profound influence on their culture, virtually shaping many of their customs and practices. From the temples that rest like jewels at the heart of every Dai village to the many murals depicting the history of Buddha, the love and admiration that the Dai have for their faith is palpable everywhere.

According to the Dai’s Buddhist beliefs, the world of the senses is void and in order to reach paradise, or nirvana, one must first achieve a state of enlightenment by releasing ones grip on the material world and transcending the demands of the senses. To become enlightened, one must follow the Tripitaka, which is an umbrella term for three categories known as sutras, abhidharma and vinaya. Sutras are the sermons of Gautama Buddha, the founding father of Buddhism, that have been transcribed. Adhidharma is the philosophical and psychological discussion and interpretation of Buddhist doctrine. Vinaya are the rules and regulations that apply to Buddhist monks, such as dress code, dietary restrictions, and appropriate behaviour.

The religion plays such a focal role in the lives of the Dai people that it is common for most boys between the ages of 8 and 10 to be sent to a temple. There they will learn how to read, write, chant scripture, and learn sutras. After between one to five years, many of them will return home in pursuit of a secular lifestyle while some will stay on at the temple as monks. This practice evolved because, in the past, this was the only way that boys could receive an education and in exchange the parents would financially support the temple. So remember, even in ancient times you couldn’t get out of going to school!

Yet while the Dai officially follow Buddhism, many communities still hold on to their ancient shamanistic[1] and animistic[2] beliefs. In Xishuangbanna Prefecture, there is a Dai proverb that states: “Buddhism is for our future, but the cult of the village gods is what helps us in the present”. Their indigenous religion still plays a vital role in daily life and many villages will have sacred groves or forests where they believe the spirits of their ancestors live.

These spirits act as protective gods that watch over the village and people will only enter the forest on two occasions during the year, both times as part of a ceremony to honour the ancestors. All of the animals and plants, the water and even the soil in this forest is sacred and cannot be damaged or taken away. It is forbidden to cut the trees, hunt the animals, cultivate the earth, or gather the fruits from this forest. Anything that dies, even fruit that falls from the trees, is left to rot naturally. So if a tasty mango on the forest floor catches your eye, be sure to check with the locals before you eat it!

[1] Shamanism: The practice of attempting to reach altered states of consciousness in order to communicate with the spirit world and channel its energy. This can only be done by specialist practitioners known as shaman.

[2] Animism: The belief that all non-human entities, including animals, plants, and even inanimate objects, possess a spiritual essence or soul.

The Dai are one of the happiest and most carefree of all the ethnic minorities in China and this is reflected in their chosen name, which means “freedom” in the Dai language. Just over one million Dai people currently live in China, predominantly concentrated in Yunnan province, but the term Dai can also be applied to communities in Thailand, Laos, Burma, Myanmar and Vietnam. This is because the illustrious ancestors of the Dai people, known as the Bai Yue, Bai Yi, or Bai Ye people, are thought to be shared with the Lao people of Laos, the Shan people of Myanmar and the Thai people of Thailand. Talk about a big family! And if that wasn’t enough, the Zhuang, Dong, Shui, Bouyei, and Li ethnic minorities also identify the Bai Yue as their ancient ancestors. Although we doubt there’s a space large enough for a family reunion, these ethnic groups all share undoubtedly similar features that point towards their common heritage.

According to historical records, the first references to the Dai’s ancestors were made during the Qin (221-206 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) dynasties. The first Dai prefecture, known as Yizhou Prefecture, was set up in 109 BC by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. It took up a large portion of southwestern Yi, which in turn covered parts of modern-day Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. It appears the Dai people lucked out, as the patch of land they were designated was incredibly fertile and benefited from an excellent climate! This encouraged the Dai to become accomplished farmers and they are believed to be the first to have used elephants and oxen to plough the land. They also developed complex irrigation systems to help farm rice more effectively, so next time you’re in China and you’re enjoying a hearty bowl of rice, remember to thank the Dai. And the elephants!

Nowadays the vast majority of the Dai population can be found in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, both in Yunnan province. They can be further subdivided into the Dai Neua, which are mainly found in Dehong, and the Dai Lue, which are mainly found in Xishuangbanna. Like many ethnic minorities, their language is incredibly complex and different Dai communities will speak one of some five southwestern Tai languages, known as Tai Lü, Tai Nüa, Tai Dam, Tai Ya, and Tai Hongjin. All of these spoken languages are closely related to those of the Zhuang and Dong ethnic minorities.

In keeping with this level of complexity, they also have an alphabetic writing system that is separate from the character-based Chinese script and can be split into four branches. If you thought learning French at school was hard, imagine trying to learn five different spoken languages and four different ways of writing! Their writing system originates from the Indian alphabet and is classified as a variant of Sanskrit. They use this script to keep a record of their history and preserve their folklore.

The average Dai village is usually made up of about 40 households, with larger villages consisting of nearly 100. They are normally situated close to rivers or streams, as the Dai people revere water, and feature a large banyan tree or sacred forest, where the locals believe the spirits of their ancestors live. Even the smallest of villages will have its own Buddhist temple or pagoda, as the Dai are devout Buddhists. The peacock is also greatly admired as a symbol of beauty, honesty, and peacefulness. Their Peacock Dance has garnered great fame in China for its grace and use of complex arm movements. Just imagine Swan Lake but with a lot more colour!

If you want to experience Dai culture first-hand or simply take part in their delightful Water Splashing Festival, we recommend visiting either Manting Park or the Dai Ethnic Garden in Xishuangbanna. There you can enjoy some of their delectable bamboo fried rice, take part in the water splashing festivities, or simply admire the elegant dress of the Dai women.