Dong Nationality

Dong people call themselves gaeml.

Due to the change of square sound, some places are also called jaeml or jongl. From the etymological point of view, the claims of all places are the same. Within the Dong nationality, there are jaeml Laox, jaeml jaox or jaeml danx, but their languages are basically the same and their customs are also the same.

The Shui nationality living together with the Dong nationality is also called gaeml by the Dong nationality and DAX Gul by the Miao nationality. The local Han nationality is called "Dong family" or "Dong nationality".

In the Dong language, gaeml means "using wooden strips and branches as obstacles for fortification, blocking and isolation". The ethnic group says that its original meaning is "people living in mountains and covered by forests".

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Dong nationality has been known as "Liao people", "Dong Liao", "Dong people", "Dong man", "Dong Miao" or "Miao" or "Yi people". It was called the "Dong family" during the period of the Republic of China and the Dong nationality after the founding of new China.

Historical circles have different views on the historical origin of Dong nationality. There are four main viewpoints: one is that the Dong nationality is an indigenous nation, which has worked and lived on this land since ancient times, and it is a people's community formed on this land; The second view is that the Dong nationality migrated upstream from Wuzhou in the lower reaches of the Duliu River to today's Dong Township, because the migration ballad of "Zugong going to the river" is spread among the Dong Nationality in the southern dialect; The third view is that the Dong nationality migrated from Wenzhou along the Yuanjiang River through Dongting Lake in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, because the song "Zugong entering the village" spread among the Dong Nationality in the northern dialect has such a legend; The fourth is that the main component of Dong nationality is indigenous, which integrates other ethnic components from other places in the long-term historical development process.

It is generally believed that the Dong nationality developed from a branch of Baiyue in ancient times. The place where the Dong people now live belongs to Shang Yu (Yue) of the state of Chu in the spring and autumn and Warring States periods, Qianzhong county and Guilin County in the Qin Dynasty, and Wuling county and Yulin County in the Han Dynasty. From the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty, it was known as the "land of five streams", and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was known as the "stream cave". Since ancient times, this place has been an area where ethnic minorities have been active for generations. From the literature of previous dynasties, from the spring and Autumn period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were "Yue people", "man in Central Guizhou" and "man in Wuling"; From the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the ethnic minorities here were insulted as "Wuxi barbarians" or "barbarians", and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, they were insulted as "Xitong state barbarians". The ancient Yue people were a huge ethnic group with several branches. This ethnic group was called "Liao" in the northern and Southern Dynasties. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Liao people further divided into many ethnic minorities, including the Dong nationality. Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty said in his book "three Miao" that "when he was in Hunan, there were four kinds of wild corvee in Xitong: Liao, Geling and Ling, and the most successful one was Miao." the "Ling" appearing here is the "Geling" and "gellan" mentioned in the previous works of Song History and Lu you. In the Ming Dynasty, although the Dong nationality had been separated from the Liao people, some people called the Dong nationality "Liao". For example, Kuang Lu said in chiya at the end of the Ming Dynasty: "Dong is also a kind of Liao". According to Gu Yanwu's book on the benefits of the world's prefectures and countries in the Qing Dynasty, "the people of Tongliao, the people of lingbiaoxidong, were called Shanyue in ancient times. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, they have developed and immersed in Guangdong." this connects the names of Dong, Liao and Yue.

The Dong nationality formed into a single nation, probably in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, the upper class figures, chiefs or leaders of the Dong nationality began to belong to the central dynasty. The Tang Dynasty began to set up prefectures and counties in the "Dong District", established Jimi regime, and appointed local leaders with big surnames as assassins. At that time, jimihuang prefecture (generally including the whole territory of Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County in Hunan and a part of Zhijiang and Tianzhu in Guizhou), Tanyang County in Xuzhou (linglongbiao, Tanyang and Langxi counties, including Zhijiang, Huitong, Jingzhou in Hunan and the east of Jinping, Tianzhu and Liping in Guizhou), and Ningyi County in Sizhou were established in the Dong region (including cengong, Shiqian, Yuping, Sansui and the east of Zhenyuan in Guizhou today), lexing County in Guzhou (including the southwest of Congjiang, Rongjiang and Liping in Guizhou today), Rongshui County in Rongzhou (including the northwest of Sanjiang, Rongshui and Longsheng in Guangxi today). In the late Tang and Five Dynasties, the feudal king declined and was unable to rule the ethnic minorities in the border areas. The tyrants with the surname of Dong called themselves "cave owners" , it is in charge of Chengzhou and Huizhou and governs ten caves. Today, Jingzhou, Huitong, Zhijiang, Suining, Tongdao, Liping, Jinping and Tianzhu all belong to the scope of "ten caves". As an administrative division within the Dong society, the politics, economy and military in the caves are controlled by the "cave owner".

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the leaders of the Dong nationality successively attached themselves to the feudal dynasty and paid tribute to the imperial court for local specialties, while the imperial court let them inherit local officials. In the fifth year of Taiping rejuvenating the country (980), Yang Tongbao, leader of the ten caves in Chengzhou, "accepted the soil" to the Song Dynasty. In the first year of dazhongxiang Fu (1008), the leader Xiang Guangpu voted to the Song Dynasty and was granted the title of assassin of Guzhou (now in Xinhuang and Yuping). In the second year of Daguan (1108) In, Yang Zaixian of the West Road of Jingzhou offered his land. There were 4500 households and 11000 people around him. The imperial court granted them the post of assassin, but did not give them the power to assassin. In the Song Dynasty, due to the strong influence of the Han economy and culture, the Dong political economy also developed greatly. In the area where the imperial power can influence, "Dongshou" They also began to establish cities, attached to the king's people and established schools. According to the general examination of literature, the leaders near Chengzhou had "established the city stronghold" and "made it a king's people compared with the mainland". While the "Dongding" who lived near the "Dongshou" castle had gradually become "familiar households", and those remote mountain areas were called "living circles".

The Yuan Dynasty's rule over the Dong nationality followed the "Jimi" policy since the Tang and Song dynasties. In the 20th year of the Zhiyuan Dynasty (1283), the Yuan Dynasty conquered "Jiuxi and eighteen caves", and most of the local officials in the Dong nationality area were attached to the Yuan Dynasty. The imperial court "took their chiefs to the que, determined the places where they can establish officials, and those who can join the government, most of them are States, small places are counties, and set up the head office".

In the fifth year of Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1372), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Wu Liang, the Marquis of Jiangyin, to accept wukai (today's Liping County in Guizhou) and Guzhou (today's northwest Liping and Jinping area in Guizhou) and other Dong regions, and obtained 223 caves, with a population of more than 15000. Zhu Yuanzhang appointed the original officials to the subordinate earth officials. In 1414, the Ming Dynasty established Liping and Xinhua two prefectures, and appointed Liu officials to directly administer the chieftain. The Dong region emerged The ruling situation of "soil flow and governance".

In the 11th year of Hongwu (1378), the Dong People's uprising broke out in Liping under the leadership of Wu Mian. The uprising army stormed Jingzhou and swept the Dong area. All 12 officials and departments in Guzhou supported Wu Mian. The uprising army grew to 200000 people and recommended Wu Mian as the "king of shovel Ping". Then the uprising army occupied the border between Guizhou and Guangxi and shocked Hu Guang. In the 18th year of Hongwu (1385) In August, the Ming Dynasty ordered Tang He to be the commander-in-chief and led 300000 troops with Chu king Zhu Zhen to suppress it. The uprising army in the first World War of Shanghuang was defeated and Wu Mian was captured. The Ming Dynasty set up a large number of military institutions such as guards, stations, villages and forts in the Dong area to further strengthen the feudal rule over the Dong area. The 30th year of Hongwu (1397) In the Ming Dynasty, a bronze drum guard was set up in today's Jinping County, with more than 18000 troops, occupying 354 hectares of land. A peasant uprising led by Lin Kuan broke out in the area of Po Dong on Jinping.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the rule of the central dynasty in Dong areas still followed the "coexistence of soil flow" of the Ming Dynasty However, the real power of the chieftain has been weakened, and all of them have been restrained by the exiled officials. During the reign of Yongzheng, the central dynasty adjusted some guards and offices in the Dong nationality area, and strengthened the control of the exiled officials. In 1725, the wukai guard and the Tonggu guard were changed to be subordinate to Liping Prefecture, and in 1727, the Tonggu guard was changed to Jinping County, the wukai guard to Kaitai County, the Pingxi guard to Yuping County, and the Qinglang guard to Qingxi county. In 1729, Liping County Zhang Guangsi, the governor of the prefecture, "bribed Miao with gold coins to enter the province under the pretext of entering the province. Due to the secret record of their roads, mountains and rivers and dangerous situation, marshal Chen Qing bought and raised money, unified troops and suppressed Fu, and slightly determined their land." after calming the Miao and Dong areas around Leigong Mountain, Guzhou hall and Qingjiang hall were added in Rongjiang and Jianhe respectively. By changing the land to flow, the Dong nationality was basically included in the rule of Liuguan. In the second year of Qianlong (1737), Gu Cong song, who co organized the clerical affairs of the Ministry of officials, said: "Guizhou recruits and settles the fields in deep mountains and deep valleys to seize the land of food and clothing for seedlings. Now, after being defeated, it is difficult to dive into rock caves and find food. When autumn comes, it will gather people to urge for change, kill and plunder, and we must not raise money."

After the Opium War in 1840, with the invasion of foreign capitalist forces, the Dong region gradually became a semi colonial and semi feudal society. In the late Qing Dynasty, under the influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, the Dong peasant uprising led by Jiang Yingfang, Jiang Zhiling and Liang Weigan broke out. This uprising lasted for 20 years and dealt a heavy blow to the Qing Dynasty.

During the period of the Republic of China, the Kuomintang government implemented the Baojia system, using feudal upper class figures to act as puppet Township Chiefs, Baochang and Jiachang, and exercised cruel rule over the working people. Coupled with natural disasters, the life of the Dong people was very difficult. In mid July 1920, a plague broke out in Tianzhu County, killing more than 300 people in the city. In 1925, Tianzhu suffered a severe drought for more than 40 days, the fields cracked, there was no grain harvest, and then the flood burst In 1926, the famine occurred in the Dong area, so people had to dig fern roots and eat wild vegetables. Countless people starved to death. There were more than 20 households in Liping Yanzhai, all of them starved to death that year. The folk song of the Dong nationality spread like this: "when it comes to the year of Bingyin, two tears burst, famine and banditry, and the bones are like Shanshan".

In November 1949, the Dong people cooperated with the people's Liberation Army to overthrow the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang government, ushered in the liberation of the nation, and the Dong people, who had been in the abyss of suffering for a long time, gained a new life. In the early days of the founding of the people's Republic of China, in order to strengthen ties with ethnic minorities, the Central People's government sent ethnic visiting delegations to the Dong areas in 1950 and 1951 The Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao deeply cared for the Dong people, understood the wishes and requirements of the Dong people, publicized the party's ethnic policy and strengthened national unity. From 1951 to 1952, the Dong region completed land reform, and realized agricultural cooperation and socialist transformation from 1953 to 1957, liberated and promoted the development of productive forces

The Dong nationality once had a relatively primitive social organization and political system. In ancient Dong society, there was a kind of "money" social organization. "Money" is a political and military alliance between villages or regions, also known as "money", whose main purpose is to deal with the invasion of foreigners and the plunder of bandits. The "Hejin" organization existed in the Song Dynasty. There are small, large and joint large. Xiaokuan is an alliance of neighboring villages or dozens of villages, often named after the number of households when the joint payment is made, such as "qiansankuan", a Xiaokuan composed of Yintan, Zhanli, Gudong, bangtu in Congjiang County and Shuangjiang, Sizhai and other villages in Liping County, known as 1300 households. "Qianqi" is composed of Gaoqian, Yangli, Zeli, deqiu, Huili, nongwu, Pingyou, Liujia and other villages in Congjiang County, that is, 1700 households. The big money consists of several small money. The above-mentioned "six holes" are also called "six holes", which covers today's Zhaoxing Township in Liping County, luoxiang Township and Guandong town in Congjiang County, 224 villages, covering an area of nearly 500 square kilometers. In the history of Dong nationality, there was a joint payment meeting of "99 Gong", which roughly included the Dong villages in Liping, Rongjiang, Congjiang, Sanjiang in Guangxi and Hunan channel in Guizhou. It was a grand joint payment meeting.

The "section" is well organized. The "first paragraph" is elected from the village elders. There is no term of office. If there is something, he will preside over the Fund meeting. If there is nothing, he will work in the household farmer without remuneration. It is a compulsory position. "Money foot", that is, a full-time communication liaison, is responsible for the communication with each village, and undertakes the use of firewood in the drum tower fire hall and the beating of drums in case of police. Its living expenses shall be borne by the villagers. "KUANPING" is a moderate open area in Kuang. It is the place where the whole people meet. Generally, there is a "Kuan monument". "Kuan Yue" is a village rule and people's covenant within a section, which is agreed by the village elders and the section chiefs. It is the code of action of the villagers in the section area. The "money army" is composed of strong men in the money and is the main force to resist the enemy and resist bandits. Within the joint fund, where there are major social, political and military issues, fund collectors should be called "starting fund" to gather at the fund Ping. At ordinary times, during the slack season, various villages will be organized to hold recreational activities such as Lusheng competition, bullfighting and fund telling.

"Burying rock" is also an ancient form of social organization of Dong nationality. It is named because it buries a section of strip stone into the soil during assembly. Buried rock originated very early, and most of the Dong people have not left any traces of this system. Only some Dong villages in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi can still see the remaining buried rock system and rock rules. There are eight complete rocks preserved in gunbei Dong Township, including the disposal of field rock in gunbei Village, the punishment of stealing and trafficking in people in Tongle village, and the joint anti bandit rock in Yaobei village, In dealing with marriage disputes in Jiyang village, men and women in Dayun village should abide by Dong rules, Zhiduo village should deal with murder and arson, bisanpo should deal with harassment by officers and soldiers, and Yaoba village should deal with Dong, Miao and Han intermarriage. Where the rock burial system is implemented, rock burial is not only an important means to maintain social stability, adjust interpersonal relations and maintain production and life, but also an administrative system and original legislative form. There are also big rocks and small rocks. Big rocks refer to buried rocks with a large geographical range. Small rock refers to the rock of one village and one village. Every rock has a rock owner, known as the "axe bearer" among the people, who is responsible for burying the rock.

In the past, Dong villages were managed by village elders, also known as Township elders. Most of them are reputable clan leaders and leaders in the stronghold, and a few are young adults. All of them are eloquent, understand the history, customs and allusions of the village, handle affairs fairly, are enthusiastic about local public welfare undertakings, and have a certain prestige among the masses. The village elders have no specific economic income and are still self-supporting workers. Working for the village is just a kind of public welfare for them. The authority of the village elders is to preside over the villagers' meeting of the village, participate in the Joint Fund meeting on behalf of the village, formulate and implement the joint fund agreement, maintain social order, mediate various disputes, lead the villagers to resist the enemy, participate in joint fund defense, command operations, organize public welfare undertakings, organize religious worship activities, and organize friendship activities among villages. After the founding of new China, especially since the reform and opening up, the old village system of the Dong nationality has become a historical relic, but the legacy of the old people's management of the village still exists. Many villages also organize associations for the elderly to assist the administration in health, fire prevention and other work, so as to give full play to the positive role of the elderly.

"Bula" is the social organization of Dong nationality after entering the patriarchal society. It is composed of several families with close blood relationship, with men as the center. One Brahma has at least thirty or forty households, and more than one or two hundred households. In the past, Bora had his own patriarch, code of conduct, and public properties such as public fields and mountains. Usually a Dong village lives in one or more Bula. Where drum towers are popular, each Bula has its own drum tower. Drum Tower is not only a symbol of Brahma power, but also a place for collective activities. Almost all social activities are carried out in Brahma. Villages or members who do not belong to the bura are excluded from the activity. If the scattered families who move in from outside want to gain a foothold in the stronghold, they must join the Bula of the stronghold. Due to the participation of non clan members, Bula is no longer a pure blood group, but a grass-roots social organization dominated by blood groups. Politically, economically and ideologically, Bula affects and restricts the lifestyle of small families, forming a community of mutual dependence, mutual assistance and common resistance to foreign aggression. The wedding and funeral celebrations of all families are carried out in the unit of Bora; The old, frail, widowed and lonely people are taken care of by the Brahms; Disputes between members shall be settled internally by bora. Before the reform and opening up, Bula still played a considerable role in some Dong inhabited areas. After the reform and opening up, due to the flow of population and the changes of various social relations among members, the concept of Bora has gradually weakened in many places.

After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the Dong Autonomous regions have successively established autonomous areas, mainly including Longsheng Autonomous County, Guangxi Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Guizhou Yuping Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture has also established more than 30 Dong townships.

faith

Dong people believe in many gods. Mountain God, land God, water god, well God, tree god, stone God, fire god and thunder god are the main objects of worship.

Dong people believe that all things have spirits. They believe that after people die, the soul leaves the body and returns to the place where their ancestors live. Therefore, they worship their ancestors piously.

The southern region worships many female gods, called "Sa", which means grandmother. Among the female gods, there are the goddess guarding the bridge, the goddess spreading smallpox, the goddess sitting in the depression and so on. Among the many goddesses, there is a supreme God "SA Sui". She has great powers and dominates everything in the world. Dong villages in Liping, Rongjiang, Congjiang, Longsheng, Sanjiang, Tongdao and other places have built "Sa" shrines. The shrines are guarded and managed by specially assigned personnel. Incense and tea are burned on the first and fifteenth days of each month. The annual Spring Festival is the day when the villagers sacrifice "Sa", and a grand ceremony will be held at that time. At ordinary times, when the male and female song teams in the village go out, perform in troupes, hold Lusheng competition or bullfighting activities, they must worship in front of the "Sa" altar in advance to pray for peace and smooth progress. It is said that this "Sa" was a heroine of the ancient Dong nationality.

Dong people also believe in Buddhism and Taoism. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many temples and Taoist temples have been built in Dong areas. Some areas believe in witchcraft. Influenced by the Han nationality, some places also believe in the gods of Leizu, Wuchang, Wuyue, Feishan, Wenchang and guanshengdi.

diet

Dong people take rice as their staple food and also eat millet, corn, wheat, sorghum and potato, but it is generally matched for adjusting taste. Meat is mainly domestic livestock, including pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese, especially fish. There are many kinds of vegetables, among which green vegetables, cabbage, radish, eggplant, cowpea, cucumber, pumpkin, white gourd, white gourd and pepper are the most common. Women often go up the mountain to collect wild bamboo shoots, fungi, ferns and other food. Men hunt wild boar, bamboo mouse, pheasant, bird and so on.

Wine plays a very important role in the diet of Dong nationality. Wine is mostly brewed from glutinous rice, and every family will brew and bake it by itself. The Dong family is hospitable. It takes wine as a gift and pleasure. At ordinary times, it uses wine to eliminate fatigue. Glutinous rice, oil tea, pickled acid and fish are the favorite traditional foods of the Dong people. This kind of food is closely related to national customs and is recognized as Dong flavor.

Most areas have three meals a day. Many places have oil tea for breakfast, and lunch is called breakfast. When eating, they usually put low tables and short stools, use bowls and chopsticks, and eat around the table. There are special foods such as "cow shriveled", roast fish, plasma duck, red meat and so on.

Entertain guests with "oil tea", "sour banquet" and "closed rice".

Clothes & Accessories

In the past, Dong cloth was mainly self-woven and self dyed.

Since the 1980s, woven fine cloth has been widely used, and self-woven Dong cloth has become a gift for relatives and friends. Dong costumes are diverse, with different decorations in different ages and seasons, including left lapel, right lapel and opposite Lapel; There are cloth buckle, copper buckle and silver buckle; Trousers and skirts; Like green, blue, black and white; There are headwear, neck ornaments, chest ornaments, waist ornaments, hand ornaments, foot ornaments and so on.

Among them, there are more than 50 kinds of headwear, mainly silver jewelry, including silver corolla, silver hairpin, silver comb, silver hair chain, silver earrings, silver earrings, silver earrings, silver earrings, and silver earrings. When women dress up, they see only silver. Women's hair style is special, which is divided into front, back, left and right bun or braided on the top of the head, with obvious regional differences.

Architecture

The villages where Dong people live are generally characterized by mountains and rivers. Dong village is generally located in the mountains, with terraced fields at the edge of the village, long rivers at the foot of the village, and towering trees at the end of the village. There are six or seven hundred households in the big Dong village and twenty or thirty families in the small Dong village. The houses in Dong village are usually wooden buildings built of fir trees, including small buildings with one to two floors and large buildings with three to four floors. The stockade near the river or steep slope is built with stilts according to the terrain. Generally, people live upstairs and livestock are kept in captivity downstairs or grass debris is stacked. Dong village is generally composed of buildings and facilities with different functions, such as folk houses, drum towers, village doors, village walls, stage, barn, air drying, water wells, slate roads, ponds, drainage ditches and so on. In the south, shrines dedicated to "Sa" are built in most villages. When Zugong built a village, he should first choose a place to build the drum tower and the "Sa" altar, and then plan the roads and layout the houses.

Drum Tower is the most distinctive building in Dong village. General villages have one to two, and larger ones have four to five. Drum Tower is a kind of wooden structure with double eaves. The architectural technique integrates the "well dry", "through bucket" and "beam lifting" techniques of Chinese wooden structure. The bottom of the drum tower is generally square, and a few are hexagonal. There is a fire pond in the center and benches around, which is the actual use part of the drum tower. Most buildings are not layered and run through to the top. The tightly stacked eaves of the outline are decorative floors, and the flying pavilion has double eaves, layer by layer, with magnificent momentum. The number of double eaves layers is singular, ranging from 3 layers to 15 layers. There are several forms, such as pouring water on four sides, pouring water on six sides, pouring water on eight sides, etc. each layer has cornices and corners, and the cornice board is painted with color paintings reflecting the customs of the Dong nationality. Most of the drum towers in Sanjiang, Longsheng and Hunan channels in Guangxi are pavilion type, and most of the drum towers in Liping and Congjiang in Guizhou are pagoda type. Zeng Chong Drum Tower in Congjiang, Ma Pang Drum Tower in Sanjiang and Ma Tian Drum Tower in the corridor are national cultural relics protection units and outstanding representatives of Drum Tower architecture. Drum Tower is not only the crystallization of Dong architectural art, but also the carrier of Dong culture. Since ancient times, major activities such as gathering people to discuss affairs, formulating village rules and regulations, mediating civil disputes and resisting soldiers and bandits have been carried out in the drum tower; Every new year's festival, welcome guests, sing big songs, and "duoye" step on the hall are all carried out in the drum tower; In their spare time, people gather in the drum tower to have a rest, talk about family habits, tell stories, play the pipa, sing ancient songs, or talk about the past and the present.

Travel

Where the Dong people live together, there must be a river and a bridge. Most of the bridges are built on the traffic arteries at the end of the village, including wooden bridge, stone arch bridge, stone slab bridge, bamboo raft bridge, etc. Among them, the long corridor wooden bridge called "wind rain bridge" or "flower bridge" is famous at home and abroad for its unique artistic structure and superb architectural skills.

The Fengyu bridge is 40 to 50 meters long and 5 to 6 meters wide. The pier is built with green stone, and the huge Chinese fir rows are used as the bridge body. A bridge corridor is built on it. A drum tower type attic is built at both ends and in the middle of the bridge, covered with green tiles. Railing benches are set on both sides of the bridge for pedestrians to shelter from the wind, rain and rest. Wind and rain bridges can be seen everywhere in Dong township. Wind and rain bridges are almost built on streams and rivers near villages in the south.

There are 108 wind and rain bridges of different sizes and styles in Sanjiang, Guangxi. Among them, Chengyang Yongji bridge and Batuan bridge are listed as national cultural relics protection units. The terrace wind and rain bridge in Liping, Guizhou, the Huilong bridge with flat channel in Hunan and the Puxiu bridge in Huangdu are all famous wind and rain bridges in Dong areas.

Fengyu bridge and drum tower are designed and built by Dong craftsmen. They do not need one nail and one iron. They are all connected with mortise and mortise sockets. They are very firm and can last for two or three hundred years. In the Dong mountain area, there are many pavilions for people to rest, called "wind and rain Pavilion", and the buildings are also exquisite and elegant.

family

The Dong family is a monogamous individual small family centered on men, and it is also common for two or three generations to live together. This extended family is usually inhabited by grandparents, parents and the youngest son.

Under normal circumstances, after the son gets married, he has children and separates from his parents and siblings. When the family is divided, the uncle and the elders of the family shall be invited to the scene. All fields, farm animals, houses, furniture and farm tools shall be divided equally by the sons according to the number of people.

The elderly in the family are respected. When separating families, we should first leave their parents' "pension field". The "pension land" is cultivated by the parents who live with them. Family property is usually inherited only by men.

In the southern dialect area, women can enjoy the land where their mother marries and the private houses they save at ordinary times.

In families with no children or no children, they can recruit redundancy or establish heirs for inheritance. All the property of the deceased family is handled according to the customary law of "having a house belongs to the house, having no house belongs to the relatives, and having no relatives belongs to the public".

Languages

language

The national language of the Dong nationality is Dong language, belonging to the Dongshui language branch of the Zhuang Dong language family of the Sino Tibetan language system.

Dong language is divided into two dialect areas in the South and north of Jinping County. Each dialect is divided into four local languages due to different phonetics. The formation of Dong dialect is obviously influenced by Chinese. Relatively speaking, the Dong people and the Han people in the northern dialect area have close contacts, more people understand Chinese and Chinese, and the level of Chinese culture is also high. Therefore, it is common to absorb Chinese vocabulary and use Chinese grammatical forms in the language, and the pronunciation tends to be simplified. The southern dialect maintains a more ancient appearance, with vowels of different lengths and a complete set of sound promoting rhymes.

Although Dong language has formed two dialects, there is little difference between dialects and it is relatively unified internally. The grammatical rules of northern and southern dialects are basically the same. The average number of cognate words between dialects exceeds 70%. People in different dialect areas can talk after a period of communication.

written words

Before the founding of new China, the Dong people had no language.

After the founding of new China, the people's government attached great importance to the development of the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities and actively helped those who did not have written languages to solve the problem of writing. In 1956, the first task force of minority language survey of Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the languages of 22 points in 14 counties and officially began the design of Dong language. In 1958, a scientific seminar on Dong language was held in Guiyang with the participation of Dong representatives from Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi provinces (regions), and the Dong language scheme (Draft) was officially adopted. The Dong people had their own language for the first time.

The newly created Dong language is a Latin alphabetic phonetic character, which is based on the southern dialect and takes the pronunciation of Chejiang dialect in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province as the standard pronunciation. The creation and promotion of Dong culture has played a positive role in promoting the development of society, politics, economy, culture and education in Dong areas.

literature

Dong area is known as "the hometown of poetry and the sea of songs".

The rhythm of Dong poetry is rigorous, the theme is extensive, the mood is healthy and bright, and the metaphor is lively. Lyric songs are beautiful, delicate, sincere and enthusiastic; Narrative songs are euphemistic, tortuous and profound. They are the precious cultural heritage of the Dong nationality.

The content of these poems is very rich, including the myths of the creation of the world and the origin of all things, as well as bold and tragic heroic epics, ancient songs describing the migration of ancestors, poems praising the steadfastness of young men and women, and long poems accusing class oppression and describing the suffering of the working people.

The stories of Wu Mian and Jiang Yingfang, the leaders of the peasant uprising, and the legend of "zhulang Niang Mei" are moving chapters in narrative poetry.

Folk stories and legends have a wide range of themes, diverse forms, tortuous plots, fascinating and romantic expressions, reflecting the rich imagination, good desire and optimism of the Dong people to pursue freedom and overcome evil.

music

Singing has a lofty position in the social life of the Dong people. The old teach songs, the young sing songs, the young learn songs, and the singers pass on songs from generation to generation, which has become a social custom. Dong big songs, Pipa songs and blocking songs are excellent representatives of Dong music.

"Big song" is the quintessence of Dong music, which is mainly characterized by the formation of polyphonic structure and expression techniques in music. There are traditional song classes and song teams organized by Dong people. Every festival or song team visits or welcomes song team visits, they gain reputation by singing "Big Songs" in pairs. During the singing of the choir, the lead singer is combined with the chorus of the crowd to divide the high and low voice parts. Its complete multi voice part structure is the most perfect folk chorus found in China, known as "the voice of heaven".

dance

Dong dances include Lusheng dance, "duoye" dance, dragon dance, lion dance, etc.

Lusheng dance has a wide range of tunes, including "fish diving", "cockfighting" and "Panlong". Lusheng competition is held after autumn. Thousands of Lusheng participating in the meeting, dozens of villages and tens of thousands of people.

"Duoye" dance is an ancient dance form combining song and dance of the Dong nationality. During the activity, participants hold hands or shoulder to shoulder in a circle, walk slowly and rhythmically, and the lyrics are led by one person and joined by all. It is the most popular entertainment activity in the Dong nationality area.

Dong Opera

Dong opera is a kind of opera with unique style, which was produced in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty.

Dong opera has simple steps, simple movements and diverse tunes. It was first created by Wu Wencai (about 1798-1845) in ladong, Liping, Guizhou. It has a history of more than 100 years. So far, there are nearly 500 folk troupes and nearly a thousand traditional and modern plays.

After the founding of new China, traditional operas, after continuous excavation and refinement, have become more perfect in both theme and artistic form. Modern operas reflecting the new face of the Dong people are also increasing, which are deeply praised and loved by the audience. The accompaniment instruments of Dong opera mainly include pipa, oxleg Qin, erhu, bell, Gong, cymbal, drum and so on.

workmanship

There are many kinds of Dong folk handicrafts, including embroidery, cross stitch, weaving, color painting, carving, paper cutting, etc. most of them are practical and beautiful with distinctive characteristics.

Dong women are good at embroidery and cross stitch. The patterns include flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and animals. They are embroidered on the chest, collar, cuffs, headscarf, pillow towel, quilt face, back fan and sock bottom. They are vivid and colorful. Colorful Dong brocade, exquisite Dong handkerchief and various flower belts are woven.

Color painting is generally seen on the pillars, cornices and plaques of drum towers, bridges and temples. It mostly adopts meticulous painting. The content is mostly drawn from the historical stories of the Han nationality and the folk customs of the Dong nationality. There are also various bird and animal patterns with bright colors and vivid expressions. Others, such as carving, paper cutting, and the compilation of bamboo, wood and rattan commonly used in daily life, are also exquisite and practical, with high technological value.

festival

There are more than 100 festivals and meetings of Dong Nationality in a year, and there are 84 festivals and meetings in Southeast Guizhou alone. There are festivals commonly celebrated by the whole nation, as well as festivals of one village, one village, one family and one surname.

Spring Festival, Huolu Festival, Changxin Festival, March 3, Linwang Festival, niushen Festival, Lusheng Festival, fireworks festival, heavy fog Liang Song Festival, 48zhai Song Festival, bullfighting Festival and other festivals will be the most grand.

The content of the festival is extensive, involving seasons, production, ancestor worship, beliefs, surnames, heroes, love, entertainment, sports, etc.

With the blending of national culture, Dong people also have Han traditional festivals such as Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival.

marriage and love

Young men and women in Dong society have social freedom. Every festival, leisure time or after work, girls and boys get together to sing and play, and use songs to sow the seeds of love. This social activity is different between the north and the south. In the north, it is carried out on the hillside during the day, which is called "playing mountain" or "driving down the depression", and the place for gathering is called "garden"; In southern areas, it is usually carried out at home at night. The man is called "walking village", the woman is called "sitting night", and it is customary to call it "singing and sitting night".

The marriage of Dong nationality generally goes through the process of "talking about marriage", "engagement" and "marriage". There is also the custom of "begging eight characters" in the northern region.

Before liberation, it was popular for an aunt to marry on her uncle's watch, and her aunt's daughter should give priority to marrying her uncle's family as her daughter-in-law. Women have the custom of "never leaving their husband's house" after marriage. After marriage, the bride returns to her husband's house. In case of busy farming, festivals or important events, she takes her husband back to live in her husband's house for a few days and then returns to her mother's house. Some go back and forth for several years until they are pregnant and have children.

funeral

Dong people are buried in earth.

Adults who die normally can be buried in their ancestral tombs, while those who die abnormally or minors who die prematurely are buried in the secluded wilderness.

In the past, there was a custom of "stopping coffins for burial" in Congjiang and Liping, Guizhou. After people died and were buried, they parked the coffins in the suburbs and waited for people of the same age and generation of the deceased to die before they were buried together.

Su Yu: founding general.

Wang Tianpei: a famous general of the northern expedition.

Yang Zhicheng: founding general.

Yang Botao: famous Anti Japanese general, commander of the 18th army, one of the five main forces of the Kuomintang.

Long Da Dao: revolutionary martyr, early senior cadre of the Communist Party of China and one of the leaders of the Shanghai workers' movement.

Lin Sanxiang and Lin Sixiang: members of Gemini group and cultural ambassador of Dong nationality.

Wu Hongfei: a well-known reporter and the lead singer of the Chinese rock band "Happy Street".

Li Ting: Chinese diver, gold medalist of women's double 10m platform in Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

Lu Yong: the gold medal winner of the men's 85kg weightlifting class in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Zhuo Dingtao: one of the top ten original singers in China in 2009 and the winner of the "Omar Award" nominated by the president of the United States in 2009.

Yang Li: post-80s calligrapher. He is now a member of the Chinese Calligrapher Association, a member of the Guangxi Working Committee of Chinese hard pen calligraphy and director of the creation Committee, a member of the Guangxi Calligrapher Association, and a senior trainer of the Chinese calligraphy and painting grade examination. In 2012, he was awarded the title of "top ten double excellent calligraphers in Guangxi".

Liu Wenjie: joined the Xin orchestra as the lead singer in 2009.

Mao ruoyi: one of the members of Timez portfolio in 2013.