Dai people

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The Dai peoples of China (Tai Lü: tai51 lɯ11 Chinese: 傣族; pinyin: Dǎizú) is the officially recognized name of several ethnic groups living in the Sipsongpanna Tai Autonomous Prefecture and the Taihong Tai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture (both in southern Yunnan, China), but by extension can apply to groups in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar when Dai is used to mean specifically Tai Lue, Chinese Shan or even Tai in general. For other names, see table below.

Contents 1 Name Ambiguity 2 Exodus 3 The Tai Yong 4 Tai Lue in Thailand 5 Economy 6 Tai groups and names 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Name Ambiguity

The Dai peoples form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, and are closely related to the Thai people who form a majority in Thailand. However, as with many other 'officially recognized' ethnic groups in China (See Gaoshan and Yao), the term Dai at least within Chinese usage is an umbrella term and as such has no equivalent in Tai languages who have only more general terms for 'Tai peoples in general' (eg, Tai Lue: tai51) and 'Tai people in China' (eg, Thai: ชาวไทในจีน'), both of which include the Zhuang for example which is not the case in the Chinese; and more specific terms, as shown in the table below. Therefore the word Dai, like with the aforementioned Yao, is a Han-Chinese cultural concept which has now been adopted by other languages such as English, French and German (see respective Wikipedias). As a solution in the Thai language, however, as in English, the term Tai Lue can be used to mean Dai, despite referring to other groups as in the table below. This is because the two main groups actually bear the same name, both meaning 'Northern Tai' (lue and nüa are cognate).

Although they are officially recognized as a single people by the Chinese state, these Tai people form several distinct cultural and linguistic groups. The two main languages of the Dai are Tai Lü (Sipsongpanna Tai) and Tai Nüa (Taihong Tai); two other written languages used by the Dai are Tày Pong and Tai Dam. They all are Tai languages, a group of related languages that includes Thai, Lao, and Zhuang, and part of the Tai-Kadai language family. The Tai peoples follow their traditional religion as well as Theravadin Buddhism, and maintain similar customs and festivals (such as the Sankrant) to the other Tai-speaking peoples. They are among the few natives groups in China who nominally practice the Theravadin school of Buddhism.

[edit] Exodus

The original areas of the Tai Lue included both sides of the Mekong River in the Sipsongpanna. According to the Tai Lue, there were five city-states on the east bank and six on the west, which with Chiang Rung formed twelve rice field divisions with all twelve having another 32 small provinces. These were:

On the west banks - Rung, Ha, Sae, Lu, Ong, Luang, Hun, Phan, Chiang Choeng, Hai, Chiang Lo and Mang;

On the east banks - La, Bang, Hing, Pang, La, Wang, Phong, Yuan, Bang and Chiang Thong (present-day Luang Prabang).

Some portions of these Tai Lue either voluntarily moved or were forcibly herded from these city-states around one to two hundred years ago, arriving in countries of present-day Burma, Laos and Thailand.

[edit] The Tai Yong

In the 19th Buddhist century Chao Sunantha, son of the ruler of Chiang Rung, led a following of Tai Lue from Chiang Rung to Yong in present-day Shan State to rule over the original inhabitants, the Lawa. They were aided by the following factors:

- Assimilating beliefs and customs and the arrival of a unifying Buddhist religion in a later period

- Family ties with and a tributary system to the city-states of Chiang Rung and (Kengtong|Chiang Tung), and the building of official alliances with clusters of city-states around Chiang Rai on the banks of the Mekong, such as Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong.

Given this history, the Tai Yong are thus descendants of the Tai Lue.

[edit] Tai Lue in Thailand

In Thailand there are Tai Lue in many provinces of the upper regions of Northern Thailand; these provinces are:

-Chiang Rai: Mae Sai, Chiang Khong and Chiang Saen districts (a portion fled to Chiang Rung at the outbreak of the Ayuthian-Burman War)

-Chiang Mai: Samoeng and Doi Saket districts

-Nan: Tha Wang Pha, Pua, Chiang Klang and Thung Chang districts (the greatest number, fleeing from the Saiyaburi and Sipsongpanna regions)

-Phayao: Chiang Muan and Chiang Kham districts (many in number)

-Lampang: Mueang Lampang and Mae Tha districts

-Lamphun: Mueang Lamphun and Ban Thi districts

[edit] Economy

The Dai people are typically farmers, growing a variety of tropical crops such as pineapples, in addition to the staple crop of rice. Many Dai live near the Mekong river where it meanders through the far south of Yunnan.

[edit] Tai groups and names

Chinese	Pinyin	Tai Lü	Tai Nüa	Thai	Conventional	Area(s)
傣働 （西雙版納傣族自治州）	Dǎilè (Xīshuāngbǎnnà Dǎi)	tai51 lɯː11		ไทลื้อ	Tai Lü, Tai Lue	Sipsongpanna Tai Autonomous Prefecture
傣那 （德宏傣）	Dǎinà (Déhóng Dǎi)	tai51 nəː55	tai le6	ไทเหนือ, ไทใต้คง	Tai Nüa, Northern Tai, Upper Tai, Chinese Shan	Dehong; Myanmar
傣擔	Dǎidān	tai51 dam55		ไทดำ, ลาวโซ่ง, ผู้ไท	Tai Dam, Black Tai, Tai Lam, Lao Song Dam*, Tai Muan, Tai Tan, Black Do, Jinping Dai, Tai Den, Tai Do, Tai Noir, Thai Den	Jinping (金平), Laos, Thailand
傣繃	Dǎibēng	tai51 pɔːŋ66			Tay Pong	Ruili (瑞丽), Gengma (耿马), along the Mekong
傣端	Dǎiduān	tai51 doːn55		ไทขาว	White Tai, Tày Dón, Tai Khao, Tai Kao, Tai Don, Dai Kao, White Dai, Red Tai, Tai Blanc, Tai Kaw, Tày Lai, Thai Trang	Jinping (金平)
傣雅	Dǎiyǎ	tai51 jaː35		ไทหย่า	Tai Ya, Tai Cung, Cung, Ya	Xinping (新平), Yuanjiang (元江)
傣友	Dǎiyǒu	tai51 jiu11				Yuanyang (元阳), along the Red River
* lit. "Lao [wearing] black trousers"

[edit] References

• Zhu, Liangwen (1992). The Dai: Or the Tai and Their Architecture & Customs in South China. Bangkok, Thailand, and Kunming, Yunnan, China: D D Books and The Science and Technology Press of Yunnan.

[edit] External links

• Photos related to Dai Theravada Buddhism
• Site including information on some endangered Tai scripts