Description: One of the ethnic minorities in China, mainly distributed in Yunnan. 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 people are distributed in China, India, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand and other countries. In 2000, there were 1 159000 Dai people in China. Mainly living in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Dehong Autonomous Prefecture and Gengma and Menglian Autonomous County. The rest are scattered in more than 30 counties including Jingdong, Jinggu, Ninger, Lancang, Xinping, Yuanjiang and Jinping.

Cultural characteristics of Dai nationality

The development of Dai literature can be roughly divided into four stages: first, the emergence and development of ancient songs, myths and creation epics; The second period is the formation and prosperity of heroic epics, legends and ballads; Third, the rise and prosperity of stories and narrative poems; Fourth, the new literature flourished.

The famous "Dai Ancient Songs" contains 30 Dai ancient songs, which reflects the production activities and living conditions of Dai ancestors in primitive times. Myths about the origin of heaven and earth include Ying Ba Kai Tian, Gu Lian and Mei Fei Gapa; myths about the origin of human beings include Hulu Man, Hulu Egg, Renguo and Dirty Clay Man; and flood myths include Hulu Descendants.