They are mainly distributed in Liping, Congjiang, Rongjiang, Tianzhu and Jinping in Guizhou, Xinhuang, Jingxian and Tongdao in Hunan, Sanjiang and Longsheng in Guangxi. Luo Yue originated from the Qin and Han Dynasties. Believe in polytheism and worship natural things.

Mainly engaged in agriculture, operating trees. Mainly produce fish and japonica rice, and make good use of rice fields to raise fish. Forestry is famous for producing Chinese fir. Dong people have their own language and are fluent in Chinese. There are no characters in the original. In 1958, pinyin characters in Latin alphabet are designed. Have their own folk drama-Dong Opera.

Xiao and Di of Dong nationality are one of the traditional Chinese musical instruments. Dong people are also good at architectural art, and each stockade has a unique wooden building. This nail-free, riveting-free wooden structure has absorbed part of the essence of China's ancient pavilions.

custom

When guests come to Dong people's homes, they will usually be treated with good bitter wine and sour fish, sour meat and various sauerkraut that have been marinated for many years, so there is a saying that "bitter wine and sour tea" is for guests. When Dong people entertain guests with chickens and ducks, first of all, the host should respect the heads of chickens and ducks or the webbed feet of chickens and ducks. Guests should take it with both hands or turn to the elders at the table to show mutual respect and sincerity between the host and the guest.

When visiting a Dong family and eating pickled fish, the host puts a pile of pickled fish pieces into the guest's bowl, but the guest had better not eat them all, leaving 1 and 2 pieces to show that "there is more than enough to eat". Birthdays, birthdays, weddings, funerals, and weddings all require banquets of different sizes.

In the Dong nationality in Sanjiang area of Guangxi, there is a custom of celebrating the birth of the first baby girl after marriage with "Three Dynasties Wine". "Three Dynasties" refers to three days, that is, within ten days after the birth of a child, two odd-numbered days, such as May, July and September (in some places, boys choose one day and girls choose two days), are chosen to congratulate the child. Children should also drink tea for a week when they are one year old (some drink alcohol when they are one year old).

Dietary customs

There are three eclipses in most areas, and four eclipses in some places, that is, two teas and two meals. Second tea refers to the unique camellia oleifera of Dong nationality. Camellia oleifera is a thin soup made of tea, flowers, fried peanuts (or crisp soybeans), glutinous rice, meat or pig water, salt and chopped green onion. (There are spinach and Artemisia in some places), which can quench thirst and satisfy hunger, so it is often called "eating camellia oleifera".

Daily vegetables are very rich, except fresh pumpkins, bitter melons and leeks, most of which are pickled into sauerkraut. Such as: sour cucumber, sour carrot, sour sword bean, sour bracken, etc. The daily dishes of Dong people are mainly sour. There are not only sour soup, but also all kinds of sauerkraut, sour meat, sour fish, sour chicken and sour duck made from sour soup. According to legend, pickled sauerkraut began in the Song Dynasty.

There are two kinds of sauerkraut: cylinder system and cylinder system. Tanning refers to putting rice washing water into a jar, heating it with fire, fermenting it to make sour soup, and then cooking fish, shrimp and vegetables with sour soup as the most common daily dishes.

The shrimp paste that people often eat is also made of cans. Braised fish, braised pork chops, steaks and braised chickens and ducks are mainly made in test tubes. There are two kinds of wooden barrels: wooden barrels and bamboo barrels. It is best to cook pickled fish in winter. The longer the curing time, the more mellow the taste. Fish and shrimp are often eaten fresh except for many sour foods.

Dong adult men generally like to drink, and most of them drink their own brewed rice wine, which is not high in degree, light and mellow.

Holidays and festivals

The dates of Dong traditional festivals vary from place to place, and the festival diet is often associated with banquet activities.

Wedding Day: The first day of the tenth lunar month is the "wedding day" of the Dong people, and dozens of young couples often get married on this day, which is similar to today's "collective wedding". This custom is still preserved in Xiaoguang, Hua 'ao and other places in Jianhe County, Guizhou Province.

Bridging Festival: According to legend, Gong Zu, the ancestor of the Dong nationality, gave birth to a son and grandson because of bridging, which happened on February 2nd. To commemorate this day, the Dong people designated this day as the Bridge Festival.