Customs: Water-Splashing Festival, Close-Door Festival, Open-Door Festival, making arrangements and burning white firewood.

1. Water Splashing Festival Water Splashing Festival (locally known as "watering flowers") is an annual traditional festival of the De'ang people, which takes place on the seventh day after the Qingming Festival every year.

The festival lasts for three days.

On the day when the ceremony begins, people in De'ang all put on their festive costumes, carry water brought from the well De'ang on their backs, bring various foods prepared by themselves, and hold bunches of flowers in their hands, and gather at the Buddhist temple (Zang) in the village.

room) for the festival.

The ceremony was presided over by the highly respected elders in the village and delivered a congratulatory speech.

After delivering the congratulations, the young men beat the elephant foot drum and danced the elephant foot drum.

The young women danced the "Sand Dance" to the beat of the drums.

Others held bamboo water tubes in their hands, raised them above the ceiling, and poured water into the sink with carved dragon paintings and sutras to bathe the Buddha statue that symbolizes the incarnation of the Buddha. This means to remember the kindness of the ancestors and wish good weather in the coming year.

2. Close-Door Festival is called "Jinwa" in De'ang language.

It starts on the 15th day of the ninth month of the Dai calendar every year (mid-June of the lunar calendar) and lasts for three months.

The Close-Door Festival is the busiest time for agricultural production. It requires young men and women to exercise self-discipline and concentrate on engaging in agricultural production.

That is to say, the door to love and marriage is closed. During the festival, no romance is allowed, men are not allowed to marry women, and monks are not allowed to stay in villages. They must live in Buddhist temples, concentrate on chanting sutras, and improve their moral character.

In the first three days of the Close-Door Festival, people go to Buddhist temples to worship Buddha. Instead of working in the fields, young men and women gather together to sing "Bie Gang Chai" (a folk song of the De'ang ethnic group) and dance.

After three days, everyone must offer flowers, incense, candles and other small items to the Buddha every seven days. On the eighth day, they must go to the Buddhist temple to worship the Buddha, listen to the Buddha's chanting, and pray to the Buddha to bless people and animals for safety and a good harvest.

3. Open-Door Festival The Open-Door Festival, called "Chuwa" in De'ang language, is held every year on December 15th of the Dai calendar (the ninth month of the lunar calendar). It is the last day of the Close-Door Festival and lasts for three days.

The Open Door Festival opens the door to love and marriage.

By this time, the busy farming season was over.

The day before, De'ang village held a religious ceremony to celebrate the harvest.

The next day, unmarried girls will go to the Buddhist temple to burn incense and worship the Buddha to thank him for opening the door to love and marriage.

On the morning of the last day, the young men and women will listen to the Buddha's sermons, and then the local people will go to the market and worship Buddha.

4. Doing a show, that is, making a big tribute, also known as "rushing the show", is usually held during the slack time of the second and third months of the lunar calendar.

The demonstration is based on the village.

Before the demonstration, the village must prepare food, funds, cattle, meat and other supplies in advance to provide food and accommodation for participants from other villages near and far.

The first day was to welcome the Buddha, and the next day after worshiping the Buddha, everyone listened to the Buddha's sermon.

On the last day, after the guests left, the people in the village gathered together to sing and dance.

It is said that making a show can make the people in the village clean and safe, avoid disasters, and can drive away ghosts and evil spirits.

5. Burning white firewood. Burning white firewood, called "Kongtong" in De'ang language, is held on the evening of the 14th day of the twelfth lunar month every year.

The so-called white firewood is a tree with no bark and a white surface.

Before the festival, De'ang Village sends people up the mountain to cut white firewood and set it up near the village in the shape of a "well".

Food customs: Tea is the most important drink of the Deang people.

Especially adult men and middle-aged and elderly women can hardly live without tea, and they like to drink strong tea.

When they drink tea, they often put a large amount of tea leaves into a small tea can and add a little water to boil them. When the tea turns dark brown, they pour the tea into a small tea cup and drink it.

Because this kind of tea is very strong, most people will be very excited after drinking it and will have trouble sleeping all night.

However, the De'ang people often drink it and become addicted to it. As long as they don't drink it for a day, their hands and feet will become weak and their limbs will become weak.

On the contrary, if you brew a can of strong tea and drink a few sips when you are tired, you will immediately feel refreshed and energetic.

Marriage customs: The De'ang people's marriage is monogamous, people with the same surname do not marry, and they rarely intermarry with foreigners.

Young men and women are free to fall in love, and women have a certain degree of autonomy in choosing a partner.

There is no strict hierarchical marriage within this nation. Rich and poor families can marry as long as the other party is willing.

When the young men reach the age of fourteen or fifteen, they start to date girls. At night, they go to the young women's homes and play the reed pipe to attract the girls to fall in love with them.

After the two parties establish a relationship, they give each other daily necessities such as bracelets, waist hoops, necklaces, bamboo baskets, brocade bags, etc., and then invite the elders in the village to go to the girl's house for matchmaking.

Extended information: Music: The De'ang people's favorite musical instruments are generally foot drums, cymbals, chimes, gourdsheng, xiao, small sanxian, oral strings, etc., which are mostly used when singing and "stringing girls".

Dance: The De'ang people have the custom of dancing in major festivals. The most representative one is the Elephant Foot Drum Dance. The De'ang people beat the drums and take the lead with men playing cymbals and cymbals. Other men, women and children follow behind and follow certain steps.

Gestures dance in circles.

There are also two circles of men and women, with men forming the outer circle and women forming the inner circle.