The Deng people, also known as the Dengba people, are the ethnic minority group with the smallest population in Tibet. Before liberation, the vast majority of the Seng people lived in deep mountains and old forests, leading a very primitive life. Before the democratic reform in Tibet, the Deng people were discriminated against and were scornfully called "monkeys" and "savages." Some people called the Deng people "Mishmi people," which means "uncivilized people." Living a primitive social life of slash-and-burn farming. After the democratic reform under the leadership of the party and the government, the social status and living environment of the Seng people have undergone earth-shaking changes. Today, under the leadership of the party and the government, every family in the city lives in wooden buildings shaded by green trees. Everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, and their lives are getting better and better.
The Deng people include two tribes. One is the Daren people in the Dulai River Basin, who speak the Darang dialect; the other is the Geman people in the Zayu River basin, who speaks the Geman dialect. The two languages ??are different, but they can communicate in common languages. The ethnic origin of the Geman tribe is derived from the Bamar ethnic group. Before the liberation of Tibet, most of the Deng people lived in deep mountains and old forests. Their houses were very simple and made of branches, leaves, hay, animal skins, etc. Production tools are also very backward, mainly including knives, arrows, darts, wooden sticks, etc. Agriculture practices slash-and-burn farming, with low food output. For more than half a year, they make a living by collecting wild vegetables and fruits and hunting for raw meat. Due to the extremely low living standards, Deng people are generally short in body.
When Tibet was liberated, the Deng people were still at the end of the family system of primitive society. Under these specific historical conditions, the Seng people who have lived in the primeval forests have not yet formed a situation of class differentiation, and the concepts of hierarchy, private ownership, and various moral concepts are not very obvious.
1959. Since the democratic reform in Tibet, the Deng people have undergone earth-shaking changes in all aspects. With the care of the party and the government, and with the strong and free help of the local Tibetan people and the garrison, the Seng people walked out of the mountains and old forests, moved to the river valleys and terraces, built new homes, and began a modern human life, buying and selling marriages and smoking opium. The stereotypes and bad habits of Tibet have disappeared; ethnic barriers and ethnic discrimination have been eliminated, and the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet treat the Tibetan people as equal ethnic groups; both men and women directly participate in productive labor, achieving harmony and equality; all school-age children are enrolled in school; there are Dozens of people have grown into national cadres, and more than 20 of them have taken leadership positions at the county and district levels. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Deng people lived in four townships in the upper and lower Chayu Districts of Chayu County. Under the leadership of the party and the government, they independently established seven production teams with more than 1,200 acres of cultivated land. Production developed rapidly, and some The production team also set up a small hydropower station under the leadership of the party and the government. Under the leadership of the party and the government, the primitive and inhumane life of the Zhanba brothers has gone forever.
After the Central Committee’s Third Tibet Work Symposium, it increased support for the Tibetan people, helping them build houses, reclaim farmland, construct water conservancy projects, and purchase agricultural machinery. Qualitative changes have taken place in their production and life. . At the beginning of the 21st century, the Deng people were mainly engaged in agriculture. Crops include rice, corn, sorghum, soybeans, mung beans, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, watermelon, etc. and various vegetables. With the help of party committees and governments at all levels, most Deng people have escaped poverty at the beginning of the 21st century and are living a well-off life with enough food and clothing.
Chayu County is located in the southeastern border of Tibet, bordering Yunnan to the east, Medog County to the west, Zuogong, Basu and Bomi County to the north, and Myanmar and India to the south. The county has a total population of 26,000, consisting of 9 ethnic groups including Tibetan, Han, Naxi, Dulong, Miao, Hui, Lhoba, Lisu, and Nu people, as well as Tibetan people. Chayu is one of the important border counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with a total border length of 588.64 kilometers, accounting for more than one-eighth of the entire region's border, of which 401 kilometers are on the China-India border and 187.64 kilometers are on the China-Myanmar border. The famous Sino-Indian self-defense counterattack in 1962, the Battle of Walong, took place here.
Due to the extremely small population and other reasons, the ethnic origin has not yet been confirmed. The main crops grown by the Deng people include: corn, chicken claw rice, upland rice, buckwheat, millet, etc.
Most of the paddy fields of the Den people are terraced fields, and canals are dug to divert water from mountain streams for irrigation. There are no water conservancy, drainage and irrigation facilities. Winter is the slack season for farmers, which is the hunting season for the Seng people.
During this period, most men went to the mountains to hunt. There were many methods of hunting. One was shooting with arrows; the other was digging traps, which was to dig a large pit several meters deep in an area where wild beasts often move or near a living cave. Dozens of bamboo stakes were inserted to cover the entrance of the hole and camouflage it. In this way, once the prey falls into the trap, the pointed bamboo stakes are deeply inserted into the prey. The third is the branch rope snare. Tie the thin rope into a snare, lie in the grass on the ground, and fix both ends. This is specially used to snare rabbits, pheasants and other small animals. Hunting is the main source of meat and the main way to increase income for the Mon people. In addition, some bamboo and wooden wares, metal wares and stone wares are also produced.
Corn is sown within one or two days after burning the field. Use a wooden stick to insert a small hole and put two or three seeds in, about one step apart. Corn begins to mature in September, and corn can be harvested from September to November. When harvesting corn, a straw shed is built in the field, and layers of drying racks are set up in the shed. The government led the people to hang them in rows on the racks, dry them in the sun, and then carry them home and thresh them back to the warehouse, or thresh them while eating.
Chicken claw rice, buckwheat, etc. must be planted in regularly farmed land. The so-called regular farmland is land with relatively gentle terrain close to the village and should be sown by broadcasting. During the growth period of crops, weeding can be done once or twice, and then harvested directly. The animal husbandry of the Dun people is not as developed as that of the Tibetan people. They mainly focus on family breeding and do not have special pastures. Especially since the reform and opening up, the number of families raising cattle and horses has increased significantly. With the improvement of production technology and transportation conditions, the use of large livestock for plowing and pack transportation has become extremely common.
Hunting is one of the main sources of meat for Mon people’s families and an important supplement to their economic income. The Deng people mainly hunt with nooses, dig traps, and bury bamboo-tipped wooden stakes. They also use bows and arrows to hunt. A few families also use gunpowder guns exchanged with outsiders or gunpowder guns made by the Deng people themselves.
The Deng people, like most Tibetans in Zayu, like to eat fish. The main method of fishing is to put a bamboo basket with a large mouth and small belly into the running water. The fish will not be able to come out after getting into the bamboo basket and the fish will be caught. Textile is a major family sideline production that women of the Seng people engage in. The raw materials for weaving are mostly domestic or wild hemp. The looms are simple and the operation is primitive, so the linen weaved is relatively rough. Using threads dyed in different colors, simple patterns and geometric figures can be woven.
Handicraft industry. Before liberation, the handicraft industry of the Seng people had not yet formed an independent social production department. It was subordinate to agricultural production and was a family sideline business for the Seng people. Mainly include metal processing, bamboo and woodware production and weaving production.