|
|
 |
 1024X768 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 The office of Heilongtan Villager's Committee. |
Heilongtan Villagers' Committee belongs to Gelanghe Country, Menghai County of Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture of Dai people. The government of Gelanghe Country is located in the southeast of Menghai County and their distance is 28 km. There is a country road (32km) leading to Jinghong City ----the capital of Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture. The distance from Gelanghe to the border of China and Burma is about 80 km. Heilongtan Villagers' Committee rules three natural villages: Heilongtan Village, Mankesong Village and Langxincun Village. In 2001, there were 216 families, 1066 persons in the whole Villagers' Committee, and 26.3% of them were Hani people; and 73.4% of them were Dai people. All of Dai people live in Heilongtan Village. The average net income of Heilongtan was 362 Yuan per capita in 2001. |
 Wedding ceremony of Dai people |
| Heilongtan Village is located to the north and west of Heilongtan dam, 1.5km out of Mankesong Village. There is about 1km from it to the government of the country. Because it is the only community of Dai people in Gelanghe Country, it is called the village Dai people. Compared with other nationalities around them, the female's status of Dai people is higher in their traditional culture. Women less dependent on men in economy than other minorities we investigated. In the system of ownership, like men, women of Heilongtan Village can exercise the power of tendering for land, the right of inheritance and other rights, which is rare in the custom and the custom law of the communities of Hani people and Wa people. In the division of housework, man of Dai people must take on some housework. If a man is unable to make a dinner, he will be looked down on. For their marriage, it is not a shame that man marries into and lives with wife's family. If a family doesn't have son, it is naturally that their girl must live in family and a man marries into and lives with her family. |
 Director of Heilongtan Villager's Committee, who is also the inherited koradji of village. |
Dai people of Heilongtan Village
have their own ethical language and written language, and keep their complete
ethical tradition, custom and religion habits. Women and the majority
of men are all dressed in their ethical traditional costume. There is
tattoo in the body of grown man. In addition, there are some special people
who inherit and transmit their religion, such as Longbatou (koradji);
Buzhang; Buddha (abbot of village's Buddhism temple); monk and Kanglong.
Dai people of Heilongtan Village don't marry with other nationalities, and few married with Dai people of other villages. They always marry with people of the same village, so some couples often are relatives. The phenomena of early love, early marrying and early bearing are very common for Dai people in the village, and the earliest marriage age of women was 14 years old, which is in some extent unfavorable for female's independence and the improvement of her status. |
 Villagers taking part in Buddha Sacrifice |
In the net of social control of Dai people, religion (Buddhism) plays an important role. There must be some rituals in a person's birth and death, oldness and sickness, wedding and funeral, and in feasts and important affairs of village. Buddha and monk have lofty status. Under this background, it is natural that female's status in the community will be influenced by religion, which is reflected prominently in inheriting and transmitting their culture. Because only boys can go into temple and accept systemic education of Dai culture and study the written language of Dai people, it is almost doom that women can't really set foot in the core of community management affairs of Dai people. |
 Kanglong: retired abbot of village's Buddhism temple (first one from left). |
|
See other village's introduction:
|
||
|
|
||
