The relationship between Dai and Thai people

Dai people are Thais, and they have the same ancestor in Thailand.

The national language of the Dai nationality is Dai language, which belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Dai people regard peacocks and elephants as mascots, and folk stories are rich and colorful. Dai people like to live by water, love cleanliness, bathe frequently, and women like to wash their hair. Therefore, it is known as a country with water. 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 0/159000 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 Jingping. The Dai region borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Ethnic introduction:

According to their distribution areas, the Dai people in China call themselves Dai Lu, Dai Na, Dai Ya, Dai Zhan and Dai Duan. Xishuangbanna and other places call themselves Dai Lu, Dehong and other places call themselves Dai Na. Dai people in Xinping and Yuanjiang in the middle and upper reaches of the Red River call themselves Dai Ya, while Dai people in Ruili, Longchuan and Gengma border areas call themselves Dai Tension, while Dai people in Mangjing and Mangna in Lancang belong to Dai Tension Branch. Han people call Dai Lu Shui Dai, Dai Na Handai and Dai Ya Huayaodai. New varieties of crops have been increased and cotton has been widely planted.

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the economic and cultural exchanges between Han and Dai became closer, especially a large number of Han people moved to the frontier. The advanced production technology, culture and science in mainland China are widely spread in Dai areas, which has rapidly promoted the social and economic development of Dai people. Records in the early Yuan Dynasty show that the Dai people in Dehong still use slave labor. During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Dai areas all over the country successively entered the feudal lords society, and social production further developed. The use of iron has become quite common.