Population and Distribution
The Dulong (also known as Drung) ethnic group is one of the smallest
ethnic groups in China. With a total population of about 5816 (data
from the census in 2000), the Dulongs mainly live in the Dulong
River Valley in the Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County in
north-western Yunnan Province. There are also a small number of
them, about 10 percent of the total, distributed in the areas along
the Nujiang River in the north of Gongshan County.
History
Few historical records were found regarding the origin of this
ethnic group till today. But relative references show that they
were once under the rule of court-appointed Naxi headmen through
the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644
- 1911). They had no uniform name and were called "Qiao"
in the Yuan Dynasty and "Qiu" or "Qu" people
after the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). With the founding of the PRC
in 1949, following consultation with the ethnic group it was decided
to agree upon the official name of Dulong ethnic group.
Language
The Dulong people have their own language which belongs to the
Tibetan-Burmese group of the Chinese-Tibetan language family. They
have no written script and traditionally, they made records and
transmitted message by means of engraving notches in wood and tying
knots. Some Dulongs can speak and write Chinese.
Economy
For thousands of years, the Dulong ethnic group was kept in an
isolated situation. Before the founding of P.R.C in 1949, the ethnic
group maintained many vestiges of the primitive commune system.
Productivity remained very low and the production tools they used
were limited to some simple iron, steel, stone and wooden instruments.
There are no clear divisions of labor that existed in their society
at that time.
In agriculture, the slash-and-burn cultivation dominated in the
production and crops grown were limited to maize, buckwheat and
beans until 1949. After 1949, however, their living and working
conditions have improved dramatically. Advanced techniques were
introduced and new crops such as rice and potatoes were cultivated.
The Dulongs also produced some primitive handicrafts, including
bamboo and rattan articles and engaged in the weaving of linen.
But the absence of both traders and towns made barter the only form
of exchange.
Diet
The Dulong people eat twice a day. Their staple food consists of
corn, millet and beets. Common vegetables of Dulong people are potatoes,
bean pods and some others that they collect, such as bamboo shoots,
bamboo leaves and mushrooms. Winter is the peak season for hunting.
Meat from wild ox is the main food in winter. Besides, fish found
in the Dulong River is another food of the Dulong people.
Residence
The Dulongs like to build their houses on the steep mountain slopes
and along the river. Those who live in the northern region always
build wooden houses and those in the southern region prefer bamboo
ones.
Their houses are often two storied with a ladder to go up and down.
The second floor is the living quarters for the family while the
ground floor is used for storage and provides accommodation for
the livestock. The members from one family always live in the same
large house. Each hearth in the house symbolizes one little family
unit. Once a man marries, a new hearth will be set up in the large
house. The married sons, instead of separating from their parents,
will settle down in the house built for them beside the large house.
Fashion
Women of the Dulong ethnic group normally wear black and white
striped gunny or cotton clothes and the men wear a pair of short
trousers. The Dulong people, male and female, wear their hair down
to their eyebrows in front and down to their shoulders behind. Both
women and men like to have their upper chest wrapped with a long
piece of gunny from the left armpit to the right shoulder, leaving
the left shoulder uncovered.
Men prefer wearing a crossbow and a hunting knife on the waist,
which make them appear to be bold and brave. Women love to wear
garments with coloured chain necklaces.
The Dulong women used to tattoo their faces in the past. When a
girl reached the age of twelve or thirteen, she had her face tattooed.
Dulong women living in different areas had tattoos of different
designs and on different parts of the face. Most of the women in
the lower reaches of the Dulong River had tattoos of vertical lines
only on the left and right of the philtrum, which look like a man's
moustache. After 1949, the custom of tattoo gradually disappeared.
Social Life
The Dulong people are brave, industrious, united and generous and
set much store in morals and ethics. They are well known as a nation
with good credibility and morality. Although the society is ruled
by some simple disciplines, no thefts or crimes occur within the
ethnic group.
Religion
The Dulongs are animists and believed that all living creatures
have souls. Believing evil spirits exist everywhere and can bring
calamities to people, they often hold various rites to expel evil
sprit at all costs.
Now, some Dulong people are believers of Christianity.
Funeral
Burying is the practice except in cases of death from serious disease
when the corpses were cremated or disposed of in the rivers. Friends
and relatives of the dead will attend the funeral with grain and
wine to offer their condolences. On the day of burial, all people
in the village will stop working to mourn for the dead. If the deceased
were elderly, a shaman would conduct a sacrificial ceremony before
the dead was buried.
Festival
Kaquewa Festival is the only New Year Festival of the Dulong ethnic
group. It is held during the eleventh and twelfth lunar months.
The exact date varies with the location and the duration of the
celebration often lasts as long as the food does.
The most exciting activity during the festival is killing and sacrificing
an ox. At the beginning of the ceremony, a sacrificial ox will be
fastened onto the sacrificial pole by the presider. Then women will
put a newly-woven carpet onto the back of the ox, hang a string
of beads on its horns and say to the God of Hunting: "We present
this ox to you and hope you will bestow us many, many animals".
Everybody dances around it. A young man whose parents are both alive
will be elected to kill the ox with a spear. The ox will be roasted
after being killed. Everybody present at the festivities has a share.
The celebration usually continues throughout the whole night and
people will not leave until they enjoy themselves to their hearts'
content.
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