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The Deang nationality has a population of 16,400,
most of whom live in the Santaishan Mountain area of Luxi
Municipality, Dehong Prefecture, and Zhenkang County of Lincang
Prefecture. A few live in Ruili City, Lianghe, Yingjiang,
Lingchuan counties of Dehong Prefecture, and gengma County of
Lincang Prefecture. The Deang people share the same ancestors with
the Wa and the Bulang who were called "Pu" in the Han and Jin
Dynasties. They were called "Benglong" in the Qing Dynasty. But
they addressed themselves "de -ang" or "Da-ang". In 1985, they
were collectively named the Deang nationality. The
Deang people have their own language, which belongs to the
Mon-Khmer Branch of the South Asian Langrage family (Deang
Branch). Since they get along well with the Dai, the Han and the
Jingpo nationalities, the majority of them can speak the Dai, the
Han and the Jingpo languages. Having no writing system, they use
the characters of the Han and the Dai. Most Deang people believe
in Hinayana Buddhism, and therefore Buddhist temples are found in
most Deang villages. They have a long history of tea planting, and
are quite experienced growers. Therefore they are called "the
Ancient Tea Growers". The Dean men usually wear
black or white turbans with the two ends decorated with colorful
floss balls. They wear big earrings, thick silver necklaces, blue
or black coats and loose trousers. The women like to
have their hair shaved, and then wrap the heads with black cloth.
They wear big earrings, thick silver necklaces, blue or black
overcoats, and rattan waistbands. They wear tight skirts with
colorful strips. And the colors of their skirts vary from branch
to branch. The Deang people have the custom of tattooing their
bodies, usually on legs, arms and chests with patterns of flowers,
grass, tigers, deer, birds and scriptures or incantations in the
Dai language. They are fond of chewing tobacco and Luxi for the
sake of protecting the teeth. They major festivals are the water
Splashing festival, the Opening-door Festival and the Closing-door
festival. |
