Discover some details about the Dao ethnic group

The Dao people have many ethnic groups, living in most of the northern mountainous provinces, the Northern midlands, the Central Highlands and some provinces in the Southeast. The Dao ethnic groups currently maintain their traditional cultural identities. Let's go togetheriguide.aiFind out information about the Dao ethnic group, Vietnam!

1. Historical origin:

The Dao people originated from China, and their migration to Vietnam lasted from the 12th and 13th centuries until the first half of the 20th century.

Dao ethnic groups: Red Dao (Coc Ngang Dao, Horned Dao, Prostrate Dao, Dai Ban Dao), Quan Chet Dao (Son Dau Dau, Tam Dao Dao, Nga Hoang Dao, Du Cun), Lo gang Dao (Dao Thanh Judge, Dao Coc Mun), Dao Tien (Money Wearing Knife, Small Edition Knife), Dao with White Pants (Dao Ho), Dao Thanh Y, Dao Lan Ten (Dao Tuyen, Dao in Ao Dai).

Regarding ethnic names: Kem Mien, Kiem Mien, Kim Mun, Kim Man, Bieo Mun, Liao Man, Du Mien, Diu Mien, Yìu Mien... In addition, in the past, they were also called Dong, Xa, Man. ..

2. Population:According to the results of a survey collecting information on the socio-economic status of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019 by the Vietnam Committee for Ethnic Minorities - General Statistics Office, the Dao population as of April 1, 2019 is 891,151 people, of which 450,089 are men and 441,062 are women.

3. Language:Belongs to the Hmong-Dao family

4. Geographical distribution:Most of the northern mountainous provinces, the Northern midlands, the Central Highlands and some provinces in the Southeast region.

5. Main characteristics

- Housing: Dao people's houses are very different, ground floor houses, stilt houses or half-stilt houses, half land houses.

- Family structure: Patriarchy.

- Traditional costumes: In the past, men had long hair, tied in a bun at the nape of the neck or had a long tuft of hair on top of the head, with the surrounding area shaved clean. Dao groups often have different ways of wearing scarves. There are two types of shirts, long shirts and short shirts.

- Dao women wear a variety of clothes, often wearing ao dai, skirts or pants. The clothes are very colorful. They embroider completely based on memory on the left side of the fabric so that the pattern emerges on the right side. Many types of patterns such as swastikas, pine trees, birds, people, animals, and leaves. The Dao people print patterns on fabric with beeswax, using brushes or dipping molds into melted beeswax and then printing on the fabric. After being dyed with indigo, the fabric will show a blue pattern due to the layer of beeswax that is not absorbed by the indigo.

- Cuisine: Dao people mainly eat rice, in some places they eat more corn than rice or porridge. They also like to eat boiled meat, dried and marinated meat dishes, and sour bamboo shoot soup.

- Festivals: Dao people celebrate Tet in January, worship ancestors in January, July and December. Depending on each Dao group, there are separate days to worship ancestors. In addition, there are also life cycle rituals such as ceremony, wedding, funeral, praying for health, worshiping ghosts...

- Beliefs: The Dao people believe in both primitive beliefs and agricultural rituals and are deeply influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and especially Taoism. Ban Vuong is considered the ancestor of the Dao people, so he is worshiped together with the ancestors of each family. According to tradition, all men who have reached adulthood must go through the initiation ceremony, a ceremony that is both Taoist in nature and bears traces of the ancient initiation ceremony.

- With the characteristics of polytheistic beliefs, in Dao families, they often worship the ghosts of grandparents, parents, stove ghosts, earth ghosts... In the family or sub-family or clan, they worship the family ghosts. . In the village community, there is worship of local ghosts including the village's guardian gods and earth gods, praying for rain or sunshine, worshiping to eliminate insects... In addition, in the past, the Dao people also worshiped ghosts. fields, ghost fields, ghosts of source water...

- Economic conditions: Cultivation on upland fields, farming in rock holes, fields, depending on each group and region. The main food crops are rice, corn, and vegetables. They raise buffaloes, cows, pigs, and chickens in the mid-mountain and highland areas and also raise horses and goats. The Dao people also have a number of occupations such as growing cotton, weaving, repairing agricultural tools, making muskets, flintlock guns, casting cast iron bullets, making silver, making paper, pressing oil for lighting or cooking oil, and making molasses. …

According to "Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019" by the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and the General Statistics Office, Poverty household rate: 31.0%; Rate of near-poor households: 15.7%; Unemployment rate: 1.21%; Percentage of trained workers with degrees and certificates: 5.4%; Proportion of workers working in the non-agricultural sector: 13.6%; Proportion of employees working in management or technical expertise at high and middle levels: 1.6%; Percentage of households doing traditional handicrafts: 0.27%.

- Educational conditions: According to "Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019" conducted by the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and the General Statistics Office, the rate of people aged 15 and older who can read and write common : 73.8%; Percentage of people attending primary school: 101.4%; Percentage of people attending middle school: 89.3%; Percentage of people attending high school together: 38.9%; Rate of out-of-school children: 16.5%.

Above is some interesting information about the Dao ethnic group, Vietnam, let's joiniguide.aiPlan to explore, meet and experience culture with the Dao people in the near future!

Source:
- Ethnic groups in Vietnam (Truth National Political Publishing House)
- Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019 (Committee for Ethnic Minorities and General Statistics Office)
- Website of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, Website of Nhan Dan Newspaper
- Results of the survey collecting information on the socio-economic status of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam)