Mountain thai is a group of peoples that lives in the mountains and mountain valleys of North Laos and in neighboring areas of North Vietnam . There are many tribes of these peoples: white and black tai ( tai khao and tai dam ), which are located in Laos and Vietnam, red tai ( tai deng ) - Vietnam. In Laos, Nyah , Fuan and Futai live . These names come from the names of the traditional colors of women's clothing worn in these communities.
Content
Population
The number, according to some reports, is 375 thousand people [1] . Sometimes these peoples include the yuan and thai . The closest to each other are red tai and white tai.
Language
Mountain Thais speak several languages of the Thai group of the Thai Kadai family. Vietnamese and Lao languages are widespread, and because of the proximity of China, Chinese is also spoken .
Settlement
Mountain thai are distinguished by their migratory activity within Northern Indochina. Thanks to this, there is an assimilation of the peoples who live next to them. Nya , Fuan and Futai , settling on the plains near Lao, gradually mix.
Farm Type
The main occupation of these peoples is agriculture. It includes arable irrigated rice farming. Slash-and-burn agriculture (rice, corn, sweet potato, cassava and vegetables) is also actively used.
Social Structure
In the traditional political system, a clear division into aristocrats, priests and peasants is expressed.
Religion
The traditional religion is the worship of agricultural spirits. Also, due to the proximity of China, Confucianism and Buddhism are widespread [2] .
Note
- ↑ Kozhevnikov V.A. Essays on the Recent History of Laos / Science. M., 1979.P. 153.
- ↑ Alberto Zolo. China / AST, Astrel. M., 2003.S. 36
Literature
- Alberto Zolo. China / AST, Astrel. M., 2003.128 s.
- Kozhevnikov V.A. Essays on the Recent History of Laos / Science. M., 1979. 246 p.
- Chesnov Ya. V. "Mountain Thai" // Peoples and religions of the world / Chap. ed. V.A. Tishkov . M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 1999.S. 284.