When we talk about ethnic minorities in China, we often mention Tibetans, Manchus, Hui, Zhuang, and so on. However, there are 56 ethnic groups in China, each with its own unique customs and culture. Today, I would like to share with you the Lahu people, known as the "tiger hunting people".
The Lahu people are mainly distributed in Dali, Lincang, Dehong and other places in Yunnan Province. The Lahu are one of the ancient ethnic groups in China. The word "Lahu" is a word in this ethnic language, "La" means tiger, and "Hu" means to roast meat until fragrant. Therefore, in history, the Lahu people are called "tiger hunting people".
The Lahu people are one of the oldest ethnic minorities in China, and their ancestral origin comes from the ancient Qiang people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. After the 10th century AD, the ancestors of the Lahu people ended their nomadic life and moved south to Pu'er, Lincang and other areas on both sides of the Lancang River in today's Yunnan Province, where they settled and multiplied to this day. To this day, we can still see many relics of the ancient Qiang safari culture from the traditional costumes, beliefs and customs of the Lahu people.
Lahu belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which is an independent language alongside Yi, Lisu, Naxi and Hani, and is divided into two dialects: Lahuxi and Lahuna. Due to the more contact with the Han and Dai people, the general public can speak both Chinese and Dai.
The Lahu people originally had no writing in history, but they had carved wooden records and knotted ropes to count. In some areas, the Lahu used to use the Latin alphabet script created by Western missionaries. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the help of **, the Lahu people reformed the original Latin alphabet.
In modern society, we need to find a way to respect and protect the traditional culture of the Lahu people while protecting the animals and the natural environment. This is a problem that we need to think about and solve together.
In this short article, I have only briefly described a part of the culture of the Lahu people, whose culture is far more colorful than I have described. If you have the opportunity, I encourage you to go to Yunnan to experience the culture of the Lahu people and learn about their way of life. I'm sure you will be captivated by their hospitality and unique customs.