The mainland is a multi-ethnic country, and the majority of the ethnic population is not a minority, but in Gongshan County, Yunnan Province, on the mainland, there lives an ethnic group with a population of less than 7,000, and there is a name that we rarely hear of - "Dulong".
The least populated ethnic group on the mainland - the Dulong people
The Dulong people live on both sides of the Dulong River Gorge in Gongshan County, Yunnan Province, and the place where they live is also called Dulongjiang Township. The birthplace of the Dulong River is in Chayu, Tibet, and the Dulong River is one of the six major water systems in Yunnan Province, which meanders more than 150 kilometers from north to south in Yunnan Province. Due to the dangerous terrain, the Dulong people living on both sides of the Dulong River Gorge are also called "flying Dulong people" by "outsiders".
Because Dulongjiang Township is surrounded by high mountains, it also hinders the travel of Dulong people living here. If the Dulong people want to go out of the mountains to see the outside world, they need to trek 80 kilometers to Gongshan County, and the road out of the mountains is not only difficult to walk, but also dangerous, it is also a famous dangerous road in Yunnan - Gongdu Highway.
The Dulong people, who live deep in the mountains, have many cultural customs that are incompatible with the "outside society". For example, the unique texture of the Dulong clan. Tattooing can be said to be one of the most important cultural customs of the Dulong people. Girls born in the Dulong tribe usually have to have their faces tattooed at the age of 12 or 3, and this custom has been passed down for thousands of years as a unique historical and cultural custom of the Dulong people, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "living fossil" of the Dulong culture.
Dulong Exploration
Looking through the historical materials of Yunnan, it can be seen that the language of the Dulong people actually belongs to a branch of the Qiang people in the mainland. In fact, there must also be a folk custom of tattoos in the Qiang ethnic group, and the Dulong ethnic group is under the influence of the tattoo culture of the Qiang ethnic group, and then evolved into the custom of tattooing. It is worth mentioning that the continuation of the tattoo customs of the Qiang and Dulong ethnic groups has also provided a basis for historians to explore the existence of their ethnic groups.
Although the Dulong people have their own "Dulong language", they do not have their own language, and in the fifties of the twentieth century, they still lived a primitive life of "slash-and-burn cultivation and knotted rope records". At the end of the 90s of the 20 th century, the mainland completed the construction of the 96.2-kilometer Dulong River Highway and officially opened it to traffic.
However, the highway is open, but the special geological environment of the local area will often cause damage to the road, and the entrance surface is constantly renovated and modified, and there is not much time to be able to truly open to traffic without barriers. It was not until 2014 that the Dulong River Tunnel was completed, and the Dulong people really bid farewell to the "history of the clansmen sealing the mountain".
Each ethnic group will form its own unique customs due to its own specific living environment and ethnic culture, and this is the case with the tattoos of the Dulong people. In fact, the tattoo of the Dulong tribe was banned in the forties of the 10th century, and since then, the number of women tattooed before marriage has gradually decreased, and it is now very rare. However, in order to introduce the culture of the people to the outside world, tourist attractions will still have the form of "stickers" to show you the "tattooed girl" style of the Dulong people.
Speaking of which, do you can't wait to go to Dulongjiang Township to see the "Dulong people" and the culture of this magical land?