"Deang" is the self-designation of the people. "Ang" means "cave" in de Ang; "De" is an additional word for honorific titles. According to legend, the ancestors of the Deang people once lived in caves. The self-designation "Deang" is a reflection of the history of the caves inhabited by its ancestors. The Deang were once a populous ethnic group. There are about 20 branches such as Rubei column, Rumai A, Ru Wang, etc. According to the different characteristics of the Deang ethnic costumes, other local ethnic groups refer to the "Rubeilie" branch as the "Red Beng Dragon", the "Rumai" branch as the "Black Beng Dragon", and the "Rubo" branch as the "HuaBang Dragon". In the early 1950s, the family name "Beng Long" was used in ethnic identification. Later, according to the wishes of the Deang people and with the approval of the government, it was officially renamed "Deang" from September 21, 1985.
The Deang people, along with the Wa, Brown and Kemu people of the Mon-Khmer languages, originated from the ancient Baipu ethnic group and are indigenous people in southwest Yunnan and the border area between China and Myanmar. Judging from historical records, the Deang people are a branch of the Ancient Pu people.
From the analysis of the historical legends of the Deang people, they are the local indigenous people. The Deang people have several theories about the earliest place of residence of their ancestors: one is that their birthplace was in the area of Mangshi in Dehong Prefecture; It is said that their birthplace is the mountains of Myanmar. These two statements are actually not contradictory, because Mangshi and the mountains of Myanmar belong to the Ruilijiang River Basin and are basically united; Due to historical migration, different branches have been formed in different regions.
Judging from the comprehensive historical records, the present-day Dehong Prefecture is the main agglomeration area of the ancestors of the ancient Deang ethnic group, with a long history, and has worked and lived in this beautiful and rich land since ancient times, and entered this area before the Dai, Jingpo and other ethnic groups. Today, the Dai, Jingpo and other ethnic groups throughout Dehong are also recognized, and the Deang ethnic group is an ethnic group that settled in this area earlier and more widely distributed.
The Deang people originated from the ancient Pu people and have a close relationship with the "Mourning Prison". Before the Qing Dynasty, relevant records referred to the Deang, Brown, Wa and other ethnic groups of the South Asian language family in Yunnan as "Pu people", "Pu" or "Pu Man". The "Pu people" lived on both sides of the Nu River as early as the 2nd century BC, and entered this area before the Achang, Jingpo and other ethnic groups, and were the earliest ethnic groups to develop the Baoshan and Dehong areas. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, they were called "Mangman", "Puzi Man", and "Wang Tho Zi Man", and they successively submitted to the Han and Jin Dynasties, as well as the Nanzhao and Dali states, and the ancestors of the Deang tribe also established their own regional rule in the late Song Dynasty, that is, the "Golden Tooth State". After the Yuan Dynasty, he became a subject of dai toast.
The "Pu people" belonged to Yongchang County (present-day Baoshan City, Yunnan) in the Han Dynasty, and during the Tang and Song dynasties and the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the ancestors of the De'ang ethnic group "Mangshi Man" were active on both sides of the Lancang River. In the Yuan Dynasty, the "Mangshi Road Military and Civilian Governor's Office" was set up in the area of present-day Luxi, and Feng Ali (legend has it that he was the head of the De'ang clan) was made a local official. In the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the "Baiyi" (Dai ancestors) quickly became stronger, and the Deang people were forced to gradually migrate to the mountains. In the Ming Dynasty, the central government named the Dai people with the surname of Mangshi (present-day Mangshi), and the Dai tusi also named the leader of the Deang tribe as "lao" to represent the Tusi to govern the Deang people, so the ancestors of the Deang tribe became the subjects of the Dai toast.
The rebel army took advantage of the victory to pursue, and in one fell swoop defeated the stubborn Toast army. Immediately afterwards, they thwarted many attacks by the Lianghe Dai Tusi and the Xishanshan Mountain Officials, thus firmly controlling the Mangshiba area. But the Tagangwa and Deang peoples had always had illusions about the local qing government, and they hoped that Qing officials would come forward to uphold justice and severely punish the Dai toastmasters. This mentality provides an opportunity for the Dai toast to fight back. Not long after, the Dai Tusi armed forces, the Jingposhan officials and the Han landlord armed forces joined forces to launch a fierce siege against the rebel army. Tagua led the rebel generals in a stubborn resistance. Due to the disparity in strength, the rebel army suffered huge losses, and after more than half a year, the fire of this righteous national uprising was finally extinguished. Although this struggle failed, it greatly weakened the rule of The Toshi and wrote a glorious page in the history of rebellion against feudal rulers.