DAI EPICS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DUALISTIC RELIGION

Abstract

This paper is a result of the Projects for Young Scholars Fund by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from 2017–2019. It is both based on the field data and epic text analysis. Fieldworks were carried out mainly in Dehong and Xishuangbanna, two major Dai inhabited areas; through interviews with villagers and follow-up ceremonies to obtain effective information and folk tales, it is found that there are similar narratives spread in different Dai regions, and the content of these narratives reflect the different attitudes towards Buddhism and the primitive religions. Meanwhile, during the three years of study, the author transcribed, translated and annotated two creation epics; one is Pengshangluo, an oral version of Batamaga Pengshangluo performed by two Zhang Ha (Dai singer) in the ceremony; and the other one is Chuangshiji, published in Dehong Dai language. There are some differences between two epics in length, content, structure, way of narration and context of inheritance.

Dai people claim to have hundreds of epics, and most of them are related to Theravada Buddhism. They usually perform these epics in some religious activities, either oral narration by epic singers or hand-held repetition of the text by the chief of Buddhism believers. The author carried out the research from the internal perspective; and through the fieldworks and detailed text analysis, this paper aims to understand the formation, development and inheritance of Dai epics in the context of dualistic belief.

This paper has a certain structure of discussion. It firstly introduces the dualistic religion of Dai ethnic group; Theravada Buddhism, which came from Thailand, Laos, or Burma, has influenced Dai literature broadly. At the same time, Dai people adhere to the primitive religion, which is deeply rooted in the native culture. This paper then analyzes the epics in details, by contrasting the narratives and structures of several epics, including the creation epics Batamaga Pengshangluo and Chuangshiji, and the unique Aluang epics. At last, this paper explores the relationship between religious tradition and Dai epics.

Based on the analysis above, it can be found that Dai ancestors translated Buddhist stories into poetries in Dai script based on their rhythm; meanwhile, they incorporated locale narratives, and compiled them into manuscripts imitating the sutras, which are called “Beiye Jing” (palm-leaf manuscripts) in Chinese, and are called “Lik” or “Tham” in Dai language. They are kinds of Dai-style sutras, which contain the Dai epics, and are the symbol of the Dai culture. Except for the Buddhist narratives, many myths, folk tales, legends, and other knowledge are also recorded in these sutras. As the result, Dai epics are characteristic of duality: on the one hand, they contain the native narrations that reflect the ancestor worship and animism belief of Dai ethnic group; on the other hand, they carry the Buddhist stories and reflect Buddhist thought. As the Dai epics have the inextricable connection with Theravada Buddhism, in the future work, the author will continue to focus on the Dai epics and make some comparative studies on them with the epics of Southeast Asia and India.

Acknowledgement: Project for Young Scholars Fund by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

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