Jingpo Nationality: Creator Of The Grand Song-and–Dance Performance

Jingpo Nationality has a population of 130,200, most of whom live in Jingpo Mountain area in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in the west of Yunnan. Their legends and stories reveal that Jingpos had lived in the south of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau before their settlement in Dehong about 600 years ago.

"Munaozongge": Jingpo’s Grandest Song-and–Dance Performance

"Munaozongge" starts on lunar January 15th and lasts about 2~3 days. It is the most important festival for Jingpo people, and would always be scheduled whenever there are grand events and festivals. During a Munaozongge performance, four Jingpo men, in their traditional costumes and wielding their swords, will lead the participants who are organized in an "S" dancing route as a whole. The "S" route is said to be the migration route of their ancestors.

"Checking the Genealogy”: Jingpo’s Marriage Custom

When a Jingpo lad and a Jingpo girl have fallen in love with each other, before marriage they will check their genealogy to make sure that they are not from the same clan or have the same surname. A Jingpo wedding is quite formal. When the bride has arrived at the bridegroom’s house, she has to cross the “Grass-Bridge” which symbolizes the family’s prosperity in the future. In the evening all the villagers will come to enjoy the dinner, singing and dancing the whole night.

"Rientu”: Jingpo Men’s Sword

"Rientu" means “a sword of life” in Jingpo language. When a Jingpo boy is sixteen, an adulthood initiation ceremony will be held. On this occasion, the mother’s family will give him a long sword, which announces his adulthood.