Chinese ethnographers identify the Blang as descendants of an ancient tribe known as the "Pu" (濮), who lived in the Lancang river valley during ancient times. It is believed that these people were one branch of a number of peoples that were collectively known to the ancient Chinese as the Bǎipú (百濮, literally Hundred Pu).
Traditionally, the Blang considered teeth blackened by chewing betel nuts a beauty characteristic.
The women usually dress in jackets with black skirts. The men had tattoos in the torso and the stomach. They dressed in wide black trousers and jackets buttoned to the front. Often, they would wear turbans of either white or black fabric.
The houses of the Blang are made out of bamboo and usually consist of two floors. The first floor is designed as a warehouse for food and a stable for livestock animals, such as chickens, whereas the second is designed to house the family. The chimney is located in the center of the house.
The Blang are traditionally divided into small clans, with each clan owning its own land. Every Blang town has its own cemeteries, which are divided by clans. The deceased are buried, with the exception of those who perished due to unnatural causes. In this case, they are cremated.
The Blang are traditionally associated with animism, ancestor worship, and Theravada Buddhism. Writing in 2011, James Miller described these overlapping traditions as follows:
The Blang, like many nationalities in southwest China, are Theravada Buddhists, but their highly complex religious life is also informed by local beliefs and customs that relate to the traditional ecology, with special attention being paid to rice, water, bees, beeswax, and the various local spirits that are associated with them.[2]
A Christian missionary source describes them as "ardent followers of Theravada Buddhism", and offers as an estimate that 80% of the Bulang are "professing Buddhists", with a lower estimate of 35% being "practicing Buddhists".[3]
Distribution
The Bulang are distributed in the following villages of Yunnan province (Tao 2012:16-18).[4] Except for the Bulang of Xishuangbanna, the Bulang of most of these counties speak the U language (Svantesson 1991).[5] Locations from Wang & Zhao (2013:173-179) are also included.[6]
Menghai County (pop. 30,678; 33% of all ethnic Bulang in China)
Ethnic Bulang villages are also located in Jinghong City, including in Kunhan Dazhai 昆罕大寨村
in Dahuangba Village 大荒坝村, Dadugang Township 大渡岗乡.[55]
References
^ abYan Qixiang [颜其香] & Zhou Zhizhi [周植志] (2012). Mon-Khmer languages of China and the Austroasiatic family [中国孟高棉语族语言与南亚语系]. Beijing: Social Sciences Academy Press [社会科学文献出版社].
