The Jino ethnic group
Distributed in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, it is the last ethnic group to be recognized in China. It is known for its agriculture and unique music and dance culture.
In terms of religious beliefs, the Jino ethnic group mainly worships nature gods, with Apie E'e regarded as the main god and believed to be the creator god. The Jino ethnic group believes that all things have spirits, worships ancestors, and respects Zhuge Kongming.
The Jino ethnic group has its own language, which belongs to the Tibeto - Burman branch of the Sino - Tibetan language family. However, due to the lack of a written language, they used to keep records by carving on bamboo and wood.
This ethnic group is very good at agriculture. The Jino people are used to having three meals a day, with rice as their daily staple food, supplemented by corn, melons, and beans. They are particular about the rice they eat, preferring good - quality and new rice. Old rice is mostly used to feed livestock or make roasted wine. They mainly eat young corn.
Costumes: The costumes of the Jino ethnic group are mostly based on white and black cloth, decorated with colored strips of blue, red, yellow, etc. Men wear white collarless or small - stand - collar front - buttoned jackets with wide trousers, while women wear short clothes with black - bottomed red - bordered tube skirts, with their hair in a high bun and wearing triangular pointed hats. Their costumes often have the element of moonflowers as decorations.
Festivals: "Temao Ke" in Jino language means "Iron - Smelting Festival", which is the most distinctive and grand festival of the Jino ethnic group. The Iron - Smelting Festival was originally set up to commemorate the use of ironware by the ancestors of the Jino ethnic group. During the festival, there are ceremonies such as iron - smelting, preparation for farming, and blacksmiths accepting apprentices. The "Temao Ke Festival" has evolved into the "New Year" of the Jino ethnic group. Every year from January to February in the spring, Jino people, young and old, put on new clothes, gather in the square, beat the big drum, and perform the big - drum dance to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
The music and dance of the Jino ethnic group incorporate deeply - characteristic musical instruments such as big drums and bamboo tubes, becoming a representative and expressive branch in the art of Chinese ethnic minorities.
