White Tai (in Tai Dón, ꪼꪕꪒꪮꪙꫀ, ; in Thai language and

Lao language Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian (, 'Lao' or , 'Lao language'), is a Kra–Dai language of the Lao people. It is spoken in Laos, where it is the official language for around 7 million people, as well as in northeast Thailand, where i ...

Tai Khao; in

Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national language, national and official language. Vietnamese is spoken natively by over 70 million people, ...

Tai Dón or Thái Trắng, in

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...

Dai Duan) is an ethnic group of Laos,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and China. In Vietnam they are called Tai Dón or Thái Trắng and are included in the group of the Thái people, together with the Thái Đen ("Black Tai"), Thái Đỏ ("Red Tai"),

Phu Thai Phu Thai (Phuu Thai; Thai, Phu Thai: ''Phasa Phuthai'', ภาษาผู้ไท or ภูไท) is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Laos and Thailand. Although it appears different from the Isan and the Lao languages, it is spoken in ...

, Tày Thanh and Thái Hàng Tổng. The group of the Thái people is the third largest of the fiftyfour ethnic groups recognized by the Vietnamese government. They emigrated to

and Laos from

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

( China)

Geographic Distribution

There are approximately 280,000 White Tai in Vietnam (2002), 200,000 in Laos (1995) and 10,000 in Yunan province, China (1995).Tai Dón.
Ethnologue.

History

The White Tai migrated from China to Laos several centuries ago, settling along the Red and Black Rivers.
/ref>Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David: ''Vietnam Past and Present: The North'' (History and culture of Hanoi and Tonkin). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006DCCM9Q.

Language

The White Tai speak a language called ''Tai Khao'', also called ''Tai Dón''. It is a Tai–Kadai language.

Family

Men are the heads of White Tai households, although division of labor is nearly equal.

Religions

Animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...

(60%) *

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

(38%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(2%) The White Tai believe in multiple personal souls and hold ceremonies to recall those souls to strengthen their character.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai Don people Ethnic groups in Vietnam Ethnic groups in Laos Ethnic groups in China Tai peoples