Daur
the former name "Dahur" is considered derogatory) are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 132,394 according to the latest census (2000), and most of them live in the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner (Mòlì Dáwǎ Dáwò'ěrzú Zìzhìqí 莫力达"达斡"族自治旗) in Inner Mongolia autonomous region (China).Daur is a
Mongolic language. There is no written standard, although a
Pinyin-based orthography has been devised by the native Daur scholar Merden Enhebatu. The Daur language retains some Khitan substratal features, including a number of lexemes not found in other Mongolic languages. It is made up of three dialects: Bataxan, Hailar, Qiqihar.
Genetically, the Daur are descendants of the
Khitan, as recent DNA analyses have proven. [
1].
There is a very noticeable hierarchic structure. People sharing the same surname are in groups called
hala, they live together the same group, formed by two or three towns. Each
hala is divided in diverse clans (
mokon) that live in the same town. If a marriage between different clans is made, the husband can go to live with the clan of his wife but he does not hold any property rightsIn the weddings, the fiancè goes out to look for the fiancèe when the sun when coming out. It is custom that offers wine, meat and paste to all the neighbors who are attending. The celebration of the wedding usually concludes with a festival of flat racing.During the winter, the women daur dress long dresses, generally in blue color and boots of skin that they change by long trousers during the summer. The men dress in winter made orejeros caps in fox or red deer skin. In summer, they cover its head with fabrics with white color or straw hats.
The Daur are mostly shamanists. Each clan has its own shaman in charge of all the important ceremonies in the lives of the Daur. However there are some Daur who have taken up Lamaism.
*
The Daur ethnic minority (Chinese government site, in English)
