Dai Paxi

Dai Paxi

帕西傣
Regions with significant populations
Xishuangbanna, Yunnan
Languages
Dai languages (Tai Lü), Mandarin Chinese, some Arabic for religious purposes
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Dai people, Hui people, other Chinese Muslim groups

The Dai Paxi (帕西傣), also called Dai Hui (回傣), are a small ethnoreligious group in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. They are an branch of the broader Dai people who converted to Islam through historical contact with Hui Muslims and Muslim traders. The community blends Dai ethnic culture with Islamic religious practices, forming a distinctive identity.

Etymology

The term Paxi (帕西) refers to Dai who follow Islamic customs, such as abstaining from pork. The alternative name Huí Dǎi (回傣) combines the Chinese term for Muslims (回, Hui) with Dai (傣). Historically, "Paxi" may have also referred to "merchant" or "outsider", reflecting the role of Hui traders in the community’s origin.

History

The Dai Paxi emerged in the 19th century when Hui Muslim merchants migrated to southern Yunnan^[1] and settled among the Dai. Hui men intermarried with Dai women, creating a community that retained Dai language, clothing, and cultural practices while adopting Islam.^[2]

Oral histories identify figures such as Ma Jin’an (马金安), a Hui merchant, as key founders of villages like Manluanhui (曼峦回村) in Menghai County.^[2] Over decades, these villages became centers for Dai Paxi identity, balancing Dai customs with Islamic religious life. Unlike Buddhist Dai, the Paxi fully adopted Islamic rituals while preserving Dai social and cultural practices.^[3]

Culture

The Dai Paxi maintain a distinctive blend of Dai culture and Islamic religious practices.^[2]

Language and Education

They primarily speak the Tai Lü dialect of Dai, and are bilingual in Mandarin Chinese. Arabic is taught in islamic schools and mosques for reading the Qur’an.^[4]

Dress and Appearance

Traditional Dai clothing is retained, with men wearing caps for prayers and women dressing modestly in accordance with Islamic principles while maintaining Dai embroidery and patterns.^[2]

Food and Diet

Dietary practices follow Islamic halal laws; pork is strictly avoided.^[2] Dai culinary influence remains, including rice-based dishes and local vegetables.

Religious Practices and Festivals

Mosques are the focal points of the community. Sunni Islam is practiced communally, including daily prayers, Ramadan, and festivals such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.^[5][6][7] Buddhist festivals like the Water-Splashing Festival are not observed.^[8]

Arts and Social Life

The Dai Paxi preserve traditional Dai arts, including weaving, embroidery, music, and storytelling, sometimes adapted to Islamic norms. Community gatherings occur in mosques or communal halls.

Marriage and Social Organization

Marriage is often endogamous within the community or with Hui Muslims. Villages are organized around kinship networks and religious leadership from elders and imams.

Distribution

The Paxi community traces its origins to a Hui trader from Weishan in Dali Yunnan, settled in areas like Manluan Hui (曼峦回) and Mansai Hui (曼赛回) villages, establishing communities that integrated with the local Dai population.^[7] The community is also known locally as Paxi Dai Village, meaning "Dai people who believe in Islam." Population estimates are in the low thousands.^[9] They are officially classified under the Dai nationality.^[9]

Contemporary Issues

• Cultural preservation: There is concern among older Paxi that younger generations may drift away from Islamic observance, or assimilate into mainstream Dai or Han Chinese ways. Efforts exist locally to preserve the unique religious and cultural heritage.^[10]
• Recognition: Their unique identity is not well known outside their villages; some local tourism or cultural publicity has tried highlighting "Dai Muslim" or "Paxi Dai" culture as part of the diversity of the Dai region.^{[1][11][9][3]}

See also

• Dai people
• Hui people
• Islam in China

References

1. "云南回族入缅商路与移居点考" [Research on Yunnan Hui's Trade Routes and Settlements in Myanmar]. Institute for Qing History, Renmin University of China (in Chinese). Renmin University of China. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
2. Rong, Gui; Gönül, Hacer Zekiye; Xiaoyan, Zhang (15 September 2016). Hui Muslims in China. Leuven University Press. pp. 87–95, 117–124. ISBN 978-94-6270-066-6.
3. "万方数据知识服务平台". d.wanfangdata.com.cn. Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
4. Yang, Fenggang; Lang, Graeme (27 January 2011). Social Scientific Studies of Religion in China: Methodology, Theories, and Findings. BRILL. p. 193. ISBN 978-90-04-21479-8.
5. "云南西双版纳傣族宗教信仰现状考察分析" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2025.
6. 丁明俊 (2006). 中国边缘穆斯林族群的人类学考察 (in Chinese). 宁夏人民出版社. pp. 232–44. ISBN 978-7-227-03242-7. From past two years, Hui(common word for Muslims in Chinese society) people from Shadian, Najiaying, Zhaotong, Dali, and other areas of Yunnan Province have also been invited to celebrate the Muslim festival at the Paxi Dai villages.
7. "傣族文化与回族文化的融合——"帕西傣"" [The Integration of Dai and Hui Cultures: “Paxi Dai”]. China.com.cn（联盟中国） (in Chinese). China.com.cn. 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
8. "亲，你知道哪些"中国人"不过春节吗？". Weixin Official Accounts Platform. Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
9. Zeng(惠蓮), Huilian(曾) (2009). 民族文化的多元發展與適應──以西雙版納勐海縣曼巒回村「回傣」為例 [Multicultural Development and Adaptation: A Case Study of the Hui-Dai in Manluan Hui Village, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna]. National Chengchi University Institutional Repository (Thesis) (in Chinese). National Chengchi University. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
   (You can see PDF in editing[1])
10. 马维良 (1999). 云南回族历史与文化硏究 (in Chinese). 云南大学出版社. pp. 119–20. ISBN 978-7-81068-072-1.
11. "云南省西双版纳州勐海县勐海镇曼赛回清真寺" [Mansai Hui Mosque in Menghai Town, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna]. Chinese Islamic Association (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.

Further reading

• Ming, He; Lewis, David C. (23 December 2020). Ethnicity and Religion in Southwest China. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-31817-3.
• Zhang, Shaodan (12 July 2024). Sino-Muslims, Networking, and Identity in Late Imperial China: Longstanding Natives and Dispersed Minorities. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-040-09327-6.
• Goodman, Jim (2000). The Exploration of Yunnan. Yunnan People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-222-03276-7.
• McCarthy, Susan (1 December 2011), Harrell, Stevan (ed.), "5. Authenticity, Identity, and Tradition Among the Hui", Communist Multiculturalism: Ethnic Revival in Southwest China, University of Washington Press, pp. 130–166, doi:10.1515/9780295800417-009, ISBN 978-0-295-80041-7, retrieved 22 September 2025
• Yang, Fenggang; Lang, Graeme (27 January 2011). Social Scientific Studies of Religion in China: Methodology, Theories, and Findings. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-21479-8.
• Ti 4 Chieh Tʻai Hsüeh Yen Chiu Kuo Chi Hui i Lun Wen Chi. Yün-nan sheng she hui kʻo hsüeh yüan Tung nan Ya yen chiu so. 1990. pp. 317–24.
• Islam and Ethnicity in China. Brill. 2016. pp. 117–125. ISBN 978-94-6270-066-6.
• Rong, Gui; Gönül, Hacer Zekiye; Xiaoyan, Zhang (15 September 2016). Hui Muslims in China. Leuven University Press. ISBN 978-94-6270-066-6.

Chinese Language Based Sources

• 宗敎与民族 (in Chinese). 宗教文化出版社. 2002. pp. 160–70. ISBN 978-7-80123-928-0.
• 马维良 (1999). 云南回族历史与文化硏究 (in Chinese). 云南大学出版社. ISBN 978-7-81068-072-1.
• 新西部 (in Chinese). 《新西部》杂志社. 2002. pp. 61–9.
• 吴, 之清 (2005). "论云南傣族奘房教育与回族经堂教育的异同" [On Differences between Buddhism Temple Education and Islamic Jingtang Education for Dai People in Yunnan]. 中南民族大学学报（人文社会科学版） (in Chinese) (6). 维普资讯: 46–49.
• Ma, Chuang (2024). Wen hua de "dui hua": Paxi Dai de jiao wang, jiao liu, jiao rong yan jiu (Beijing di 1 ban ed.). Beijing Shi: Xue yuan chu ban she. ISBN 978-7-5077-6925-8. OCLC 1452293228.

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