Dances with drums: on the problem of descendants of the Dongson-Dian civilization

The article presents an attempt to identify the most likely descendants of the Dian culture among the vast list of nonHan peoples inhabiting South-Western and Southern China at the present time. Bronze drums, as an important element of material culture were taken as the first selection criterion, since they were one of the most noticeable markers for sites and relics of the DongSon-Dian civilization. However, it turned out that the area of distribution of these items is too large, and many peoples adopted (borrowed) this effective symbol of wealth and power. To limit the sample, the study took ritual dances, namely with bronze drums as an essential element of spiritual culture, as the second criterion. A retrospective analysis showed that an ethnographically significant binomial (bronze drums and dancing) had developed in the Dian culture. Therefore, the peoples who preserved this combination throughout time can be pointed out among the heirs of Dian Culture, and their ancestors, respectively, among its creators. In the most developed and stable version, dancing with bronze drums is recorded in various groups of Miao (Hmong), Yao (Mien), Zhuang and Yi (Yizu), which, on the one hand, is quite consistent with the information about the multicomponent nature of the Dian State and Culture (and the DongSon-Dian civilization as a whole), and on the other hand, can serve as a basis for subsequent paleoethnographic research. Data about the funeral rite and traditional art of these peoples will be used as materials for future research.