Daur

族About this people

The Daur people live primarily along the Nenjiang River on the Inner Mongolia–Heilongjiang border, concentrated in the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner. A smaller community was relocated to Tacheng in Xinjiang in the 18th century as Qing garrison troops. The Daur language belongs to the Mongolic family but is not mutually intelligible with standard Mongolian.

Daur society traditionally combined hunting, fishing, and farming along the forested river valleys of the Greater Khingan Range, with cattle herding and some horse raising. This mixed economy, which contrasted with the pure pastoralism of the steppe Mongols, shaped a settled village culture with robust material arts. Daur embroidery — particularly patterns worked in silk thread on women's clothing and household articles — is noted for its floral and bird motifs. Bark craft (making vessels and containers from birch bark) is another traditional skill.

The Daur are notable in China for their traditional field game beikou, a stick-and-ball sport played on grass that closely resembles field hockey. The game has been traced back at least 1,000 years and is often cited as a historical antecedent of modern hockey. Shamanic practice (including a female shaman tradition, yadgan) coexisted historically with Buddhism and continues to influence ritual life. The Daur year includes ceremonies tied to agricultural and hunting cycles, and communal singing and wrestling remain festive activities.