That night the trail of blood that had directed the wives to their husbands was transformed into a flowery path, and from the earth, which had been drenched in blood, countless flowers grew. Some of these flowers were the golden blue you see today in peacocks’ tails.

Weeping all the way, the women carried the bodies home. The tears each woman shed were transformed into the seven species of golden butterfly found in the forests of Yunnan. These insects are so colorful that people are said to become dazzled by them as they flutter overhead. The big ones are as large as multicolored pouches, the small ones as tiny as copper coins.

When night fell the women buried their husbands and sat staring into the darkness for many hours. By dawn they had vanished. Today, in the river nearby, you can see seven large stones whose shape resembles that of women. These, the Dai say, are the princesses, who became petrified that night.

With the deaths of the seven loving couples, only their children remained. They became the ancestors of the Dai people.

The Golden Stupa, a rebuilt Buddhist temple near the town of Ruili.

The harmonious cooperation between wives and husbands portrayed in this tale is still in evidence, though Dai households now rely more upon growing crops than upon hunting, fishing, or foraging for food. Some contemporary households are enthusiastically taking advantage of the entrepreneurial spirit now pervading Yunnan to grow cash crops, like peppers, or make rice wine for the expanding markets in the provincial towns. Other couples work outside the home in sugar factories, commuting back and forth on bikes.

Love hurts

A second Dai tale exploits the theme of love to explain the mating and nurturing behavior of the rhinoceros hornbill, an exotic species of bird that lives in the Yunnan forests. This time, however, rather than appearing as shadowy figures, its protagonists are endowed with individual personalities, and the plot focuses on the family unit rather than communal living.