The Dong Ethnic Group has a population of 2,514,014 in China, mainly distributed in Qiandongnan (Southeastern Guizhou) Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Yuping, Xinhuang, Tongdao, Zhijiang, etc. counties in Guizhou Province neighboring to Hunan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The Dong people are mainly engaged in farming, planting paddy rice. The special local product is the glutinous rice, with Xianghe glutinous rice enjoying the highest reputation. A small number of the Dong people are engaged in forestry. Fish culture in ponds or rice fields is also common in the populated areas of the Dong people.

The earliest name of the Dong people ---- "Geling" was found in the historical document in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The other names of "Dong-Man", "Dong-Miao", "Dong-Ren", "Dong-Jia", etc. ever appeared in the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, they have been called by a joint name of Dong. A general designation of "Dong-Jia" is called among the folk people.

The Dong people have their own language, belonging to Dong-Shui branch of the Zhuang-Dong language of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family. They had originally no ethnic characters. The Dong's written language has been created since 1950s. Currently, most of the Dong people understand the Chinese language.

The populated areas of the Dong people are regarded as the "Hometown of poems and the sea of songs". The rhythm of the Dong's poems is strict and rigorous, with varied subjects. Especially the Dong's multi-part cappella should be the most succinct part in the traditional culture. It is of a most precious value both in culture and in music.