Mulao people are one of the 55 official ethnic minorities in China, with a total population of over 207,000, mainly living in Luocheng, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. According to their legends, their ancestors migrated from Henan Province as early as in 1363 during Ming Dynasty. It is said that their ancestors had many fights with the local Miao people for land reclamation. In their pioneering days, Mulao people had suffered a lot from other ethnic groups. In 1950s, they were identified as Mulao, and became one of the officially recognized nationalities in China. Linguistically, Mulao language is part of the Zhuang-Dong branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. They have their own language, but with no written form, and most of them speak Mandarin Chinese and some other local dialects such as Gui-Liu-Hua(dialect popular in Guilin and Liuzhou), Hakka, and Bai-Hua (local Zhuang dialect) outside their communities. Mulao people are primarily farmers, raising crops such as rice, corn, and vegetables, and livestock such as pigs, chickens, cows, and dogs. In Mulao communities, “Dong” was and still is their basic social organization, which means “descendents from the same ancestor”. In the old days, it functioned as a taxi-collecting unit, but now in the sense of official administration, its functions disappeared. But it still functions significantly in ethnic identity, community cooperation and ethnic solidarities. For example, their lineage system is primarily based on “Dong”, and the same “Dong” worships their common ancestors.

For centuries, Mulao people have been living and interacting with Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, and some other ethnic groups and, to some extent, share some common ideas and similar ways of living. But they have kept their own language and some other traditional customs. The religious tradition of Mulao, especially of the peasantry, is a composite of Taoist, Buddhist, and animistic elements. In Mulao villages, Taoism and Buddhism became fused with the local underlying animistic traditions, and the result was a balanced syncretism of myth and ritual in which Buddhist gods and goddesses, Taoist spirits, and local deities and demons all found its own place. It is noticeable that, since the early 1980s, like countless remote places in China, Mulao villages have also witnessed great changes. More and more people began to go to county towns to find jobs, to sell their crops in the county free markets, or even open their own shops. But the traditional cultural values still influence the villagers’ everyday lives as well as their religious rituals. So, to some extent, it is safe to say that even if in a society in which new customs and beliefs have taken the place of the old ones, the traditional values may still mould people's world view and life orientation.