$ (1)$证明:∵$\triangle ABC$是等边三角形
∴$∠ABC=∠ACB = 60°,$$AB = AC$
∴$∠DBP = 180°-∠ABC=120°,$
$∠P CE = 180°-∠ACB = 120°$
∴$∠DBP=∠P CE$
∵$P A = P D = PE$
∴$∠P AD=∠P DA,$$∠P AE=∠PEA$
∴$∠PDB+∠PEC=∠PAD+∠PAE=60°$
∵$∠CPE+∠PEC=180°-∠PCE=60°$
∴$∠BDP=∠CPE$
$ $在$\triangle BDP $和$\triangle CPE$中
$\begin {cases}∠DBP=∠P CE\\∠BDP=∠CPE\\P D = PE\end {cases}$
∴$\triangle BDP≌\triangle CPE(\mathrm {AAS})$
$ (2)$解:存在
∵$\triangle BDP≌\triangle CPE$
∴$BD = CP$
$ \triangle BDP $的周长$=BD + BP + DP=CP + BP + DP=BC + DP$
∵$BC = 10,$∴当$DP $最小时,$\triangle BDP $的周长最小
∵$P A = P D$
∴当$AP\perp BC$时,$AP {最小},$即$DP $最小
∵$\triangle ABC$是等边三角形,$AP\perp BC$
∴$BP=\frac 12BC = 5$
$ $即当$BP = 5$时,$\triangle BDP $的周长最小