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Guangxi

 

Demographics

The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group.

The region has over 14 million Zhuang, the largest minority ethnicity of China. Over 90% of Zhuang in China live in Guangxi, especially in the central and western regions. There is also a significant number of both Dong and Miao minority peoples. Other ethnic groups include: Yao, Hui, Yi (Lolo), Shui, and Gin (Vietnamese).

 

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Liangguang

 

Culture

Though now associated with the Zhuang ethnic minority, Guangxi's culture traditionally has had a close connection with the Cantonese. Cantonese culture and language followed the Xi River valley from Guangdong and is still predominate in the eastern half of Guangxi today. Outside of this area there is a huge variety of ethnicities and language groups represented.

Guangxi is known for its ethno-linguistic diversity. In the capital of Nanning, for example, four dialect-languages are spoken locally: Southwestern Mandarin, Cantonese, Pinghua, and Zhuang.

GUANGXI
MINORITIES:

Yi, Miao, Mulao, Maonan

 

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Guangxi or Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; 廣西壯族自治區 is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China.

Its location in southern China, along its border with Vietnam, and mountainous terrain, has made it one of the border frontiers of Chinese civilization. Even into the 20th century it was considered an open, wild territory. The current name "Guang" itself means "expanse", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in 226 AD. It was given provincial level status during the Yuan Dynasty (a Mongol dynasty) and in 1949 was reformed as one of China's five minority autonomous regions.

The abbreviation of the province is 桂 (Gui), which comes from Guilin, former capital, center of much of Guangxi's culture, politics, and history, and currently a major city in the autonomous region.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yi

photo by yi.peoples.org

The Yi people (彝族) are a modern ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 minor ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. . They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions.  

The Yi speak Yi, a Tibeto-Burman language closely related to Burmese. The Chinese government has grouped the Nisu, Nasu, Sani, Axi, Lolopo, Pu, and tens of dozens of other peoples speaking more than six completely distinct languages with dozens of dialects into a single group called the Yi. Because of this, a Yi from one area may not be able to communicate with a Yi from another area; and may or may not even agree that they both are Yi.

Diversity: The Chinese government has grouped the Nisu, Nasu, Sani, Axi (阿细), Lolopo, Pu, and other peoples speaking more than six distinct languages with many dialects into a single group called the Yi. Because of this, a Yi may not be able to communicate with another Yi; and may or may not even agree that they both are Yi. Most Yi are farmers; herders of cattle, sheep and goats; and nomadic hunters. Only about one third of the Yi are literate. Most have no written language.

Location: Of the over 8 million Yi people, over 4.5 million live in Yunnan Province, 2.5 million live in southern Sichuan Province, and 1 million live in the northwest corner of Guizhou Province. Nearly all the Yi live in mountainous areas, often carving out their existence on the sides of steep mountain slopes far from the cities of China.

The altitudinal differences of the Yi areas directly affect their climate and precipitation. Their striking differences have given rise to the old saying that "the weather is different a few miles away" in the Yi area. This is the primary reason why the Yis in various areas are so different from one another in the ways they make a living.

Language: The Yi language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman Language Group of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family, and the Yis speak six dialects. Many Yis in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi know the Han (standard Chinese or Mandarin) language. The Yis used to have a syllabic script called the old Yi language, which was formed in the 13th century. It is estimated that the extant old Yi script has about 10,000 mostly logographic characters, of which 1,000 mostly syllabic characters are of everyday use. A number of works of history, literature and medicine as well as genealogies of the ruling families written in the old Yi script are still seen in most Yi areas. Many stone tablets and steles carved in the old Yi script remain intact. Since the old Yi language is not consistent in word form and pronunciation, it was reformed after liberation for use in books and newspapers.

 

 

彝族

彝族，有諾蘇、納蘇（尚黑的民族）、羅武、米撒潑、撒尼、阿西等多種自稱，人口為7762286人（2000年）。分布於雲南、四川、貴州省和廣西壯族自治區，呈現大分散，小聚居，主要聚居區包括四川涼山彝族自治州，雲南楚雄彝族自治州，紅河哈尼族彝族自治州，貴州畢節地區和六盤水地區。彝族是雲南省和四川省的第二大民族。

越南54個民族之一的倮倮族（越南文：Lô Lô）也是彝族的一支，人口3307人（1999年），分布在河江、高平和老街等省，多數屬於尼蘇，說彝語南部方言。

彝族語言屬漢藏語系藏緬語族緬彝語支，有六種方言。彝族原有一種表意文字，史稱爨文，也有人認為它是音節文字，其中比較通用的有一千多個。1975年的四川《彝文規範試行方案》確定了819個規範彝字，該方案1980年被國務院批准，在四川涼山彝族自治州推行。

彝族文化藝術源遠流長，用彝文記載的歷史、文學、醫學、曆法等著作中，不乏價值極高的珍貴文獻。

彝族支系主要有:黑彝、白彝、紅彝、花彝、傣彝。

歷史: 彝族是古羌人在南下過程中和西南土著部落長期融合而形成的民族。在六七千年前，居住在中國西北河湟地區的古羌人開始向四面遷移，其中一支遷向西南方向。約在四千至五千年以前，羌人早期南下支系與當地土著部落融合為僰（濮）。僰系「羌之別種」。並於3000多年前在西南地區形成「六夷」、「七羌」、「九氐」等部族，在史書中常被稱為「越巂夷」、「青羌」、「侮」、「昆明」、「勞浸」、「靡莫」等。當時西南地區還有其他兩大古老族群——百濮和百越。古羌人到西南後，他們和百濮、百越長期融合，共同發展。

公元4世紀初，羌人無戈爰劍之後自甘、寧、青一帶河湟地區南下，到岷山以東，至金沙江畔，發展為武都、廣漢、越巂諸羌……是羌人南下的較晚支系。

公元前2世紀以前，彝族先民社會已出現游牧和農耕部落的分化。東漢至魏晉時期，各彝族先民地區繼續分化出一批叟帥、夷王，表明在征服濮人等部落的基礎上，昆明部落已基本完成從原始部落向奴隸制的過渡。

8世紀30年代，蒙舍詔統一六詔，雲南彝族、白族先民聯合各族上層建立了南詔政權，統治中心在今雲南西部大理白族自治州一帶，並達到今雲南東部、貴州西部與四川南部，基本上控制了彝族先民的主要分布地區。

唐朝天復二年（902年），南詔滅亡，但彝族的奴隸制繼續存在。兩宋300多年中，戎（宜賓）、瀘（瀘縣）、黎（漢原）3州的彝族先民處在宋朝與大理國的相互爭取之中，出現了奴隸制經濟相對繁榮的局面。

蒙古蒙哥汗三年（1253年），蒙古騎兵自四川、雲南、貴州分三道進攻雲南，經彝族地區，促使處於分裂狀態的各彝族地區出現了反蒙聯盟，開始統一於羅羅族稱之下。而蒙古貴族也加強了對各地彝族茲莫（即土長）的爭取工作，發展為在部分邊疆民族地區分封各族首領世襲官職以統治當地人民的土司制度。自1263～1287年，相繼在今越西、西昌、屏山、大方、昭通、威寧等地設立彝族土司。 羅羅這個名稱一直沿用至中華人民共和國成立，因被認為有歧視之意，後廢止。

明朝時，地跨雲、貴、川三省的水西(大方)，烏撤(威寧)、烏蒙(昭通)、芒部(鎮雄)、東川(會澤)、永寧(敘永)、馬湖(屏山)、建昌(西昌)等地各彝族土司相互聯合，大體實行相同的奴隸制度，基本分為土司及黑骨、白骨與家奴3個等級。

清朝康熙、雍正年間在彝族地區推行「改土歸流」，土司、土目、奴隸主等勢力遭到打擊。

 

 

History of the Yi People

Some scholars believe that the Yi are descended from the ancient Qiang people of today's western China, who are also said to be the ancestors of the Tibetan, Naxi and Qiang peoples. They migrated from southeastern Tibet through Sichuan and into the Yunnan Province, where their largest populations can be found today.

They practice a form of animism, led by a shaman priest known as the Bimaw. They still retain a few ancient religious texts written in their unique pictographic script. Their religion also contains many elements of Daoism and Buddhism.

Many of the Yi in Liangshan and northwestern Yunnan practiced a complicated form of slavery. People were split into the nuohuo or Black Yi (nobles), qunuo or White Yi (commoners), and slaves. White Yi were free and could own property and slaves but were in a way tied to a lord. Other ethnic groups were held as slaves.

Known History: Currently most of the Yi live in Liangshan of Sichuan and Chuxiong and Honghe of Yunnan. At the Lizhou relic (礼州遗址) near Xichang of Liangshan of 3,000 annum ago, many artifacts of Neolithic have been discovered. Although no evidence proves that these ancient cultures of stone age have direct correlation with modern Yi people, their descendants, local bronze culture, has some influence on Yi people, as the ancestors of Yi people had frequent contact and intermarriage with local tribes, such as Dian (滇), Qiong (邛) and Zuo (笮), during their southwards migration from north eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau.

During the Han dynasty, the central sovereign of China conquered the valley of Anning River, which is a tributary of Yalong River, and founded a county there named Qiongdu (邛都). The site is Xichang of present day and from that time onwards, Xichang has become the bridge of Chengdu and Kunming across Yi area. Since Han dynasty, Yi people have been involved in the history of China.

After the Han dynasty, the Shu of the Three Kingdoms conducted several wars against the ancestors of Yi under the lead of Zhuge Liang. They defeated the king of Yi (mokho; 孟获) and expanded their conquered territory in Yi area. After that, the Jin Dynasty succeed Shu as the suzerainty of Yi area but with weak control.

After the Jin dynasty, central China entered the era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties with frequent wars against the invading nomads from the north and lost its control of Yi and Yi area.

Although the Sui dynasty reunited China, it did not retrieve control of Yi but had close communications with Han residential spots scattered within Yi area (most along Anning River). After the Sui dynasty's mere 37 years, the situation continued in Tang dynasty. During Sui and Tang dynasty, the local aborigines of present-day Yunnan and Liangshan were distinguished by Chinese Han as Wuman (乌蛮, meaning black barbarian) and Baiman (白蛮, meaning white barbarian). Some scholars believe that Wuman is the ancestor of modern Yi while Baiman is the ancestor of modern Bai people (白族) of Yunnan.

The Wuman and Baiman people founded six poleis on Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The poleis are called Zhao (诏) in Chinese history records with actual meaning of chieftain of a polis. In A.D. 649 the king Xinuluo (细奴逻) of the Mengshe Zhao (蒙舍诏) extended his polis into a kingdom in the name of Great Meng (大蒙国). The location of the Great Meng is near the Erhai Lake. Yi people believe the capital of the Great Meng was located in the area of nowaday Weishan county. In the year A.D. 737, with the support of the Tang dynasty of China, King Piluoge (皮罗阁) of the Great Meng united the six poleis in succession, establishing a new kingdom. As the Great Meng is the most southern polis of the six, Tang dynasty recorded the united Great Meng as Nanzhao (南诏), which means the polis located in the south. Although academic arguments exist, there is a popular view that the royal family of Nanzhao is Yi and the most ministers are Bai. In Weishan county of present days, the saga of King Piluoge is still on every Yi’s lips.

Tibet also noted the spring of Nanzhao, which in Tibetan is called Jang. Although Tibet had successfully won the suzerainty over Nanzhao for decades, Nanzhao finally turned to Tang dynasty. At the era of King Geluofeng (阁罗凤), who was the son of King Piluoge, the Tang dynasty performed three expeditions against Nanzhao to conquer it, but all failed.

Nanzhao existed for 165 years until A.D. 902. After 35 years of tangled warfare, Duan Siping (段思平) of the Bai birth founded the Kingdom of Dali, succeeding the territory of Nanzhao. Most Yi of that time were under the ruling of Dali. Dali’s sovereign existed for 316 years coterminous with the Song dynasty of central China, until it was conquered by Kublai Khan. During the era of Dali, Yi people lived in the territory of Dali but had little communication with the royalty of Dali.

Kublai Khan included Dali in his domain of Yuan dynasty together with Tibet. From the Yuan dynasty onwards, Yi people together with their area were an uncontroversial part of China, as Kublai Khan established Yunnan Xingsheng (云南行省) at current Yunnan, Guizhou and part of Sichuan. In order to enhance its sovereign over the area, the Yuan dynasty set up a dominion for Yi, Luoluo Xuanweisi (罗罗宣慰司), the name of which means local appeasement government for Lolos. Although technically under the rule of the Mongolian emperor, the Yi still had autonomy during the Yuan dynasty. The gulf between aristocrats and the common people increased during this time.

During the Ming dynasty the Chinese emperor expedited its cultural assimilation policy in southwestern China, spreading the policy of Gai Tu Gui Liu (改土归流). The governing power of many Yi feudal lords had previously been expropriated by the successors of officials assigned by the central government. With the progress of Gai Tu Gui Liu, the Yi area was dismembered into many communities both large and small, and it was difficult for the communities to communicate with each other as there were often Han-ruled areas between them.

The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty defeated Wu Sangui and took over the land of Yunnan and established a province there. When the Manchu official Ertai became the Viceroy of Yunnan and Guizhou during the era of Yongzheng Emperor, the policy of Gai Tu Gui Liu and cultural assimilation against Yi were strengthened. Yi who lived near Kunming were even forced to change their convention of traditional cremation into burial, a policy which triggered off rebellions among the Yi. These rebellions were suppressed by the Qing dynasty.

After the Opium Wars, many Christian missionaries from France and Great Britain visited the area in which the Yi lived. Although some missionaries believed that Yi of some areas such as Liangshan were not under the ruling of Qing dynasty and should be independent, most aristocrats insisted that Yi is a part of China despite of their resentment against Manchu Qing rule.

After the establishment of the PRC, several Yi autonomous administrative districts of prefecture or county level were set up in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou. With the development of traffic and telecommunications, the communications among different Yi areas have been increasing sharply.

 

Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China by Stevan Harrell

 

 

 

 

 

* Analysis of HLA-B Locus Gene Polymorphism in Sichuan Yi Ethnic Group and Xinjiang Uygur Ethnic Group by MY Xu, et al.

Abstract: The polymorphism of HLA-B alleles in Sichuan Yi and Xinjiang Uygur population was investigated using the PCR-SSP method. Twenty one alleles were detected in HLA-B loci in 106 Sichuan unrelated Yi healthy subjects. Of them, B*40, B*15 and B*51 were the most common alleles with an allele frequency of 0.1981, 0.1368, 0.1274, respectively; while B*47, B*44, B*18, B*57 and B*78 were the rare alleles with an allele frequency of 0.0189, 0.0142, 0.0094, 0.0047 and 0.0047, respectively. The distribution of HLA-B allele frequencies in Sichuan Yis was between Southern Han and Northern Han. In 110 Xinjiang unrelated healthy Uygur subjects, 27 alleles were detected in HLA-B loci. Of them, B*35 and B*51 were the most common alleles with an allele frequency of 0.1136 and 0.1136, respectively; while B*41, B*56 and B*78 were the rare alleles with a frequency of 0.0045, 0.0045 and 0.0091, respectively. Frequencies of "Caucasoid origin" HLA alleles such as B*08, B*35 and B*50 in Xinjiang Uygurs were higher than other ethnic groups in China. The result of chi2 tests showed that the distributions of HLA-B alleles in Yi and Uygur ethnic groups were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Heterozygosity (H), discrimination power (DP) and probability of paternity exclusion (EP) of HLA-B locus from Sichuan Yi ethnic group were computed to be 0.8977, 0.9661 and 0.8009; and those from Xinjiang Uygur ethnic group were 0.9372, 0.9857 and 0.8732. The data obtained in this study on the distributions of HLA-B alleles in the Sichuan Yi and Xinjiang Uygur population provide important group genetics information for forensic and paternity tests to estimate the frequency of a DNA profile in these two populations, and can be used in transplant matching, anthropological and disease association studies.

 

* Analysis of HLA-DRB1,DQB1 Allele Polymorphism in the Kunming Yi Nationality Population by G. Wen, et al.

Conclusion: The distribution of HLA-DRB1, DQB1 allele polymorphism in the Kunming Yi nationality population is distinctive. It is neither like that in the South Han population nor like that in the North Han population.

 

* HLA-DRB1/DQB1 Polymorphism of Bai and Yi People in Kunming by 杨武, et al.

Abstract: 目的 研究昆明白族和彝族儿童HLA-DRB1/DQB1等位基因多态性,分析比较昆明白族和彝族人群的遗传特点.方法 采用PCR-SSP基因分型技术,分别对70名白族儿童和70名彝族儿童进行HLA-DRB1/DQB1基因分型.结果 昆明白族儿童在HLA-DRB1位点上共检出13种等位基因,依次为DRB1*08(20.7%)、*04(16.4%)、*12(16.4%)、*15(8.57%)、*0901(8.57%)、*14(6.43%)、*11(5.71%)、*16(5.00%)、*13(4.29%)、*07(2.86%)、*03(2.86%)、*01(1.43%)、*10(0.71%);HLA-DQB1位点上共检出7种等位基因,依次为DQB1*0301(23.6%)、*06(21.4%)、*05(18.6%)、*04(18.6%)、*0303(7.14%)、*0302(6.43%)、*0201(4.29%).彝族儿童在HLA-DRB1位点上共检出12种等位基因,依次为DRB1*12(33.57%)、*0901(11.43%)、*04(11.43%)、*01(8.57%)、*11(7.86%)、*14(7.14%)、*15(7.14%)、*08(5.00%)、*03(2.83%)、*13(2.14%)、*07(1.43%)、*16(1.43%);HLA-DQB1位点上共检出7种等位基因,依次为DQB1*0301(45%)、*05(22.14%)、*0303(12.14%)、*04(6.43%)、*06(6.43%)、*0201(4.29%)、*0302(3.57%).组间比较HLA-DRB1/DQB1等位基因总体分布及诸多等位基因频率均有显著差异.结论 昆明白族和彝族人群HLA-DRB1/DQB1等位基因分布具有各自遗传特点.

 

* Distributions of HLA-A and -B Alleles and Haplotypes in the Yi Ethnic Minority of Yunnan, China: Relationship to other populations by Bo-feng Zhu, et al.

Objective: To investigate the distributions of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A and -B alleles and HLA-A-B haplotypes in the Yi ethnic minority of the Yunnan Province, situated in southwestern China. Methods: DNA typing for HLA-A and -B loci was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) method on 114 randomly selected healthy individuals of the Yi population. The allelic frequencies of HLA-A and -B loci were calculated by direct counting and HLA-A-B haplotypes were estimated using the expectation maximization algorithm. Results: A total of 17 HLA-A and 38 HLA-B alleles were found in the Yi population. The most frequent alleles were A*2402 (32.46%), A*1101 (26.32%), and A*0203 (10.09%) at the HLA-A locus and B*4601 (12.28%), B*1525 (10.09%), B*4001 (8.77%), and B*3802 (7.89%) at the HLA-B locus. The predominant HLA-A-B haplotypes were A*2402-B*1525 (7.86%) and A*0203-B*3802 (5.64%), followed by A*1101-B*4001 (4.69%). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the Yi population in the Honghe, Yunnan Province of China basically belongs to groups of southeastern Asian origin, but shares some characteristics with northeastern Asian groups. Conclusion: The present study may add to the understanding of HLA polymorphism in the Yi ethnic group that was poorly defined previously, and provide useful information for bone marrow transplantation, anthropological research, and forensic sciences as well as for disease-association studies.

 

Dendrogram Constructed by the Neighbor-joining Method Showing the Relationship Between Yi Population with Other 27 Populations Based on the Allelic Frequencies of HLA-A and -B Loci

(Yi, Tujia; Miao, Bouyei)

 

* Paternal Population History of East Asia: Sources, Patterns, and Microevolutionary Processes by Tatiana Karafet, et al.

Northern Han (Nha), Hui (Hui), Tibetans (Tib), Manchu (Man), Chinese Evenks (Cev), Oroqen (Oro), Uygurs (Uyg), Mongolians (Mon), Siberian Evenks (Sev), Buryats (Bur), Koreans (Kor), Yizu (Yiz), Tujians (Tuj), Southern Han (Sha), Taiwanese Han (Tha), Zhuang (Zhu), She (She), Miao (Mia), Yao (Yao), Vietnamese (Vie), Malaysian (Mal), Kazakhs (Kaz), Altai (Alt), Uzbeks (Uzb), Kirghiz (Kir)

 

* Genetic Relationships of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China Revealed by Microsatellite Markers by Hongbin Lin, et al.

Principal Component Analysis with Normalized Allele Frequencies for the Full-loci Dataset

 

* Polymorphic Distribution of Y-chromosome Haplotype and Mitochondrial DNA in the Bouyei People in China by Li Yong-nian, et al.

Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequency Distribution in China and World Populations

 

* A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups by The Y Chromosome Consortium

 

* Population Data of 15 STR Loci of Chinese Yi Ethnic Minority Group by Bo-Feng Zhu, et al.

Abstract: Allele frequency data and statistical parameters for D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA loci were determined in a sample of 120 healthy unrelated individuals of Chinese Yi ethnic minority group living in Yunnan province, China. We observed 132 alleles with allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0042 to 0.5333. The forensic statistical parameters from the data of all the loci showed high values. All loci were in accordance with Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05). The obtained frequency distributions were compared with previously published other population data, and significant differences were found between Yi population and Korean, Chinese Tibetan, Uigur, Ewenki, Han, Hui population at some STR loci. Our results of present study were valuable for forensic application and Chinese population genetic studies. These population data enriched Chinese genetic informational resources.

 

* The ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism in East Asian Populations and Expansion of Rice Domestication in History by Yi Peng, et al.

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele and the Sites of Early Rice Relics

 

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele in the 38 East Asian Populations

 

 

Tibeto-Burman Languages

The Tibeto-Burman family of languages is spoken in various central and south Asian countries, including Myanmar (Burma), Tibet, northern Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, parts of central China (Guizhou, Hunan), northern parts of Nepal, north-eastern parts of Bangladesh, Bhutan, western Pakistan (Baltistan), and various regions of India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and both the Ladakh and Kargil regions of Jammu and Kashmir).

The subfamily includes approximately 350 languages; Burmese has the most speakers (approximately 32 million). Approximately 8 million Tibetans and related peoples speak one of several related Tibetan dialects or languages.

Recently George van Driem has advocated elevating "Tibeto-Burman" to displace "Sino-Tibetan" as the top-tier language family, with the Chinese languages (Sinitic) classified as a sub-branch within the Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan family. This proposal has not been widely accepted.

 

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Miao

The Miao (苗) are a linguistically and culturally related group of people recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component sub-groups, which include (with some variant spellings) Hmong/Mong, Hmu, A Hmao,and Kho (Qho) Xiong. The Miao live primarily in southern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, and Hubei. Some members of the Miao sub-groups, most notably Hmong/Mong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia (northern Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand). Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations (United States, France, Australia, and elsewhere.)

Nomenclature: Miao and Hmong: The term "Miao" gained official status in 1949 as a minzu (nationality) encompassing a group of linguistically related ethnic minorities in southwest China. This was part of a larger effort to identify and classify minority groups to clarify their role in national government, including: establishing areas of autonomous government and allocating the seats for representatives in provincial and national government.

Historically, the term "Miao" had been applied inconsistently to a variety of non-Han peoples often with the connotation of "barbarian." This former meaning has not kept members of the modern nationality from self-identifying as Miao. Outside of China, "Meo", a variation of "Miao" still exists in Southeast Asia where it is often used in a highly derogatory way. Western researchers have treated the terminological problems in a non-uniform way. Early writers used Chinese-based names in various transcriptions: Miao, Miao-tse, Miao-tsze, Meau, Meo, mo, miao-tseu etc. When referring to specific sub-groups of the Miao nationality or to ethnic groups outside of China, it is preferable to use the ethnonym of the specific group, for instance: Hmong, Hmu, etc. The prominence of Hmong people in the West has led to the situation where the Miao nationality is sometimes referred to as Hmong, despite the fact that they are only one of the sub-groups contained in the classification. Following the recent increased interaction of Hmong in the West with Miao in China, it is reported that some non-Hmong Miao have even begun to identify themselves as Hmong.

Though the Miao themselves use various self-designations, the Chinese traditionally classified them according to the most characteristic colour of the women's clothes. The list below contains the self-designations, the colour designations and the main regions inhabited by the four major groups of Miao in China:

• Ghao Xong; Red Miao; west Hunan.
• Hmu, Gha Ne (Ka Nao); Black Miao; southeast Guizhou.
• A-Hmao; Big Flowery Miao; northwest Guizhou and northeast Yunnan.
• Gha-Mu, Hmong, White Miao, Mong, Green (Blue) Miao, Small Flowery Miao; south Sichuan, west Guizhou and south Yunnan.

Demographics: According to the 2000 census, the number of Miao in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. Outside of China, members of Miao sub-groups live in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar due to migrations starting in the 18th century. As a result of recent migrations in the aftermath of the Indochina and Vietnam wars between 1949 and 1975, many Hmong people now live in the United States, French Guiana, France and Australia. Altogether there are approximately 8 million speakers of Miao languages. This language family, which consists of 6 languages and around 35 dialects (some of which are mutually intelligible) belongs to the Hmong/Miao branch of the Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) language family.

 

 

苗族

苗族，(越南文：Mèo；泰語:แม้ว / ม้ง；Maew / Mong 英語也稱Hmong)，是一個發源於中國的國際性的民族，主要聚居於中國華南及東南亞。在中國，苗族約為894萬人（2000年），為中國人口佔第5位的民族。在越南名為赫蒙族，人口78萬7604人，列第8位。

苗族發源於中國，約有8成的苗族人口分布於中國南方省份，而在東南亞的越南、泰國、寮國、緬甸也有相當規模的苗族。1975年寮人民民主共和國成立後，數萬苗族人成為難民，部分移居到美國和法國。

分布在各地的苗族人有許多自稱，如「牡」、「蒙」、「毛」、「果雄」、「帶叟」等，還有些地方按其住地、服飾等方面的不同，在「苗」字前冠以不同的名稱，如「長裙苗」、「短裙苗」、「長角苗」、「紅苗」、「黑苗」、「白苗」、「青苗」、「花苗」、「小花苗」等。苗族人多信仰萬物有靈的原始宗教。

中國的分佈: 中國境內的苗族48.1%散佈於貴州省全境，其中黔東南的苗族組成比例最高。其次是湖南省西部(21.49%)和雲南省(11.67%)，但亦有分布於重慶市東南(5.62%)、廣西區北部(5.18%)、湖北省西南(2.4%)、四川省東南(1.65%)、海南省(0.69%)等省市內。

東南亞的分佈: 苗族人亦是越南及寮國的原居民族。

在泰國北部地區，亦聚居了苗族人，根據2004年的人口統計，當地苗族人口約有12萬人，是當地次於嘎良族的山區民族。他們約於18世紀至19世紀時自中國西南地區遷入泰北地區。緬甸撣邦亦有世居的苗族人。

美國的分佈: 美國的苗族，主要分佈於加利福尼亞州、明尼蘇達州、威斯康星州，總數約17萬。

名稱的議論: 除了湘西的苗族自稱為Xong以外，其他地方的苗人都自稱為Hmong(牡、蒙、毛、果雄、帶叟；ม้ง；Hmông )。他們指「苗族」(แม้ว；mεεo；Mẹo)並非他們自己的稱呼，而其實是漢人對他們的蔑稱，所以他們不喜歡被稱為「苗族」。寮國苗族自名赫蒙(因為在中國西南苗貓同音),幹革命的叫赫蒙,反革命的叫苗。

大姓: 這裡所說的苗族姓氏主要是指清改土歸流後的主要漢姓。

• 湘西除了吳、龍、麻、石、廖這幾大姓，還有符、滕、陳、尹等不少雜姓。
• 黔東南苗族漢姓：吳、羅、李、楊、潘、王、雷；
• 廣西融水苗族漢姓賈、韋、梁；
• 滇東北和川南苗族漢姓熊、陶、王、馬、古；
  • 滇東南和滇南苗族漢姓張、吳、李等均為大姓。

這些漢姓，都是隨著與漢文化聯繫的加強，特別是通過清代改土歸流，苗民「編戶」、「入籍」，才改用和移植漢姓。

語言: 苗族人語言的統稱為苗語，屬於苗瑤語族的苗語支。苗語曾有文字，但已經失傳。

苗語大致可以分為以下三個主要分支：

1. 湘西方言
2. 黔東方言
3. 川黔滇方言

當中以川黔滇方言最為複雜，根據Ethnologue的紀錄，可以分成19種不同的方言。苗語的三個分支其實與另外兩個瑤語的分支被歸入苗語支內，而苗語支與瑤語支合共組成苗瑤語族。

歷史: 根據各地所流傳有關苗族歷史的傳說，他們的起源都可以上溯至炎黃時代。一般認爲九黎民族的先祖蚩尤也是神農的後裔。苗族原居於中國中部，經過數次的向南方、西方的大遷徙，20世紀最遠抵達美國、法國。

這是一種附會的說法，三苗和苗族的關係有待考證，通常三苗被認為是華夏族的祖先之一，而且苗族本身也不稱自己的苗族，而是赫蒙族。

 

 

History of the Miao People

Contact with the Huaxia: In China, the first recorded Miao kingdom was called Jiuli, and its ruler or rulers, had the title Chiyou (in Chinese) or Txiv Yawg (in White Hmong) or Txiv Yawg (in Mong Leng). Chiyou means grandfather, and is a title equal to, but no less than, emperor. Chiyou's ancestors are thought to be the Liangzhu people. Jiuli was said to have jurisdiction over nine tribes and 81 clans.

History According to Chinese Legend: According to Chinese legend, the Miao who descended from the Jiuli tribe led by Chiyou (蚩尤) were defeated at the Battle of Zhuolu (涿鹿, a defunct prefecture on the border of present provinces of Hebei and Liaoning) by the military coalition of Huang Di (黃帝) and Yan Di, leaders of the Huaxia (華夏) tribe as the two tribes struggled for supremacy of the Yellow River valley. According to legend, the battle, said to have taken place in the 26th century BC, was fought under heavy fog. The Huaxia, who possessed the compass, was able to defeat the tribe of Chiyou. (In an alternative account, Chiyou was never defeated and has been worshiped as god. It is generally accepted that Chiyou has been worshiped by succeeding dynasties regardless of their ethnic origins. This further corroborates the possibility that the defeat was not a fact but a likely story rewritten to legitimize the Huaxia history for later Han Chinese dynasties such as Chin or Han.)

After general population movement toward south, southwest, and southeast (due in part to influx of northern and western groups such as Huaxia and Donghu), the tribe of Chiyou split into two smaller splinter tribes, the Miao and the Li (Chinese: 黎; pinyin: lí). The Miao continuously moving southwest and Li southeast as the Huaxia race, later known as Han Chinese, expanded southward. During the course of Chinese history, the Miao were sometimes regarded as "barbarians" by the increasingly technologically and culturally advanced Han Chinese. Some members of the Miao and Li tribes were assimilated into the Han Chinese during the Zhou Dynasty. (Recent DNA studies suggest that the movement of ethnic groups such as Miao in ancient East Asia is far more complex than this unsubstantiated "historical" accounts.)

Another version of the story says that the tribe split three ways. It is said Chiyou had 3 sons, and after the fall of Jiuli, his eldest son led some people south, his middle son led some people north, and his youngest son remained in Zhuolu and assimilated into the Huaxia culture. Those who were led to the south established the San-Miao nation. Perhaps due to this splitting into multiple groups, many Far Eastern people regard Chiyou as their ancestors, and by the same token, many question the ethnicity of Chiyou as exclusively Mong or otherwise. In some circles of thought, the Koreans also regard Chiyou as an ethnic ancestor. Furthermore, under the present ethnic unification policy of the PRC, Chiyou is now also regarded as one of China's forefathers alongside the ethnic Han ancestors, Huangdi and Yandi. The recent official attempt (mainly supported by PRC) is strongly motivated by political consideration and is generally considered troubling to other East Asian countries such as Korea, Mongolia, and Japan.

History According to Miao Legend: According to the Miao burial ritual 'Show the Way', Miao history can be trace to as early as the Shang Dynasty. After the fall of Shang to Zhou, Chu was the next and last known Miao kingdom. When Chu fell to Qin, the great migration that scattered the Miao began. Many remained and started the great revolt that helped found the Han Dynasty under Liu Bang. Miao culture greatly influence the Western Han. Descendants of Chu speaks the Miao, Wu, Xiang, Hui and Yue languages.

Archaeological Discoveries: Many Miao scholars believe the Dawenkou Culture to be Miao. They cite the pottery designs found in the tombs as examples. The designs are very similar to present day Miao embroideries. Combine this with the presence of Miao in Shangdong suggests the Miao's origin is not the south but the mouth of the Yellow River. It would also support the Miao's claim to the Shang Dynasty since Shangdong is part of Shang.

Lady Dai found in Tomb no. 1 at Mawangdui is believed by many Miao as a Miao woman. They cite the T-shaped banners draped over her coffin as an example of Miao burial practices and beliefs. This dispel the belief that the sinicization of the Miao was by force or even sinicized during the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang is a general under Xiang Yu meaning he commanded Miao troops and they are his base of power. When the dispute with Xiang Yu broke out Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo and Fan Kuai saved Liu Bang's life. This meant Liu Bang's support among the Miao was strong. The Han-Chu contention was not about a struggle between two groups of people but between two individuals. This explains why Miao beliefs and culture flourished during the Western Han. It would also mean that the Han nationality began when the Miao and Huaxia came together as one. The present day Miao may be the remnant of those who fled when Qin conquered Chu. They left before peace came and never returned. It would explain why Chu is acknowledged by the Miao as a Miao Kingdom but not Han given Liu Bang's base of power was former Chu in the South.

Qin and Han Dynasties: If the Miao's claim to Chu is true, the Miao and Huaxia are very similar during this period. They have lived along side each other for thousands of years. Chu was the largest and most powerful of all the kingdom during the warring states period. Whom ever controls Chu is emperor given the large population, vast fertile land along the Yangtze, and abundant resources from the sea.

When Qin conquered Chu he became emperor but the people of Chu did not see the new king as one of their own. Qin's harsh legalist system caused many Miao to fleed into the higher evelation. When Qin Shi Huangdi died, the people of Chu lead by Xiang Liang rose up and revolted restoring Chu for a time. After Qin was conquered, Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu became emperor but his inability to govern led to the Chu-Han contention. When Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, he became emperor and the Han Dynasty was born.

Liu Bang was a general under Xiang Yu until the Chu-Han contention. It means he was considered a Chu by the Miao when he became emperor. The remaining Miao saw Liu Bang as one of them and accepted his overlordship.

The Miao played an important role in Liu Bang's rise to power. Liu Bang was not of royal descent and had no established base of power. The Miao served in Liu Bang's army and Xiao He was his main lieutenant. Xiao He built Liu Bang's power base from scratch. During Western Han, Miao/Chu culture influence every part of the Han's daily life.

The Miao who fled were left alone because they were not seen as a threat compared to the Wu Hu given the majority of the Miao became part of Han. It would explained the lack of official information on the fleeing Miao until the later dynasties. This group would carry the Miao name into the present. The descendants of the Miao who became Han currently speak the Wu, Xiang, and Hui Chinese dialects and Yue language.

From this period forward, 'Miao' in recorded Chinese records referrs only to the Miao who fled. The term "Miao" was first used by the Han Chinese in pre-Qin times, i.e. before 221 BC, for designating non-Han Chinese groups in the south. It was often used in the combinations "nanmiao", "miaomin", "youmiao" and "sanmiao" (三苗).

Tang Dynasty: By the Tang Dynasty, the Miao who fled had changed from the lack of contact with the Miao who remained. They have intermarry with the aborigines of the south and the language had changed from the isolation. The Miao ceased as a major non-Han Chinese group except in the province of Yunnan where six zhaos (詔 meaning "state") of Miao resided there. Some scholars argued that the six zhaos were groups of the Yi people. The southernmost, known as Meng-she-zhao (蒙舍詔) or Nan-zhao (南詔) united all six zhaos and found an independent state during early 8th century with treacherous help from Tang Dynasty. The title of the head of state was Nan-zhao Wang (南詔王), meaning the King of Nanzhao. Uneasiness of the increasing threat from Tubo (today Tibet) encouraged the Chinese dynasty to establish a friendly regime neighboring both countries. Tang also deployed a military district, Jiannan Jie-Du (劍南節度) located in today southern Sichuan Province and bordering Nanzhao.

Nanzhao: During the first ten peaceful years in 8th century, Nanzhao regularly paid tributes through the head of military district (Jiannan Jie-Du-Shi (劍南節度使)) to the Han Chinese dynasty. As the Tang Dynasty deteriorating during mid 8th century, the district was gaining more independent authority from the Tang dynastic government. They demanded more tributes from Nanzhao to develop sizable forces against the dynasty. Some district heads even intimidated the peoples of Nanzhao. The rulers of Nanzhao were Tibeto-Burman speakers, but it is possible the population included some ancestors of the present-day Hmong. A famous example was a rejected demand to spend a night with the queen, the only wife of the Nanzhao King. All intimidations and unfair tributes led to the outbreak of Nanzhao rebellion during the Tianbao era (742-756) of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China. Before marching against the district legion, the Nanzhao King ordered a stone inscription of the reasons of rebellion. The monument remained erected and can still be seen today (location?). The Tang Dynasty could have easily defeated Nanzhao troops but struggles of power among generals of the district letting Nanzhao surge deeply into Tang's territory, almost reaching Chengdu, location of the district headquarters. Appointment of incompetent heads was also a factor. The most famous one was Yang Guozhong, brother of Lady Yang, the beloved concubine of the emperor. Although the rebellion was eventually squashed, the dynasty wasted precious resources which could have been used securing the northern border, ushering in the much more disastrous Anshi Rebellion.

During the later years of the Tang dynasty, Nanzhao had the upper hand on its relations with Tang and Tibet as both countries tried to ally with Nanzhao, thus isolating the enemy. Nanzhao fully exploited the situation and rose as a major power in Southeast Asia. During its zenith of power, northern parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Burma, Guangxi and eastern portion of Guangdong, southwestern portion of Sichuan, Guizhou and the whole province of Yunnan were all under its control. Chengdu and Hanoi were each sacked twice. After the fall of the latter in late 9th century, Chinese dynasties never recovered the city until Ming Dynasty in the 15th century. Tang Dynasty gradually increased numbers of military district bordering Nanzhao and consequently the insurgences of Pang Xun was the first of the rebellions leading to the fall of Tang.

Nanzhao, under the influence of Tang for a century (8th century to 9th century), was gradually adopting the Chinese culture and at the same time disintegrated as struggles of power among various rival clans. Eventually the Duan (段) clan won and found the Kingdom of Dali which lasted until the submission to the Mongols. During Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty the term "nanman" (南蠻; meaning the southern non-Chinese people) was used. However, the name "miao" to describe some of these southern people reappeared in Fan Chuo's book on the southern tribes, Manshu (862 A.D.).

Ming and Qing Dynasties: During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911) 'miao' and 'man' were both used, the second possibly to designate the Yao (傜) people. The Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties could neither fully assimilate nor control the aboriginal people. As a result, the policy of "using barbarians to rule barbarians" (以夷制夷) was employed. Furthermore, a counterpart wall to the Great Wall in the south was erected to protect and divide the Chinese from the 'southern barbarians'. Politically and militarily, the Hmong continued to be a stone in the shoe of the Chinese empire. The Hmong were more than a match against the Chinese since the latter's military was stretched across China defending against northern invaders. The Chinese had to fall back on political means to ensnare Hmong people, they created multiple competing positions of substantial prestige for Hmong people to participate and assimilate into the Chinese government system. During the Ming and Qing times, the official position of Kaitong was created in Indochina. The Hmong would employ the use of the Kiatong government structure until the 1900s when they entered into French colonial politics in Indochina.

20th Century: During the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Miao played an important role in its birth. The Miao helped Mao Zedong escaped the Kuomintang in the Long March with supplies and guides through Miao country. Without the help, Mao may not have survived the Long March and the PRC may never have been.

As a result after the PRC was established in 1949, all minorities in China were recognized as Chinese citizen and granted more freedom and privileges. The Miao were finally granted access to education.

During the Vietnam War, the Miao fought on both sides. The Hmong fought for the West while the Chinese-Miao fought for the Communist. After years of fighting, Vietnam was short on manpower to confront the Hmong in Laos and asked China for assistance. China sent the Miao against the Hmong in Laos at Long Cheng to hide its involvement in Laos. Years after the conflict, both side finally met and exchanged war stories confirming China's involvement in Laos. Until then the Hmong did not realized they were fighting fellow Miao.

* Song: 我是苗家人 on YouTube

Minority Rules: The Miao and the Feminine in China's Cultural Politics by Louisa Schein

 

 

 

The Art of Ethnography: A Chinese "Miao Album" by Laura Hostetler

 

 

 

Miao Textiles from China (Fabric Folios) by Gina Corrigan

 

 

 

Traditional Miao Boat used to travel down rapids for trading goods

 

 

* Paternal Population History of East Asia: Sources, patterns, and microevolutionary processes by T. Karafet, et al.

MDS Plot of 25 Asian Populations, Based on ΦST Genetic Distances

Northern Han (Nha), Hui (Hui), Tibetans (Tib), Manchu (Man), Chinese Evenks (Cev), Oroqen (Oro), Uygurs (Uyg), Mongolians (Mon), Siberian Evenks (Sev), Buryats (Bur), Koreans (Kor), Yizu (Yiz), Tujians (Tuj), Southern Han (Sha), Taiwanese Han (Tha), Zhuang (Zhu), She (She), Miao (Mia), Yao (Yao), Vietnamese (Vie), Malaysian (Mal), Kazakhs (Kaz), Altai (Alt), Uzbeks (Uzb), Kirghiz (Kir)

 

 

* Genetic Relationships of 15 Populations of Guangxi Province by Jin Tianbo, et al.

Objective: To study the genetic relationships of 15 groups of Guangxi Province, China by using STR polymorphisms. Methods: We collected the blood samples of unrelated individuals from different groups and sequenced the STR data with ABI377 , and then analyzed all these data with statistical methods . Results: The study on 6 STR loci showed that Jing and Miao nationalities of Guangxi Province were close to each other, while Yao, Gelao and Mulam nationalities of Guangxi were far from the other groups. Conclusion: The 15 different ethnic groups of Guangxi , China have gene communications .

 

 

* Genetic Relationships Among Four Minorities in Guangxi Revealed by Analysis of 15 STRs by Deng Q, et al.

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the genetic diversity in 15 STRs (short tandem repeats) loci of four minorities in Guangxi Province and to probe into the genetic variation and relationships among these ethnic groups. Allele frequencies of 15 STR loci were collected from 766 unrelated Mulao, Maonan, Miao, and Yao ethnic individuals by PCR-STR and sequencing, and their allele-frequency distribution were compared with each other. The genetic parameters and genetic distances were calculated, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed. Based on the results from this study, 135, 134, 148, and 145 alleles and 424, 432, 445, and 436 genotypes for 15 STR loci were observed in the Mulao, Maonan, Miao, and Yao minorities, respectively. The average heterozygosity of all ethnic groups analyzed was above 0.7; the cumulative power of discrimination (DP), the probabilities of paternity exclusion (EPP), and the polymorphic information content (PIC) were greater than 0.99999. Comparison of the allele-frequency distribution indicated that there were significant differences at most loci between Maonan vs. Miao, Yao vs. other groups, but no distinct differences between Mulao vs. Maonan, and Mulao vs. Miao minorities. The NJ tree based on the genetic distance showed that the four minorities were separated into two groups. Mulao and Maonan were clustered into one group, whereas Miao and Yao into the other. Our results revealed that 15 STR loci of the four minorities possessed high genetic diversities. Therefore, the combination of these 15 STRs is a powerful tool for forensic individual identification and paternity investigation, as well as anthropologic and genetic researches. The genetic variation and relationships among the 4 populations revealed by 15 STRs are basically consistent with their linguistic culture and ethical history.

 

 

* Y-SNP Analysis of Bouyei, Gelao, Mulao, Maonan, and Zhuang populations in Guizhou by X. Liu, et al.

Abstract: To understand the patrilineal genetic structure of Baiyue ethnic group in Guizhou province, we studied the frequencies of Y-chromosome haplotypes which consisted of 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by using the PCR-RFLP method. Five haplotypes were found in Baiyue ethnic group in Guizhou, among which H8 was the most common, whereas that of Miao in Guizhou tended to be H8, H11 and H12 haplotypes. Compared with Miao in Guizhou, the Guizhou Baiyue (excluding Sui and Dong) was significantly different and could be regarded as an independent ethnic group. Differences were also found in the same ethnic group among different areas.

 

 

* Genetic Structure of Hmong-Mien Speaking Populations in East Asia as Revealed by mtDNA Lineages by Bo Wen, et al.

Abstract: Hmong-Mien (H-M) is a major language family in East Asia, and its speakers distribute primarily in southern China and Southeast Asia. To date, genetic studies on H-M speaking populations are virtually absent in the literature. In this report, we present the results of an analysis of genetic variations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) region and diagnostic variants in the coding regions in 537 individuals sampled from 17 H-M populations across East Asia. The analysis showed that the haplogroups that are predominant in southern East Asia, including B, R9, N9a, and M7, account for 63% (ranging from 45% to 90%) of mtDNAs in H-M populations. Furthermore, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), phylogenetic tree analysis, and principal component (PC) analysis demonstrate closer relatedness between H-M and other southern East Asians, suggesting a general southern origin of maternal lineages in the H-M populations. The estimated ages of the mtDNA lineages that are specific to H-M coincide with those based on archeological cultures that have been associated with H-M. Analysis of genetic distance and phylogenetic tree indicated some extent of difference between the Hmong and the Mien populations. Together with the higher frequency of north-dominating lineages observed in the Hmong people, our results indicate that the Hmong populations had experienced more contact with the northern East Asians, a finding consistent with historical evidence. Moreover, our data defined some new (sub-)haplogroups (A6, B4e, B4f, C5, F1a1, F1a1a, and R9c), which will direct further efforts to improve the phylogeny of East Asian mtDNAs.

 

 

* The Power of Language Over the Past: Tai settlement and Tai Linguistics in Southern China and Northern Vietnam by Jerold A. Edmondson, adapted from DNA揭開秘密︰華夏祖先源于東非,不是北京猿人

O Subclades

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations. Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations. Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation. It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ~25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia.

 

The Frequency Distribution of the O3-M122 Haplotypes in East Asian and Other Continental Populations

 

 

Haplogroup O3 (Y-DNA)

Origins: Haplogroup O3 is a descendant haplogroup of haplogroup O. Some researchers believe that it first appeared in China approximately 10,000 years ago. However, others believe that the high internal diversity of Haplogroup O3 indicates a Late Pleistocene (Upper Paleolithic) origin in South China or Southeast Asia of the M122 mutation that defines the entire O3 clade, while the common presence among a wide variety of modern East and Southeast Asian nations of closely related haplotypes belonging to certain subclades of Haplogroup O3 is considered to point to a recent (e.g., Holocene) geographic dispersion of a certain subset of the ancient variation within Haplogroup O3. The spread of these particular subsets of Haplogroup O3 is conjectured to be closely associated with the sudden agricultural boom associated with rice farming.

The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations. In a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations. Results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation. It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ~25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia.

Distribution: Although Haplogroup O3 appears to be primarily associated with Chinese populations, it also forms a significant component of the Y-chromosome diversity of most modern populations of the East Asian region. Haplogroup O3 is found in over 50% of all modern Chinese males (ranging up to over 80% in certain regional subgroups of the Han ethnicity), about 40% of Manchurian, Korean, and Vietnamese males, about 35% of Filipino and Malaysian males, about 25% of Zhuang and Indonesian males, and about 15% to 20% of Japanese males. The distribution of Haplogroup O3 stretches far into Central Asia (approx. 30% of Salar, 24% of Dongxiang, 18% to 22.8% of Mongolians, 12% of Uyghurs, 9% of Kazakhs, 6.2% of Altayans, and 4.1% of Uzbeks) and Oceania (approx. 25% of Polynesians, 18% of Micronesians, and 5% of Melanesians), albeit with reduced frequencies of most subclades. It should be noted that Haplogroup O3* Y-chromosomes, which are not defined by any identified downstream markers, are actually more common among certain non-Han Chinese populations than among Han Chinese ones, and the presence of these O3* Y-chromosomes among various populations of Central Asia, East Asia, and Oceania is more likely to reflect a very ancient shared ancestry of these populations rather than the result of any historical events. It remains to be seen whether Haplogroup O3* Y-chromosomes can be parsed into distinct subclades that display significant geographical or ethnic correlations.

Among all the populations of East and Southeast Asia, Haplogroup O3 is most closely associated with those that speak a Sinitic, Tibeto-Burman, or Hmong-Mien language. Haplogroup O3 comprises about 50% or more of the total Y-chromosome variation among the populations of each of these language families. The Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman language families are generally believed to be derived from a common Sino-Tibetan protolanguage, and most linguists place the homeland of the Sino-Tibetan language family somewhere in northern China. The Hmong-Mien languages and cultures, for various archaeological and ethnohistorical reasons, are also generally believed to have derived from a source somewhere north of their current distribution, perhaps in northern or central China. The Tibetans, however, despite the fact that they speak a language of the Tibeto-Burman language family, have a very high percentage of the otherwise rare Haplogroup D1, which is also found at much lower frequencies throughout Central and Northeast Asia. These facts suggest that Haplogroup O3 is characteristic of the easterly part of the zone of transition between the Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian genepools: namely, the region that comprises the North China Plain and the area between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. It is notable that Haplogroup O3 is the only haplogroup that occurs at high frequencies among populations that possess Northeast Asian genetic characteristics as well as among populations that possess Southeast Asian genetic characteristics.

Haplogroup O3 has been implicated as a diagnostic genetic marker of the Austronesian expansion when it is found in populations of Oceania. Its distribution in Oceania is mostly limited to the traditionally Austronesian culture zones, including moderately high frequencies in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Polynesia, with generally lower frequencies found in coastal and island Melanesia, Micronesia, and Taiwanese aboriginal tribes.

The subgroup O3a5-M134 is particularly closely associated with Sino-Tibetan populations, and it is generally not found outside of areas where a Sino-Tibetan language is currently spoken or that are historically supposed to have undergone Chinese colonization or immigration, such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. However, its presence among non-Sino-Tibetan populations is always very limited and never amounts to more than 10% of the total Y-chromosome diversity. There are also reports that Y-chromosomes belonging to Haplogroup O3a5 have been sampled from populations of such far-flung places as Western Samoa. Surprisingly, Haplogroup O3a5-M134 Y-chromosomes have also been found in about 1% to 3% of indigenous Australian men in the northwest of that continent, which might indicate that a certain degree of contact has occurred between the Austronesian expansion from Asia and some indigenous Australian populations. The fact that Haplogroup O3a5 is so strongly associated with Chinese populations, however, and the fact that no Y-chromosome haplogroups characteristic of Austronesian populations have been found among these indigenous Australian populations may be taken to suggest the possibility of some direct Chinese-Australian contact in the precolonial era.

 

O3 (M122) Typical of populations of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Austronesian populations of Oceania, with a moderate distribution in Central Asia

• O3*
• O3a (M324)
  • O3a*
  • O3a1 (M121, DYS257)
  • O3a2 (M164)
  • O3a3 (LINE1, M159) Typical of Hmong-Mien peoples, with a moderate distribution throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia
  • O3a4 (M7)
  • O3a5 (M134) Typical of Sino-Tibetan peoples, with a moderate distribution throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia
  • O3a6 (M300)
  • O3a7 (M333)

 

* Genetic Structure of Hmong-Mien Speaking Populations in East Asia as Revealed by mtDNA Lineage by Hui Li

* Origin of Grass Hmong as Revealed by Genetics and Physical Anthropology by Hui Li

* Stratification in the Peopling of China: How Far does the Linguistic Evidence Match Genetics and Archaeology? by Roger Blench, Mallam Dendo

 

 

Hmong-Mien Languages

Hmong-Mien Languages: The Hmong-Mien or Miao-Yao languages are a small language family of southern China and Southeast Asia. They are spoken in mountainous areas of southern China, including Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Hubei provinces, where its speakers have been relegated to being "hill people," while the Han Chinese have settled the more fertile river valleys. Within the last 300–400 years, the Hmong and some Mien people have migrated to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar. As a result of the Indochina Wars, many Hmong speakers left Southeast Asia for Australia, the United States, and other countries.

Hmong (Miao) and Mien (Yao) are clearly distinct, but closely related.

Earlier linguistic classifications placed the Hmong-Mien languages into the Sino-Tibetan language family, where they remain in many Chinese classifications, but the current consensus among Western linguists is that they constitute a family of their own. The family has its origins in southern or perhaps even central China. The current area of greatest agreement is that the languages appeared in the region between the Yangtze and Mekong rivers, but there is reason to believe that speakers migrated there from further north with the expansion of the Han Chinese.

Paul K. Benedict, an American scholar, extended the Austric theory to include the Tai-Kadai family of Southeast Asia and the Hmong-Mien languages, together forming an Austro-Tai superfamily.

The Austric Language: The Austric Language superfamily is a large theoretical grouping of languages primarily spoken in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the eastern Indian subcontinent. It includes the Austronesian language family of Taiwan, the Malay Archipelago, Pacific Islands, and Madagascar, as well as the Austro-Asiatic language family of mainland Southeast Asia, Eastern India, and Bangladesh. The hypothesis of a genetic relationship between these two language families is not widely accepted among linguists.

The Austric superfamily was first proposed by the German missionary Wilhelm Schmidt in 1906. He showed phonological, morphological, and lexical evidence to support the existence of an Austric superfamily, but the lexical evidence was considered to be tenuous by the larger linguistic community. Consequently, the Austric hypothesis has never gained wide acceptance. In 1942, Paul K. Benedict extended the Austric theory to include the Tai-Kadai languages and the Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages, together forming an Austro-Tai superfamily.

Despite the tenuous lexical evidence, the relationship of Austronesian with either Austroasiatic or Tai-Kadai has many proponents to this day, mostly on morphological grounds. Some believe that recently discovered morphological similarities between Nicobarese and Austronesian is solid proof of a genetic relationship. Other researchers are still searching for the missing lexical link between Austronesian and Austroasiatic or Tai-Kadai. A good summary of the present state of the Austric hypothesis may be found in Reid 2005. For the Austro-Tai hypothesis, see its main article.

Austro-Tai Hypothesis: Austro-Tai is a hypothesis that the Kradai (Tai-Kadai) and Austronesian language families of southern China and the Pacific are genealogically related. The Kradai languages contains numerous cognates with Austronesian which were noticed as far back as Schlegel in 1901. These are considered to be too many to explain as chance resemblance (Reid 2006). The question then is whether they are due to language contact—that is, borrowing—or to common descent—that is, a genealogical relationship.

Among scholars who accept the evidence as definitive, there is disagreement as to the nature of the relationship. Benedict attempted to show that Kradai has features which cannot be accounted for by proto-Austronesian, and that therefore it must be a separate family coordinate with Austronesian (a sister relationship). Ostapirat concluded that these reconstructed linguistic features are spurious. However, he could not rule out the possibility that Kradai tone cannot be explained, and so leaves the question open pending further reconstruction of proto-Austronesian. He supports the consensus hypothesis of several scholars that proto-Austronesian was spoken on Formosa (Taiwan) or adjacent areas of coastal China, and that the likely homeland of proto-Kradai was coastal Fujian or Guangdong as part of the neolithic Longshan culture. The spread of the Kradai peoples may have been aided by agriculture, but any who remained near the coast were eventually absorbed by the Chinese.

Sagart, on the other hand, holds that Kradai is a branch of Austronesian which migrated back to the mainland from northeastern Formosa long after Formosa was settled, but probably before the expansion of Malayo-Polynesian out of Formosa. The language was then largely relexified from what he believes may have been an Austro-Asiatic language. Robert Blust(1999) suggests that proto-Kradai speakers originated in the northern Philippines and migrated from there to Hainan island (hence the diversity of Kradai languages on that island), and were radically restructured following contact with Hmong-Mien and Sinitic.

However, Ostapirat maintains that Kradai could not descend from Malay-Polynesian in the Philippines, and likely not from the languages of eastern Formosa either. His evidence is in the Kradai sound correspondences, which reflect Austronesian distinctions that were lost in Malayo-Polynesian and even Eastern Formosan.

Sagart suggests that Austro-Tai is ultimately related to the Sino-Tibetan languages and has its origin in a Neolithic communities of the coastal regions of prehistoric North China or East China. Ostapirat, by contrast, sees connections with the Austro-Asiatic languages (in Austric), as Benedict had. Reid notes that the two approaches are not incompatible, if Austric is valid and can be connected to Sino-Tibetan.

 

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Mulao

photo by paulnoll.com

The Mulao or Mulan (仫佬族) people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. In their name, Mulam, mu is a classifier for human beings and lam (in some dialects it is kyam) is another form of the name used by the Dong (Kam), whom the Mulam people are ethnically related to. A large portion of the Mulam in Guangxi live in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County of Hechi, Guangxi.

It is believed that the Mulam are the descendants of the ancient Ling and Liao tribes (Liao dynasty?) that inhabited the region during the time of the Jin dynasty. During the Yuan dynasty, the Mulam lived in a feudal society and they paid a series of tributes twice a year to the emperor. During the Qing dynasty, their territories suffered an administrative division; their lands were divided into dongs, which were composed of units for 10 dwellings. Each dong had its own local leader, responsible for maintaining the order and of collecting the taxes. Each dong was generally formed by families that shared the same surname.

The Mulam speak the Mulam language, a Tai-Kadai language. The Mulam language, like that of the Dong, does not has voice stops; however, it does contains unvoiced and voiced nasals and laterals. Its vowel system contains eleven vowels. It is a tonal language with ten tones and 65% of their vocabulary is shared with the Zhuang and Dong languages. Since the Ming dynasty, Chinese characters have been utilized to read and write the Mulam language. The majority of the Mulam also speak Chinese as well as the Zhuang and Dong languages

Mulam have a population of 159,328, 80% of which lives in Luocheng Mulam Autonomous County in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The rest are scattered throughout Xincheng, Yishan, Liucheng, Du'an huanjiang, Hechi, Rongshui and Rong'an etc. in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Culture: Traditionally, the marriages among the Mulao were arranged by the parents and traditionally, new wives did not live together with their new husbands until the birth of their first son. Their homes are made out of clay with brick roofs and are composed of three rooms. The animals are maintained far away of the family dwellings. The traditional clothing of the men consists of a jacket of large buttons, wide pants and sandal. The single women arranged their hair into two tresses that becomes a tuft when they are married.

Population: Mulam (Mulao) have a population of 159,328, 80% of which lives in Luocheng Mulam Autonomous County in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The rest are scattered throughout Xincheng, Yishan, Liucheng, Du'an huanjiang, Hechi, Rongshui and Rong'an etc. in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Qin Xiaohang 1994)

 

 

仫佬族

仫佬族主要分布在廣西羅城仫佬族自治縣。其餘散居在忻城、宜州、柳城、都安、環江、河池等縣市境內，人口約為20.7萬（2000年），使用仫佬語，大部分人兼通漢語。

仫佬族古稱「僚人」。

 

 

僚人

僚人，簡稱作僚，也稱獠，是中國古代民族之一。《魏書》云：「獠，古代百濮之一支」。「獠者，蓋南蠻別種，自漢中達於邛笮，川硐之間，所在皆有散居山谷。「僚」這個稱呼最早見於魏晉時期的記載（張華《博物志》載：「荊州極西南界至蜀諸民，日獠子」），稱以漢朝牂牁郡為中心活動的濮人為僚。

李膺《益州記》說：「自象山以北盡為僚居。蜀本無僚，至是始出巴西、渠川、廣漢、陽安、資中、犍為、梓潼，布在山谷，十餘萬家」這裡是說李壽引僚入蜀，抵抗司馬氏的東晉政權的故事；即是說起碼在東晉前期，僚人是居住在象山以北，巴蜀以南的廣大區域，即大約等於現在以貴州為中心涉及雲南、廣西、四川周邊諸省的地區。

同化與融合: 相對於漢族文化的落後，僚人不可避免地開始向漢族同化。

大約在唐代時，四川北部的僚人已經基本與漢族融合。

而四川中部，岷江、沱江中下游地區的僚人，約在兩宋時期融入漢族。也就是在這個時期，僚人這個名詞開始從文獻裡消失。

演化: 而剩下來還沒有完全融合的僚人，在漫長的與周邊族群的同化融合過程中，逐漸演變成如今的布依族、仡佬族、侗族、水族、毛難族、壯族，甚至包括越南的岱-儂族。

 

 

百濮

百濮的濮即卜，古代濮、卜通用。上古之濮，文獻記載甚多《逸周書 · 王會解》說商周時代濮人屢次入貢，「商、產里、百濮以象齒、文犀、翠羽為獻」，孔安國《傳》說濮在江漢之南。唐 · 張守節《史記正義》說濮在楚西南。《史記·卷040·楚世家》說：「（楚武王）於是始開濮地面有之。」、「建寧郡南有濮夷，濮夷無君長總統，各以邑落自聚，故稱百濮也。」古代元江稱為濮水，就是因為濮人居於水域而得名。春秋戰國時的濮人，主要居住於楚國西南部，即現在的雲南、貴州，四川至江漢流域以西一帶（摘自黃現璠撰《試論百越和百濮的異同》一文）。

百越和百濮是中國南方兩個古老的大族群。區分百越和百濮這兩個不同的民族，除分佈地區和語言不同外，還應該主要看其是否有不同的心理素質和文化特徵。百越主要分佈在中國東南沿海和長江中下游地區，百濮主要分佈在中國西南和江漢地區。中國是一個多民族的國家，歷史悠久。由於民族迂徙不定，不少民族南遷北移，形成了民族雜居的複雜局面，各民族之間相互影響，甚至融化。正是這個原因，中國南方的百越和百濮在很多地方是相同的。

一般認為百濮是南亞語系孟-高棉語族的先祖，中國境內百濮的後裔包括佤族、布朗族、德昂族。而百越是壯侗語系的壯族、侗族、傣族、泰族、佬族、京族、芒族等各民族的起源。

 

 

* Genetic Analysis of Mulao Nationality Using 15 Short Tandem Repeats by L. Xu, et al.

OBJECTIVE: To study the genetic polymorphism of 15 short tandem repeats (STR)(D2S1338, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D19S433, D21S11, CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, vWA, FGA) in Mulao nationality of Guangxi province, and to explore genetic relationship between Mulao nationality and other 10 nationalities. METHODS: The allelic frequencies and the genotype of 15 STR loci were generated from 183 unrelated individuals in Mulao nationality and other 10 nationalities of Guangxi by PCR-STR and genescan. Phylogenetic tree were constracted neighbor-Joining method. RESULTS: There were 136 STR alleles and 422 genotypes in the 15 STR of Mulao nationality, with its allele frequencies ranging from 0.0027 to 0.5243. The average heterozygosity was 0.7632, the accumulative discrimination power was more than 0.999 999 999 9, and the probability of paternity exclusion was more than 0.999 998 469 8. The genetic distances between Mulao nationality and other minority of Guangxi were much closer than those between Mulao nationality and Han nationality and Uighur nationlity. CONCLUSION: The 15 STR loci of Mulao nationality in Guangxi possesses the characteristics of high genetic diversity, except the TPOX locus. They can be employed in group genetic investigation, individual and paternity test in forensic medicine. The genetic distances between Mulao nationality and other minority of Guangxi are more closer than those between Mulao nationality and Han nationality and Uighur nationality.

 

 

* Polymorphism of DYS287 on Y Chromosome in 28 Ethnic Populations of China by Y. Chen, et al.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the polymorphism of DYS287 among 28 ethnic populations in 9 provinces of China. METHOD: YAP element was detected by Touchdown PCR amplification and 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: YAP+ frequencies in these ethnic populations were as follows: Zang 36.7%, Tu 23.8%, Yi 18.4%, Pumi 11.3%, Tajik 7.4%, Bai 6.7%, Jino 5.1%, Shandong Han 4%, Mulao 2.7%, and Maonan 1.3%. The rest ethnic populations in our study, including Gansu Han, Yunnan Han, Zhuangzu, Daizu, Lizu, Nuzu, Lisu, Naxi, Lahu, Dulong, Hani, Shezu, Weiwuer, Sala, Kerkizi, Dongxiang, Vazu, and Korea didn't carry YAP + element. CONCLUSIONS: Zangzu, Tuzu, Yizu, Pumi, Jino, and Baizu, which belong to Sino-Tibetan language family (Tibeto-Burman Languages), carry a high YAP + frequency. Sala, Tuzu, and Tajik, regarded as Central Asia by origin in history and linguistics, also have a high YAP + frequency. Mulao and Maonan, which origin from "Baiyue" ancient ethnic groups, also have a considerable YAP + frequency.

 

Haplogroup DE (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup DE is defined by the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations, or UEPs, M1(YAP), M145(P205), M203, P144, P153, P165, P167, P183.

Haplogroup DE is often referred to by the most well-known unique event polymorphism (UEP) which defines it, the Y-chromosome Alu Polymorphism (YAP). The YAP mutation was caused when a strand of DNA called Alu, which copies itself, inserted a copy into the Y chromosome. A Y chromosome that has the YAP mutation is called YAP-positive (YAP+), and a Y chromosome that does not have the YAP mutation is labeled YAP-negative (YAP-).

Haplogroup DE is an estimated 65,000 years old.

Distribution: The majority of DE male lines can be categorized as being in either Haplogroup D (Y-DNA), which likely originated in Asia, the only place where it has been found,vor haplogroup E, which is believed to have originated in East Africa or the Near East. The remainder are said to be in the paragroup DE*, confirmed cases of which are extremely rare.

In a study of over 8000 men worldwide including 1247 Nigerians, Haplogroup DE* was observed in only 5 Nigerian males (5/1247). However, the study's authors caution that "the apparently paraphyletic status of this haplogroup, and hence the conclusions of nested cladistic analysis, are also likely to be illusory" and that "the only genealogically meaningful definition of the age of a clade is the time to its most recent common ancestor, but only if DE* is paraphyletic does it also become automatically older than D or E in this sense." More recently, one example of DE* was found amongst the Nalu in Guinea Bissau (1/17). The DE* sequence of this individual differs by one mutation from the DE* sequence of the Nigerian individuals. This indicates common ancestry, though the phylogenetic relationship between the two lineages was not determined in this particular study. A 2008 study detected DE* in two individuals from Tibet (2/594).

Haplogroup DE is found in Africa (Haplogroups E and DE*) and East Asia (Haplogroups D and DE*) but is largely absent in between these two regions. The presence of DE across widely separated regions has confounded investigators trying to reconstruct the migration of humans from Africa to Asia. At some time, there was an extinction of DE lineages in West, South and Central Asia. Autochthonous DE lineages are absent in India, an important region in the dispersal of humans in Asia. However DE lineages have been detected in relict populations of the Andaman Islands. Underhill et al. 2007, suggest the possibility that deleterious mutations in some DE carriers may explain the extinction of DE lineages in India.

Tree

This phylogenetic tree of para-haplogroup DE is based on the YCC 2008 tree and subsequent published research.

• DE (M1/YAP, M145 [P205], M203, P144, P153, P165, P167, P183)
  • D (M174, (021355))
  • E (SRY4064, M96, P29, P150, P152, P154, P155, P156, P162)

 

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Maonan

photo by paulnoll.com

The Maonan (毛南族; self name: Anan meaning local people) people are an ethnic group. They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The Maonan ethnic minority has a population of 107,166, living in the northern part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the Chinese government site.

Their language belongs to the Kam-Sui branch of the Tai-Kadai languages. Is a tonal language with eight tones. Approximately half of the members of this ethnic group they are capable of speaking this language. In addition to this, many Maonan also speak Chinese or Zhuang.

Interestingly, more than one 80% of the Maonan share the same surname: Tan. Maonan with the surname "Tan" believe that they are descended from the old inhabitants of the province of Hunan that emigrated to Guangxi and married Maonan women. Other frequent surnames found in this ethnic group are: Lu, Meng, Wei and Yan.

The towns of the Maonan do not surpass more than 100 dwellings. Their towns are organized by clan. Their dwellings, are very similar to those of the Zhuang, they are usually made up of two floors and constructed out of clay. The upper floor is used as the living quarters while the lower one serves as a granary and stable.

Population: Maonan have a population of 71,968, mainly living in Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County in Guangxi Autonomous Region, while the rest are scattered throughout Hechi Nandan, Yishan and Du'an etc. in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Che Rushan 1994). In the early 1990s, about thirty thousand T'en (Yanghuang) people in Pingtang, Huishui, Dushan in Guizhou Province identified themselves as ethnic Maonan (Zhang Min 1991).

Yue Peoples: Yue (越,粵,鉞) literally: "beyond; Guangdong and Guangxi area refers to ancient semi-Sinicized or non-Sinicized Chinese peoples of southern China, originally those along the eastern coastline of present-day Zhejiang province.

While most Yue peoples were eventually assimilated into Han Chinese culture, the Kam-Tai (Daic): Zhuang, Buyi, Dai, Sui (Shui), Kam (Dong), Hlai (Li), Mulam, Maonan, Ong-Be (Lingao), Thai, Lao, Shan and the Vietnamese people retained their ethnic identity. The Vietnamese people eventually broke free from Chinese rule in the 10th century.

 

 

毛南族

毛南族以農業為主，以飼養業和副業為輔，主要種植雜糧、少數地區種植水稻。主要分佈在廣西壯族自治區西北部的環江縣，其餘散居在南丹、河池、都安等地。這個地區緊靠雲貴高原東麓，中部是茅南山，東北部是九萬大山，西北部是鳳凰山，西南部是大石山區，屬亞熱帶氣候，適合於農耕畜牧。

語言: 毛南族使用毛南語，屬侗台語族侗水語支（一說為澳斯特羅尼西亞語系或台－卡岱語系）。沒有民族文字，曾用漢字音義拼記或以漢字為基礎創造新字來記錄毛南語的民歌和宗教誦本等，稱「土俗字」。語言特點粗略來說句法屬SVO類型（即主語＋動詞＋賓語），如man（他／她）pa:i（去。p為國際音標，不送氣）hə（集市）「他／她去趕集／趕墟」；中心語位於修飾語之前，如mu（豬）nam（黑）「黑色的豬」。現代政治經濟詞彙多為西南官話借詞，老的漢語借詞多為平話借詞。語音方面，一般認為有8個能區別意義的聲調；毛南語的聲母系統（80多個聲母）比漢語（約20個聲母）、壯語（約30個聲母）等複雜。毛南人多通壯語及漢語，通用漢文。小學、中學採用漢語課本，用漢語教授，但小學老師討論教案多使用毛南語。毛南族聚居的中心區－－下南鄉政府日常語言一般是毛南語。環江毛南族自治縣政府官方語言是漢語西南官話。毛南族的另外一個分支（約佔人口1／3）聚居於貴州南部，通用「揚黃話」，所以也叫「揚黃人」（見陸天橋著《毛南語語法》。佛羅里達：環球出版社。2008）。

歷史: 毛南族自稱「阿南」或者「毛南」，意為「當地人」。唐代以前的「僚」，宋、元、明 時代的「伶」，與毛南人的先祖有淵源關係。史籍中曾先後出現過「茅灘」、「茆灘」、「茅難」、「冒南」 、「毛難」、「毛南」等名稱。

1980年代以前稱毛難族。

文化習俗: 毛南族人擅長竹編工藝。編製的竹帽做為當地男女訂情之物。細密的竹帽代表兩人的情意綿綿。

毛南族多信仰道教，也有少數信仰佛教。

明倫白切香豬是毛南族的名菜，用當地產香豬加佐料蒸制而成。此外還有：甜紅薯；螺螄酸，蒜頭酸水，鴨血醬，豆腐餚。

毛南族的「南瓜節」為農曆九月九日。各家把收穫到家的形狀各異，桔黃色的大南瓜擺滿樓板，逐一挑選。年輕人走門串戶，到各家評選「 南瓜王」。不僅要看外觀，而且要透過表面看到瓜籽。 待到眾人意見基本一致，由一身強力壯者用砍刀劈開「 南瓜王」，主人掏出瓜瓢，把飽滿的籽留作來年的種子。再把南瓜切成塊，放進小米粥鍋里。文火煨燉到爛熟，先盛一碗供在香火堂前敬奉「南瓜王」，然後眾人共餐同享。

「分龍節」，又叫「五月廟節」，是毛南族特有的節日，在陰曆的「分龍」日前兩天開始舉行，主要是祭祀神靈與祖先，全村男女以及外嫁的女子和遠道的親友都趕來參加，隆重而熱烈。

 

 

* Polymorphisms of Human Leucocyte Antigen Genes in Maonan People in China by S. Ogata, et al.

Abstract: We examined human leucocyte antigen (HLA) gene polymorphisms in the Maonan people from southern China. HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 alleles were determined in 108 healthy unrelated Maonan individuals by the polymerase chain reaction-Luminex method, and haplotype frequencies for HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci were estimated. The most frequent HLA-A alleles were A*1101 (35.2%), A*0203 (17.6%), A*0207 (13.4%) and A*2402 (13.4%); HLA-B alleles were B*1301(19.9%), B*1502 (14.8%), B*4601 (13.4%) and B*4001 (13.4%); HLA-DRB1 alleles were DRB1*1202 (17.1%), DRB1*1602 (13.0%) and DRB1*1401 (10.7%). The most common haplotypes were A*0207-B*4601 (10.6%), A*1101-B*1301 (10.0%), A*1101-B*4001 (8.4%), B*1502-DRB1*1202 (12.0%), B*4601-DRB1*1401 (5.8%), A*1101-B*1502-DRB1*1202 (7.1%) and A*0207-B*4601-DRB1*1401 (5.3%), profiles that are also found in populations from the southern region of East Asia. Phylogenetic and principal component analyses revealed that the Maonan people belong to the southeastern Asian group and are most closely related to the Buyi people.

 

 

HLA-A2

HLA-A2 (A2) is a human leukocyte antigen serotype within HLA-A "A" serotype group. The serotype is determined by the antibody recognition of α2 subset of HLA-A α-chains. For A2, the alpha "A" chain are encoded by the HLA-A*02 allele group and the β-chain are encoded by B2M locus. A2 and A*02 are almost synonymous in meaning. A2 is more common in Northern Asia and North America than elsewhere, and it is part of a several long haplotypes.

The serotype identifies the gene products of many HLA-A*02 alleles, including HLA-A*0201, *0202, *0203, *0206, and *0207 gene products. A*02 is globally common, but A*0201 is at high frequencies in Northern Asia and North America. A2 is the most diverse serotype, showing diversity in Eastern Africa and Southwest Asia. While the frequency of A*0201 in Northern Asia is high, its diversity is limited to A*0201 the less common Asian variants A*0203, A*0206.

 

HLA A*0203 frequencies

Study population	Freq. (%)
China Guangxi Maonan	17.6
China Yunnan Lisu	15.2
Thailand Northeast	12.2
China South Han	10.8
China Guangzhou	9.8
Singapore Javanese Indone…	9.0
China Yunnan Nu	8.2
Thailand	7.7
Taiwan Minnan pop 1	6.4
Taiwan Puyuma	6.0
Taiwan Siraya	5.9
Singapore Riau Malay	5.2
India Khandesh Pawra	5.0
India West Bhils	5.0
Taiwan Pazeh	4.5
India Mumbai Marathas	3.7
Taiwan Hakka	3.6
China North Han	2.4
Sri Lanka Colombo Sinhale…	2.4
China Qinghai Hui	2.3
Taiwan Saisiat	1.0

 

 

HLA-B75

HLA-B75 (B75) is an HLA-B serotype. The serotype identifies certain B*15 gene-allele protein products of HLA-B. B75 is one of many split antigens of the broad antigen, B15. B75 (B*1502) is associated with a severe drug-induced skin condition in ethnic East Asians.

HLA B*1502 Frequencies

Population	Freq (%)
Philippines Ivatan	22.0
Taiwan Puyuma	18.0
China Guangxi Maonan	14.8
China Yunnan Lisu	12.3
Taiwan Tao	12.0
Singapore Chinese Han	11.6
China Guangzhou	11.0
Hong Kong Chinese	10.2
China Yunnan Nu	9.0
Singapore Riau Malay	8.4
Singapore Javanese Indonesians	8.2
Thailand (3)	8.2
China South Han	7.1
Singapore Thai	6.1
India Khandesh Pawra	6.0
Taiwan Minnan pop 1	5.9
India West Bhils	4.0
Taiwan Pazeh	3.6
China Guangdong Meizhou Han	3.5
China Qinghai Hui	2.7
Taiwan Hakka	2.7
Shijiazhuang Tianjian Han	2.4
China North Han	1.9
India Mumbai Marathas	1.9
India North Delhi	1.6
China Beijing	1.5
China Inner Mongolia	1.5
American Samoa	1.0
India North Hindus	1.0
Taiwan Siraya	1.0
Taiwan Tsou	1.0

 

 

* Study on Polymorphisms of 3 Str Locus of CSFIPO, TPOX and THO1 in MaoNan Ethnic Group in Guangxi Province by 滕少康

Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the distribution of three short tandem repeats (STR) loci in Maonan ethnic group in GuangXi province and explored the origins of Maonan ethnic group. Materials and methods: Bloodspecimens were collected from 200 healthy unrelated Maonan individuals in GuangXi province, DNA was extracted by using method of Chelex-100 extracting.Three STR locus in Maonan ethnic group were screened by using AmpF?STRIdentifilerTM PCR Amplification Kit and 3100 Genetic Analyzer. Statisticsanalysis:SPSS-χ2 examination and phylogenetic analysis. Results: There were 5alleles and 14 genotypes in TPOX locus, 6 alleles and 19 genotypes in TH01 locus,7 alleles and 21 genotypes in CSF1PO locus. The allele distributions of the lociwere in good agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The heterozygosity (H) of the 3 locus were 0.625、0.735、0.695 respectively; the discrimination power successively were(DP) 0.7900、0.8609、0.8937 and the exclusion probability ofpaternity exclusion (EP) were 0.4590、0.5933、0.6735 in turn. The result of measuring Genetic Distance showed: Zhuang in Guangxi province(0.0278)→Shuiin Guangxi province(0.0327)→Miao in Guangxi province (0.2173) →LiinHainan province(0.2208)→Jing in Guangxi province(0.2316)→Dai in Yunnanprovince (0.2336) →Buyi in Yunnan province(0.2367)→Han in Guangxiprovince(0.2459)→Hasake in Xinjiang province(0.5202). The result of phylogenetic analysis showed: Maonan, Zhuang , Shui, Miao in Guangxi province,Li in Hainan province, Jing in Guangxi province, Dai in Yunnan province, BuyiinYunnan province became one cluster. Han in Guangxi province and Hasake in Xinjiang province was another cluster. Conclusions: The relationship between Maonan, Zhuang and Shui in Guangxi province is the closest . Combinded with research results of ethnology, linguistics and Y-SNP, Maonan in Guangxi province possibly originated from ancient Baiyue minority. The datas obtained can be alsoused in population forensic application.

 

 

Yue Peoples

Yue (越 or 鉞; also seen as Yueh or Yuet) refers to ancient semi-Sinicized or non-Sinicized peoples of southern China, originally those along the eastern coastline of present-day Zhejiang province. In archaic Chinese, a number of characters (越, 粵, 鉞) were often used interchangeably to represent the same meaning.

Origins and Ancient Usage: In ancient times, the northern Han Chinese referred to the peoples to their south collectively as the Yue. Historian Luo Xianglin has suggested that these peoples shared a common ancestry with the Xia Dynasty. There is little evidence, however, that the Yue peoples held any common identity. Historical texts often refer to the Hundred Yue tribes (百越. There is little evidence, however, that the Yue peoples held any common identity. The "Treatise of Geography" in Han Shu notes: "In the seven or eight thousand li from Jiaozhi to Kuaiji (modern southern Jiangsu or northern Zhejiang) the Hundred Yue are everywhere, each with their own clans." Just as the term Celt was used by the Greeks to describe what they perceived to be a broad cultural group, so the term Yue was a culturally relative term for the ancient Chinese. Also like "Celt", Yue is now used in a number of different ways.

Ethnolinguists have suggested that the pronunciaton of Yue may be related to a type of hemp produced in what is now Zhejiang. The character itself is related to the character for "ceremonial axe" (鉞), usually considered a symbol of royal or imperial authority. A number of stone axes have been found in the area of Hangzhou, and there is evidence that the ceremonial axe was a southern invention.

Sinification and Displacement: From the Ninth century BC, two northern Yue peoples, the Gou-Wu and Yu-Yue, were increasingly influenced by their Chinese neighbours to their north. These two states were based in the areas of what is now southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang respectively. Their aristocratic elite learned the written Chinese language and adopted Chinese political institutions and military technology. Traditional accounts attribute the cultural change to the Grand Earl of Wu (吳太伯), a Zhou prince who had fled to the south. The marshy lands of the south gave Gou-Wu and Yu-Yue unique characteristics. They did not engage in extensive agrarian agriculture, relying instead more heavily on aquaculture. Water transport was paramount in the south, so the two states became advanced in shipbuilding and developed riverine warfare technology. They were also known for their fine swords.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the two states, now called Wu and Yue, were becoming increasingly involved in Chinese politics. In 512 BC, Wu launched a large expedition against the large state of Chu, based in the Middle Yangtze River. A similar campaign in 506 succeeded in sacking the Chu capital Ying. Also in that year, war broke out between Wu and Yue and continued with breaks for the next three decades. In 473 BC, the Yue king Goujian finally conquered Wu and was acknowledged by the northern states of Qi and Jin. In 333 BC, Yue was in turn conquered by Chu. The Kings of the state of Yue, and therefore its succesor state Minyue also claimed to be descended from Yu the Great of the chinese Xia dynasty. According to Sima Qian, Wu was founded by Wu Taibo, a brother of zhou wu wang, the King of the chinese Zhou dynasty.

After the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang, it became incorporated into the Chinese empire. The Qin armies also advanced south along the Xiang River to modern Guangdong and set up commanderies along the main communication routes. Throughout the Han Dynasty period two groups of Yue were identified, that of the Nan-Yue in the far south, who lived mainly in the area of what is now Guangdong, Guangxi, and Vietnam; and that of the Min-Yue who lay to the southeast, centred on the Min River in modern Fujian. The Kings of Minyue claimed to be descended from Yu the Great of the chinese Xia dynasty.

Sinification of these peoples was brought about by a combination of imperial military power, regular settlement and Chinese refugees. The difficulty of logistics and the malarial climate in the south made the displacement and eventual sinification of the Yue peoples a slow process. When the Chinese came into contact with local Yue peoples, they often wrested control of territory from them or subjugated them by force. When a serious rebellion broke out in 40 AD by the Trung Sisters in what is now modern Vietnam, a force of some 10,000 imperial troops was dispatched under General Ma Yuan. Between 100 and 184 no less than seven outbreaks of violence took place, often calling for strong defensive action by the Chinese.

As Chinese migrants gradually increased, the Yue were gradually forced into poorer land on the hills and in the mountains. Unlike the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, such as the Xiongnu or the Xianbei, however, the Yue peoples never posed any serious threat to Chinese expansion or control. Sometimes they staged small scale raids or attacks on Chinese settlements - termed "rebellions" by traditional historians. The Chinese for their part regarded them as being highly uncivilised and prone to fight one another.

While most Yue peoples were eventually sinicized, the Kam-Tai (Daic): Zhuang, Buyi, Dai, Sui (Shui), Kam (Dong), Hlai (Li), Mulam, Maonan, Ong-Be (Lingao), Thai, Lao, Shan, and Vietnamese peoples retained their ethnic identities. Some of these peoples also have their own nation-states today. In particular, the Vietnamese people broke free from Chinese rule in the 10th century and have their own state to this day.

* Tattooed Faces and Stilt Houses: Who Were the Ancient Yue? by Heather Peters

* Guangxi Baiyue Culture Exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing

 

 

百越

百越又稱為百越族，是居於現今中國南方和古代越人有關之各個不同族群的總稱。文獻上也稱之為百粵、粵，其分佈甚廣，內部「各有種姓」，雜處於現今中國南方各地。在中國歷史上，整個廣大的江南之地，即所謂「交趾至會稽七八千里」，在秦漢以前都是百越族的居住地，他們所使用的古越語，與中國北方所使用的古漢語也相差極大，彼此不能通話。他們是南島語族的始祖

然而「越」實為他稱，該古代民族具體較實際名稱為澳泰，英文名稱為Daic。

越即粵，古代粵、越通用。越族就是生活在長江以南的一個古老的民族。夏朝稱「于越」；商朝稱「蠻越」或「南越」；周朝稱「揚越」、「荊越」；戰國稱「百越」。宋朝人羅泌的《路史》說：「越常、駱越，甌越、甌皚，且甌、西甌，供人，目深、摧夫、禽人、蒼吾、越區、桂國、損子、產里、海癸、九菌、稽余、北帶、仆句、區吳，是渭百越。」（摘自黃現璠撰《試論百越和百濮的異同》一文）。

現在居住在中國南方屬於壯侗語系和苗瑤語系的各個民族，不論是在語言上，或者是在文化習俗上，都與古代的百越族有一定程度的淵源關係。此外，也有某些學者認為，在現今中南半島的一些民族，比如說泰國的泰族、寮國的佬族、緬甸的撣族、越南的京族和芒族、甚至屬於南島民族的台灣原住民，也都和百越族有相當程度的密切關聯。

起源: 根據有關文獻的記載，早在商、 周時期，就有被稱之為「越」的古民族（古代中國人泛稱東南方蠻族為「越」，北方蠻族為「胡」），生活在現今中國的東南及南部地區（王東 2003，3）。春秋晚期至戰國前期，越族曾在今江浙一帶建立強大的越國，共傳8代，歷160多年，與當時中原國家會盟，雄視江淮地區，號稱「霸主」（請參見「勾踐」條目；陳國強 2000）。有學者根據《史記》「越王勾踐世家」的描述，認為越族是夏禹的後代。不過，研究百越族的中國學者宋蜀華認為：「勾踐的祖父夫鐔以上至夏少康庶子無餘，世系不清楚；夏少康經商至周敬王共60餘代，兩者世系相差近1000年，把越王勾踐說成是夏少康的後裔，實難信服」（引自龔佩華 nd）。此外，宋蜀華也認為夏文化和越文化截然不同，因為：「夏人活動地區從未發現過『印紋陶文化』，而『印紋陶』流行地區也從未發現過『二里頭文化』.

根據目前考古學的證據，距今7000年的浙江「河姆渡文化」遺址，很可能就是古越族所創造出來的文化。河姆渡遺址發現了稻穀、稻草和稻殼的堆積，是當時世界發現最早的稻作文化，後來在黃河流域的裴李崗遺址、賈湖遺址和長江中游流域的彭頭山遺址等地發現了更早的稻作文化。此外，現在的考古學家也普遍認爲，廣泛分佈於中國南方各地的以幾何印紋陶爲主要特徵的文化遺存，可能也是由古越族所創造出來的。最近數十年來的考古發掘表明：這種以幾何印紋陶爲主要特徵的文化遺存，在時間上從4000多年前的新石器時代晚期開始，一直延續到商周秦漢時期，在空間上則遍佈於中國東南地區及嶺南一帶（

歷史: 和「古越族」相關的最早文字記錄涉及「于越」，于越是春秋時期之越國的前身，最晚在商朝的時候就已經存在，雖然沒有參加武王伐紂，但至少曾經北上當周成王的賓客。該國傳至勾踐 (500 B.C.)的時候，他試著向北擴張，曾經沿著江蘇的海岸北上膠州灣。古越族和漢族早期的關係主要在貿易，越人以象牙、玳瑁、翠毛、犀角、玉桂和香木等奢侈品，以交換北方的絲帛和手工產品(鍾倫納 2004)。

古越族在經過漫長的歷史演變之後，到了戰國時代，已分化成衆多的支系。故而，從這個時候開始，文獻中便出現了「百越」這一個新的稱謂。戰國後期，除了有百越這個名稱以外，還有「揚越」的名稱，即揚州地區的越族。揚州包括今淮南、長江下游和嶺南的東部地區，有時又包括整個嶺南地區。所以揚越實際也是戰國以來至秦漢對越人的另一種泛稱(王東 2003，3；陳國強 2000)。

秦漢時，相關史籍則泛稱中國南方的民族為「越族」，史稱「北方胡、南方越」。由於歷史的發展和變化，至遲在漢朝初期，百越族已經逐漸形成幾個較強盛而明顯的部分，即「東甌」(東海)、「閩越」、「南越」、「西甌」、以及「雒越」(駱越)。東甌在現今浙江省南部的溫州一帶；閩越在今福建省福州一帶；南越在今廣東省境，後來又發展到廣西以及以南地區；西甌則大概分佈在今廣東西部、廣西南部及以南地區；駱(雒)越主要分佈在現今的越南北部。這些部分都形成了當時該地的政治中心，比如說閩越第一代君主無諸、東海第一代君主騶搖、以及南越王趙佗，都曾經叱吒風雲過一段不算短的時間(陳國強 2000)。

越族所建立的這些政治中心，後來都被漢武帝征服，改為漢朝的郡縣。此後，百越這個名稱就不見於史載，越族之名也十分罕見(陳國強 2000)。

文化特點: 百越族有自己的民族語言和生活、文化特點。百越語為黏著型，不同於漢語的單音成義，故百越語譯成漢語時一字常譯為兩字，如愛為「憐職」，熱為「煦蝦」。有人認為越語與今壯侗語系的語言十分接近。

百越族的生活、風俗習慣也有特點，主要是：水稻種植,著貫頭衣,鑿齒; 斷髮紋身；契臂為盟；多食蛇蛤海產；巢居,干欄式建築；善使舟及水戰；以及善鑄銅器，如青銅劍、銅鐸(大鈴),銅鼓,獵頭,食人等。

文化影響: 雖然在今天已經找不到一個名字叫做「百越族」的民族或族群，不過，百越文化事實上卻透過種種不同的方式，在很多不同民族的文化裡面留下了種種痕跡。以下是一些比較值得加以探討的議題。

對世界貢獻:

• 發明水稻種植。
• 發明茶。
• '發明獨木舟

對於當今某些民族語言的影響: 現有的一些語言學研究均指出，在百越族被漢化以後，其所使用的很多字詞，卻依舊遺留在不少民族現在的語彙當中，比如說屬於侗壯語系和苗瑤語系的中國某些少數民族，被歸為漢語方言的一些南方方言，甚至包括印尼、馬來西亞、夏威夷、紐西蘭等地的南島民族，其語言中都可以找到屬於古越語的「同源字」(盧溢棋 1997)。比如說古越語的「蜘蛛」(lakwa)一詞，就可以在鶴佬語(發音為laaqiaa)、客家話(發音為lakia)、畲語(發音為laukhoe)、馬來/印尼語(發音為lawa、lawa-lawa、labah-labah)、夏威夷語(發音為lanalana、nananana)以及紐西蘭毛利人的拉巴怒伊語(Rapanui)(發音為nanai)等語言當中找到類似的發音(Hoklo.org nd)。 日本語的字眼很多來自南島語族。

對於當今某些民族之習俗的影響: 所謂的「洗骨葬」，或稱「二次葬」，在中國長江以南各地，比如說江蘇、浙江、福建、廣東、台灣的漢人，以及很多少數民族，比如說壯族、藏族，都有這種習俗。事實上，一直到現在，台灣的河洛人和客家人也都還採用這種喪葬儀式，在土葬數年後開棺取骨，然後將全副骨骼一一置入一稱為「金鬥」的陶甕當中。直到馬達加斯加也有此習俗。

這種洗骨葬的習俗，事實上並不是漢族所固有的，而是環太平洋原始民族中普遍分佈的一種文化特質，廣及中國大陸、東南和東北亞洲、南太平洋諸島、以及南北美洲。根據台灣中央研究院民族學學者凌純聲的研究，整個洗骨文化圈裏諸民族所採行的洗骨文化，基本上均為來自相同起源的一個文化習俗，而這個習俗最早的起源地，正是百越族所分佈的華南地區。倭人的水稻種植，斷髮紋身，與生活習慣與百越人出奇相似。

 

 

Daic Languages

* The Prehistory of the Daic (Taikadai) Speaking Peoples and the Hypothesis of an Austronesian Connection by Roger Blench

Internal Classification of Daic

 

 

Tai Peoples

The Tai "Chinese 泰" ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including Songkran. Despite never having a unified nation-state of their own, the peoples also have historically shared a vague idea of a "Siam" nation, corrupted to Shan or Assam in some places, and most self-identify as "Tai".

Origin of the Tai: Linguist Laurent Sagart recently hypothesized that the proto-Kradai language originated as an Austronesian language migrants carried from Taiwan to mainland China which then was heavily influenced by local languages from the Sino-Tibetan, Hmong-Mien, or other families, borrowing much vocabulary and converging typologically. Much closer to the present, some peoples speaking Tai languages migrated southward over the mountains into Southeast Asia, perhaps prompted by the coming of the Han Chinese to south China.

Linguistic heritage is not synonymous with genetic heritage, because of language shift where populations learn new languages. However, it is believed that the O1 Y-DNA haplogroup is associated with both the Austronesian people and the Tai. The prevalence of Y-DNA Haplogroup O1 among Austronesian and Tai peoples also suggests a common ancestry with the Sino-Tibetan, Austro-Asiatic, and Hmong-Mien peoples some 35,000 years ago in China. Y-DNA Haplogroup O2a is also found at high frequency among most Tai peoples, which is a trait that they share with the neighboring Austroasiatic peoples. Y-DNA Haplogroups O1 and O2a are subclades of O Y-DNA haplogroup, which itself is a subclade of Y-DNA Haplogroup K, a genetic mutation that is believed to have originated 40,000 yeas ago, somewhere between Iran and Central China.

Linguistic Subdivisions: There are five established branches of the Kradai languages, which may not correspond to ethnicity:

• the nuclear Tai peoples of China(i-lao) and much of Southeast Asia (including most notably the Thai, Lao, Isan(Lao), Shan and Zhuang, and Saek people of Laos and Thailand)
• the Li (Hlai) and Cun people of China
• the Kra peoples of China and Vietnam (also known as the Geyan peoples)
• the Kam-Sui peoples (which may or not include the Biao people)
• The Lingao people in Hainan Province of China speak a Kradai language called Be or Lincheng, although the ethnicity of the Lingao traces back to the Han nationality.

Genetic Structure of Daic as Revealed by Y Chromosomes: Y-chromosome polymorphisms are powerful tools in delineating the genetic structure of human populations. A large number of populations in China have been studied in the last several years and 17 Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotypes have been found in them, some of which are specific to East Asians. Major ethnic groups tend to have their own characteristic profiles reflected by their respective Y haplotype distribution. Daic, an ethnic group dispersing from Assam to Taiwan is a diverse group and yet its genetic structure shows a distinctive profile, different from those of the other groups in East and Southeast Asia, although some resemblance between Daic and Austronesian groups, especially Taiwanese aborigines, is noticeable.

The distribution of Y-chromosome SNP haplotypes in 30 Daic populations were studied. Among the 19 SNPs studied, M119, M110, M95, and M88 are most informative in delineating the genetic structure of Daic. Linguistic and cultural classification are in general concordance with the genetic classification although it may be transgressed due to the apparent gene flow between the major branches of Daic. For example, some populations of Kadai, a major branch of Daic, are more similar to the populations Kam-Sui, another major branch. This phenomenon may be the result of the unitary self-identification and geographic assimilation of Daic system. The geographic distribution of the three principal components (PCs) were generated by superimposing the loading coefficients of each population on to a map, respectively.

The distribution first PC suggested a possible single origin of all the Daic populations. The second PC indicated a deep division of the Daics into two: east group and west group. The center of the east group is in Zhejiang, China, and that of the west one is on the border between China and Burma. The third PC implies the migration routes southern China towards northeast, northwest and southwest during the relocation of Daic populations. The gene flow between Daic and populations of other ethnic groups are noticeable. Han Chinese in Zhejiang and Shanghai have the highest concentration of Daic types of Y haplotypes among all the Han populations in China, suggesting a possible expansion of Daic people from southern China to Zhejiang via Jiangxi. Daic in Zhejiang and Fujian might have come by different routes, as suggested by the difference of their profiles. A diphyletic genetic structure was found in Taiwan Aborigines. The West Daic, Tai, Thai, Ahom and so on emigrated from southern China rather late. It might have happened one to two thousand years ago.

 

 

The Argument for a Link with Austronesian

All the language phyla of East Asia have been connected with one another at different times. Early ‘Indo- Chinese’ hypotheses linked Daic with Chinese, or later, Sino-Tibetan (Van Driem 2005). Influential for a period was ‘Austro-Thai’, a hypothesis first advanced by Benedict (1942, 1975), which broadly claimed Austronesian and Daic were related. Benedict (1990) later expanded his view to include Japanese, a direction in which few have followed. A problem for many authors was that Daic and Austronesian appear to be so very different on the surface; Daic is highly tonal with very short words, Austronesian is non-tonal and tends to have CVCV stems plus affixes. Hence the tendency was to treat Daic as isolated or to link it with Sino-Tibetan, which appears much more similar in terms of morphology.

Benedict is often criticised for irregular semantics and individual arguments for each form, which lowers the threshold for a demonstration of relatedness. Indeed, Thurgood (1994) argued that the apparent relationship with Austronesian is simply that of loanwords. However, Ostapirat (2005) has supported a genetic affiliation with regular sound-correspondences in a way more acceptable to mainstream comparativists. Ostapirat does not advance a hypothesis as to the place of Daic, linking his ‘proto-Kra-Dai’ with the Austronesian reconstructions of Blust. Sagart (2004, 2005a,b) puts Daic on a level corresponding to Malayo-Polynesian as branch of ‘Muish’, part of his proposed phylogeny of Formosan Austronesian....

If this linguistic scenario is accepted, then proto-Daic speakers would have migrated back from the southern tip of Taiwan about 4000 BP, at the same time that other Austronesian speakers were colonising the northern Philippines and reaching the Marianas, apparently aided by newly developed maritime techniques. At a period of significant maritime dispersal, there is no reason in principle why there should not also have been a back-migration to the mainland.

At this period, the Chinese mainland would have presented a very different ethnolinguistic picture from today. The main body of the Chinese population would have been further north and there would have been a diverse body of minority ethnic groups, speaking Hmong-Mien, Austroasiatic and other Sino-Tibetan languages (of which Tujia and Bai may well be the only remnants today) as well as entirely lost language phyla. The speakers of Daic would have spread inland slowly, gradually diversifying. Probably their most ancient branches would been assimilated by the southward expansion of the Han in all the areas near the coast. Pervasive bilingualism would have been responsible for the pervasive restructuring of the language, in particular the development of a system of tones and the almost complete loss of the Austronesian prefixes. A second wave of evolution, whose immediate origins are unknown, was responsible for the rapid expansion of the Tai branch some 2000 years ago, leading to the characteristic pattern today of extremely homogeneous languages in the southern Daic zone. The military expansion of the Thai and their imposition of a national language must also have been responsible for language levelling, leading to the distinctive northern dialects coming closer to Central Thai.

 

Map Showing Hypothetical Expansion of Daic Speakers

 

 

Map of Bai-Yue Population and Migration (in years B.P.)

 

* Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Population Differentiation in Southern East Asia by Hui Li, et al.

Abstract: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphism has been studied systematically in the Han, Tibeto– Buman, and Hmong–Mien ethnic families of southern East Asia. Only two families in this region, Daic and Austro–Asiatic, were still uninvestigated. Daic is a major ethnic family in South China and Southeast Asia and has a long history. To study mtDNA polymorphism within this family, all the Daic populations of China and some of Vietnam (774 individuals from 30 populations) were typed by HVS-1 region sequencing and by PCR-RFLP assays. The observed high Southern type frequencies (B, F, M7, R) confirmed Daic as a typical Southern group. mtDNAs of other populations (126 individuals from 14 populations) from Austro–Asiatic ethnic families neighboring the Daic were also typed. Networks of mtDNA haplogroups in South China were traced from these new data and those from the literature. Ethnic families share many haplogroups, indicating their common origin. However, the two largest families in South China, Daic, and Hmong-Mien, polarized into several ethnic family specific haplogroups. Haplogroup ages were estimated in the networks of high-frequency haplogroups (B, F, M7, R), and they were found to originate about 50,000 years ago. In contrast, ethnic family specific haplogroups all originated around 20,000 years ago. We therefore conclude that modern humans have lived in South China for a long time, inside-ethnogenesis was a rather late event, and frequent inmixing was taking place throughout. MtDNA data of Daic, Austro-Asiatic and other populations in South China has therefore proven pivotal for studying the human history of East Asia.