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Tourism

The major tourist attraction of Guangxi is Guilin, a town famed across China and the world for its spectacular setting by the Lijiang River (Li River) amongst severe karst peaks. It also used to be the capital of Guangxi, and Jingjiang Princes City, the old princes residence, is open to the public. South of Guilin down the river is the town of Yangshuo, which has become a favourite destination for foreign tourists, particularly backpackers.

Ethnic minorities native to Guangxi, such as the Zhuang and Dong, are also interesting for tourists. The northern part of the province, bordering with Guizhou, is home to the Longsheng rice terraces, said to be some of the steepest in the world. Nearby Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County.

* Guangxi travel guide by Wikitravel

 

 

Dong covered bridge in Guangxi

 

 

 

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Guangxi

 

 

Guilin

 

Guilin (桂林) is situated in the northeast of Guangxi on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city has long been renowned for its unique scenery.

Guilin prospered in the Tang and Song dynasties but remained a county. The city was also a nexus between the central government and the southwest border, and it was where regular armies were placed to guard that border. Canals were built through the city so that food supplies could be directly transported from the food-productive Yangtze plain to the farthest southwestern point of the empire.

Guilin rice noodles (桂林米粉) have been the local breakfast staple since the Qin dynasty and are renowned for their delicate taste. Specifically, the local specialty is noodles with horse meat, but this dish can also be ordered without the horse meat.

 

GUANGXI
MINORITIES

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.

 

Geography

Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast. It is also bounded by Vietnam in the southwest and the Gulf of Tonkin in the south.

Guangxi is a mountainous region. The Nanling Mountains are found in the northeast border, with the Yuecheng Mountains (越城岭) and Haiyang Mountains (海洋山) being its shorter branching ridges. Nearer to the center of the region are the Dayao Mountains (大瑶山) and the Daming Mountains (大明山). To the north there are the Duyao Mountains (都阳山) and the Fenghuang Mountains (凤凰山), while on the southeast border there are the Yunkai Mountains (云开大山). The highest point is Mount Mao'er (猫儿山) located in the Yuecheng Mountains, at 2141 m.

Yangshuo

Many rivers cut valleys through the mountains. Most of these rivers form the tributary basin of the West River:

Guangxi has a short coastline on the Gulf of Tonkin. Important seaports include Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang.

 

 

Map of Gulf of Tonkin

The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea. Covering an area of 126,250 km², the gulf borders Vietnam on the northwest, west and southwest. The Chinese mainland lies to the north while the Island of Hainan forms the eastern limits of the gulf. The gulf is notably shallow (less than 60 meters deep). Haiphong, Vietnam and Beihai, China are the chief ports. Numerous small islands are located in the gulf, most of which are concentrated in the northwestern gulf. Of note are larger islands of Bach Long Vi and Cat Ba of Vietnam and Weizhou of China. The Red River is the main river flowing into the Gulf.

The name Tonkin, written 東京 in Chinese characters and Đông Kinh in Vietnamese, means 'Eastern Capital', and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. (Incidentally, the same Chinese characters are used to write "Tokyo", capital of Japan.)

History of Guangxi: Part of the region officially became part of China in 214 BC, when the army of the Qin Dynasty claimed most of southern China. The name "Guangxi" can be traced to the Song Dynasty, which administered the area as a circuit called the Guangnanxi Circuit (literally "Guang-South West Circuit"). During the late Mongol Yuan Dynasty the name was revived again to name a province in the region, but it was shortened to "Guangxi", or "Guang-West". For the next six centuries, Guangxi was a province of China, until its conversion into an autonomous region by the People's Republic of China because of its large minority population.

During the late Qing Dynasty, Guangxi was the site of the Jintian Uprising (金田起义), which occurred in what is now Guiping county in eastern Guangxi on January 11, 1851. On March 23, 1885, Zhennan Pass (now Youyi Pass) on the border with Vietnam was also the site of the Battle of Zhennan Pass (镇南关战役) during the Franco-Chinese War. During the battle, a French incursion was routed by Chinese forces under Feng Zicai (冯子才), an event that has been exalted by subsequent Chinese nationalism.

Demographics: The region has a high concentration of Zhuang, over 14 million, one of the major minority ethnicities 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).

Culture: "Guangxi" and neighbouring Guangdong literally mean "Guang West" and "Guang East". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Two Guangs" (两广). Its culture and language are reflected in this. 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 linguistic diversity. In the capital of Nanning, for example, four dialect-languages are spoken locally: Southwestern Mandarin, Cantonese, Pinghua, and Zhuang.

 

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Zhuang

The Zhuang (壯族) are an ethnic group of people who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population, estimated at 18 million people, puts them second only to the Han Chinese and makes the Zhuang the largest minority in China. The name of the Zhuang minority used to be written 獞. However, the character also refers to a variety of wild dogs, so it was considered an ethnic slur. In 1949, the "animal" radical was replaced by the "human" radical, and the character became 僮. Eventually, the character was replaced with 壮, a character already in existence meaning "sturdy" or "strong".

The Zhuang live mostly in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.

The Zhuang language (autonym: Cuengh or Cueŋь; 壮语) is used by the Zhuang people in the People's Republic of China. Most speakers live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Zhuang, which belongs to the Tai language group, is an official language in that region. Standardized Zhuang is based on the dialect of Wuming County (武鸣县). Buyei, considered a separate language in China, is actually just a slightly different standard form of Zhuang, used across the province border in Guizhou. There is a dialect continuum between Zhuang and Buyei. Zhuang is a tonal language. It has six tones.

The Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai-Kadai languages, including Thai, the national language of Thailand, Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos, Myanmar's Shan language, and Zhuang, a major language of southern China.

The Tai-Kadai languages, also known as Kadai, Kradai, or Kra-Dai languages, and in China as Zhuang-Dong languages, are a tonal language family found in southern China and Southeast Asia. The diversity of the Tai-Kadai languages in southeastern China, especially on Hainan, suggests that this is close to their homeland. The Tai branch moved south into Southeast Asia only in historic times, founding the nations that later became Thailand and Laos in what had been Austroasiatic territory.

The Kadai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino-Tibetan family, but outside of China they are now classified as an independent family. They contain large numbers of cognates with Sino-Tibetan languages. However, these are seldom found in all branches of the family, and do not include basic vocabulary, indicating that they are old loan words (Ostapirat 2005).

In China, they are called Zhuang-Dong languages and are considered Sino-Tibetan along with the Miao-Yao languages.

Several Western scholars believe that Kadai is related to or a branch of the Austronesian language family, in a family called Austro-Tai. There is a substantial but limited number of cognates in the core vocabulary. There is yet no agreement as to whether they are mainland Austronesian languages which remained on the mainland, a backmigration from Formosa (Taiwan) to the mainland, or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.

Prehistory: The Zhuang are of Tai origin, a people who migrated south from central China roughly 5000 years ago. The Zhuang settled in what is now Guangxi while other Tai peoples moved to Yunnan. It is suggested the Tai peoples migrated for food purposes, as the culture developed a unique irrigation system which was useful for growing rice. As the soil was unsuitable for this purpose in Central China, the Tai sought out more fertile plains. However, it is highly probable that struggles with emerging Chinese states that rapidly gained power with Mesolithic (Bronze Age) weapons had something to do with this. Long struggles with China to avoid destruction (as they were "barbarians") led Tais around 1100 AD to migrate south from Southern China to create the Lao, Thai and Shan peoples of Indochina, and even as far away as Assam, India.

The Dynasties: The Zhuang did not record their history until the Eastern Zhou dynasty (475-221 BC) of China. The Chinese referred to the area as Bai-Yue 百越/百粵 (the Hundred Yue - referring to the aborigines of southern China). Eastern Guangxi was conquered by the Han people under the Qin Dynasty in 214 BC. The Hans, to bring the area firmly in their control, built the Ling Canal to link the Xiang and Lijiang rivers and form a North-South waterway.

An independent state known as Nan Yue (Southern Yue, or Vietnam) around Canton was created by General Zhao Tuo when the Qin Dynasty collapsed. This Kingdom was supported by the Zhuang until its collapse in 111 BC. The Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) thought the Zhuang culture unproductive, so they reduced local authority and consolidated their authority with Military posts at Guilin, Wuzhou, and Yulin.

In 42 AD, the Trung Sisters uprising was quelled by an army under General Ma Yuan, who sought not only victory on the battlefield but felt true concern for the Zhuang people. He reorganized the Zhuang Local Authority, improved public works, dug canals and reclaimed land to increase production. His work brought the Zhuang into a more modern condition, and temples in his honor can still be seen to this day.

An influx of immigrant Yao people from Hunan after the collapse of the Han Dynasty caused the region to become unstable as the Yao showed hostility to assimilation. The Guiping area of Guangxi, where the Yao settled, would become a hotbed of revolution against Han rule, causing the Zhuang people to suffer terribly, despite their passive stance on assimilation.

The Yao nationality (瑤族; Vietnamese: người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south. They also form one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognized by Vietnam. In the last census, they numbered 2,637,421 in China, and roughly 470,000 in Vietnam.

Origins of the Yao can be traced back 2000 years ago starting in Northern China.

From the 15th to 19th Century, the Yao migrated into Thailand, Vietnam and the highlands of Laos. The migration was agitated by the opium trade and as the result of revolts in Southern China during this period.

In addition to China, populations of Yao also live in Northern Vietnam (where they are called Dao), Northern Laos, and Burma. There are around 60,000 Yao in Northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. The lowland-living Lanten of Laos, who speak Kim Mun, and the highland-living Iu Mien of Laos are two different Yao groups. There are also many Yao living in the United States, mainly refugees from the highlands of Laos who speak the Iu Mien language. The Iu Mien do not call themselves "Yao". Not all "Yao" are Iu Mien.

A group of 61,000 people on the island of Hainan speak the Yao language Kim Mun, but see themselves as Miao (Hmong), and they are also officially categorized as Miao by the Chinese Government. 139,000 speakers of Kim Mun live in other parts of China (Yunnan and Guangxi), and 174,500 live in Laos and Vietnam.

Under the Tang Dynasty Guangxi became part of Ling-nan Tao (large province) with present day Hainan and Guangdong. The noted scholar Liu Zongyuan was prefectural administrator at Liuzhou. Irked by Chinese expansion, however, the Zhuang moved to support the Tai kingdom of Nanchao in Yunnan. Guangxi was then divided into an area of Zhuang ascendancy west of Nanning and an area of Han ascendancy east of Nanning.

After the collapse of the Tang a new Chinese kingdom known as Nan Han (Southern Han), based in Guangdong, gained minimal control over the Zhuang, but the Nan Han Kingdom was plagued by instability and it was annexed by the Song Dynasty of China in 971. The Nan Han rule of the Zhuang was marked by minimal interference in Zhuang affairs by the Chinese rulers.

The Song developed a new way of dealing with the Zhuang that was a combination of force and appeasement, a policy that neither satisfied the aspirations of the Zhuang nor ended the savage warfare brought to the region by the Yao against the Chinese. In 1052 a Zhuang leader, Nong Zhigao, led a revolt and set up an independent kingdom in the Southwest. The revolt was crushed, and the Song rule became more brutal, causing the region to spasm in revolt against the Chinese.

After the Yuan Dynasty liquidated the Song, they spent several years deciding what to do with the Zhuang. Weary of the bad relationship previous Chinese rulers had with the region, they decided to make it a full province of China rather than let it remain an occupied territory. This only caused greater stress as the Zhuang and Yao felt alienated, and hated direct rule from the Chinese government. Further complicating Zhuang aspirations, another aboriginal people, the Miao, left Guizhou and Hunan for the Zhuang lands.

The area continued to be unruly, forcing the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to impose an underhanded way of dealing with it: the Ming would give tribal leaders of the Zhuang an army to attack the Yao. Once the Yao were devastated, the Ming used the armies they had given the Zhuang leaders to kill the Zhuang leaders, and force a leaderless Zhuang society under their heavy handed rule. This resulted in perhaps the bloodiest period of history in a relatively calm region. At the Battle of Rattan Gorge, in 1465, 20,000 deaths were reported. The Ming policy failed, but the larger cities in the region did prosper under Ming economic reform.

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) let the region remain in chaos until 1726 when they imposed direct rule as the Yuan had. This was also a failed venture as a Yao revolution took place in 1831. Twenty years later, in 1850, the same area witnessed the Taiping Rebellion break out. The execution of a French missionary led to the Second Opium war in 1858. The Franco-Chinese War of 1885 put Vietnam under French supremacy and opened up the area to foreign encroachment. All of this caused a constant economic depression through the nineteenth century.

Modern Times: Together with neighboring Guangdong, Guangxi became an area of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙)'s Nationalist (國民黨) revolution. With the fall of the Qing, the Zhuang sent representatives to the central government to campaign for Guangxi autonomy, but when years of protocol failed, the "Guangxi Clique" turned to open revolt in 1927. Maintaining a defiant self-rule stance for two years, the Zhuang leaders of Li Tsung-jen and Li Chi-shen modernized Guangxi, but Chiang Kai-shek ruthlessly crushed their revolt in 1929. Despite the Clique's failure, Chiang could not put Guangxi under direct provincial rule, and it remained unruly until 1950. The Kuomintang's suppression of Guangxi led to widespread support of Communism.

During World War II Guangxi was a major target of Japanese attacks, as they invaded the coast in 1939. The famous patriotic newspaper National Salvation Daily was printed at Guilin. In 1944, the Japanese launched a major offensive to take the western half of Guangxi, but with relentless Zhuang guerrillas and a Chinese counterattack, the Japanese were routed.

* Y-chromosome Genotyping and Genetic Structure of Zhuang Populations by Jing Chen, et al.

 

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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.

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.

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.

Legend has it 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 Yunnan Province, where their largest populations can be found today.

The Qiang people (羌族) are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 200,000 living in northwestern Sichuan province. Nowadays, the Qiang are only a small segment of the population, but they are commonly believed to be an old, once strong and populous people whose history can be traced to the Shang Dynasty and whose offspring include the Tibetans and many minorities in southwestern China.

In ancient China, Qiang was usually used as a generic term for the non-Han peoples in the northwest. These peoples were frequently at war with the inhabitants of the Yellow River valley, the ancestors of ethnic Hans. Not until the rise of the state of Qin under Duke Mu was the Qiang expansion effectively checked.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) and Wei-Jin periods (221-419), Qiang were widely distributed along the mountainous fringes of the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, from the Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山) in Xinjiang province (East Turkestan), and eastern Qinghai area, to southern Gansu, western Sichuan, and northern Yunnan.

Later, the Chinese restricted the term Qiang min 羌民 (Qiang people registered with the Chinese government) to refer to sinicized non-Han living in the Min River valley in Sichuan and used the term Fan Qiang 番羌 (barbarian Qiang) to refer to less sinicized non-Han living in the vicinity.

At the legendary time when the Qiang people moved into Sichuan from Tibet, they placed white stones on every hilltop and crossroads , for they did not want to forget the route leading back to their original homeland. These piles of white stones also acts as a token of their affection for their homeland and the people they left behind at the same time.

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 words, of which 1,000 are words 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.

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.

* The Yi Ethnic Minority by china.org

* The Yis of Liangshan Prefecture by B. Vermander

* Nuosu religion by B. Vermander

* Analyses of Genetic Structure of Tibeto-Burman Populations Reveals Sex-Biased Admixture in Southern Tibeto-Burman by Hui Li

 

Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China by Stevan Harrell

 

 

 

 

Mountain Patterns: The Survival of Nuosu Culture in China by Stevan Harrell, et al.

 

 

 

 

Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China by Stevan Harrell

 

 

 

 

Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers by Stevan Harrell

 

 

 

 

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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.

* Guangxi Zhang Autonomous Region by Ron Wedin

* The Power of Language Over the Past: Tai Settlement and Tai Linguistics in Southern China and Northern Vietnam by Jerold A. Edmondson

 

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Maonan

photo by paulnoll.com

The Maonan (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.

Yue Peoples: Yue (越,粵,鉞) literally: "beyond; Guangdong and Guangxi arearefers 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.

 

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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).

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.

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.
• Hmong, White Miao, Mong, Green (Blue) Miao, Small Flowery Miao; south Sichuan, west Guizhou and south Yunnan.

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/Mong 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/Mong-Mien (Miao-Yao) language family.

* Song: 我是苗家人 on YouTube

 

History of the Miao People

Origin: The early history of the Hmong has proven difficult to trace, but theories that place the origin of the Hmong/Mong people in Mesopotamia, Siberia, or Mongolia have been disputed by recent studies. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien/Miao-Yao language speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong/Miao speaking populations show more contact with northeast Asians (i.e. northern Han) than Mien/Yao populations. Historical Chinese documents describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

Conflict between Miao groups and newly arrived settlers increased during the eighteenth-century under repressive economic and cultural reforms imposed by the Qing Dynasty. This led to armed conflict and large-scale migrations continuing into the late nineteenth-century, the period during which most Hmong people emigrated to Southeast Asia. The process began as early as the late-seventeenth-century, before the time of major social unrest, when small groups went in search of better agricultural opportunities.

• Vietnam (1999): 787,600
• Laos (2005): 450,000
• Thailand: 150,000

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 people under Chiyou (蚩尤) were defeated at Zhuolu (涿鹿, a defunct prefecture on the border of present provinces of Hebei and Liaoning) by the military unification of Huang Di (黃帝) and Yandi (炎帝), leaders of the Huaxia (華夏) tribe as they struggled for supremacy of the Huang He valley (see Battle of Zhuolu). The compass was believed to be the crucial reason of Huaxia's victory. The battle, believed to have taken place in the 26th century BC, was fought under heavy fog as Huaxia was able to match against the ancestors of the Mong with the compass.

The Battle of Zhuolu is the second battle in Chinese history as recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, fought in the 26th century BC between the Yellow Emperor and Chi-You. The victory for the Yellow Emperor here is often credited as the establishment of the Han Chinese civilization, although almost everything from that time period is considered legendary.

In prehistoric China, the tribes of Yellow Emperor rose to power on the plains of Guanzhong and merged with Yan Emperor's tribes following the battle of Banquan. The Huaxia tribes, as the merged tribes were known, spread along the Yellow River towards the East China Sea. The Jiuli tribes, led by Chi-You, developed near the present-day borders of Shandong, Hebei, and Henan and expanded towards the west. The Huaxia and Jiuli tribes were in conflict over the fertile land in the Yellow River valley, and thus they fought in the plains of Zhoulu. Chi-You's tribes were fierce in war and skilled at making weapons; allying themselves with the Kua Fu tribe and the Sanmiao (三苗) tribe, they first attacked the Yan Emperor's tribe, driving them into the lands of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor was angered by this and went to war with Chi-You.

After the battle, the Huaxia tribe settled in the Yellow River plains known as Zhongyuan, and the Yellow Emperor established the Huaxia capital in Zhuolu. The Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor were often credited for allowing the Han Chinese civilization to thrive due to the battle, and many Chinese people call themselves "descendants of Yan and Huang" (炎黃子孫) to this day.

After their defeat, the tribe of Chiyou split into two smaller splinter tribes, the Miao and the Li (黎). 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.

Li or Hlai is a minority Chinese ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 94% of the Li live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan, where they are the largest minority ethnic group. The Li have their own language, known as Hlai, which is classified as one of the Tai-Kadai languages (previously Sino-Tibetan). Because many Hlais in Hainan relocate to Cantonese-speaking areas in southern China, Hlais may learn Cantonese during their childhood.

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. It is believed that during this time the Mong were split into two main dialects: Mong Leng and Hmong Der and referred to as Mong and Hmong. Today, the two names are used interchangeably.

Qin and Han Dynasties: 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). At that time the people lived in the Yangtze River valley, but later they were forced by the antagonistic policing of the Han Chinese to move further southwards and to higher elevations. As most territories of the Six dynasty located south of the river, bringing the Miao into submission was a major concern for stability of those dynasties. With the Wu Hu ravaging areas north of the river, large scale migration of Chinese to the south accelerated the assimilation of Miao into Han Chinese.

Wu Hu (五胡; literally "Five Hu") is a collective term for various non-Chinese steppe tribes during the period from the Han Dynasty to the Northern Dynasties. These nomadic tribes originally resided outside China proper, but gradually migrated into Chinese areas during the years of turmoil between the Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms. These non-Chinese tribes, whom the Han had fought to a standstill, seized the opportunity afforded by the weakness of the central government to extend their settlement of pastoral lands into the fertile North China Plain.

The Rebellion of the Eight Kings during the Western Jin Dynasty triggered a large scale Wu Hu uprising from 304, which resulted in the sacking of the Chinese capitals at Luoyang (311) and Chang'an. The Xiongnu Kingdom of Han-Former Zhao captured and executed the last two Jin emperors as the Western Jin Dynasty collapsed in 317. Many Chinese fled to the south of Yangtze River as numerous tribesmen of the Wu Hu and remnants of the Jin wreaked havoc in the north. Fu Jiān temporarily unified the north but his brilliant achievement was destroyed after the Battle of Feishui. The Northern Wei Dynasty unified northern China again in 439 and ushered in the period of the Northern Dynasties.

Tang Dynasty: Thus beginning in Tang Dynasty, 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. 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.).

Zhong Xang, Yajiaumo of Huang: Zhong Xang Yajiaumo, also known as Tou Long Vaj, was the General of the Huang of the Miao People, today they are known as the Hmong, during the 11th Century through mid-12th Century in Southern China against the Rebellion of the Zhou Dynasty. He was born in the mountains in a Miao village, he grew up hated by many of the villagers because he was poor and did not have parents, likely they've died from illness or were killed. Instead of learning his culture's teachings, he studied swordsmenship and martial arts. He then defended his village from random attacks of the Chinese, (Xhua Liab). When the Emperor ordered a sweep to take out the Miao people, many fled into deeper southern Asia; Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Those who stayed supported Zhong Xang with the war against the Chinese, the first battle at the northern mountains of Huangshan led Zhong Xang with victory. Stunned by this, the Emperor ordered more men on the attack, the second battle of Qin Xing was victorious by Zhong Xang as well. At Haji Bay, Zhong Xang and his armies were ambushed and Yajiaumo almost died. He managed to survive with the help of the "Green Hmong" (Hmoob Gauws), who later agreed to help him fight. In 1172, the Khong Ming of the Zhou surrendered and they fled into the east. The Miao people then moved to the higher mountains to avoid furture warfare. In 1186, arrows lit with fire and yellings from the distance was heard as Chinese soldiers raged the mountains of Huangshan. once again, the Miao was forced to fight. Zhong Xang was placed as General, and battle continued until 1208, when Zhong Xang's soldiers were less than 150,000. Before the battle, he gave a speech to the Miao People. He asked them to help him battle, instead 66 percent of the population in the entire Southern China region decided to leave. Leaving him with less than 12,000 soldiers. Not surrendering, he plunged an attack on the Chinese. He was outnumbered and his entire army was wiped out in less than 4 hours or five. Zhong Xang was caught and faced the Emperor. Forced to Kneel apon the Emperor, he refused. His back-knees were cut by a knife, forcing him to kneel. Grabing his sword, he plunged the grounds and forced himself to never bow down. The Emperor then grabbed his knife and plunged it into Zhong Xang's neck, he was bled and died. Over almost one thousand years later, his finds where found and a statue was built for the memory of the great Miao Leader.

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" (yiyi zhiyi) 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.

Muslims in China, along with the Miao people, revolted against the Qing Dynasty, most notably in the Dungan revolt (1862-1877) and the Panthay rebellion (1856-1873) in Yunnan. These little known revolts were suppressed by the Manchu government in a manner that amounts to genocide,killing a million people in the Panthay rebellion, several million in the Dungan revolt and five million in the suppression of Miao people in Guizhou. A "washing off the Muslims"(洗回 (xi Hui)) policy had been long advocated by officials in the Manchu government

* Analysis of mtDNA Polymorphism among Three Mien Population in Guangxi by Hui Li

 

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

 

 

 

 

Miao Textiles from China (Fabric Folios) by Gina Corrigan

 

 

 

The Hmong of China: Context, Agency, and the Imaginary by Nicholas Tapp

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Traditional Miao Boat used to travel down rapids for trading goods

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Hmong

Black Hmong women in Sa Pa, Vietnam.

The terms Hmong and Mong both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. There, they remain one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao (苗族). The Hmong people are a minority ethnic group in several countries, believed by some researchers to be from the Yellow Basin area in China. The Hmong are known in China as the Miao, a designation that embraces several different ethnic groups. There is debate about usage of this term, especially amongst Hmong living in the West, as it is believed by some to be derogatory, although Hmong living in China still call themselves by this name. Chinese scholars have recorded contact with the Miao as early as the 3rd Century BCE, and wrote of them that they were a proud and independent people. However, after the Han Chinese attempted to impose several new taxation systems and continued expansion of their empire, the Hmong are reported to have rebelled. Many wars were fought, and eventually many Hmong were pushed from China into Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The history of the Hmong people is difficult to trace; they have an oral tradition, but there are no written records except where other people have encountered them. Hmong history has been passed down through legends and ritual ceremonies from one generation to another.

Nomenclature: Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions, "White Hmong" (Hmong Der) and "Green" or "Blue Mong" (Mong Leng) being the terms for two of the largest groups. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg (Green Mong). The doubled vowels indicate nasalization, and the final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced. White Hmong and Green Mong people speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. Other groups of Hmong/Mong people include the Black Hmong (Hmoob Dub), Striped Hmong (Hmoob Txaij/Hmoob Quas Npab), Hmong Shi, Hmong Pe, Hmong Pua, and Hmong Xau.

Since 1949, Miao has been an official term for one of the 55 official minority groups recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China. The Miao live mainly in southern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Hubei, and elsewhere in China. According to the 2000 census, the number of 'Miao' in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. The Miao nationality includes Hmong/Mong people as well as other culturally- and linguistically-related ethnic groups who do not call themselves either Hmong or Mong. These include the Hmu, Kho (Qho) Xiong, and A Hmao. The White Miao (Bai Miao) and Green Miao (Qing Miao) are both Hmong/Mong groups.

Usage of the term "Miao" in Chinese documents dates back to the Shi Ji (1st century BC) and the Zhan Guo Ce (late Western Han Dynasty). During this time, it was generally applied to people of the southern regions thought to be descendants of the San Miao kingdom (dated to around the 3rd century BC.) The term does not appear again until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), by which time it had taken on the connotation of "barbarian." Interchangeable with "man" and "yi," it was used to refer to the indigenous people of the south-western frontier who refused to submit to imperial rule. During this time, references to Raw (Sheng) and Cooked (Shu) Miao appear, referring to level of assimilation and political cooperation of the two groups. Not until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) do more finely grained distinctions appear in writing. Even then, discerning which ethnic groups are included in various classifications can be problematic. This inconsistent usage of "Miao" makes it difficult to say for sure if Hmong/Mong people are always included in these historical writings. Linguistic evidence, however, places Hmong/Mong people in the same regions of southern China that they inhabit today for at least the past 2,000 years. By the mid-18th century, classifications become specific enough that it is easier to identify references to Hmong/Mong people.

In Southeast Asia, Hmong/Mong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: mun lu-myo. "Mèo", or variants thereof, is considered highly derogatory by many Hmong/Mong people and is infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

Controversy Over Nomenclature - Hmong and Mong: When Western authors came in contact with Hmong and Mong people, beginning in the eighteenth-century, they referred to them in writing by ethnonyms assigned by the Chinese (i.e. Miao, or variants). This practice continued into the twentieth century. Even ethnographers studying the Hmong/Mong people in Southeast Asia often referred to them as Meo, a corruption of Miao applied by Thai and Lao people to the Hmong/Mong. Although "Meo" was an official term, it was often used as an insult against Hmong/Mong people and it is considered to be highly derogatory. In the middle of the twentieth century, a concerted effort was made to refer to Hmong/Mong by their own ethnonyms in scholarly literature. By the 1970s, it became standard to refer to the entire ethnic group as "Hmong."

Dr. Paoze Thao and others feel strongly that "Hmong" can refer only to Hmong Der people and does not include Mong Leng people. He feels that the usage of "Hmong" in reference to both groups perpetuates the marginalization of Mong Leng language and culture. Thus, he advocates the usage of both "Hmong" and "Mong" when referring to the entire ethnic group. Other scholars, including anthropologist Dr. Gary Yia Lee (a Hmong Der person), suggest that "Hmong" has been used for the past 30 years to refer to the entire community and that the inclusion of Mong Leng people is understood. Some argue that such distinctions create unnecessary divisions within the global community and will only confuse non-Hmong/Mong people trying to learn more about Hmong/Mong history and culture.

Controversy Over Nomenclature - Hmong, Mong, and Miao: Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong or Mong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status. In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao" — taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

Hmong in Thailand: Originally, the Hmong people were immigrants from Tibet, Siberia and Mongolia, before migrating to China 3,000 years ago where they settled down in areas around the Yellow River (Huang Ho), Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunnan. During the 17th century, the Manchu Dynasty wielded power in China. The king changed policy to suppress Hmong people who refused to practice and believe in the Chinese culture and tradition, because Hmong men have a similar character to Russians which led the Chinese to believe that they were Russian. Another reason was that the Hmong was a barbarian race, and constantly fought each other.

Eventually, the Hmong people were defeated and moved to the south of China, separating into small groups. Most of these groups lived on the hills in Sibsongpanna, while another set of immigrants lived on the northeast of the Laos republic around Haihin Dianbianfu. The Leader, named ‘General Wungpor’, collected Hmong immigrants, and moved to Thailand around 2400 in Buddhism era (c. 1857).

Now, Hmong people in Thailand have set up villages on the hills, or the lowlands, around Chiang Rai, Payao, Chiang Mai, Prae, Lampang, Khampang Phet, Loei, Phisanulok, Phetchabun, Tak and Mae Hong Son. The current population of Hmong people stands around 151,080.

* Hmong Customs and Culture

* Hmong Cuisine

* Hmong Funeral

* Hmong Textile Art (video)

* Hmong American

* The Hmong in America: A Story of Tragedy and Hope by Jeff Lindsay

* Video: The Hmong Journey - China on YouTube

* Video: Hmong History on YouTube

* Video: Hmong on YouTube

* Hmong History and Early Studies of the Hmong by Mark E. Pfeifer

 

 

 

* Hmong-Asylum.org

* Hmong Studies Internet Resource Center

* HmongNet.org

* Hmong Studies Journal

* Hilltribe Museum Hmong of Thailand

* Mong Literacy

 

Hmong: History of a People by Keith Quincy

 

 

 

 

 

Hmong / Miao in Asia by Nicholas Tapp (Editor)

 

 

 

 

 

Haplogroup O3 (Y-DNA)

 

The geographic distribution of language families/subfamilies in East Asia from Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

 

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.

 

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