Connecticut College China Yunnan/Mekong Project

People

Dai Nationality | Naxi Nationality |Wa Nationality| Yi Nationality

Minority Nationalities:

China is a multi-ethnic country, with more than eight percent, or 100 million people, constituting the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China.

Dai Nationality

The Dai historical records can be traced back to 1 B.C. The Dai were called "Dianyue", "Dan", "Shan", "Liao" and "Jiuliaoin" during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD.) and the areas in which they lived were called the "elephant riding country." In the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), the Dai were called "Baiyi." The name "Dai" means "peace and freedom loving." With a population over one million people throughout Yunnan Province, the Dai are concentrated in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Lincang Prefecture, Dehong Prefecture and the reaches of the Lancang-Mekong River and Honghe (Red River.). There are three branches of Dais in Yunnan: the Han Dai (Land Dai), the Shui Dai (Water Dai) and the Huayao Dai (Decorated Waist Dai.). Many Dai also live in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar.

The religion of the Dai, Hinayana (Theravada), was introduced into the Dai region more than a thousand years ago. The Dai also take part in animistic worship by offering sacrifices to spirits and ancestors. In the past, the Dai people had no schools; entering the priesthood was therefore the only opportunity for education. Temples and pagodas are seen in every village. Huayao Dai are an exception among the Dai nationality, as they believe in animism but not Buddhism. The Dai people worship water and regard water as the symbol of beauty, purity and happiness. The Dai's New Year is celebrated by the Water Splashing Festival, which lasts three or four days in mid-April. In the first two days, dragon-boat races are held to send away the old year; on the last day, activities to bring 'luck' are held to welcome the New Year. The Dai language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, a group of related languages that includes Thai, Lao, Shui, Buyi, Dong and Zhuang. Traditionally, Dai people have four forms of written language, but now they use only the standardized characters of the Xishuangbanna and Dehong scripts. Historically, Dai people used palm leaves to record and pass down their cultures. It is said that they have 84,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures on the talipot palm "paper, " the contents of which include classical works of Buddhism, medical theories, literature, and arts.

The Dai ethnic group may have been the first in the area to plant rice and to use a furrow to plough. The Dai, who live in a subtropical climate zone with abundant rainfall and fertile land, produce rice, sugar, tea, hemp, and fruits. They live in bamboo houses on stilts with courtyards enclosed by bamboo hedges and fruit trees. The regions where the Dai people live also feature rare plants, herbs, elephants and peacocks. These beautiful tropical surroundings have fostered the Dai people's love of singing and dancing. Hulusi, a gourd flute which produces a hauntingly beautiful sound, is the main Dai musical instrument. Today, Dai mountain villages, on the Lancang-Mekong river route with four national ports, are one of the most important channels between Yunnan and Southeast Asia. The unique traditional culture of the Dai communities and the rich and rare nature of the ecology of the region are major attractions drawing large numbers of tourists from China and abroad. This vital opening is also providing Chinese and Thai scholars the opportunity to research the origins of Thai-Dai people - a historical question yet to be answered.

Naxi Nationality

The Naxi, with a population of 300,000 people, are a Tibeto-Burman people, concentrated in northwestern Yunnan--especially in Lijiang County--with a few outlying communities in neighboring parts of Sichuan and Tibet. Their language belongs to the Yi family of Tibeto-Burman, though the eastern dialect (spoken by about 40,000 people who identify themselves as Moso, Na, or Naze) also has strong affiliations with the Qiangic family. Both branches of the Naxi are thought to have migrated to their present locales about 2000 years ago from somewhere in the area of northwest Sichuan, southern Gansu or eastern Qinghai. Along with the Yi and many other Tibeto-Burman groups in the southwest, they are believed to be descendants of the ancient Qiang peoples.

During the 8th -13th centuries, the Naxi were an important component of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, which ruled over much of southwest China and contended with Tibet and the Chinese Tang and Song dynasties for regional control. They were conquered by Khubilai at the founding of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1260-1368), and during the Ming and early Qing dynasties (1368-1644 and 1644-1911) they were ruled by a 'native chief' (tusi), established by the Chinese court. The Naxi tusi family (surnamed 'Mu' [wood]) was one of the most powerful in all of southwest China, and their domain encompassed all of northwest Yunnan and projected deep into southwest Sichuan as well. Great patrons of Tibetan and Chinese religions and other 'high arts', the Mu kings earned Naxi the distinction (in Tibetan and Chinese, as well as their own eyes) of being one of the most "civilized' of Yunnan's many minority ethnic groups. Although tourism is now the region's biggest business, the Naxi were traditionally farmers and herders, and engaged in the long-distance yak and mule caravan trade between Yunnan and Tibet. Many of their folk arts--especially singing--reflect their pastoral and agricultural lifestyle.

The Naxi are best known for two unusual cultural features. The (western) Naxi have a ritual specialist called a dongba , who chants and dances his elaborate rituals using texts written in a unique pictographic script. It is the only script of its kind in use in the world today. The (eastern) Moso/Naze are famous for a kind of 'marriage' custom in which men visit their girlfriends by night, return to their natal households during the day, and any resulting children are raised in their mother's home. This kind of relationship (for it is not properly a 'marriage') promotes a relatively high degree of gender equity in Moso society, for both man and woman are free to break it off at any time, and to maintain multiple relationships simultaneously. Once thought to be an extremely primitive form of marriage, it is in some respects quite similar to many modern, urban 'family traditions'.

Wa Nationality

The Wa people call themselves "Wa," "Lei Wa," "Ba Rao," "Bu Rao," etc. According to historical records, the Wa people are the descendants of the "Baipu" people who lived before the Qin period (221 BC- 26 BC). Wa people were called Wangman, Wangqiezi, and Wangwaiyu during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Gula in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and Ha Wa and Ka Wa in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Upon the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), they were formally named "Wa." The Wa people have a unique spoken language belonging to the Austro-Asiatic Mon Khmer language family from the south of China. Genetically, however, the Wa are thought to be the descendants of Pue'hk tribes that migrated from the lower Yangzi north of Yunnan. Wa people did not have a written language. Instead, they kept records and accounts or passed messages to each other using material objects or by engraving bamboo strips. Message transferring using objects such as sugarcane, bananas and salt could signify friendship, chili meant anger, and cock feathers denoted urgency. In 1957, an alphabetic script was created.

The Wa people in Yunnan are concentrated in the Cangyuan and Ximeng Wa Autonomous Counties between the Mekong and Salween Rivers, in the southwest corner of Yunnan on the border of Myanmar, surrounded by mountainous ridges, some 2,000 meters above sea level. The area inhabited by the Wa people has a mild climate with abundant rainfall and fertile land. The total population of Wa is 500,000. More than 360,000 Wa live in Yunnan, 100,000 in Myanmar, and 20,000 in Thailand. The total population of the Wa Nationality is 351,000 in China, and 347,000 in southwest Yunnan, bordering Myanmar by the government. They live in two-storied bamboo structures built on mountain slopes.

In the past, the Wa people worshipped nature. They believed that all mountains, rivers and other natural phenomena represented deities. Today, some Wa people have become followers of Christianity and others of Buddhism. The Wa people are hospitable and warm to their guests. They entertain guests in their homes with wine in bamboo cups as a token of respect and welcome.

Yi Nationality

The Yi people are widely distributed throughout southwest China, including Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Southeast Asian countries including Viet Nam and Myanmar. With a population of more than eight million people, the Yi nationality is one of the largest ethnic minorities of China. The principal concentration of Yi people is in Yunnan, and with nearly five million people, the Yi are the ethnic minority with the greatest population in Yunnan. Most of the Yi population lives in Honghe Hani/Yi Autonomous Prefecture around the Red River north of the China and Vietnam border, and in Chuxiong Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture between Dianchi Lake outside of Kunming and Erhai Lake in Dali.

The history of the Yi people spans centuries. The ancestors of the Yi ethnic group can be traced back to the Qiang people; once a strong and populous ethnic group whose history is traced to the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1046 BC) in northwest China. The Yi people then migrated south, joined and mixed with the indigenous people of China’s southwest, and created the Yi ethnic group. Yi people also established several famous ancient kingdoms, including Ailao Kingdom, Dian Kingdom over two thousand years ago, and Nanzhao Kingdom (738—902 A.D.)

There are more than 50 subgroups within the Yi nationality. They call themselves Nuosu, Nisu, Nasu, Sani, Azhe, Lalu, Luoluo, etc. The name “Yi” was bestowed by the Chinese government in the 1950’s.

The Yi people have their own language, which belongs to the Yi Group of the Tibeto-Burman Branch of Sino-Tibetan Language Family. Yi characters, one of the earliest syllabic scripts in China, were formed in the 13th century. There’s also a modern standardized writing system; both are used today. The Yi people have their own religion, which is called animism or shamanism worshiping natural and ancestral gods. The clothing of the Yi ethnic minority and their personal adornments are colorful; music and dance are an important part of Yi people’s lives; they often greet people with songs, courtship is often expressed by singing and dancing, and men at social gatherings invariably play a three-stringed fiddle with a handle about one meter long and a large sound box about a foot in diameter, called the Moon Guitar. There are a great many Yi costumes with unique designs stemming from various places. Yi people have many traditional festivals. The most important include the Torch Festival and the October New Year.