History
Early history
Origins of the Yao can be traced back 2000 years ago starting in Northern China.
Emigration
From the 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.
Laotian Civil War
During the Laotian Civil War, Yao tribes of Laos had a good relationship with forces and were dubbed to be an “efficient friendly force.” This relationship caused the Laotian government to target Yao tribal groups for revenge once the war was over. This triggered further immigration into Thailand, where the tribes would be put into camps along the Thailand-Laos border.
Immigration to the United States
After obtaining refugee status from the and with the help of the United Nations, many Yao people were able to obtain sponsorship into the United States . Most Yao have immigrated to the United States have settled along the Western part of the U.S., mainly in Northern California such as , Oroville, Sacramento, but also in parts of Oregon and . See Mien American for those identified as Mien.
Culture
The typical houses of the Yao are rectangular and they have structures made of wood and bamboo. Normally it has three rooms: a room and two dormitories in the lateral side. Each one of these rooms has a small oven to cook.
The men and the women cover their heads with a black or red scarf. Some women substitute this scarf by a turban that can adopt different forms.
The traditional suit of the women is of bright colors. They also decorate their shirts with decorations made out of silver.
In Vietnam, Yao people celebrate many exciting and meaningful festival such as Nhơn chung lỉnh , Nhiang chằm đao ...
Religion
The Yao have a religion based on medieval Chinese Taoism, although many have converted to Buddhism and some to Christianity. Though some people has converted onto other religions, many still remained practicing their traditions.
Marriage
Marriage is traditionally arranged by go-betweens who represent the boy's family to the girl's parents. If the union is acceptable, a bride-price is negotiated, typically ranging from three to ten silver bars, worth about US$100 each, a partial artifact from the opium trade. The wedding takes place in two installments, first at the bride's house, followed by a procession to the groom's house where a second ceremony occurs.
Groups and languages
There are several distinct groups within the Yao nationality, and they speak several different languages, from different language families:
* Miao-Yao languages
** The Mien speak ''Mienic'' languages , including:
*** Mian-Jin languages
**** , 818,685 speakers
**** , more than 300,000 Yao people
**** , 20,000 speakers
*** , 60,000 speakers
*** , 43,000 speakers
**
*** , 258,000 speakers
*** , 18,442 speakers.
*** , 9,716 speakers
*** , 1,078 speakers also known as the 'Flowery Blue Yao'
*** Some linguists group the above languages - with a total of more than 287,000 speakers - together as dialects of a single Bunu language .
* Tai-Kadai languages
** , 12,000 speakers
*
** about 500,000 Yao speak Chinese dialects
In addition to China, populations of Yao also live in Northern Vietnam , 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 , and the highland-living Iu Mien of Laos are two different Yao groups. There are also many , 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 , but see themselves as , and they are also officially categorized as Miao by the Chinese Government. 139,000 speakers of Kim Mun live in other parts of China , and 174,500 live in Laos and Vietnam.
The Bunu call themselves ''Nuox'' , ''Buod nuox'' , ''Dungb nuox'' or according to their official name ''Yaof zuf'' . Only 258,000 of the 439,000 people categorised as Bunu in the 1982 census speak Bunu; 100,000 speak Zhuang, and 181,000 speak Chinese and Bouyei.
Written languages
After the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Guangxi Nationality Institute and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences together created a new Yao writing system which was unified with the research results of the Yao-American scholar Yuēsè Hòu . The writing system was finalized at a one-day conference in 1984 in Ruyan County, Guangdong, which included Chinese professors Pan Chengqian , Deng Fanggui , Liu Baoyuan , Su Defu and Yauz Mengh Borngh; Chinese government officials; Mien Americans Sengfo Chao , Kao Chiem Chao , and Chua Meng Chao; David T. LeeUnited States Linguist Herbert C. Purnell, who developed a curriculum and workshop presentations on language learning in East and Southeast Asia; and Yao Seng Deng from Thailand. The US delegation took the new writing system to the Iu Mien community in the United States where it was adopted with a vote of 78 to 7 by a conference of Mien American community leaders.
This writing system based on the Latin alphabet was designed to be pan-dialectal; it distinguishes 30 syllable initials, 121 syllable finals and eight tones.
For an example of how the unified alphabet is used to write Iu Mien, a common Yao language, see Iu Mien language.
There is a separate written standard for Bunu, since it is from the side, rather than the Mien/Yao side, of the Miao-Yao languages family.
Officially illiteracy and semi-literacy among the Yao in China still stands at 40.6%, as of 2002.
References and sources
* Máo Zōngwǔ 毛宗武: Yáozú Miǎnyǔ fāngyán yánjiū 瑶族勉语方言研究 , ISBN 7-105-06669-5.
* Méng Cháojí 蒙朝吉: Hàn-Yáo cídiǎn - Bùnǔyǔ 汉瑶词典——布努语 , ISBN 7-5409-1745-8.
*Barker, Judith C., and Saechao, Kaochoy. "A Household Survey of Older Iu-Mien Refugees in Rural California." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 12.2 : 121-143.
*Barker, Judith C. & Saechao, Kaochoy. . A demographic survey of Iu-Mien in West Coast States of the U.S., 1993. Journal of Immigrant Health, 2:1, 31-42.
Films
*2003 - . Directed by Richard Hall; produced by Fahm Fong Saeyang.
*1989 - . Directed and produced by Elaine Velazquez
See also
*Dance of the Yao people
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