tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76444560158829514332024-03-08T07:00:03.222-08:00Ethnic groups in ChinaAll about Ethnic groups in China, Ethnic groups in China basic information.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-25010554673062512722008-09-03T20:08:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:08:17.350-07:00Chinese Kyrgyz PeopleThe <strong>Kyrgyz</strong> are a ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. <br />
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<a name='Etymology' id='Etymology'></a><h2>Etymology</h2><br />
There are several etymological theories on the name "Kyrgyz." First, the name Kyrgyz may mean "forty girls" , a reference to the . This is symbolized by the yellow sun in the center of the flag of Kyrgyzstan, which has 40 rays referring to forty Kyrgyz tribes. Next, a meaning of "forty tribes" which makes more direct sense. Finally, a meaning , meaning "imperishable", "inextinguishable" or "undying". This version has an obvious popular appreciation. Historical evidence for many conflicts with other peoples also supports this theory.<br />
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The Chinese transcription ''"Tse-gu" '' allows to restore the pronunciation of the ethnonym as ''Kirkut '' and ''Kirkur ''. Both forms go back to the earliest variation ''Kirkün'' of the term "Kyrgyz" meaning "Field People", "Field Huns". The term ''Kirkün'' went through a notable evolution: ''Kirkün = Kirkut = Kirkur = Kyrkyz ''. The evolution is traced well chronologically. The semantic connection between ''kün '' and ''gür'' is obvious, chronologically consecutive development of the concept ''kün = "female progenitor" = her offsprings = "tribe" = "a people"'' at the last stage coincides with the ''gür = "people"'', like in the Khitan title Gurkhan. Application of affixes of plurality "t" - "r" - "z" in the ethnonym ''Kirkun'' shaded the initial sound, and then also the meaning, making its roots enigmatic. By the Mongol epoch, the initial meaning of the word ''Kirkun'' was already lost, evidenced by differing readings of the earlier reductions of the Uanshi. The change of ethnonym produced a new version of an origin, and the memory about their steppe motherland, recorded in Uanshi, survived only as a recollection of the initial birthplace of forty women. Subsequently, however, that recollection was also lost.<br />
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<a name='Origins' id='Origins'></a><h2>Origins</h2><br />
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The early Kyrgyz people, known as Yenisei Kyrgyz or Xiajiasi, first appear in written records in the Chinese annals of the Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' , as ''Gekun'' or ''Jiankun'' . The Middle Age Chinese composition ''"Tanghuiyao"'' of the 8-10th century transcribed the name "Kyrgyz" <strong>Tsze-gu</strong> , and their tamga was depicted identical with the tamga of present day Kyrgyz tribes Azyk, Bugu, Cherik, Sary Bagysh and few others. According to recent historical findings, Kyrgyz history dates back to 201 BC. The Yenisei Kyrgyz lived in the upper Yenisey River valley, central Siberia. Yenisei Kyrgyzes in the Late Antique times were a part of the tribes. Later, in the Early Middle Age, Yenisei Kyrgyzes were under the rule of Kaganate and Kaganate. In 840 a revolt led by Yenisei Kyrgyzes brought down the Uigur Kaganate, and brought the Yenisei Kyrgyzes to a dominating position in the former Turkic Kaganate. With the rise to power, the center of the Kyrgyz Kaganate moved to Jeti-su, and brought about a spread south of the Kyrgyz people, to reach Tian Shan mountains and Eastern Turkestan, bringing them immediately to the borders of China and Tibet. By the 16th century the carriers of the ethnonym ''"Kirgiz"'' lived in South Siberia, Eastern Turkestan, Tian Shan, , Middle Asia, Urals , in Kazakhstan. In the Tian Shan and Eastern Turkestan area, the term ''"Kyrgyz"'' retained its unifying political designation, and became a general ethnonym for the Yenisei Kirgizes and aboriginal Turkic tribes that presently constitute the Kyrgyz population. Though it is obviously impossible to directly identify the Yenisei and Tien Shan Kyrgyzes, a trace of their ethnogenetical connections is apparent in archaeology, history, language and ethnography. Majority of modern researchers came to a conclusion that the ancestors of the southern Kyrgyz tribes had their origin in the most ancient tribal unions of Sakas and , Dinlins and Huns. Approximately 300,000 Yenisei Kyrgyzes survived in the Tuva depression until present.<br />
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Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD describe the Kyrgyz as red-haired with fair complexion and green eyes.<br />
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The descent of the Kyrgyz from the autochthonous Siberian population is confirmed by recent genetic studies. Remarkably, 63% of modern Kyrgyz men share Haplogroup R1a1 with Tajiks , Ukrainians , Poles and Hungarians , and even Icelanders . Haplogroup R1a1 is variously believed to be a marker of the Proto-Indo-European language and Turkic speakers.<br />
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<a name='Political development' id='Political development'></a><h2>Political development</h2><br />
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The Kyrgyz state reached its greatest expansion after defeating the Kaganate in 840 AD. Then Kyrgyz quickly moved as far as the Tian Shan range and maintained their dominance over this territory for about 200 years. In the 12th century, however, the Kyrgyz domination had shrunk to the Range and the Sayan Mountains as a result of the rising Mongol expansion. With the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the Kyrgyz migrated south. In 1207, after the establishment of Yekhe Mongol Ulus , Genghis Khan's oldest son Jochi occupied Kyrgyzstan without resistance. They remained a Mongol vassal until the late of 14th century.<br />
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Various Turkic peoples ruled them until 1685, when they came under the control of the Kalmyks .<br />
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<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
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Kyrgyz are predominantly Muslims. was first introduced by Arab traders who travelled along the Silk Road in the seventh and eight century. <br />
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In the 8th century, orthodox Islam reached the Fergana valley with the . Atheism, on the other hand, took some following in the northern regions under Russian communist influence. As of today, few cultural rituals of Shamanism are still practiced alongside with Islam particularly in Central Kyrgyzstan. During a July 2007 interview, Bermet Akayeva, the daughter of Askar Akayev, the former President of Kyrgyzstan, stated that Islam is increasingly taking root even in the northern portion which came under communist influence. She emphasized that many mosques have been built and that the Kyrgyz are increasingly devoting themselves to Islam, which she noted was "not a bad thing in itself. It keeps our society more moral, cleaner."<br />
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<a name='The Kyrgyz in China' id='The Kyrgyz in China'></a><h2>The Kyrgyz in China</h2><br />
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The Kyrgyz form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are more than 145,000 Kyrgyz in China. They are known in China as ''Kēěrkèzī zú'' .<br />
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They are found mainly in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in the southwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with a smaller remainder found in the neighboring Wushi , , Shache , Yingisar, and Pishan , and in Tekes, Zhaosu , Emin , Bole , Jinghev and Gonliu in northern Xinjiang. Several hundred Kyrgyz whose forefathers emigrated to Northeast China more than 200 years ago now live in Wujiazi Village in Fuyu County, Heilongjiang Province.<br />
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Certain segments of the Kyrgyz in China are followers of Tibetan Buddhism.<br />
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<a name='Notable Kyrgyz people' id='Notable Kyrgyz people'></a><h2>Notable Kyrgyz people</h2><br />
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*Chinghiz Aitmatov - author<br />
*Askar Akayev - politician, scientist, first President of Kyrgyzstan<br />
*Kurmanbek Bakiyev - politician, current President of Kyrgyzstan<br />
*Kurmanjan Datka - politician, former stateswoman<br />
*Felix Kulov - politician, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan<br />
*Abdylas Maldybaev - actor/musician<br />
*Zamira Sydykova - journalist/ambassador<br />
*Omurbek Tekebayev - politician, speaker of the <br />
*Kasym Tynystanov - a prominent Kyrgyz scientist, politician and poet, first minister of education<br />
*Nasirdin Isanov - politician, first Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan<br />
*Orzubek Nazarov - former World Boxing Association lightweight boxing champion<br />
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<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
* Kyrgyz language<br />
* List of indigenous peoples of Russia<br />
* History of Kyrgyzstan<br />
* History of Kazakhstan<br />
* History of Tuva<br />
* History of China<br />
* Eagle hunting<br />
* Turkic languages<br />
* R1a1<br />
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<a name='References and further reading' id='References and further reading'></a><h2>References and further reading</h2><br />
* Abramzon, S.M. ''"Kirgizes and their ethnogenetical historical and cultural connections"'', Moscow, 1971, ISBN 5-655-00518-2 ''''.<br />
* Kyzlasov, L.R.''"Mutual relationship of terms ''Khakas'' and ''Kyrgyz'' in written sources of 6-12th centuries"''. Peoples of Asia and Africa, 1968, ''''.<br />
* Zuev, Yu.A. ''"Kirgiz - Buruts". Soviet Ethnography, 1970, No 4, ''''.<br />
* Shahrani, M. Nazif. ''The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War''. University of Washington Press. 1st paperback edition with new preface and epilogue . ISBN 0-295-98262-4. <br />
* ''Kyrgyz Republic'', by Rowan Stewart and Susie Steldon, by Odyssey publications.<br />
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<!--Other languages-->phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-78714354879518018492008-09-03T20:07:00.004-07:002008-09-03T20:08:04.845-07:00Chinese Taiwanese People<strong>Taiwanese aborigines</strong> is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of , recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8000 years before major Han Chinese immigration began in the 17th century . The Taiwanese Aborigines are Austronesian peoples, with linguistic and genetic ties to other Austronesian ethnic groups, such as peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Oceania . The issue of an unconnected to the Asian mainland has become one thread in the discourse regarding the political status of Taiwan. <br />
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For centuries, Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples experienced economic competition and military conflict with a series of colonizing peoples. Centralized government policies designed to foster language shift and cultural assimilation, as well as continued contact with the colonizers through trade, intermarriage and other dispassionate intercultural processes, have resulted in varying degrees of language death and loss of original cultural identity. For example, of the approximately 26 known languages of the Taiwanese Aborigines , at least ten are , five are and several are to some degree . These languages are of unique historical significance, since most consider Taiwan to be the original homeland of the language family .<br />
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Taiwan’s Austronesian speakers were formerly distributed over much of the island’s rugged central mountain range and were concentrated in villages along the alluvial plains. As of January 2006, their total population is around 458,000 . The bulk of contemporary Taiwanese Aborigines reside in the mountains and the cities .<br />
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The indigenous peoples of Taiwan face economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and substandard education. Many Aboriginal groups have been actively seeking a higher degree of political self-determination and economic development since the early 1980s . A revival of ethnic pride is expressed in many ways by Aborigines, including incorporating elements of their culture into commercially successful pop music. Efforts are underway in indigenous communities to revive traditional cultural practices and preserve their traditional languages. Several Aboriginal tribes are becoming extensively involved in the tourism and ecotourism industries to achieve increased economic self-reliance from the state .<br />
<a name='Plains, Mountains and Tribal definitions' id='Plains, Mountains and Tribal definitions'></a><h2>Plains, Mountains and Tribal definitions</h2><br />
For most of their recorded history, Taiwanese Aborigines have been defined by the agents of different Confucian, Christian, and Nationalist “civilizing” projects, with a variety of aims. Each “civilizing” project defined the Aborigines based on the “civilizer’s” cultural understandings of difference and similarity, behavior, location, appearance and prior contact with other groups of people . Taxonomies imposed by colonizing forces divided the Aborigines into named subgroups, referred to as “tribes”. These divisions did not always correspond to distinctions drawn by the Aborigines themselves. However, the categories have become so firmly established in government and popular discourse over time that they have become de facto distinctions, serving to shape in part today’s political discourse within the Republic of China , and affecting Taiwan’s policies regarding indigenous peoples.<br />
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The Han sailor, Chen Di, in his ''Record of the Eastern Seas'' , identifies the indigenous people of Taiwan as simply 東番, or “Eastern Savage”, while the Dutch referred to Taiwan’s original inhabitants as ''“Indians”'' or ''“blacks”'', based on their prior colonial experience in what is currently Indonesia .<br />
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Beginning nearly a century later, as the rule of the expanded over wider groups of people, writers and gazetteers recast their descriptions away from reflecting degree of acculturation, and toward a system that defined the Aborigines relative to their submission or hostility to Qing rule. Qing literati used the term "raw/wild" to define those people who had not submitted to Qing rule, and "cooked/tame" for those who had pledged their allegiance through their payment of a head tax. According to the standards of the Qianlong Emperor and successive regimes, “cooked” was synonymous with having assimilated to Han cultural norms, and living as a subject of the Empire, but retained a pejorative designation to signify the perceived cultural lacking of the non-Han people , . This designation reflected the prevailing idea that anyone could be civilized/tamed by adopting Confucian social norms . <br />
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As the Qing consolidated their power over the plains and struggled to enter the mountains in the late 19th century, the terms “Plains tribes” Pepo or Pingpu zu 平埔族 and “High Mountain tribes” Gao shan zu 高山族 were used interchangeably with the terms “Raw” and “Cooked” . During the 50 years of Japanese colonial rule , anthropologists from Japan maintained the binary classification. In 1900 they incorporated it into their own colonial project by employing the term Peipo for the “cooked tribes”, and creating a category of “recognized tribes” for the Aborigines who had formerly been called “raw”. They referred to them as ''takasagozoku'' . The latter group included the , , , , , , and peoples. The and were added later, for a total of nine recognized tribes . During the early period of Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang rule the terms Shandi Tongbao 山地同胞 “mountain compatriots” and Pingdi Tongbao 平地同胞 “plains compatriots” were invented, to remove the presumed taint of Japanese influence and reflect the place of Taiwan’s indigenous people in the Chinese Nationalist state . The KMT later adopted the use of all the earlier Japanese groupings except “Peipo”. <br />
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Despite recent changes in the field of anthropology and a shift in Taiwanese government objectives, the Gaoshan and Pingpu labels in use today maintain the form given by the Qing to reflect Aborigines’ acculturation to Han culture. The current recognized Aborigines are all regarded as Gaoshan, though the divisions are not and have never been based strictly on geographical location. The Amis, Saisiat, Tao and Kavalan are all traditionally eastern plains cultures . The distinction between Plains and Gaoshan people continues to affect Taiwan’s policies regarding indigenous peoples, and their ability to participate effectively in government . <br />
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Although the ROC’s Government Information Office officially lists 13 major groupings as “tribes” the consensus among scholars maintains that these 13 groupings do not reflect any social entities, political collectives, or self-identified alliances dating from pre-modern Taiwan . The earliest detailed records, dating from the Dutch arrival in 1624, describe the Aborigines as living in independent villages of varying size. Between these villages there was frequent trade, intermarriage, warfare and alliances against common enemies. Using contemporary ethnographic and linguistic criteria, these villages have been classed by anthropologists into more than 20 broad ethnic groupings , which were never united under a common polity, kingdom or “tribe” .<br />
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<a name='Recognized peoples' id='Recognized peoples'></a><h2>Recognized peoples</h2><br />
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The government on Taiwan officially recognizes distinct tribes among the indigenous community based upon the qualifications drawn up by the Council of Indigenous Peoples . To gain this recognition, tribes must gather a number of signatures and a body of supportive evidence in order to successfully petition the CIP. Formal recognition confers certain legal benefits and rights upon a group, as well as providing them with the satisfaction of recovering their separate identity as a tribe. As of May 2008, 14 tribes have been recognized.<br />
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The Council of Indigenous Peoples consider several limited factors in a successful formal petition. The determining factors include collecting member genealogies, group histories and evidence of a continued linguistic and cultural identity . The lack of documentation and the extinction of many indigenous languages as the result of colonial cultural and language policies have made the prospect of official recognition of many tribes a remote possibility. Current trends in ethno-tourism have led many former plains Aborigines to continue to seek cultural revival . <br />
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Among the plains Aboriginal groups that have petitioned for tribal status, only the and have been officially recognized. The remaining twelve recognized tribes are traditionally regarded as mountain Aboriginals. <br />
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Other tribal groups or subgroups that have pressed for recovery of legal Aboriginal status include the Chimo the Kakabu, Makatao, Pazeh, and Siraya . The act of petitioning for recognized status, however, does not always reflect any consensus view among scholars that the relevant group should in fact be categorized as a separate tribe.<br />
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There is discussion among both scholars and political groups regarding the best or most appropriate name to use for many of the tribes and their languages, as well as the proper romanization of that name. Commonly cited examples of this ambiguity include and .<br />
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Nine of the tribes were originally recognized prior to 1945 by the Japanese government . The Thao, Kavalan and Truku were recognized by Taiwan’s government in 2001, 2002 and 2004 respectively. The Sakizaya were recognized as a 13th tribe on January 172007 , and on April 23 2008 the Sediq were recognized as Taiwan's 14th official tribe . Previously the Sakizaya had been listed as Amis and the Sediq as Atayal. A full list of the recognized tribes of Taiwan, as well as some of the more commonly cited unrecognized tribal groups, is as follows: <br />
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:* <strong>Recognized</strong>: , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . <br />
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:* <strong>Unrecognized</strong>: , , , , Luilang, /, , Qauqaut, , , Trobiawan.<br />
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<h3> Taiwanese Aborigines in the People's Republic of China </h3> <br />
The Taiwanese Aborigines in the People's Republic of China are collectively known as the “Gaoshan” and are one of the officially recognized by the PRC. They are descendants of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan who were in China at the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 . According to the 2000 Census, 4,461 people were identified as Gaoshan.<br />
Some surveys indicate that of the 4,461 “Gaoshan” recorded in the 2000 Census, it is estimated that there are 1,500 Amis, 1,300 Bunun, 510 Paiwan, and the remainder belonging to other tribes .<br />
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<a name='Assimilation and acculturation' id='Assimilation and acculturation'></a><h2>Assimilation and acculturation</h2><br />
Archaeological, linguistic and anecdotal evidence suggests that Taiwan’s indigenous peoples have undergone a series of cultural shifts to meet the pressures of contact with other societies and new technologies . Beginning in the early 17th century, Taiwanese Aborigines faced broad cultural change as the island became incorporated into the wider global economy by a succession of competing colonial regimes from Europe and Asia . In some cases groups of Aborigines resisted colonial influence, but other groups and individuals readily aligned with the colonial powers. This alignment could be leveraged to achieve personal or collective economic gain, collective power over neighboring villages or freedom from unfavorable societal customs and taboos involving marriage, age-grade and child birth .<br />
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Particularly among the Pingpu, as the degree of the “civilizing projects” increased during each successive regime, the Aborigines found themselves in greater contact with outside cultures. The process of acculturation and sometimes followed gradually in the wake of broad social currents, particularly the removal of ethnic markers , which had formerly distinguished ethnic groups on Taiwan . The removal or replacement of these brought about an incremental transformation from “Fan” to the dominant Confucian “Han” culture . During the Japanese and KMT periods centralized modernist government policies, rooted in ideas of Social Darwinism and culturalism directed education, genealogical customs and other traditions toward ethnic assimilation , . Ethnic shift among the Gaoshan, who had less contact with outsiders due to the inaccessibility of their lands, was more the result of centralized assimilative pressures than gradual social change. Nonetheless, the cultures and languages of most of the recognized tribes remain resilient today. Multicultural policies have contributed to ethnic pride in those communities. <br />
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Many of these forms of assimilation are still at work today. For example, when a central authority s one language, that attaches economic and social advantages to the prestige language. As generations pass, use of the indigenous language often fades or disappears, and linguistic and cultural identity recede as well. However, some groups are seeking to revive their indigenous identities . One important political aspect of this pursuit is petitioning the government for official recognition as a separate and distinct tribe. <br />
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The complexity and scope of Aboriginal assimilation and acculturation on Taiwan has led to three general narratives of Taiwanese ethnic change. The oldest narrative holds that Han migration from Fujian and Guangdong in the 17th Century pushed the plains Aborigines into the mountains, where they became the highland tribes of today . A relatively newer view asserts that through widespread intermarriage between Han and Aborigines between the 17th and 19th centuries, the Aborigines were completely sinicized . Finally, modern and studies have shown a pattern of cultural shift mutually experienced by both Han and Plains Aborigines, resulting in a hybrid culture. Today people who comprise Taiwan’s ethnic Han demonstrate major cultural differences from Han elsewhere .<br />
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<a name='Surnames and identity' id='Surnames and identity'></a><h2>Surnames and identity</h2><br />
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Several factors encouraged the assimilation of the plains tribes. Taking a Han name was a necessary step in instilling Confucian values in the Aborigines . Confucian values were necessary to be recognized as a full person and to operate within the Confucian Qing state . A surname in Han society was viewed as the most prominent legitimizing marker of a patrilineal ancestral link to the Yellow Emperor and the of Han mythology . Possession of a Han surname, then, could confer a broad range of significant economic and social benefits upon Aborigines, despite a prior non-Han identity or mixed parentage. In some cases, members of plains tribes adopted the Han surname Pan as a modification of their designated status as Fan . One family of Pazih became members of the local gentry complete with a lineage to . In other cases, plains Aborigine families adopted common Han surnames, but traced their earliest ancestor to their locality in Taiwan.<br />
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In many cases, large groups of immigrant Han would unite under a common surname to form a brotherhood. Brotherhoods were used as a form of defense, as each sworn brother was bound by an oath of blood to assist a brother in need. The brotherhood groups would link their names to a family tree, in essence manufacturing a genealogy based on names rather than blood, and taking the place of the kinship organizations commonly found in China. The practice was so widespread that today’s family books are largely unreliable . Many plains aborigines joined the brotherhoods to gain protection of the collective as a type of insurance policy against regional strife, and through these groups they took on a Han identity with a Han lineage. <br />
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The degree to which any one of these forces held sway over others is unclear. Preference for one explanation over another is sometimes predicated upon a given political viewpoint. The cumulative effect of these dynamics is that by the beginning of the twentieth century the plains tribes were almost completely acculturated into the larger ethnic Han group, and had experienced nearly total language shift from their respective Formosan languages to . In addition, legal barriers to the use of traditional surnames persisted until recently, and cultural barriers remain. Aborigines were not permitted to use their traditional names on official identification cards until 1995 when a ban on using Aboriginal names dating from 1946 was finally lifted. One obstacle is that household registration forms allow a maximum of 15 characters for personal names. However, aboriginal names are still phonetically translated into Chinese characters, and many names require more than the allotted space .<br />
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<a name='History of the Aboriginal Peoples' id='History of the Aboriginal Peoples'></a><h2>History of the Aboriginal Peoples</h2><br />
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Chipped-pebble tools dating from perhaps as early as 15,000 years ago suggest that the initial human inhabitants of Taiwan were Paleolithic cultures of the Pleistocene era. These people survived by eating marine life. Archaeological evidence points to an abrupt change to the Neolithic era around 6000 years ago, with the advent of agriculture, domestic animals, polished stone adzes and pottery. The stone adzes were mass-produced on Penghu and nearby islands, from the volcanic rock found there. This suggests heavy sea traffic took place between these islands and Taiwan at this time .<br />
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Recorded history of the Aborigines on Taiwan began around the seventeenth century, and has often been dominated by the views and policies of foreign powers and non-Aborigines. Beginning with the arrival of Dutch merchants in 1624, the traditional lands of the aborigines have been successively colonized by , , , , and rulers. Each of these successive “civilizing” cultural centers participated in violent conflict and peaceful economic interaction with both the Plains and Mountain tribal groups. To varying degrees, they influenced or transformed the culture and language of the indigenous peoples. <br />
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Four centuries of non-indigenous rule can be viewed through several changing periods of governing power and shifting official policy toward aborigines. From the seventeenth century until the early twentieth, the impact of the foreign settlers — the Dutch, Spanish and Han — was more extensive on the Plains tribes. The latter were far more geographically accessible, and thus had more dealings with the foreign powers. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Plains tribes had largely been assimilated into contemporary Taiwanese culture as a result of European and Han colonial rule. Until the latter half of the Japanese colonial era the Mountain tribes were not entirely governed by any non-tribal polity. However, the mid-1930’s marked a shift in the intercultural dynamic, as the Japanese began to play a far more dominant role in the culture of the highland groups. This increased degree of control over the Mountain tribes continued during Kuomintang rule. <br />
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Within these two broad eras, there were many differences in the individual and regional impact of the colonizers and their “civilizing projects”. At times the foreign powers were accepted readily, as some tribes adopted foreign clothing styles and cultural practices , and engaged in cooperative trade in goods such as camphor, deer hides, sugar, tea and rice . At numerous other times changes from the outside world were forcibly imposed.<br />
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Much of the historical information regarding Taiwan’s Aborigines was collected by these regimes in the form of administrative reports and gazettes as part of greater “civilizing” projects. The collection of information aided in the consolidation of administrative control. <br />
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<h3>Plains Aboriginals</h3><br />
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The Plains Aborigines mainly lived in stationary village sites surrounded by defensive walls of bamboo. The village sites in southern Taiwan were more populated than other locations. Some villages supported a population of more than 1500 people, surrounded by smaller satellite villages . villages were constructed of dwellings made of thatch and bamboo, raised 2 from the ground on stilts, with each household having a barn for livestock. A watchtower was located in the village to look out for headhunting parties from the highland tribes. The concept of property was often communal, with a series of conceptualized concentric rings around each village. The innermost ring was used for gardens and orchards that followed a fallowing cycle around the ring. The second ring was used to cultivate plants and natural fibers for the exclusive use of the tribe. The third ring was for exclusive hunting and deer fields for tribal use. The plains people hunted herds of spotted deer and muntjak as well as conducting light millet farming. Sugar and rice were grown as well, but mostly for use in preparing wine . <br />
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Many of the plains peoples were matrilineal/matrifocal societies. Men married into a woman’s family after a courtship period where the woman was free to reject as many men as she wished before marriage. In the age-grade communities, couples entered into marriage in their mid-30s when a man would no longer be required to perform military service or hunt heads on the battle-field. In the matriarchal system of the Siraya, it was also necessary for couples to abstain from marriage until their mid-thirties, when the bride’s father would be in his declining years and would not pose a challenge to the new male member of the household. It was not until the arrival of the Dutch Reformed Church in the 17th Century, that the marriage and child-birth taboos were abolished. There is some indication that many of the younger members of Sirayan society embraced the Dutch marriage customs as a means to circumvent the age-grade system in a push for greater village power . Almost all indigenous peoples in Taiwan have traditionally had a custom of sexual division of labor. Women did the sewing, cooking and farming, while the men hunted and prepared for military activity and securing enemy heads in headhunting raids, which was a common practice in early Taiwan. Women were also often found in the office of priestess or medium to the gods.<br />
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<h4>The European period</h4><br />
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During the European period soldiers and traders representing the Dutch East India Company maintained a colony in southwestern Taiwan near present-day Tainan City. This established an Asian base for triangular trade between the company, the Qing Dynasty and Japan, with the hope of interrupting Portuguese and Spanish trading alliances. The Spanish also maintained a colony in northern Taiwan in present-day Keelung. However, Spanish influence wavered almost from the beginning, so that by the late 1630s they had already withdrawn most of their troops . After they were driven out of Taiwan by a combined Dutch and Aboriginal force in 1642, the Spanish “had little effect on Taiwan’s history” . Dutch influence was far more significant: expanding to the southwest and north of the island, they set up a tax system and established schools and churches in many villages. <br />
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When the arrived in 1624 at Tayouan Harbor, Siraya-speaking representatives from nearby Saccam village soon appeared at the Dutch stockade to barter and trade; an overture which was readily welcomed by the Dutch. The Sirayan villages were, however, divided into warring factions: the village of Sinckan was at war with Mattau and its ally Baccluan, while the village of maintained uneasy neutrality. In 1629 a Dutch expeditionary force searching for Han pirates, was massacred by warriors from Mattau, and the victory inspired other villages to rebel . In 1635, with reinforcements having arrived from , the Dutch subjugated and burned Mattau. Since Mattau was the most powerful village in the area, the victory brought a spate of peace offerings from other nearby villages, many of which were outside the Siraya area. This was the beginning of Dutch consolidation over large parts of Taiwan, which brought an end to centuries of inter-village warfare . The new period of peace allowed the Dutch to construct schools and churches aimed to acculturate and convert the indigenous population . Dutch schools taught a romanized script , which the Siraya language. This script maintained occasional use through the 18th century . Today only fragments survive, in documents and stone stele markers. The schools also served to maintain alliances and open aboriginal areas for Dutch enterprise and commerce.<br />
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The Dutch soon found trade in deerskins and venison in the East Asian market to be a lucrative endeavor , and recruited plains Aborigines to procure the hides. The deer trade attracted the first Han traders to Aboriginal villages, but as early as 1642 the demand for deer greatly diminished the deer stocks. This drop significantly reduced the prosperity of Aboriginal tribes , forcing many Aborigines to take up farming to counter the economic impact of losing their most vital food source. <br />
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As the Dutch began subjugating Aboriginal villages in the south and west of Taiwan, increasing numbers of Han immigrants looked to exploit areas that were fertile and rich in game. The Dutch initially encouraged this, since the Han were skilled in agriculture and large-scale hunting. Several Han took up residence in Siraya villages. The Dutch used Han agents to collect taxes, hunting license fees and other income. This set up a society in which “... many of the colonists were Han Chinese but the military and the administrative structures were Dutch” . Despite this, local alliances transcended ethnicity during the Dutch period. For example, the Kuo Huai-i Rebellion in 1652, a Han farmers’ uprising, was defeated by an alliance of 120 Dutch musketeers with the aid of Han loyalists and 600 Aboriginal braves . <br />
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The Dutch period ended in 1662 when loyalist forces of Zheng Chenggong drove out the Dutch and established the short-lived on Taiwan. The Zhengs brought 70,000 soldiers to Taiwan and immediately began clearing large tracts of land to support its forces. Despite the preoccupation with fighting the Qing, the Zheng family was concerned with Aboriginal welfare on Taiwan. The Zhengs built alliances, collected taxes and erected Aboriginal schools, where Taiwan’s Aborigines were first introduced to the Confucian Classics and Chinese writing . However, the impact of the Dutch was deeply ingrained in Aboriginal society. In the 19th and 20th century, European explorers wrote of being welcomed as kin by the aborigines who thought they were the Dutch, who had promised to return .<br />
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<h4>Qing rule</h4><br />
After the Qing government defeated the Ming loyalist forces maintained by the Zheng family in 1683, parts of Taiwan became increasingly integrated into the Qing Empire . Qing forces ruled areas of Taiwan’s highly populated western plain for nearly two centuries, until 1895. This era was characterized by a marked increase in the number of Han Chinese on Taiwan, continued social unrest, the piecemeal transfer of large amounts of land from the aborigines to the Han, and the nearly complete acculturation of the western plains Aborigines to Taiwanese Han customs. <br />
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During the Qing Dynasty’s two-century rule over Taiwan, the population of Han on the island increased dramatically. However, it is not clear to what extent this was due to an influx of Han settlers, who were predominantly displaced young men from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in or from a variety of other factors, including: frequent intermarriage between Han and Aborigines, the replacement of aboriginal marriage and abortion taboos, and the widespread adoption of the Han agricultural lifestyle due to the depletion of traditional game stocks, which may have led to increased birth rates and population growth. Moreover, the acculturation of Aborigines in increased numbers may have intensified the perception of a swell in the number of Han. <br />
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The Qing government officially sanctioned controlled Han settlement, but sought to manage tensions between the various regional and ethnic groups. Therefore it often recognized the plains tribes’ claims to deer fields and traditional territory . The Qing authorities hoped to turn the plains tribes into loyal subjects, and adopted the head and corveé taxes on the Aborigines, which made the plains aborigines directly responsible for payment to the government yamen. The attention paid by the Qing authorities to aboriginal land rights was part of a larger administrative goal to maintain a level of peace on the turbulent Taiwan frontier, which was often marred by ethnic and regional conflict. The frequency of rebellions, riots, and civil strife in Qing Dynasty Taiwan is often encapsulated in the saying “every three years an uprising; every five years a rebellion” . Aboriginal participation in a number of major revolts during the Qing era, including the Taokas-led Ta-Chia-hsi revolt of 1731–1732, ensured the plains tribes would remain an important factor in crafting Qing frontier policy until the end of Qing rule in 1895 . <br />
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The struggle over land resources was one source of conflict. Large areas of the western plain were subject to large land rents called ''Huan Da Zu'' , a category which remained until the period of Japanese colonization. The large tracts of deer field, guaranteed by the Qing, were owned by the tribes and their individual members. The tribes would commonly offer Han farmers a permanent patent for use, while maintaining ownership of the subsoil , which was called “two lords to a field” . The plains tribes were often cheated out of land or pressured to sell at unfavorable rates. Some disaffected subgroups moved to central or eastern Taiwan, but most remained in their ancestral locations and acculturated or assimilated into Han society .<br />
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<h4>Migration to Highlands</h4><br />
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One popular narrative holds that <strong>all</strong> of the Gaoshan tribes were originally plains tribes, which fled to the mountains under pressure from Han encroachment. This strong version of the “migration” theory has been largely discounted by contemporary research as the Gaoshan people demonstrate a physiology, material cultures and customs that have been adapted for life at higher elevations. Linguistic, archaeological, and recorded anecdotal evidence also suggests there has been island-wide migration of indigenous peoples for over 3000 years.<br />
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Small sub-groups of plains Aborigines may have occasionally fled to the mountains, foothills or eastern plain to escape hostile groups of Han or other Aborigines .<br />
The “displacement scenario” is more likely rooted in the older customs of many plains groups to withdraw into the foothills during headhunting season or when threatened by a neighboring village as observed by the Dutch during their punitive campaign of Mattou in 1636 when the bulk of the village retreated to Tevoraan .<br />
The “displacement scenario” may also stem from the inland migrations of plains aborigine subgroups, who were displaced by either Han or other plains aborigines and chose to move to the Iilan plain in 1804, the Puli basin in 1823 and another Puli migration in 1875. Each migration consisted of a number of families and totaled hundreds of people, not entire tribes . There are also recorded oral histories that recall some Plains aborigines were sometimes captured and killed by highlands tribes while relocating through the mountains . However, as explained in detail, documented evidence shows that the majority of plains people remained on the plains, intermarried immigrants from Fujian, and adopted a Han identity, where they remain today.<br />
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<h3>Highland tribes</h3><br />
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Imperial Chinese and European societies had little contact with the Highland Aborigines until expeditions to the region by European and American explorers and missionaries commenced in the 19th and early 20th centuries . The lack of data before this was primarily the result of a Qing quarantine on the region to the east of the “earth oxen” border, which ran along the eastern edge of the western plain. Han contact with the mountain tribes was usually associated with the enterprise of gathering and extracting camphor from Camphor Laurel trees , native to the island and in particular the mountainous areas. The production and shipment of camphor was then a significant industry on the island, lasting up to and including the period of Japanese rule . These early encounters often involved headhunting parties from the highland tribes, who sought out and raided unprotected Han forest workers. Together with traditional Han concepts of Taiwanese behavior, these raiding incidents helped to promote the Qing-era popular image of the “violent” aborigine . <br />
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Plains aborigines were often employed and dispatched as interpreters to assist in the trade of goods between Han merchants and highlands Aborigines. The Aborigines traded cloth, pelts and meat for iron and matchlock rifles. Iron was a necessary material for the fabrication of hunting knives —long, curved sabers that were generally used as a forest tool. These blades became notorious among Han settlers, given their alternative use to decapitate highland tribal enemies in customary headhunting expeditions.<br />
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<h4>Headhunting</h4><br />
The highland tribes were renowned for their skill in headhunting, which was a symbol of bravery and valor . Almost every tribe except the Yami practiced headhunting. Once the victims had been dispatched the heads were taken then boiled and left to dry, often hanging from trees or shelves constructed for the purpose. A party returning with a head was cause for celebration, as it would bring good luck. The Bunun people would often take prisoners and inscribe prayers or messages to their dead on arrows, then shoot their prisoner with the hope their prayers would be carried to the dead. Han settlers were often the victims of headhunting raids as they were considered by the Aborigines to be liars and enemies. A headhunting raid would often strike at workers in the fields, or employ the ruse of setting a dwelling alight and then decapitating the inhabitants as they fled the burning structure. It was also customary to later raise the victim’s surviving children as full members of the tribe. Often the heads themselves were ceremonially ‘invited’ to join the tribe as members, where they were supposed to watch over the tribe and keep them safe. The indigenous inhabitants of Taiwan accepted the convention and practice of headhunting as one of the calculated risks of tribal life. The last groups to practice headhunting were the Paiwan, Bunun, and Atayal groups . Japanese rule ended the practice by 1930, but some elder Taiwanese can recall the practice .<br />
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<h4>Japanese rule</h4><br />
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When the Treaty of Shimonoseki was finalized on April 17, 1895, Taiwan was ceded by the Qing Empire to Japan, which sought to transform Taiwan into the supply-end of an extremely unequal flow of assets . Taiwan’s incorporation into the Japanese political orbit brought Taiwanese Aborigines into contact with a new colonial structure, determined to define and locate indigenous people within the framework of a new, multi-ethnic empire . The means of accomplishing this goal took three main forms: anthropological study of the natives of Taiwan, attempts to reshape the Aborigines in the mould of the Japanese, and military suppression.<br />
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Japan’s sentiment regarding indigenous peoples was crafted around the memory of the Mudan Incident, when, in 1871, a group of shipwrecked Okinawan fishermen was massacred by a Paiwan group from the village of Mudan in southern Taiwan. The resulting Japanese policy, published twenty years before the onset of their rule on Taiwan, cast Taiwanese Aborigines as “vicious, violent and cruel” and concluded “this is a pitfall of the world; we must get rid of them all” . Japanese campaigns to gain aboriginal submission were often brutal, as evidenced in the desire of Japan’s first Governor General, Kabayama Sukenori, to “...conquer the barbarians” . In the Wushe Incident, for example, a Seediq group was decimated by artillery and supplanted by the Taroko tribe, which had sustained periods of bombardment from naval ships and airplanes dropping mustard gas. A quarantine was placed around the mountain areas enforced by armed guard stations and electrified fence until the most remote high mountain villages could be relocated closer to administrative control . <br />
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Beginning in the first year of Japanese rule, the colonial government embarked on a mission to study the Aborigines so they could be classified, located and “civilized”. The Japanese “civilizing project”, partially fueled by public demand in Japan to know more about the empire, would be used to benefit the Imperial government by consolidating administrative control over the entire island, opening up vast tracts of land for exploitation . To satisfy these needs, “the Japanese portrayed and catalogued Taiwan’s indigenous peoples in a welter of statistical tables, magazine and newspaper articles, photograph albums for popular consumption” . The Japanese based much of their information and terminology on prior Qing era narratives concerning degrees of “civilization” .<br />
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Japanese ethnographer Ino Kanari was charged with the task of surveying the entire population of Taiwanese Aborigines, applying the first systematic study of Aborigines on Taiwan. Ino’s research is best known for his formalization of eight tribes of Taiwanese Aborigines: Atayal, Bunun, Saisiat, Tsou, Paiwan, Puyuma, Ami and Pepo . This is the direct antecedent of the taxonomy used today to distinguish tribes that are officially recognized by the government. <br />
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Tribal life under the Japanese changed rapidly as many of the traditional structures were replaced by a military power. Aborigines who wished to improve their status looked to education rather than headhunting as the new form of power. Those who learned to work with the Japanese and follow their customs would be better suited to lead villages. The Japanese encouraged Aborigines to maintain traditional costumes and selected customs that were not considered detrimental to society, but invested much time and money in efforts to eliminate traditions deemed unsavory by Japanese culture, including tattooing . By the mid-1930s as Japan’s empire was reaching its zenith, the colonial government began a political socialization program designed to enforce Japanese customs, rituals and a loyal Japanese identity upon the aborigines. By the end of World War II, Aborigines whose fathers had been killed in pacification campaigns were volunteering to die for the Emperor of Japan . The Japanese colonial experience left an indelible mark on many older aborigines who maintained an admiration for the Japanese long after their departure in 1945 .<br />
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<h4>Aborigines under the Kuomintang </h4><br />
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Japanese rule of Taiwan ended in 1945, following the on September 2 and the subsequent appropriation of the island by Chinese Nationalist Party on October 25. In 1949, on losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communist Party of China, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek led the Kuomintang in a retreat from Mainland China, withdrawing its government and 1.3 million refugees to Taiwan. The KMT installed an authoritarian form of government, and shortly thereafter inaugurated a number of political socialization programs aimed at nationalizing Taiwanese people as citizens of a Chinese nation and eradicating Japanese influence . The KMT pursued highly centralized political and cultural policies rooted in the party’s decades-long history of fighting warlordism in China and opposing competing concepts of a loose federation following the demise of the imperial Qing . The project was designed to create a strong national Chinese cultural identity at the expense of local cultures .<br />
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Taiwanese Aborigines first encountered the Nationalist government in 1946, when the Japanese village schools were replaced by schools of the KMT. Documents from the Education Office show an emphasis on Chinese language, and citizenship — with a curriculum steeped in pro-KMT ideology. Some elements of the curriculum, such as the Wu Feng Legend, are currently considered offensive to Aborigines . Much of the burden of educating the Aborigines was undertaken by unqualified teachers, who could, at best, speak Mandarin and teach basic ideology . In 1951 a major political socialization campaign was launched to change the lifestyle of many aborigines, to adopt Han Chinese customs. A 1953 government report on mountain areas stated that its aims were chiefly to promote Mandarin in order to strengthen a national outlook and create good customs. This was included in the Shandi Pingdi Hua policy to “make the mountains like the plains” . Critics of the KMT’s program for a centralized national culture regard it as institutionalized ethnic discrimination, and point to the loss of several indigenous languages and a perpetuation of shame for being an Aborigine as the direct result of what has been referred to as Han chauvinism.<br />
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The pattern of intermarriage continued, as many KMT soldiers married Aboriginal women who were from poorer areas and could be easily bought as wives . Modern studies show a high degree of genetic intermixing. Despite this, many contemporary Taiwanese are unwilling to entertain the idea of having an Aboriginal heritage. In a 1994 study, it was found that 71% of the families surveyed would object to their daughter marrying an Aboriginal man. For much of the KMT era, the official government definition of Aboriginal identity had been 100% Aboriginal parentage, leaving any intermarriage resulting in a non-Aboriginal child. Later the policy was adjusted to the ethnic status of the father determining the status of the child .<br />
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<h3>Transition to democracy</h3><br />
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Authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang ended gradually through a transition to democracy, which was marked by the lifting of martial law in 1987. Soon after, the KMT transitioned to being merely one party within a democratic system, though maintaining a high degree of power in aboriginal districts through an established system of patronage networks . The KMT continued to hold the reins of power for another decade under President Lee Teng-hui. However, they did so as an elected government rather than a dictatorial power. The elected KMT government supported many of the bills that had been promoted by Aboriginal groups. The tenth amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of China also stipulates that the government would protect and preserve aborigine culture and languages and also encourage them to participate in politics.<br />
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During the period of political liberalization, which preceded the end of martial law, academic interest in the plains aborigines surged as amateur and professional historians sought to rediscover Taiwan’s past. The opposition tang wai activists seized upon the new image of the plains aborigines as a means to directly challenge the KMT’s official narrative of Taiwan as a historical part of China, and the government’s assertion that Taiwanese were “pure” Han Chinese . Many ''tang wai'' activists framed the plains aboriginal experience in the existing anti-colonialism/victimization Taiwanese nationalist narrative, which positioned the speaking Taiwanese in the role of indigenous people and the victims of successive foreign rulers . By the late 1980s many Hoklo and speaking people began identifying themselves as plains Aborigines, though any initial shift in ethnic consciousness from Hakka or Hoklo people was minor.<br />
Despite the politicized dramatization of the plains aborigines, their “rediscovery” as a matter of public discourse has had a lasting effect on the increased socio-political reconceptualization of Taiwan — emerging from the a Han Chinese dominant perspective into a wider acceptance of Taiwan as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community. <!-- --><br />
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In many districts Taiwanese Aborigines tend to vote for the Kuomintang, to the point that the legislative seats allocated to the aborigines are popularly described as ''iron votes'' for the pan-blue coalition. This may seem surprising in light of the focus of the pan-green coalition on promoting aboriginal culture as part of the Taiwanese nationalist discourse against the KMT. However, this voting pattern can be explained on economic grounds, and as part of an inter-ethnic power struggle waged in the electorate. Some Aborigines see the rhetoric of Taiwan nationalism as favoring the majority Hoklo speakers rather than themselves. Aboriginal areas also tend to be poor and their economic vitality tied to the entrenched patronage networks established by the Kuomintang over the course of its fifty-five year reign. <br />
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<a name='Contemporary Aborigines' id='Contemporary Aborigines'></a><h2>Contemporary Aborigines</h2><br />
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The democratic era is a time of great change, both constructive and destructive, for the Aborigines of Taiwan. Since the 1980s, increased political and public attention has been paid to the rights and social issues of the indigenous tribes of Taiwan. Aborigines have realized gains in both the political and economic spheres. Though progress is ongoing, there remains a number of still unrealized goals within the framework of the : “although certainly more ‘equal’ than they were 20, or even 10, years ago, the indigenous inhabitants in Taiwan still remain on the lowest rungs of the legal and socioeconomic ladders” . On the other hand, bright spots are not hard to find. A resurgence in ethnic pride has accompanied the Aboriginal cultural renaissance, which is exemplified by the increased popularity of Aboriginal music and greater public interest in aboriginal culture .<br />
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<h3>Aboriginal political movement</h3><br />
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The movement for indigenous cultural and political resurgence in Taiwan traces its roots to the ideals outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . Although the Republic of China on Taiwan was a UN member and signatory to the original UN Charter, four decades of martial law controlled the discourse of culture and politics on Taiwan. The political liberalization Taiwan experienced leading up to the official end of martial law on July 15, 1987, opened a new public arena for dissenting voices and political movements against the centralized policy of the KMT. <br />
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In December 1984, the Taiwan Aboriginal People’s Movement was launched when a group of Aboriginal political activists, aided by the progressive Presbyterian Church in Taiwan , established the Alliance of Taiwan Aborigines to highlight the problems experienced by indigenous communities all over Taiwan, including: prostitution, economic disparity, land rights and official discrimination in the form of naming rights . <br />
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In 1988, amid the ATA’s Return Our Land Movement, in which Aborigines demanded the return of lands to the original inhabitants, the ATA sent its first representative to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations . Following the success in addressing the UN, the “Return Our Land” movement evolved into the Aboriginal Constitution Movement, in which the Aboriginal representatives demanded appropriate wording in the ROC Constitution to ensure indigenous Taiwanese, “dignity and justice” in the form of enhanced legal protection, government assistance to improve living standards in indigenous communities, and the right to identify themselves as “''yuan chu min''” . The KMT government initially opposed the term, due to its implication that other people on Taiwan, including the KMT government, were newcomers and not entitled to the island. The KMT preferred ''hsien chu min'' 先住民 First people, or ''tsao chu min'' 早住民, Early People to evoke a sense of general historical immigration to Taiwan . <br />
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To some degree the movement has been successful. Beginning in 1998, the official curriculum in Taiwan schools has been changed to contain more frequent and favorable mention of Aborigines. In 1996 the Council of Indigenous Peoples was promoted to a ministry-level rank within the Executive Yuan. The central government has taken steps to allow romanized spellings of aboriginal names on official documents, offsetting the long held policy of forcing a Han Chinese name on an aborigine. A relaxed policy on identification now allows a child to choose their official designation if they are born to mixed aboriginal/Han parents.<br />
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The present political leaders in the Aboriginal community, led mostly by Aboriginal elites born after 1949, have been effective in leveraging their ethnic identity and socio-linguistic acculturation into contemporary Taiwanese society against the political backdrop of a changing Taiwan. This has allowed indigenous people a means to push for greater political space, including the still unrealized prospect of s within Taiwan . Though in recent years the drive by the "ethnic elites" to promote Aboriginal particularity has run in contrast to ordinary Aborigines who wish to assimilate into contemporary social norms.<br />
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<h3> Aboriginal political representation </h3><br />
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Aborigines are currently represented by eight members out of 225 seats in the Legislative Yuan. In 2008, the number of legislative seats was cut in half to 113, of which Taiwanese Aborigines are represented by six members. The tendency of Taiwanese Aborigines to vote for members of the pan-blue coalition, has been cited as having the potential to change the balance of the legislature. Citing these six seats in addition with five seats from smaller counties that also tend to vote pan-blue, has been seen as giving the pan-blue coalition 11 seats before the first vote is counted <cite>http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=24034&CtNode=128</cite><br />
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<h3>Economic issues</h3><br />
Many indigenous communities did not evenly share in the benefits of the economic boom Taiwan experienced during the last quarter of the 20th century. They often lacked satisfactory educational resources on their reservations, undermining their pursuit of marketable skills. The economic disparity between the village and urban schools resulted in imposing many social barriers on Aborigines, which prevent many from moving beyond vocational training. Students transplanted into urban schools face adversity, including isolation, culture shock, and discrimination from their peers . The cultural impact of poverty and economic marginalization has led to an increase in alcoholism and prostitution among Aborigines .<br />
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The economic boom resulted in drawing large numbers of Aborigines out of their villages and into the unskilled or low-skilled sector of the urban workforce . Manufacturing and construction jobs were generally available for low wages. The Aborigines quickly formed bonds with other tribes as they all had similar political motives to protect their collective needs as part of the labor force. The Aborigines became the most skilled iron-workers and construction teams on the island often selected to work on the most difficult projects. The result was a mass exodus of tribal members from their traditional lands and the cultural alienation of young people in the villages, who could not learn their languages or customs while employed. Often, young Aborigines in the cities fell into gangs aligned with the construction trade. Recent laws governing the employment of laborers from Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines has led to an increased atmosphere among urban Aborigines of xenophobia and encouraged the formulation of a pan-indigenous consciousness in the pursuit of political representation and protection .<br />
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<h3>Parks, tourism and commercialization</h3><br />
Aboriginal groups are seeking to preserve their folkways and languages as well as to return to, or remain on, their traditional lands. Eco-tourism, sewing and selling tribal carvings, jewelry and music has become a viable area of economic opportunity. However, tourism-based commercial development, such as the creation of Taiwan Aboriginal Culture Park, is not a panacea. Although these create new jobs, Aborigines are seldom given management positions. Moreover, some national parks have been built on Aboriginal lands against the wishes of the local tribes, prompting one Taroko activist to label the Taroko National Park as a form of “environmental colonialism” . At times in the past, the creation of national parks has resulted in forced resettlement of the Aborigines .<br />
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Due to the close proximity of Aboriginal land to the mountains, many tribes have hoped to cash in on hot spring ventures and hotels, where they offer singing and dancing to add to the ambiance. The Wulai Atayal in particular have been active in this area. Considerable government funding has been allocated to museums and culture centers focusing on Taiwan’s Aboriginal heritage. Critics often call the ventures exploitative and “superficial portrayals” of Aboriginal culture, which distract attention from the real problems of substandard education . Proponents of ethno-tourism suggest that such projects can positively impact the public image and economic prospects of the indigenous community.<br />
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<h3>Religion</h3><br />
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Of the current population of Taiwanese Aborigines, roughly 70% identify themselves as Christian. Moreover, many of the Pingpu groups have mobilized their members around predominantly Christian organizations; most notably the Taiwan Presbyterian Church and various denominations of Catholicism . <br />
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Before contact with Christian missionaries during both the Dutch and Qing periods, Taiwanese Aborigines held a variety of beliefs in spirits, gods, sacred symbols and myths that helped their societies find meaning and order. Although there is no evidence of a unified belief system shared among the various indigenous groups, there is evidence that several groups held supernatural beliefs in certain birds and bird behavior. The Siraya were reported by Dutch sources, to incorporate bird imagery into their material culture. Other reports describe animal skulls and the use of human heads in societal beliefs. The Paiwan and other southern groups worship the snake and use the diamond patterns on its back in many tribal designs . In many plains societies, the power to communicate with the supernatural world was exclusively held by women called ''Inibs''. During the period of Dutch colonization, the ''Inibs'' were removed from the villages to eliminate their influence and pave the way for Dutch missionary work .<br />
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During the Zheng and Qing eras, Han immigrants brought Confucianized beliefs of Taoism and Buddhism to Taiwan’s indigenous people. Many plains Aborigines adopted Han religious practices, though there is evidence that many Aboriginal customs were transformed into local Taiwanese Han beliefs. In some parts of Taiwan the Siraya spirit of fertility, Ali-zu has become assimilated into the Han . The use of female spirit mediums can also be traced to the earlier matrilineal ''Inibs''.<br />
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Although many Aborigines assumed Han religious practices, several sub-groups sought protection from the European missionaries, who had started arriving in the 1860’s. Many of the early Christian converts were displaced Pingpu groups that sought protection from the oppressive Han. The missionaries, under the articles of extraterritoriality, offered a form of power against the Qing establishment and could thus make demands on the government to provide redress for Pingpu complaints . Many of these early congregations have served to maintain Aboriginal identity, language and cultures. <br />
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The influence of 19th and 20th Century missionaries has both transformed and maintained Aboriginal integration. Many of the churches have replaced earlier tribal functions, but continue to retain a sense of continuity and community that unites members of Aboriginal societies against the pressures of modernity. Several church leaders have emerged from within the tribes to take on leadership positions in petitioning the government in the interest of indigenous peoples and seeking a balance between the interests of the communities and economic vitality.<br />
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<h3>Music</h3><br />
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A full-time Aboriginal radio station, “Ho-hi-yan”, was launched in 2005 with the help of the Executive Yuan, to focus on issues of interest to the indigenous community. [<strong>Listen</strong> to ''''; requires Windows Media Player 9]. This came on the heels of a “New wave of Indigenous Pop”, , as Aboriginal artists, such as <strong>A-mei</strong> , , Pur-dur and Samingad , and Landy Wen became international pop-stars. The rock musician Chang Chen-yue is a member of the tribe. Music has given Aborigines both a sense of pride and a sense of cultural ownership. The issue of ownership was exemplified when the musical project used an Ami chant in their song “Return to Innocence”, which was selected as the official theme of the . The main chorus was sung by Difang and his wife, Igay. The Amis couple successfully sued Enigma’s record label, which had paid royalties to the French museum that held the master recordings of the traditional songs, but the original artists, who had been unaware of the Enigma project, remained uncompensated. The Enigma suit raised serious issues regarding indigenous people’s participation and compensation in the commoditizing of their cultures and traditions .<br />
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<h3>Ecological issues</h3><br />
The indigenous tribes of Taiwan are closely linked with ecological awareness and issues on the island, as many of the environmental issues are spearheaded by aborigines. Political activism and sizable public protests regarding the logging of the Chilan Formosan Cypress, as well as efforts by an member of the Legislative Yuan, “...focused debate on natural resource management and specifically on the involvement of Aboriginal people therein” . Another high-profile case is the nuclear waste storage facility on Orchid Island, a small tropical island 60 km off the southeast coast of Taiwan. The inhabitants are the 4000 members of the Tao tribe. In the 1970s the island was designated as a possible site to store low and medium grade nuclear waste. The island was selected on the grounds that it would be cheaper to build the necessary infrastructure for storage and it was thought that the population would not cause trouble . Large-scale construction began in 1978 on a site 100 m from the Immorod fishing fields. The Tao tribe alleges that government sources at the time described the site as a ‘factory’ or a ‘fish cannery’, intended to bring “jobs home of the Tao/Yami, one of the least economically integrated areas in Taiwan” . When the facility was completed in 1982, however, it was in fact a storage facility for “97,000 barrels of low-radiation nuclear waste from Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants”. . The Tao have since stood at the forefront of the anti-nuclear movement and launched several exorcisms and protests to remove the waste they claim has resulted in deaths and sickness . The lease on the land has expired, and an alternative site has yet to be selected.<br />
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<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2> <br />
* List of ethnic groups in Taiwan<br />
* Taiwanese <br />
* History of Taiwan<br />
* Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines<br />
* Batan Islands<br />
* A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwanphufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-75226358545388092162008-09-03T20:07:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:07:45.670-07:00Chinese Mulao PeopleThe <strong>Mulao</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. In their name, ''Mulam'', ''mu''<sup>6</sup> is a classifier for human beings and ''lam''<sup>1</sup> is another form of the name used by the , to whom the Mulam people are ethnically related. A large portion of the Mulam in Guangxi live in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County of Hechi, Guangxi.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
It is believed that the Mulam are the descendants of the ancient ''Ling'' and ''Liao'' tribes that inhabited the region during the time of the . During the Yuan dynasty, the Mulam lived in a feudal society and they paid a series of tributes twice a year to the emperor. <br />
<br />
During the Qing dynasty, their territories suffered an administrative division; their lands wre 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.<br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
<br />
The Mulam speak the Mulam language, a language. The Mulam language, like that of the Dong, does not have voiced stops; however, it does contain 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
Although the religion no longer plays a main role in the daily life, traditionally the Mulao have been mostly animists. Each month they celebrated diverse festivals. The most important one of them was the festival ''Yifan'', where diverse sacrifices of animals were carried out. <br />
<br />
Another one of their festivals was the dragon boat festival that was celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. During this celebration, the shamans carried out ceremonies to assure good crop harvests and to expel harmful insects. <br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
* Ramsey, S. Robert. 1987. The Languages of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey ISBN 0-691-06694-9phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-44454849249989283852008-09-03T20:07:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:07:22.857-07:00Chinese Lhoba PeopleThe <strong>Lhoba</strong> is currently the smallest officially recognized in China. They are divided between the Yidu , which is classified as one of the three sub-tribes of the Mishmi, and the Boga'er , a sub-tribe of the . Both groups, also found in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, collectively form a population of around 10,500. The term "Lhoba", however, is only limited to these groups living on the Chinese side of the Indo-Chinese border.<br />
<br />
The Lhoba live in southeastern Tibet, notably in Mainling, Medog, Lhunze and Nangxian counties of Nyingchi Prefecture in southeastern Tibet. Additionally, a small number live in Luoyu, southern Tibet. Many more live in south of the Tibetan border in Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, where they engage in traditional agriculture and hunting. Until the , the Lhoba had no written language. Even though a romanized alphabet was developed for them, there are many elderly Lhoba who can neither read or even count. The occupation of Tibet also brought many changes to traditional Lhoba culture. Most significantly, it helped to integrate the Lhoba with the dominant Tibetan culture and began to put an end to the rigid class system, by which the Lhoba were divided into two distinct castes – aristocrat and peasant – which were not allowed to intermix.<br />
<br />
<a name='Customs and dress' id='Customs and dress'></a><h2>Customs and dress</h2><br />
Many customs, habits and dress of different clan members may vary. The Lhoba men in Luoyu wear knee-length black jackets without sleeves and buttons made out of sheep's wool. They wear helmet-like hats either made from bearskin or woven from bamboo stripes or rattan laced with bearskin. They also wear ornaments that include earrings, necklaces made of beads, and bamboo plugs inserted into the ear lobe. The Lhoba women wear narrow-sleeved blouses and skirts of sheep's wool. The weight of the ornaments the womenfolk wear is a symbol of their wealth, which includes shells, silver coins, iron chains bells, silver and brass earrings. Both sexes usually go barefooted. Their dress are quite similar to the Tibetan costume. The Idu men wear a sword and waterproof cane helmet, and a chignon on their hair and shields made of buffalo hide. Yidu weaponry includes straight Tibetan sword, dagger, bow and poisoned arrows.<br />
<br />
Among the Yidu Lhoba , one of the sub-tribe is the Bebejia Mishmi. Female members of Bebejia Mishmi are expert weavers and make excellent coats and blouses.<br />
<br />
The Idu houses are divided into a number of rooms for use of every married person. Unmarried girls and boys sleep in separate rooms. A fireplace occupies the centre of the room, round which the inmates sleep. The Idus are polygamous and each wife has their own rooms in the house. The family is organised in patriarchal principles. Inheritance of widows are exceptional as compared to a mother. <br />
<br />
The wooden pillow of the master of the house is considered taboo to the inmates of the house as it is considered improper to sit upon it. Guests are not allowed to enter the room of the master of the house. The animal skulls preserved in the house are considered to be sacred. <br />
<br />
The slash and burn method of cultivation, known as Jhum, is the main stay of the Idus, and clearing of land is carried for every three to five years. The important crops they raised are paddy, arum, tapioca, millet and maize. Rice is the staple food supplemented by millet maize and tapioca. They also take leafy vegetables, beans, gourd, sweet potato etc. Animal flesh is considered taboo to Idu woman. The Yidu also consume "Yu", a locally brewed rice beer, and rice beer prepared by a woman during her period is taboo to a priest. <br />
<br />
The Idu calendar was based upon the menstrual period of the women and dating is done by untying one each from a number of knots put on a piece of string. Traditional village panchayat settles all internal disputes among the tribe.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture and religion' id='Culture and religion'></a><h2>Culture and religion</h2><br />
Few Lhoba know the Tibetan language. In the past, when there was no writing, the Lhobas kept track of history through telling their descendants and tying knot codes about their past. Their literature also poses a significant influence on their Tibetan counterparts.<br />
<br />
They engage in barter trade in the Tibetan, trading goods like animal hides, musk, bear paws, dye and captured game for farm tools, salt, wool, clothing, grain and tea from Tibetan traders. As a result of constant trading with the , they have been increasingly influenced by the Tibetans in their dress. Many Lhobas have converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the recent years as they traded in the monasteries, thus frequently mixing with their indigenous Animist beliefs, which had traditionally deep roots in the tiger. Others remain Animistic, more commonly among those in Arunachal Pradesh, and their pilgrim centre of the community lies at Atho-Popu in Dibang valley. The stories about immigration mentioned is along the banks of twelve rivers in Dibang Valley, the clustered area known as Cheithu-Huluni. Among the Yidu, they traditionally believed that "Inni" is their supreme god. <br />
<br />
Festivals such as Reh are celebrated to control the peace and prosperity of the people. This is meant to appease the deities, who were traditionally believed to control the peace and prosperity of the people, which is the thought behind the celebration of the Reh festival. The celebration with great fan-fare and the performance of priest dance marks the ending of the festival.<br />
<br />
There are four variants of funerals among the Yidu Lhoba , and people of different social status would choose to conduct either of the four different variants. In all variants, the ''Igu'' priest would recite mourning songs for the dead. Mithuns are being sacrificed in the ''Yah'' variant of the funeral, which lasts for three to four days.<br />
<br />
The young boys are trained to hunt at an early age. However, women had low status in society and had no inheritance rights from their husbands or fathers. The Lhoba also enjoy a subtropical/warm temperate climate.<br />
<br />
<a name='Cuisine' id='Cuisine'></a><h2>Cuisine</h2><br />
Lhoba cuisine varies across regions. Staple foods are dumplings made of maize or millet flour, rice or buckwheat. In places near Tibetan communities people have tsampa, potatoes, buttered tea and spicy food. Being heavy drinkers and smokers, at celebrations the Lhobas enjoy wine and singing to observe good harvests and good luck. The buttered tea is their favourite drink. However, due to the lack of salt, they had suffered endemic , caused by poor living conditions. Many were either born deaf or mute. Their population went down in decline until recent years due to this disease. Due to their low population, many of them either intermarried with the Tibetans or with the tribal groups of Arunachal Pradesh, notably the Monpa.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
The area which the modern Lhoba lived today was known as Luoyu in medieval texts. Luoyu came under the control of Tibet from the 7th century onwards and came under frequent subjugation from the Tibetans.<br />
<br />
Since the coming of liberation , followed by the Tibetan rebellion in 1959, the Chinese government has significantly improved their living condition. Since then, they were treated as equals by society. Now they are well represented in government at regional, county, district and township levels. Production was boosted and people's living standards and general health improved with loans and relief extended by the government. Previously were serfs, the Lhoba received land, farm implements and draught animals.<br />
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<a name='Notes' id='Notes'></a><h2>Notes</h2><br />
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<!--Other languages-->phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-8672336022099093042008-09-03T20:06:00.005-07:002008-09-03T20:06:59.517-07:00Chinese Nanai PeopleThe <strong>Nanai</strong> people are a Tungusic people of the Far East, who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang , and Ussuri rivers on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanais were the Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria.<br />
<br />
The belongs to the . <br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
The traditional clothing was made out of fish skins. These skins were left to dry. Once dry, they were struck repeatedly with a mallet to leave them completely smooth. Finally they were sewn together. The fish chosen to be used were those weighing more than 50 kilograms. <br />
<br />
<a name='Nanais in Russia' id='Nanais in Russia'></a><h2>Nanais in Russia</h2><br />
In Russia the Nanais live on the Sea of Okhotsk, on the Amur River, downstream from Khabarovsk, on both sides of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as well as on the banks of the and the rivers . The Russians formerly called them Goldi, after a Nanai clan name. According to the 2002 census, there were 12,160 Nanais in Russia. <br />
<br />
In the Soviet Union, a written standard of the Nanai language was created by Valentin Avrorin and others. It is still taught today in 13 schools in Khabarovsk.<br />
<br />
<a name='Nanais in China' id='Nanais in China'></a><h2>Nanais in China</h2><br />
The Nanais are one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China where they are known as "Hezhe" . During the Manchukuo period, the Nanais were practically wiped out in China by the Japanese. They had been confined to prisoner camps and in 1949 they numbered about 300 in China. According to the last census of 2004, they numbered 4,640 in China . Chinese Nanais speak the Hezhen dialect of . They also have a rich oral literature known as the Yimakan. The dialect does not have a written system in China and Nanais usually write in Chinese. However as of 2005 teachers have recently finished compiling probably the first Hezhe language textbook. <br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
The Nanais are mainly Shamanist, with a great reverence for the bear. They consider that the shamans have the power to expel bad spirits by means of prayers to the gods. During the centuries they have been worshipers of the spirits of the sun, the moon, the mountains, the water and the trees. According to their beliefs, the land was once flat until great serpents gouged out the river valleys. They consider that all the things of the universe possess their own spirit and that these spirits wander independently throughout the world. In the Nanai religion, inanimate objects were often personified. Fire, for example, was personified as an elderly woman whom the Nanai referred to as Fadzya Mama. Young children were not allowed to run up to the fire, since they might startle Fadzya Mama, and men always were courteous in the presence of a fire.<br />
<br />
Nanai shamans, like other Tungusic peoples of the region, had characteristic clothing, consisting of a skirt and jacket; a leather belt with conical metal pendants; mittens with figures of serpents, lizards or frogs; and hats with branching horns or bear, wolf, or fox fur attached to it. Bits of Chinese mirrors were also sometimes incorporated into the costume.<br />
<br />
The deceased were normally buried in the ground with the exception of children who died prior to the first birthday; in this case the child's body was wrapped in a cloth or birchbark covering and buried in the tree branches as a "wind burial". Many Nanai are also Tibetan Buddhist.<br />
<br />
<a name='Famous Nanais' id='Famous Nanais'></a><h2>Famous Nanais</h2><br />
*Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's 1975 film Dersu Uzala, based on a book by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, describes the friendship of a pre-revolution Russian military officer and a Nanai man named Dersu Uzala.<br />
*Nanai female shaman Tchotghtguerele Chalchin performed an incantation recorded in Siberia for the song "The Lighthouse" on French producer Hector Zazou's 1994 album ''Chansons des mers froides'' . Lead vocals were performed by Siouxsie Sioux and background music included performances by the Sakharine Percussion Group and the Sissimut Dance Drummers.<br />
*Kola Beldy was a popular singer in Soviet Union and Russia, particularly known for his rendition of "Увезу тебя я в тундру" .<br />
*Han Geng is a member of Korean boy band Super Junior.<br />
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<a name='Endonyms' id='Endonyms'></a><h2>Endonyms</h2><br />
Own names in the , , and . <br />
<br />
<a name='Encyclopedia Britannica on ''Golds''' id='Encyclopedia Britannica on ''Golds'''></a><h2>Encyclopedia Britannica on ''Golds''</h2><br />
:In physique they are typically Mongolic. Like the they wear a pigtail, and from them, too, have learnt the art of silk embroidery. The Golds live almost entirely on fish, and are excellent boatmen. They keep large herds of swine and dogs, which live, like themselves, on fish. Geese, wild duck, eagles, bears, wolves and foxes are also kept in menageries. There is much reverence paid to the eagles, and hence the Manchus call the Golds "Eaglets". Their religion is Shamanism.<br />
<br />
<a name='Autonomous Areas designated for Nanai' id='Autonomous Areas designated for Nanai'></a><h2>Autonomous Areas designated for Nanai</h2><br />
<br />
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<a name='External links' id='External links'></a><h2>External links</h2><br />
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* by Tatyana Semphufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-3783385844759058082008-09-03T20:06:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:06:47.503-07:00Chinese Tatars People<strong>Tatars</strong> , sometimes spelled <strong>Tartar</strong>, are a -speaking ethnic group or multiple ethnic groups. For more about the etymology and usage of the name, see .<br />
<br />
Most current day Tatars live all over Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Lithuania, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Kazakhstan, Romania, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. They collectively numbered more than 10 million in the late 20th century. <br />
<br />
The original Ta-ta inhabited the north-eastern Gobi in the 5th century and, after subjugation in the 9th century by the , migrated southward. In the 12th century, they were subjugated by the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. Under the leadership of his grandson Batu Khan, they moved westwards, driving with them many stems of the ans towards the plains of Russia.<br />
<br />
In Europe, they were assimilated by the local Turkic populations or their name spread to the conquered peoples: Kipchaks, Volga Bulgars, Alans, Kimaks and others; and elsewhere with speaking peoples, as well as with remnants of the ancient Greek colonies in the Crimea and Caucasians in the Caucasus. <br />
<br />
Tatars of Siberia are survivors of the population of the - region, mixed to some extent with the speakers of Uralic languages, as well as with Mongols. Later, each group adopted Turkic languages and many adopted Islam. At the beginning of 20th century, most of those groups, except the Volga Tatars and Crimean Tatars adopted their own ethnic names and now are not referred to as Tatars, being ''Tatars'' or ''Tartars'' only in historical context. Now the name ''Tatars'' is generally applied to two ethnic groups: Volga Tatars and Crimean Tatars. However, some indigenous peoples of Siberia are also traditionally named ''Tatars'', such as Chulym Tatars.<br />
<br />
The present Tatar inhabitants of Eurasia form three large groups:<br />
* those of Crimea, Bulgaria, European Russia and Western Siberia, Lithuania, Moldova, Belarus, Poland, Romania and Turkey.<br />
* those of the Caucasus ,<br />
* and those of Eastern Siberia .<br />
<br />
Due to the vast movements and intermingling of peoples along with the very loose utilization of the name Tatar, current day Tatars comprise a spectrum of physical appearance. As to the original Tatars from Mongolia, they most likely shared characteristics with the Turkic invaders from Central Asia. <br />
<br />
<a name='Name' id='Name'></a><h2>Name</h2><br />
<br />
<br />
The name "Tatar" initially appeared amongst the nomadic Turkic peoples of northeastern Mongolia in the region around Lake Baikal in the beginning of the 5th century. the Greek name for the underworld; this belief led to the frequent spelling and pronunciation of the name with an extra "r", to conform with the classical Greek word. However, this provenance is unlikely since the Tatars use this name for themselves, spelling it without ''r'' .<br />
<br />
Historically, the term <strong>Tatar</strong> has been ambiguously used by Europeans to refer to many different peoples of and . For example, the Russians referred to various peoples they came into contact with on the Eurasian steppes as Tatars yet the and generally referred to the Manchu and related peoples as Tatars when they first arrived in China. The old language designation is now regarded as , although the meaning is preserved in the name of the Strait of Tartary that separates the island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia. Today, the word is generally confined to meaning one of the following:<br />
<br />
<a name='Historical meaning of ''Tatars''' id='Historical meaning of ''Tatars'''></a><h2>Historical meaning of ''Tatars''</h2><br />
* Ta-ta Mongols<br />
* multi-ethnical population of Mongol Empire<br />
* of late Golden Horde <br />
* Turkic Muslim population and some pagan Turkic and Mongolian peoples in the Russian Empire<br />
* Russian term for some peoples, incorporated into the Muslim nation of Russia in the late 19th century <br />
* Some ethnic groups in the Soviet Union after the policy of Furkinland, such as the Volga Tatars , Crimean Tatars, Chulym Tatars, and groups such as the Lipka Tatars .<br />
<br />
<a name='Tatars' id='Tatars'></a><h2>Tatars</h2><br />
The discrimination of the separate stems included under the name is still far from complete. The following subdivisions, however, may be regarded as established:<br />
<br />
Tatars - ''Tatarlar'' or ''Татарлар''. In modern English only ''Tatar'' is used to refer to Eurasian Tatars; ''Tartar'' has offensive connotations as a confusion with the Tartarus of Greek mythology, due in part to the popular association of the ferocity of the Mongol tribes with the Greek sub-underworld. In Europe the term ''Tartar'' is generally only used in the historical context for ''Mongolian'' people who appeared in the 13th century and assimilated into the local population later.<br />
<br />
<h3>Volga Tatars</h3><br />
<br />
Volga Tatars live in the central and eastern parts of european Russia and in western Siberia. In today's Russia the term <strong>Tatars</strong> is used to describe <strong>Volga Tatars</strong> only. During the census of 2002, Tatars, or Volga Tatars, were officially divided into common Tatars, Astrakhan Tatars, Keräşen Tatars, and Siberian Tatars. Other ethnic groups, such as Crimean Tatars and Chulyms, were not officially recognized as a part of the multi-ethnic Tatar group and were counted separately.Anthropologically 38,2% of Volga Tatars belongs to Southern Caucasoid, 22,9% to Lapponoid, 19,5% to Mongoloid and 19,4% to Northern Caucasoid.<br />
<br />
<h4>Kazan Tatars</h4><br />
<br />
During the 11-16th centuries, most tribes lived in what is now Russia and Kazakhstan. The present territory of Tatarstan was inhabited by the who settled on the Volga in the 8th century and converted to Islam in 922 during the missionary work of Ahmad ibn Fadlan. On the Volga, the Bulgars mingled with Scythian and Finno-Ugric speaking peoples. After the , Bulgaria was defeated, ruined and incorporated in the Golden Horde. Much of the population survived, and there was a certain degree of mixing between it and the Kipchak Tatars of the Horde during the ensuing period. The group as a whole accepted the ethnonym "Tatars" and the language of the Kipchaks; on the other hand, the invaders eventually converted to Islam. As the Horde disintegrated in the 15th century, the area became the territory of the Kazan khanate, which was in the 16th century. <br />
<br />
There is some debate among scholars about the extent of that mixing and the "share" of each group as progenitors of the modern Kazan Tatars. It is relatively accepted that demographically, most of the population was directly descended from the Bulgars. Nevertheless, some emphasize the contribution of the Kipchaks on the basis of the ethnonym and the language, and consider that the modern Tatar ethnogenesis was only completed upon their arrival. Others prefer to stress the Bulgar heritage, sometimes to degree of equating modern Kazan Tatars with Bulgars. They argue that although the Volga Bulgars had not kept their language and their name, their old culture and religion - Islam - have been preserved. According to scholars who espouse this view, there was very little mixing with Mongol and Turkic aliens after the conquest of Volga Bulgaria, especially in the northern regions that ultimately became Tatarstan. Some voices even advocate the change of the ethnonym from "Tatars" to "Bulgars" - a movement known as Bulgarism. <br />
<br />
In the 1910s they numbered about half a million in the Kazan Governorate , about 400,000 in each of the governments of Ufa, 100,000 in and Simbirsk, and about 30,000 in Vyatka, Saratov, Tambov, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Orenburg. Some 15,000 belonging to the same stem had migrated to Ryazan, or had been settled as prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries in Lithuania . Some 2000 resided in , where they were mostly employed as coachmen and waiters in restaurants. In Poland they constituted 1% of the population of the district of P&. Later they wer never counted as separate group of the Tatars.<br />
<br />
The Kazan Tatars speak a language . They have been described as generally middle-sized, broad-shouldered, and the majority have brown and green eyes, a straight nose and salient cheek bones. Because their ancestors number not only Turkic peoples, but Finno-Ugric and as well, many Kazan Tatars tend to have Caucasoid faces. Around 33.5% belong to Southern Caucasoid, 27.5% to Northern Caucasoid, 24.5% to Lapponoid and 14.5% to Mongoloid . Most Kazan Tatars practice Sunni Islam.<br />
<br />
Before 1917 in Russia, polygamy was practised only by the wealthier classes and was a waning institution. The Bashkirs who live between the and speak the Bashkir language, which is similar to Tatar, and have converted to Sunni Islam.<br />
<br />
Because it is understandable to all groups of Russian Tatars, as well as to the Chuvash and Bashkirs, the language of the Volga Tatars became a literary one in the 15th century . . The old literary language included a lot of Arabic and Persian words. Nowadays the literary language includes European and Russian words instead of Arabic.<br />
<br />
Volga Tatars number nearly 8 millions, mostly in Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union. While the bulk of the population is to be found in Tatarstan and neighbouring regions, significant numbers of Kazan Tatars live in Central Asia, Siberia and the Caucasus. Outside of Tatarstan, urban Tatars usually speak as their first language and other languages in a worldwide diaspora.<br />
<br />
A significant number of Tatars emigrated during the Russian Civil War, mostly to Turkey and Harbin, China, but resettled to European countries later. Some of them speak Turkish at home. , there are still 51,000 Tatars living in Xinjiang province .<br />
<br />
See also: Tatar language<br />
<br />
<h5>Noqrat Tatars</h5><br />
Tatars live in Russia's Kirov Oblast.<br />
<br />
<h5>Perm Tatars</h5><br />
Tatars live in Russia's Perm Krai. Some of them also have an admixture of blood.<br />
<br />
<h5>Keräşen Tatars</h5><!-- This section is linked from & --><br />
Some Tatars were forcibly Christianized by during the 16th century and later in the 18th century.<br />
<br />
Some scientists suppose that Suars were ancestors of the Keräşen Tatars, and they had been converted to Christianity by Armenians in the 6th century, while they lived in the Caucasus. Suars, like other tribes became Volga Bulgars and later the modern Chuvash and Tatars .<br />
<br />
Keräşen Tatars live all over Tatarstan. Now they tend to be assimilated among Russians, Chuvash and Tatars with Sunni Muslim self-identification. Eighty years of ic Soviet rule made Tatars of both confessions not as religious as they were. As such, differences between Tatars and Keräşen Tatars now is only that Keräşens have Russian names.<br />
<br />
Some Turkic tribes in Golden Horde were converted to Christianity in the 13th and 14th centuries . Some prayers, written in that time in the ''Codex Cumanicus'', sound like modern Keräşen prayers, but there is no information about the connection between Christian Kumans and modern Keräşens.<br />
<br />
<h5>Nağaybäks</h5><br />
<br />
Tatars who became Cossacks and converted to Russian Orthodoxy. They live in the Urals, the Russian border with Kazakhstan during the 17th-18th century.<br />
<br />
The biggest Nağaybäk village is Parizh, Russia, named after French capital Paris, due Nağaybäk's participation in Napoleonic wars.<br />
<br />
<h5>Tiptär Tatars</h5><br />
Like Noğaybaqs, although they are Sunni Muslims. Some Tiptär Tatars speak Russian or . According to some scientists, Tiptärs are part of the Mişärs.<br />
<br />
<h5>Tatar language dialects</h5><br />
There are 3 dialects: Eastern, Central, Western.<br />
<br />
The Western dialect is spoken mostly by Mishärs, the Middle dialect is spoken by Kazan and Astrakhan Tatars, and the Eastern dialect is spoken by some groups of Tatars in western Siberia.<br />
<br />
Middle Tatar is the base of literary Tatar Language. The Middle dialect also has subdivisions.<br />
<br />
<h4>Mişär Tatars</h4><br />
Mişär Tatars are a group of Tatars speaking a dialect of the Tatar language. They are descendants of Kipchaks in the Middle Oka River area and Meschiora where they mixed with the local Finno-Ugric tribes. Nowadays they live in , , , Nizhegorodskaya oblasts of Russia and in Bashkortostan and Mordovia. They lived near and along the Volga River, in Tatarstan.<br />
<br />
<h4>Qasím Tatars</h4><br />
The Western Tatars have their capital in the town of Qasím in Ryazan Oblast, with a Tatar population of 500. See "Qasim Khanate" for their history.<br />
<br />
<h4>Astrakhan Tatars</h4><br />
The Astrakhan Tatars are a group of Tatars, descendants of the Astrakhan Khanate's agricultural population, who live mostly in Astrakhan Oblast. For the 2000 Russian census 2000, most Astrakhan Tatars declared themselves simply as Tatars and few declared themselves as Astrakhan Tatars. A large number of Volga Tatars live in Astrakhan Oblast and differences between them have been disappearing.<br />
<br />
The Astrakhan Tatars are further divided into the Kundrov Tatars and the Karagash Tatars. The latter are also at times called the Karashi Tatars.<br />
<br />
Text from Britannica 1911:<br />
:The Astrakhan Tatars number about 10,000 and are, with the Kalmyks, all that now remains of the once so powerful Astrakhan empire. They also are agriculturists and gardeners; while some 12,000 Kundrovsk Tatars still continue the nomadic life of their ancestors.<br />
<br />
While Astrakhan Tatar is a mixed dialect, around 43,000 have assimilated to the Middle dialect. Their ancestors are Khazars, Kipchaks and some Volga Bulgars. <br />
<br />
The Astrakhan Tatars also assimilated the Agrzhan.<br />
<br />
<h4>Volga Tatars in the world</h4><br />
Places where Volga Tatars live include:<br />
* and Upper Kama 15th century - colonization, 16th - 17th century - re-settled by Russians, 17th - 19th century - exploring of Ural, working in the plants<br />
* West Siberia : 16th - from Russian repressions after conquering of Khanate of Kazan by Russians, 17th - 19th century - exploring of West Siberia, end of 19th - first half of 20th - industrialization, railways constructing, 1930s - Stalin's repressions, 1970s - 1990s oil workers<br />
* Moscow : Tatar feudals in the service of Russia, tradesmen, since 18th - Saint-Petersburg<br />
* Kazakhstan : 18th – 19th centuries - Russian army officers and soldiers, 1930s – industrialization, since 1950s - settlers on virgin lands - re-emigration in 1990s<br />
* Finland : - 19th - from a group of some 20 villages in the Sergach region on the Volga River. See Finnish Tatars.<br />
* Central Asia - 19th Russian officers and soldiers, tradesmen, religious emigrants, 1920-1930s - industrialization, Soviet education program for Central Asia peoples, 1948, 1960 - help for Ashgabat and Tashkent ruined by earthquakes - re-emigration in 1980s<br />
* Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan - oil workers , bread tradesmen<br />
* Northern China - railway builders - re-emigrated in 1950s<br />
* East Siberia - resettled farmers , railroad builders , exiled by the Soviet government in 1930s<br />
* Germany and Austria - 1914, 1941 - prisoners of war, 1990s - emigration<br />
* Turkey, Japan, Iran, China, Egypt - emigration<br />
* UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Mexico - re-emigration from Germany, Turkey, Japan, China and others. 1950s - prisoners of war from Germany, which did not go back to the USSR, 1990s - emigration after the break up of USSR<br />
* Sakhalin, Kaliningrad, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Karelia - after 1944-45 builders, Soviet military personnel<br />
* Murmansk Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Northern Poland and Northern Germany - Soviet military personnel<br />
* Israel - wives or husbands of Jews <br />
<br />
<h3>Tatars of East Europe</h3><br />
<h4>Crimean Tatars</h4><br />
<br />
<br />
The Crimean Tatars constituted the Crimean Khanate which was annexed by Russia in 1783. The war of 1853 and the laws of 1860-63 and 1874 caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars.<br />
<br />
Those of the south coast, mixed with Scyth, Greeks and Italians, were well known for their skill in gardening, their honesty, and their work habits, as well as for their fine features. The mountain Tatars closely resemble those of Caucasus, while those of the steppes - the Nogais - are decidedly of a mixed origin with Turks and Mongols.<br />
<br />
During World War II, the entire Tatar population in Crimea fell victims to Stalin's oppressive policies. In 1944 they were accused of being Nazi collaborators and deported en masse to Central Asia and other lands of the Soviet Union. Many died of disease and malnutrition. Since the 1980s late, about 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned to their homeland in the Crimea .<br />
<br />
<h4>Lithuanian Tatars</h4><br />
<br />
<br />
After Tokhtamysh was defeated by Tamerlane, some of his clan sought refuge in Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They were given land and nobility in return for military service and were known as Lipka Tatars. They are known to have taken part in the Battle of Grunwald.<br />
<br />
Another group appeared in Jagoldai Duchy near modern Kursk in 1437 and disappeared later.<br />
<br />
<h4>Belarusian Tatars</h4><br />
<br />
<br />
Islam spread in Belarus from the 14th to the 16th century. The process was encouraged by the Lithuanian princes, who invited Tatar Muslims from the Crimea and the Golden Horde as guards of state borders. Already in the 14th century the Tatars had been offered a settled way of life, state posts and service positions. By the end of the 16th century over 100,000 Tatars settled in Belarus and Lithuania, including those hired to government service, those who moved there voluntarily, prisoners of war, etc.<br />
<br />
Tatars in Belarus generally follow Sunni Hanafi Islam. Some groups have accepted Christianity and been assimilated, but most adhere to Muslim religious traditions, which ensures their definite endogamy and preservation of ethnic features. Interethnic marriages with representatives of Belarusian, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian nationalities are not rare, but do not result in total assimilation.<br />
<br />
Originating from different ethnic associations, Belarusian Tatars back in ancient days lost their native language and adopted Belarusian, Polish and Russian. However, the liturgy is conducted in the Arabic language, which is known by the clergymen. There are an estimated 20,000 Tatars in Belarus.<br />
<br />
<h4>Polish Tatars</h4><br />
:''Main articles: Lipka Tatars and Islam in Poland''<br />
<br />
From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth.<br />
This was promoted especially by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, because of their deserved reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted with szlachta status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the Lipka Tatars as well as Crimean and Tatars , all of which were noticeable in Polish military history, as well as Volga Tatars . They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, lands that are now in Lithuania and Belarus.<br />
<br />
Various estimates of the number of Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century range from 15,000 persons to 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to intermarry with Christians, a thing uncommon in Europe at the time. The May Constitution of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish Sejm.<br />
<br />
Although by the 18th century the Tatars adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions were preserved. This led to formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance and a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools. <br />
<br />
About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Poland , and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had preserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives, and a museum in Wilno .<br />
<br />
The Tatars suffered serious losses during World War II and furthermore, after the border change in 1945 a large part of them found themselves in the Soviet Union. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar nationality in the 2002 census. There are two Tatar villages in the north-east of present-day Poland, as well as urban Tatar communities in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Bia&, and Gorzów Wielkopolski. Tatars in Poland sometimes have a Muslim surname with a Polish ending: ''Ryzwanowicz, Jakubowicz''.<br />
<br />
The Tatars were relatively very noticeable in the Commonwealth military as well as in Polish and Lithuanian political and intellectual life for such a small community. In modern-day Poland, their presence is also widely known, due in part to their noticeable role in the historical novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz, which are universally recognized in Poland. A number of Polish intellectual figures have also been Tatars, e.g. the prominent historian Jerzy Łojek.<br />
<br />
A small community of Polish speaking Tatars settled in Brooklyn, New York City in the early 1900s. They established a mosque that is still in use today.<br />
<br />
<h4>Dobruja Tatars</h4><br />
In Dobruja, Romania, there is today a community of about 25,000 Crimean Tatars, which were colonized there by the Ottoman Empire beginning with the 17'th Century<br />
<br />
<a name='Caucasian Tatars' id='Caucasian Tatars'></a><h2>Caucasian Tatars</h2><br />
These are Tatars who inhabit the upper , the steppes of the lower and the Kura, and the Araks. In the 19th century they numbered about 1,350,000. This number includes a number of Tatar oil workers who came to the Caucasus from the Middle Volga in the end of the 19th century.<br />
<br />
Now this term is used to describe Tatars, settled in Caucasus. Other explanations, like followers, can be found only in historical context.<br />
<br />
<h3>Nogais on the Kuma</h3><br />
The on the show traces of a mixture with Kalmyks. They are nomads, supporting themselves by cattle-breeding and fishing; a few are agriculturists.<br />
<br />
Today Nogais is an independent ethnos, living in the North of Dagestan, where they lived after Nogai Horde's defeating in was against Russia and settling Kalmyks in their lands in 17th century. Nogais was replaced to ''Black Lands'' in the North of Daghestan. Another part merged with Kazakhs.<br />
<br />
In 16th century Nogais supported Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire, but sometimes robbed Crimean, Tatar and Bashkir lands, although their rulers supported them. In 16th-17th century some defensive walls was constructed in modern Tatarstan and Samara Oblast.<br />
<br />
One of the Tatar national heroes, S&, was Nogai.<br />
<br />
<h4>Qundra Tatars</h4><br />
Some groups of Nogais emigrated to Middle Volga, where were assimilated by Volga Tatars .<br />
<br />
<h3>Karachays</h3><br />
The Karachays who number 18,500 in the upper valleys about Elburz live by agriculture.<br />
<br />
Today Karachays are the independent ethnos, one of the main nation in Karachay-Cherkessia.<br />
<br />
<a name='Siberian Tatars' id='Siberian Tatars'></a><h2>Siberian Tatars</h2><br />
<br />
<br />
The Siberian Tatars were estimated at 80,000 of Turkic stock, and about 40,000 had Uralic or Ugric ancestry. They occupy three distinct regions—a strip running west to east from Tobolsk to Tomsk—the and its spurs—and South Yeniseisk. They originated in the agglomerations of Turkic stems that, in the region north of the Altay, reached some degree of culture between the 4th and the 5th centuries, but were subdued and enslaved by the Mongols.<br />
<br />
<h3>Baraba Tatars</h3><br />
Sometimes Siberian Tatars refers only to Baraba Tatar, as a part of Tatar nation, a Muslim people that speak dialects of Tatar language, but not another.<br />
<br />
The Baraba Tatars take their name from one of their stems and number about 50,000 in the government of Tobolsk and about 5000 in Tomsk. After a strenuous resistance to Russian conquest, and much suffering at a later period from Kyrgyz and Kalmyk raids, they now live by agriculture—either in separate villages or along with Russians.<br />
<br />
After colonisation of Siberia by Russian and Volga Tatars, Baraba Tatars used to call themselves ''people of Tomsk'', later ''Moslems'', and came to call themselves ''Tatars'' only in 20th century.<br />
<br />
<h3>Chulym Tatars</h3><br />
<br />
<br />
The Chulym, or Cholym Tatars live on the , and both of the rivers . They speak a Turkic language with many Mongol and Yakut words and are more like Mongols than . In the 19th century they paid a tribute for 2550 arbaletes, but they now are rapidly becoming fused with Russians.<br />
<br />
See: Chulym language<br />
<br />
<h3>Abakan Tatars</h3><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The occupied the steppes on the and in the 17th century, after the withdrawal of the Kyrgyz, and represent a mixture with Kaibals and Beltirs—also of origin. Their language is also mixed. They are known under the name of Sagais, who numbered 11,720 in 1864, and are the purer Turkic stem of the <strong>Minusinsk Tatars</strong>, Kaibals, and . Formerly shamanists, they now are, nominally at least, adherents of the Russian Orthodox Church and support themselves mostly by cattle-breeding. Agriculture is spreading, but slowly, among them. They still prefer to plunder the stores of bulbs of ''Lilium martagon, Paeonia'', and ''Erythronium dens-canis'' laid up by the steppe mouse . The , of the Sayan mountains , who are mixed with ; the Uryankhes of north-west Mongolia, who are of Turkic origin but follow Buddhism; and the Karagasses, also of Turkic origin and much like the Kyrgyz, but reduced now to a few hundreds, are akin to the above.<br />
<br />
Today ''Abakan Tatars'' of ''Kirghiz'' terms are extinct, used own names only.<br />
<br />
See more: Khakass, Tuvans, <br />
<br />
<h3>Northern Altay Tatars</h3><br />
The Tatars of the northern slopes of the are of Finnish origin. They comprise some hundreds of Kumandintses, the Lebed Tatars, the Chernevyie or Black-Forest Tatars and the Shors , descendants of the Kuznetsk or Iron-Smith Tatars. They are chiefly hunters, passionately loving their taiga, or wild forests, and have maintained their shaman religion and tribal organization into suoks. They also live partly on pine nuts and honey collected in the forests. Their traditional dress is that of their former rulers, the Kalmucks, and their language contains many Mongol words.<br />
<br />
<h3>Altayans</h3><br />
The Altay Tatars, or ''Altayans'', comprise<br />
* the ''Mountain Kalmyks'' , to whom this name has been given by mistake, and who have nothing in common with the Kalmyks except their dress and mode of life. They speak a Turkic dialect.<br />
* the ''Teleutes'', or ''Telenghites'' , a remainder of a formerly numerous and warlike nation, who have migrated from the mountains to the lowlands where they now live along with Russian peasants.<br />
<br />
Term ''Tatars'' is extinct for this peoples.<br />
<br />
Although Turkestan and Central Asia were formerly known as Independent Tartary, it is not now usual to call the Sarts, Kyrgyz and other inhabitants of those countries Tatars, nor is the name usually given to the Yakuts of Eastern Siberia.<br />
<br />
<a name='Generic meaning' id='Generic meaning'></a><h2>Generic meaning</h2><br />
The name Tatars was originally applied to both the Turkic and Mongol tribes which invaded Europe six centuries ago, and gradually extended to the Turkic tribes mixed with Mongolian or Uralic-speaking peoples in Siberia. It is used at present in two senses:<br />
* Quite loosely, to designate any of the Muslim tribes whose ancestors may have spoken Uralic or Altaic languages. Thus some writers talk of the Manchu Tatars.<br />
* In a more restricted sense, to designate Muslim Turkic-speaking tribes, especially in Russia, who never formed part of the Seljuk or Ottoman Empire, but made independent settlements and remained more or less cut off from the politics and civilization of the rest of the Islamic world.<br />
<br />
* Linguistically, Tatars are closely related to the Bashkirs and other Turkic peoples. Tatars are the direct descendants of the Volga Bulgars. Volga Bulgars were a mixed people, whose ancestors may have included speakers of Scythian, Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages. . After coming to the Middle Volga, Bulgars mixed with Finno-Ugric speaking tribes. <br />
* Bashkirs speak a language very similar to Tatar language. Nowadays, Bashkortostan's officials pursue a policy of forced "Bashkirization" of Tatars. However, the number of Tatars in Bashkortostan is almost as high as the number of Bashkirs in their own republic. <br />
<br />
<a name='Authorities' id='Authorities'></a><h2>Authorities</h2><br />
Bibliographical indexes may be found in the Geographical Dictionary of P. Semenov, appended to the articles devoted respectively to the names given above, as also in the yearly Indexes by M. Mezhov and the Oriental Bibliography of Lucian Scherman. Besides the well-known works of Castren, which are a very rich source of information on the subject, Schiefner , Donner, Ahlqvist and other explorers of the Uralic and Altaic languages and peoples, as also those of the Russian historians , , Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Schapov, and , the following containing valuable information may be mentioned:<br />
* the publications of the Russian Geographical Society and its branches;<br />
* the Russian Etnographicheskiy Sbornik;<br />
* the Izvestia of the Moscow society of the amateurs of natural science;<br />
* the works of the Russian ethnographical congresses;<br />
* Kostrov's researches on the Siberian Tatars in the memoirs of the Siberian branch of the geographical society; 's Reise durch den Altay, Aus Sibirien', "Picturesque Russia" ;<br />
* Semenov's and Potanin's " Supplements " to Ritter's Asien; Harkavi's report to the congress at Kazan;<br />
* Hartakhai's "Hist, of Crimean Tatars", in Vyestnik Evropy, 1866 and 1867;<br />
* "Katchinsk Tatars", in Izvestia Russ. Geogr. Soc., xx., 1884.<br />
<br />
Various scattered articles on Tatars will be found in the Revue orientale pour les Etudes Oural-Altaïques, and in the publications of the . See also E. H. Parker, A Thousand Years of the Tartars, 1895 , and Skrine and Ross, Heart of Asia . <br />
<br />
<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
<br />
*Tatar language<br />
*Tatar alphabet<br />
*Tatarstan<br />
*Volga Bulgaria<br />
*Tartary<br />
*Crimea<br />
*Finnish Tatars<br />
*Lipka Tatars<br />
*Islam in Poland<br />
*List of Tatars<br />
*Steak tartare<br />
<br />
<a name='References and notes' id='References and notes'></a><h2>References and notes</h2><br />
*<br />
<references />phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-55990395436302934732008-09-03T20:06:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:06:18.716-07:00Chinese Derung PeopleThe <strong>Derung</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population of 6,000 is found in Yunnan province. Another 600 can be found along the Nu Jiang in the northern County. <br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
The Derung speak the Derung language, a Sino-Tibetan language. Their language is unwritten; in the past the Derung have transmitted messages and have made records by making notchs in trunks of wood.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
There are few documents about the origins of the Derung. It is known, nevertheless, that during the period of the Tang dynasty, the Derung were under the jurisdiction of the kingdoms of Nanzhao and .<br />
Later on, from the Yuan dynasty to the Qing dynasty, the Derung were governed by the local heads of the Naxi. In 1913, the Derung helped to repel a British attack in the area.<br />
Until 1949 there were several names used for this ethnic group; they received names as ''Qiao'' during the Yuan dynasty and ''Qiu'' and ''Qu'' during the Qing dynasty.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
Prior to the formation of the People's Republic, Derung society was based on a system of clans. A total of 15 clans existed, called ''nile''; each one of them was formed by diverse familiar communities. Each clan divided itself in ''ke'eng'', towns in which the Derung lived in common houses. The marriages between clans were prohibited.<br />
The typical dress of the women consists of a dress made in fabric lined on colors black and white. Formerly, the women used to tattoo their faces, when they reached the age of twelve or thirteen. The tattoos of some women resembled masculine moustaches.<br />
The houses are usually constructed out of wood. They are two stories in height; the second floor is designed as the living quarters for the family whereas the first level serves as a barn and stable. When a male member of the family is married, a new section is added to the family's house where he and his new wife will live in. <br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
Although some Derung have converted to Christianity, the vast majority continue to believe in their animist native religion. There is a belief that all the creatures have their own souls. Usually diverse sacrifices are made in order to calm down the malignant spirits.<br />
The role of the shaman is of great importance since they are the ones in charge of the rituals. During the celebrations of the Derung New Year, which is celebrated in the month of December of the lunar calendar, diverse animal sacrifices are celebrated to make an offering to the sky.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-89755124075949470922008-09-03T20:05:00.008-07:002008-09-03T20:06:00.904-07:00Chinese Oroqen People:''Not to be confused with the Oroch and Oroks of Russia.''<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The <strong>Oroqen</strong> people are an ethnic group in northern China. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. According to the 2000 Census, 44.54% live in Inner Mongolia and 51.52% along the Heilongjiang River in the province of Heilongjiang. The Oroqin Autonomous Banner is also located in Inner Mongolia.<br />
<br />
The Oroqens are mainly hunters and it is customary of them to use animal fur and skins for clothing. Many of them have given up hunting and adhered to laws that aimed to protect wildlife in the People's Republic of China. The government is said to have provided modern dwellings for those who have left behind the traditional way of life. The Oroqen are represented in the People's Congress by their own delegate and they are a recognized ethnic minority.<br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
The Oroqen language is a language. Their language is very similar to the Evenki language and it is believed that speakers of these two languages can understand 70% of the other language. Their language is still unwritten; however, the majority of the Oroqen are capable of reading and writing and some can also speak the language.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
The Oroqen ethnic group is one of the oldest ethnic groups in northeast China. Their name Oroqen, means "people using reindeer" , it is a name they gave themselves. The ancestor of the Oroqens originally lived in the vast area south of the Outer Xing'an Mountains and north of Heilongjiang. They once formed part of the ancient people known as the Shiwei. In the 17th century, following the invasions by Russia, some Oroqens moved to the area near the and Mountains.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
The Oroqen are exogamous and only marriages among members of different clans are permitted. The traditional dwelling is called a ''sierranju'' is covered in the summer with birch bark and in the winter with deer furs. These dwellings have conical forms and are made out of 20 to 30 pine sticks. The dwellings are usually about six meters of diameter and five meters of height. In the center a fire is placed that serves so much as of a kitchen and as of source of lighting. Birch bark is an important raw material in the traditional culture next to the furs. It served for the preparation of containers of all types, from the manufacture of children cradles to boats. With respect to the reindeer herding Evenki, Oroqen and Nanai, which all shared the use of birch bark, it can be said that these cultures are part of a "birch bark" culture.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
Until the early 1950s the main religion of the nomadic Oroqen was shamanism. In the summer of 1952 cadres of the Chinese communist party coerced the leaders of the Oroqen to give up their "superstitions" and abandon any religious practices. These tribal leaders, Chuonnasuan and Zhao Li Ben, were also powerful shamans. The special community ritual to "send away the spirits" and beg them not to return was held over three nights in Baiyinna and in Shibazhan.<br />
<br />
The last living shaman of the Oroqen, Chuonnasuan , died at the age of 73 on 9 October 2000. His life, initiatory illness, and training as a shaman are detailed in a published article, also online available.<br />
<br />
Sacrifices to ancestral spirits are still routinely made, and there is a folk psychological belief in animism. <br />
<br />
Traditionally the Oroqen have a special veneration for animals, especially the bear and the tiger, which they consider their blood brothers. The tiger is known to them as ''wutaqi'' which means "elderly man" while the bear is ''amaha'' which means "uncle“.<br />
<br />
<a name='Notes' id='Notes'></a><h2>Notes</h2><br />
<br />
<references/>phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-85328522026471561352008-09-03T20:05:00.007-07:002008-09-03T20:05:49.274-07:00Chinese Monpa PeopleThe <strong>Monpa</strong> are an ethnic group of descent in the Indian territory of Arunachal Pradesh, with a population of 50,000, centered in the districts of Tawang and West Kameng. Another 25,000 of them can be found in the district of Cuona in Tibet, where they are known as <strong>Menba</strong>. Of the 45,000 Monpas who live in Arunachal Pradesh, about 20,000 of them live in Tawang district, where they constitute about 97% of the district's population, and almost all of the remainder can be found in the West Kameng district, where they form about 77% of the district's population. A small number of them may be found in the district of East Kameng and Bhutan . <br />
<br />
They also share very close affinity with the Sharchops of Bhutan. Their belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family, but it is significantly different from the Eastern Tibetan dialect. It is written with the Tibetan script.<br />
<br />
The Monpa are sub-divided into six sub-groups because of their variations in their language. They are namely: <br />
* Tawang Monpa<br />
* Dirang Monpa <br />
* Lish Monpa <br />
* Bhut Monpa<br />
* Kalaktang Monpa <br />
* Panchen Monpa<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
The Monpa are mainly followers of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa sect, although some members of the Bhut Monpa are followers of B& and Animism. In every household, small Buddhist altars placed with statues of are given water offerings in little cups and burning butter lamps. <br />
<br />
The belief in transmigration of the soul and reincarnation is widespread, as their life is largely centered on the Tawang monastery in Tawang district, where many of the young Monpa boys would join the monastery and grow up as Buddhist Lamas.<br />
<br />
The Bhut Monpa led a hunter-gather lifestyle and believed that the main totem and clan idol is the spirit of the tiger, who will torment any initiate while he sleeps. It is also believed that the spirit of the tiger is the manifestation of the ancestral forest spirit, who took a young shaman into the jungle to be initiated. <br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
The Monpa are known for wood carving, Thangka painting, carpet making and weaving. They manufactured paper from the pulp of the local sukso tree. A printing press can be found in the Tawang monastery, where many religious books are printed on local paper and wooden blocks, usually meant for literate Monpa Lamas, who use it for their personal correspondence and conducting religious rituals.<br />
<br />
Principal Monpa festivals include Choskar harvest, Losar, Ajilamu and Torgya. During Losar, people would generally pray pilgrimage at the Tawang monastery to pray for the coming of the Tibetan New Year. <br />
<br />
The Buddhist Lamas would read religious scriptures in the Gompas for a few days during Choskar. There after, the villagers will walk around the cultivated fields with the sutras on their back. The significance of this festival is to pray for better cultivation and protect the grains from insects and wild animals. The prosperity of the villagers is not excluded as well. <br />
<br />
It is a rule that all animals except men and tigers are allowed to be hunted. According to tradition, only one individual is allowed to hunt the tiger on an auspicious day, upon the initiation period of the shamans, which can be likened a trial of passage. Upon hunting the tiger, the jawbone, along with all its teeth, is used as a magic weapon. This is believed that its power will enable the tigers to evoke the power of his guiding spirit of the ancestral tiger, who will accompany and protect the boy along his way.<br />
<br />
<a name='Society' id='Society'></a><h2>Society</h2><br />
The traditional society of the Monpa was administered by a council which consists of six ministers locally known as ''Trukdri''. The members of this council were known as the ''Kenpo'', literally the Abbot of Tawang. The Lamas also hold a respectable position, which consists of two monks known as ''Nyetsangs'', and two other ''Dzongpon''.<br />
<br />
The man is the head of the family an he is the one who takes all decisions. In his absence his wife takes over all responsibilities. When a child is born they have no strict preference for a boy or a girl. Some however prefer a daughter for she stays in the house of her parents once she is married. Her husband is the one who moves to the house of his parents-in-law.<br />
<br />
<a name='Lifestyle and Dress' id='Lifestyle and Dress'></a><h2>Lifestyle and Dress</h2><br />
The traditional dress of the Monpa is based on the Tibetan Chugba, although woolen coats and trousers maybe worn as well. The men wear a skull cap of felt with fringes or tassels. The women tend to wear a warm jacket and a sleeveless chemise that reaches down to the calves, tying them round the waist with a long and narrow piece of cloth. Ornaments that include silver rings, earrings made of flat pieces of bamboo with red beads or turquoises are worn as well. One can see a person wearing a cap with a single peacock feather round their felt hats. <br />
<br />
Due to the cold climate of the Himalayas, the Monpa, like most of the other Buddhist tribes, construct their house with stone and wood with plank floors, often accompanied with beautifully carved doors and window frames. The roof is made with bamboo matting, keeping their house warm during the winter season. Sitting platforms and hearths in the living rooms are also found in their houses.<br />
<br />
<a name='Economy' id='Economy'></a><h2>Economy</h2><br />
The Monpa practice shifting and permanent types of cultivation. Cattle including yaks, cows, pigs, sheep and fowl are kept as domestic animals, and meat is hunted using primitive methods. <br />
<br />
To prevent soil erosion by planting crops on hilly slopes, the Monpa have terraced many slopes. Cash crops such as rice, maize, wheat, barley, chili pepper, pumpkin, beans, tobacco, indigo and cotton are planted.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
Legends, chronological and archaeological evidence that the Monpa, who were the aborigines of that area, once ruled a kingdom known as Monyul, or Lhomon that existed from 500 B.C. to 600 A.D., a kingdom that was ruled by the then-nomadic Monpa.<br />
<br />
It was believed that Monyul stretched from present day Tawang right up to West Bengal, Assam, part of Sikkim and even the Duars plains at the Himalayan foothills. Upon the collapse of Monyul, the Monpa came under the rule of Tibet for many years, although small Monpa chiefdoms were formed whenever Tibetan rule was not strong in the area. One of the good reminiscences of the ancient Monpa chiefdoms include the Dirang Fort constructed around the 11th century, which was meant to defend against invasions from neighbouring chiefdoms.<br />
<br />
The sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, whom the Tibetans still dearly love, despite his deviancy, and whose Gurs are still fondly recited or sung, came from Mon. A translation of his Gurs by K. Dhondup, a deceased Tibetan scholar, is enjoyable. Perhaps the most famous Gur, still sung all over Tibet and outside is titled "Oh White Crane, lend me your wings. I go no farther than Lithang; thence return again."<br />
<br />
<a name='Miscellaneous' id='Miscellaneous'></a><h2>Miscellaneous</h2><br />
The sixth Dalai Lama, , is a Monpa by ethnicity. The Monpa monk Geshe Ngawang Tashi Bapu, popularly known as Lama Tashi, was a Grammy Awards Nominee of the Traditional World Music category in 2006.<br />
<br />
<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
* Monpa language<br />
* Tshangla<br />
* Tibet<br />
* South Tibet<br />
<br />
<a name='References and External Links' id='References and External Links'></a><h2>References and External Links</h2><br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
*phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-91769067561865676082008-09-03T20:05:00.005-07:002008-09-03T20:05:36.201-07:00Chinese Bonan PeopleThe <strong>Bonan</strong> people are an ethnic group living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwestern China. Numbering approximately 17,000 they are the 7th smallest of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.<br />
<br />
The Bonan speak the Bonan language, a , and are predominantly . The Bonan of Qinghai speak a slightly different dialect that those of Gansu. Whereas the Bonan language of Gansu has undergone influences, the Bonan language of Qinghai has been influenced by . They are believed to be descended from Muslim Mongol soldiers stationed in Qinghai during the or dynasties and to have settled in Gansu during the reign of the .<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
The Bonan share many traditions with the Dongxiang and Hui. Their traditional dress includes elements of Tibetan, Hui and Dongxiang clothing. Married Bonan women wear black veils, while unmarried women wear green veils. Bonan men typically wear black or white head coverings and white jackets.<br />
<br />
Bonan knives are renowned for their beauty and hardness and their manufacture and sale form an important part of the local economy, along with farming and ranching.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
The small group of Bonan that lives in the province of Qinghai are mainly Tibetan Buddhists whereas the rest are followers of Islam.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-57593578200381108402008-09-03T20:05:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:05:18.579-07:00Chinese Evenks PeopleThe <strong>Evenks</strong> or <strong>Evenki</strong> are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527 . In China, the Evenki form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of 30,505, as per 2000 Census.<br />
<br />
<a name='Evenks of Russia' id='Evenks of Russia'></a><h2>Evenks of Russia</h2><br />
<br />
The Evenks were formerly known as ''tungus''. This designation was spread by the Russians, who acquired it from the Yakuts and the Siberian Tatars in the 17th century. The Evenks have several self-designations of which the best known is ''even'', ''evenk''. This became the official designation for the people in 1931. Some groups call themselves ''orochen'' , ''orochon'' , ''ile'' , etc. At one time or another tribal designations and place-names have also been used as self-designations, for instance ''manjagir'', ''birachen'', ''solon'', etc. Several of these have even been taken for separate ethnic entities. <br />
<br />
Besides Evenks, the list of indigenous ethnic groups of Siberia includes similarly named Evens . Although related to the Evenks, the Evens are now considered to be a separate ethnic group. <br />
<br />
The Evenks are spread over a huge territory of the Siberian taiga from the in the west to the Okhotsk Sea in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to Manchuria and Sakhalin in the south. The total area of their habitat is about 2,500,000 . In all of Russia only the Russians inhabit a larger territory. According to the administrative structure, the Evenks live, from west to east, in and Tomsk Oblasts, Krasnoyarsk Krai with Evenk Autonomous Okrug, , , and Amur Oblasts, the and the Sakha Republics, Khabarovsk Krai, and Sakhalin Oblast. However, the territory where they are a titular nation is confined solely to Evenk Autonomous Okrug, where 3,802 of the 35,527 Evenks live . More than 18,200 Evenks live in the Sakha Republic. <br />
<br />
Anthropologically the Evenk belong to the Baikal or Paleo-Siberian group of the Mongolian type, originating from the ancient Paleo-Siberian people of the Yenisei River up to the Okhotsk Sea.<br />
<br />
The Evenk language is the largest of the northern group of the Manchu-Tungus languages, a group which also includes the Even and Negidal languages.<br />
<br />
<a name='Evenks of China' id='Evenks of China'></a><h2>Evenks of China</h2><br />
According to the 2000 Census, there are 30,505 Evenks in China mainly made up of the Solons and the Khamnigans. 88.8% of China's Evenks live in the Hulunbuir region in the north of the Inner Mongolia Province, near the city of . The Evenk Autonomous Banner is also located near Hulunbuir. There are also around 3,000 Evenks in neighbouring Heilongjiang Province.<br />
<br />
In 1763, the government moved 500 Solon Evenk and 500 Daur families to the Tacheng and Kuldja areas of Xinjiang, in order to strengthen the empire's western border. 1020 Xibe families followed the next year. Since then, however, the Solons of Xinjiang have assimilated into other ethnic groups, and are not identified as such anymore.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
Prior to contact with the Russians, the religion of the Evenks was shamanism. Although many of them have adopted Lamaism the Evenks of both the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China are a nominally people. Along with their cousins and a few other tribes in Siberia, they are some of the only Asiatic peoples who nominally practice Orthodox Christianity, which they had voluntarily adopted during contacts from Russian expansion into Siberia.<br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
<references/>phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-39961530269782424212008-09-03T20:05:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:05:09.304-07:00Chinese Nu PeopleThe <strong>Nu</strong> people are one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population of 27,000 is divided into the Northern, Central and Southern groups. Their homeland is a country of high mountains and deep ravines crossed by the Lancang, Dulong and Nujiang rivers, and this area is rich in natural minerals. The name "Nu" comes from the fact that they were living near the Nujiang river, and the name of their ethnic group derives from there. <br />
<br />
The Nu live mainly in Yunnan province. 90% of them are found in Gongshan, Fugong, Laping and Bijiang counties in Yunnan Province, along with Lisu, Drung, Tibetan, Nakhi, Bai and Han. There is also a sparse distribution of Nu in Weixi County in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Zayu County in Tibet Autonomous Region, particularly at the border between Yunnan and Tibet. <br />
<br />
The Nu speak a language in the family of languages. They do not have a written language of their own, although the have recently helped them to develop a script based on the Latin alphabet.<br />
<br />
<a name='Dress' id='Dress'></a><h2>Dress</h2><br />
<br />
Linen clothes are popular among both sexes. The womenfolk generally wore linen or cotton tunics with sleeves, which are buttoned on the left and long skirts. The young girls often wear aprons over their tunics. They like to wear necklaces strung with colored plastic beads. Some wear head or chest ornaments with strings of coral, agates, shells and silver coins. They wear big copper earrings that hang to the shoulder. The menfolk often put on linen sleeved tunics over shorts, and almost every man wears a string of coral on his left ear and hangs a machete from the left side of his waist. When they go out, they often carry machetes, bows, and arrow bags made from animal felt, which make them looks chivalrous and heroic. They also wear black turbans wrapped around their head, though they tend to keep ear-length haircuts.<br />
<br />
<a name='Lifestyle' id='Lifestyle'></a><h2>Lifestyle</h2><br />
<br />
The Nu build their houses made out of either bamboo-slips or wooden planks near the mountains, though houses made out of the latter type are more prevalent due to its better strength. Within the house there are two stories; the lower floor acts as a barn, where livestock, food, and other storage items are placed, while the upper floor consists of the living quarters. On the second floor, it is further sub-divided into the inner and outer rooms. The inner room is used as a bedroom as well as a storeroom, while the outer one is as a kitchen and guestroom. <br />
<br />
Agriculture is their main occupation. Bamboo and wooden farm tools were the tools for planting, and major crops include maize, buckwheat, barley, potatoes, yams and beans. Output is low, as chemical fertilizers are not used and primitive crop-planting techniques are used. The annual grain harvest is some 100 kg short of the per capita need, and the diet is supplemented by hunting and fishing.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion and Culture' id='Religion and Culture'></a><h2>Religion and Culture</h2><br />
<br />
The Nu are adherents of Tibetan Buddhism and their tribal Animism, which has close affinities with the natural world. Of late, a small minority have converted to Christianity as well. Lamaism is mainly professed by the Northern Nu, although Christianity has made some inroads into the southern group. However, most of the southern and central groups have retained their Animist faith to date. <br />
<br />
The Nu celebrate mainly the tribal flower-fairy festival, which is mainly celebrated by the Nu in the Gongshan area of Yunnan province. According to the , the festival comes on the 15th of March annually and lasts three days. The festival is based on the legend that the Nu River often flooded in ancient times. A Nu girl named A-Rong, inspired by the web of a spider, created a kind of rope-bridge, by which the people could conveniently cross the river. Coveting the beauty of A-Rong, the chief of the Hou tribe tried to force her to marry him time and time again. However, A-Rong wouldn't agree, so she escaped into the mountains and eventually turned into a stone statue in a cave. To honor her, the Nu people celebrate Fairy Festival on March 15th every year.<br />
<br />
Upon the arrival of the festival, the people will pick bunches of azaleas and sacrifice the fairy maiden at a cave, literally known as Fairy People Cave. After the ceremony, the people drink together at home, and people of all ages will dress up in their best traditional costumes, hold fresh flowers. They will gather together in the open air, singing, dancing, and telling stories. Ball matches akin to football matches, bow and arrow competitions are held as well.<br />
<br />
Another festival is the Jijilamu festival, the spring festival which lasts about 15 days from the end of lunar December to the beginning of lunar January. It is mainly celebrated by the Nu living in Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan, Lanping and Weixi counties of Yunnan Province, although Losar is also celebrated by the Tibetan Buddhist Nu.<br />
<br />
On the eve of the festival, households in every village are busy butchering pigs, making soft-rice dumplings, brewing wine and cleaning their courtyards, similar to the Chinese New Year. On New Year's Eve, before eating, they put corn and dishes of food on a three-legged barbecue. On top of the three legs, three cups are put and also three pieces of meat, then the family members, either young or old, pray for a good harvest and strong livestock for the upcoming New Year.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-80434774211960208462008-09-03T20:04:00.010-07:002008-09-03T20:05:00.421-07:00Chinese Achang PeopleThe <strong>Achang</strong> , also known as the <strong>Ngac'ang</strong> or <strong>Maingtha</strong> are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They also live in Burma.<br />
<br />
The Achang number 27,700, of whom 27,600 are from Yunnan province, especially Dehong Autonomous Prefecture. The Achang speak a language called , but there is no indigenous writing system to accompany it. Chinese characters are often used instead. Many Achang also speak the language of the Dai, mainly to make commercial transactions.<br />
<br />
Speaking a distinct dialect, the Husa Achang living in consider themselves to be distinct and filed an unsuccessful application in the 1950s as a separate nationality. The Husa were more Sinicized than other Achang. For example, Confucian-styled ancestral memorial tablets are common in Husa homes. Most traditional Husa believe in a mixture of Theravada Buddhism and Taoism.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
The ancestors of the Achang were some of the first inhabitants of the province of Yunnan. Their ancestors lived near the Lancang river and during the 12th century they began to emigrate towards the border the west of the river.<br />
By the 13th century, some of them settled down in the area of Longchuan, whereas others settled around Lianghe. During the Ming and Qing dynasties they were governed by local village heads.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
A great part of the history and traditions of the Achang has been transmitted from generation to generation through music and songs. Music is one of the mainstays of their culture, and they usually finish all celebrations with songs and dances.<br />
The unmarried young people usually comb their hair with two braids that gather on their head. The typical clothes of the Achang vary according to village. The married women dress in long skirts whereas the unmarried ones wear trousers.<br />
The men usually use the colors blue, or black to make their shirts, buttoned to a side. The unmarried men surround their head with a fabric of white color whereas the married ones use a blue color.<br />
In Buddhist funerals of the Achang, a long fabric tape of about 20 meters is tied to the coffin. During the ceremony, the monk in charge of the ritual, walks in front as opposed to holding the tape. By doing this, the monk helps directs the soul of the deceased so that the soul of the deceased arrives at its final destiny. The deceased is buried without any metallic elements, not even jewels, since it is believed that those elements contaminate the soul for future reincarnation.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-61227819014742591482008-09-03T20:04:00.009-07:002008-09-03T20:04:50.968-07:00Chinese Pumi People::''Pumi is also a breed of Hungarian sheepdog, see Pumi ''<br />
<br />
The <strong>Pumi</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. <br />
<br />
Ethnically related to the Qiang, their population of 30,000 is found mainly in Yunnan and Sichuan, notably in the counties of Lanping, Lijiang, Weixi and Yongsheng, and Yi Autonomous County of Ninglang, many of them are located at elevations above 9,000 feet. Those in Sichuan are found in the Muli Tibetan Autonomous County and Yanyuan. <br />
<br />
<a name='Script' id='Script'></a><h2>Script</h2><br />
<br />
The Pumi language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family. In the past, it was noted that the Pumi in the Muli and Ninglang areas used Tibetan characters mainly for religious purposes, although gradually the Tibetan characters fell into disuse and oblivion. Modern Pumi use the Chinese and Roman scripts instead.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
The Pumi have the longest traceable migration path of any minority group in China. Originally existing as nomads inhabiting the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, they later moved to the warmer areas along valleys within the Hengduan Mountain Range in the 4th century B.C. <br />
<br />
Subsequently, they moved to Northern Sichuan in the 7th century, and subsequently to northwest Yunnan in the 14th century. Many of them settled down to become farmers, and local landlords dominated the Pumi economy in Lanping and counties. Except for a small number of common areas, the landlords large areas of lands and collected rental fees from the peasants. This accounted for at least 50 per cent of the harvest. Pumi landlords and Nakhi chiefs also traded domestic slaves. <br />
<br />
With the coming of the Cultural Revolution, these traditional landlords eventually lost their power and position as modern facilities, such as hospitals and factories, are introduced to the local people.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
Since they had severed much contact with the since ancient times, along with some Buddhist influence, the Pumi had largely practiced Animism and ancestor worship, a religion locally known as Zanbala. <br />
<br />
However, through the efforts of Tibetan Buddhist missionaries from Tibet, a significant proportion have adopted the Gelugpa and Kagyu lineage of Lamaism, much of whom are those in Sichuan.<br />
<br />
The Zanbala religion, also locally known as Dingba, literally means white earth. It is noted that the Pumi around Ninglang still install Zanbala altars in their home, which were worshipped by the older generations. The Zanbala religion consists of the veneration of three gods and ancestral spirits, in which only the old men preside the rituals and prayers.<br />
<br />
Almost all Pumi villages have their own local mountain gods, which are worshipped during festive seasons. On those days, the entire family will give food offerings and pray for the good health and prosperity of the family. On the 15th day of each month, the minor mountain god is worshipped, and a grand ceremony is held on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month to venerate the Great Mountain God. <br />
<br />
In many of the Pumi homes, a cooking fire ring plays an important part of Pumi beliefs. The ring should never be touched by guests. A Guazei, which consists of small stone towers, is located behind the fire rings. During mealtime, the oldest male will take a spoonful of the food, which will subsequently be placed on every tower. One spoonful will be thrown into the fire, which acts as a symbolic gesture to feed the spirits of their ancestors.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
Because of their origins, the Pumi are culturally influenced by the . The Lunar New Year is also celebrated on the first fifteen days of the new year based on the lunar calendar. Losar is also celebrated by some as well.<br />
<br />
Especially in Ninglang and Yongsheng, Pumi women often wear jackets with buttons down one side. Long and pleated skirts, multi-colored wide belts are worn. Owing to its cold weather, a goatskin is draped over their backs. However, in the case of the Lanping and Weixi areas, the womenfolk tend to wear colored long-sleeved jackets under their vests, along with long trousers which are fastened with embroidered belts. Like the , Pumi women plait their hair with yak tail hairs and silk threads. Subsequently, their heads are wrapped in large cloths. Prized jewellery, such as silver earrings and bracelets are worn among the rich as well. <br />
<br />
Pumi men tend to wear either sleeveless goatskin or linen jackets with and long trousers, which is accompanied by the Tibetan hat. Especially in the case of the hunters and warriors, a long Tibetan sword and deerskin bags may be carried. Upon reaching thirteen, the Pumi boys will go through the ablution rites of manhood and only after ablution may they put on adult clothing and take part in society's activities.<br />
<br />
<a name='Lifestyle' id='Lifestyle'></a><h2>Lifestyle</h2><br />
<br />
Owing to its cold weather and its close proximity to Tibet, the lifestyle of the Pumi closely resembles to that of the Tibetans.<br />
<br />
Generally, the Pumi are a patrilineal and monogamous society, although polygamy is accepted. In Yongsing, the Pumi continue to follow a matriarchal system linked to the Azhu marriage system, which literally means friendship.<br />
<br />
Leading an agricultural lifestyle, crops such as corn and maize serves as their staple food. A variety of vegetables and fruits such as the Chinese cabbage, carrots, eggplant and melons acts as supplements. Salted pork wrapped in pork skin in the shape of a pipa suggests the nickname of the ''Pipa meat''. Barley folur and Butter tea are also consumed as well.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-43146455165073026152008-09-03T20:04:00.007-07:002008-09-03T20:04:40.923-07:00Chinese Tajiks People<strong>Tajiks in China</strong> are one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.<br />
<br />
This group, with a population of 41,028 , is located mainly in China's western Xinjiang region with 60% living in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County; some researchers view them as a collection of over a dozen small East Iranian ethnic groups that are related to, but distinct from, the Tajiks of Tajikistan. The Ethnologue claims that they are actually Shugni and Wakhi. Aurel Stein and other writers from his time referred to them simply as ''Sarikoli''. Some have referred to them simply as "Mountain Tajiks." Robert Shaw considered them Sarikolis and Wakhis, referring to them collectively as Ghalchah. <br />
<br />
In China, the languages of the Tajiks have no official written form. The great majority of Chinese Tajik speakers speak the Sarikoli language and use , or to communicate with people of other nationalities in the area. A small proportion of Chinese Tajik speakers speak .<br />
<br />
<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
*Iranian peoples<br />
*Iranian languagesphufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-3042721865173320772008-09-03T20:04:00.005-07:002008-09-03T20:04:29.852-07:00Chinese Maonan PeopleThe <strong>Maonan</strong> people are an ethnic group. They are one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
<br />
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 or .<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
Interestly, 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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
Traditionally, the marriages were arranged by the parents when the future newlyweds still children. Traditionally when a Maonan woman became a widow, the brother of her late husband took her as his wife. <br />
<br />
During the funeral service, the children of the deceased had that "to buy" water of a river to be able to wash the corpse. Before proceeding to the burial, the blood of a chicken was poured on the land to purify it and to bless the spirit of the dead person. <br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
<br />
<references/>phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-24013428745225264092008-09-03T20:04:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:04:19.630-07:00Chinese Blang PeopleThe <strong>Blang</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.<br />
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<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
<br />
The Blang language belongs to the branch of the Mon-Khmer family of languages. Within the Palaung-Wa branch, Blang belongs to the Waic subgroup, which also contains the languages of the and peoples in addition to Blang. Some Blang also speak Chinese language and languages in addition to speaking Blang. Two systems of writing based on the Latin alphabet have been developed: 'Totham' in the Xishuangbanna and 'Tolek' from Dehong and Lincang.<br />
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<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
Chinese ethnographers identify the Blang as descendants of an ancient tribe known as the "Pu" , who lived in the Lancang river valley during ancient times. It is believed that these people were one branch of a number of peoples that were collectively known to the ancient Chinese as the Bǎipú .<br />
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<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
Traditionally, the Blang considered teeth blackened by chewing betel nuts a beauty characteristic.<br />
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The women usually dress in jackets with black skirts. The men had tattoos in the torso and the stomach. They dressed in wide black trousers and jackets buttoned to the front. Often they would wear turbans of either white or black fabric.<br />
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The houses of the Blang are made out of bamboo and usually consist of two floors. The first floor is designed as a warehouse for food and a stable for livestock animals, such as chickens, whereas the second is designed to house the family. The chimney is located in the center of the house.<br />
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The Blang are traditionally divided into small clans, with each clan owning its own land. Every Blang town has its own cemeteries, which are divided by clans. The deceased are buried, with the exception of those who perished due to unnatural causes. In this case they are cremated.<br />
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<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
Traditionally the Blang are mostly , in addition to ancestor worship.<br />
The Blang also combine their native beliefs with Theravada Buddhism.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-61080256957962400152008-09-03T20:04:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:04:09.588-07:00Chinese Salar PeopleThe <strong>Salar</strong> people are one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They numbered 104,503 people in the last census of 2000 and live mostly in Qinghai , in Gansu and in Xinjiang .<br />
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Their ancestors were migrating Oghuz Turks who intermarried with the Tibetans, Han Chinese, and . They are a patriarchal agricultural society and Muslims.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
Their origins are uncertain but according to Salar tradition, during the fourteenth and fifthteenth centuries their ancestors, possibly from an Oghuz tribe of the Seljuk Turks, left Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan and eventually settled in their present location in Gansu province. Over the course of their history, the ancestors of the Salar are believed to have merged with Tibetans, Han Chinese and Mongolians to form the present-day Salar.<br />
<br />
In 1781, armies crushed a Salar uprising with the results being disastrous for the Salar. As much as 40% of their entire population was killed in the revolt.<br />
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<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
<br />
The typical clothing of the Salar very similar to other Muslim peoples in the region. The men are commonly bearded and dress in white shirts and white or black skullcaps. <br />
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The young single women are accustomed to dressing in Chinese dress of bright colors. The married women utilize the traditional veil in white or black colors. <br />
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They have a musical instrument called the ''Kouxuan''. It is a string instrument manufactured in silver or in copper and only played by the women.<br />
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For the Salar, divorce is a very easy procedure, although it can only be requested by the husband. In order to dissolve the marriage, the man only has to tell his wife that he no longer wishes to remain married to her. The woman abandons the conjugal residence and he remains free to be married again.<br />
<br />
The Salars have been in Qinghai Province, China since the Mongol Yuan period.<br />
For centuries they've maintained their Oghuz language remarkably similar to the Turkmen language spoken in the Qaraqum.<br />
<br />
However, culturally they have strictly conformed to the Naqshbandi ways of their Hui coreligionists. Therefore many nomadic Turkmen traditions have been lost, and Turkmen music was forbidden. More secular minded Salars have resorted to appropriating Tibetan or Moghol music as their own.<br />
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<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
<br />
The Salar language has two large dialect groups. The divergence is due to the fact that one branch was influenced by the and Chinese languages, and the other branch by the and Kazakh languages. Only about one third of Salar speak their own language. In addition to Chinese, many Salar also speak . Salar is not a written language. There are reported similarities with .<br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
<br />
* Tenišev, E.R: ''Stroj salarskogo âzyka'' . Moscow, Nauka 1976).<br />
* Lin Lianyun : 汉撒拉、撒拉汉词汇 (''Chinese-Salar Salar-Chinese lexicon''. Chengdu, People's Press of Sichuan. 1992.<br />
<br />
<a name='External links' id='External links'></a><h2>External links</h2><br />
<br />
* <br />
* Arienne M. Dwyer: <br />
* Ma Wei, Ma Jianzhong, and Kevin Stuart, editors. 2001. Folklore of China’s Islamic ` Nationality. Lewiston, Edwin Mellen.<br />
* Ma Quanlin, Ma Wanxiang, and Ma Zhicheng . 1993. Salar Language Materials. Sino-Platonic Papers. Number 43.<br />
* Ma Wei, Ma Jianzhong, and Kevin Stuart. 1999. The Xunhua Salar Wedding. Asian Folklore Studies 58:31-76.<br />
* Ma Jianzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1996. ‘Stone Camels and Clear Springs’: The Salar’s Samarkand Origins. Asian Folklore Studies. 55:2, 287-298.<br />
* Han Deyan . 1999. The Salar Khazui System. Central Asiatic Journal 43 : 204-214.<br />
* Feng Lide and Kevin Stuart. 1991. Ma Xueyi and Ma Chengjun. Salazu Fengsuzhi ; Han Fude, general editor. Salazu Minjian Gushi ; Han Fude, general editor. Minjian Geyao ; and Han Fude, general editor. Minjian Yanyu . Asian Folklore Studies. 50:2, 371-373.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-7091243021061323492008-09-03T20:03:00.004-07:002008-09-03T20:04:02.381-07:00Chinese Jingpo PeopleThe <strong>Jingpo</strong> or <strong>Kachin people</strong> are an ethnic group who largely inhabit northern Burma . They also form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they numbered 132,143 people in the 2000 census. There is a closely related people in India called Singpho. <br />
<br />
<a name='Categorization' id='Categorization'></a><h2>Categorization</h2><br />
<br />
Two different categorization schemes complicate the terms Jingpo and Kachin . In one, a variety of linguistic groups with overlapping territories and integrated social structures are described as a single people: the Kachin or Jingpo. In the other, linguistic categorization, the native speakers of each language in the area are treated as distinct ethnic groups. Both schemes treat the Shan people who live in the same or contiguous areas as ethnically distinct. Kachins have frequently defied the Western expectation of lineage-based ethnicity by culturally "becoming Shans."<br />
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In British colonial Burma, Jingpo or Kachins were categorized by the Census as separate "races" or "tribes" according to language, including Kachin , Gauri, Maru, Lashi, Szi, Maingtha, Hpon, Nung, and Lisu. Other officials, missionaries, and the local administration recognized them as a single ethnic group. The early independence period Burmese government recognized Kachin as an overarching category. The current Myanmar government again views the Kachin as a "major national ethnic race" comprising the Kachin, Trone, Dalaung, Jinghpaw, Guari, Hkahku, Duleng, Maru , Rawang, Lashi , Atsi, and Lisu as distinct ethnic groups.<br />
<br />
<a name='Languages' id='Languages'></a><h2>Languages</h2><br />
The people classified as the Jingpo or Kachin in the broader sense speak at least nine different languages, , Tsaiva, Maru, Lashi, Szi, , Hpon, Nung, and Lisu. <br />
<br />
<h3>Jingpo</h3><br />
<br />
Main article Jingpho language<br />
<br />
Jingpo proper is spoken by 900,000 people in Burma and by 40,000 people in China. It is classified as , , Jingpo-Konyak-Bodo, Jingpo-Lu. Jingpo proper is also understood by many speakers of Tsaiwa. One standard language that is taught in China is based on the dialect of Enkun.<br />
<br />
<h3>Tsaiva</h3><br />
Tsaiva is spoken by about 80,000 people in China and about 30,000 people in Burma. It is classified outside China as Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Yi-Burman, Northern Burmic. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, a written language based on the dialect of Longzhun village and using the Latin alphabet was created and officially introduced in 1957.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
Although groups of Buddhists and Christians are found amongst them, the majority of the Jingpo are christians. Before American missionary came to Kachin land, majority of Kachin people were animists. Some worship various gods as well the spirits of their ancestors. The ancestor of all the Kachin, who is worshipped as a spirit or god, is held to be named Madai. They believe that the spirits reside everywhere, from the sun to the animals, and that these spirits bring good or bad luck. For the Jingpo, all living creatures are believed to have souls. Rituals are carried out for protection in almost all daily activities, from planting of crops to warfare.<br />
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<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
<br />
Their dwellings are usually two stories and built out of wood and bamboo. The houses are of oval form; the first floor serves as a storage and stable while the second is utilized for living quarters. <br />
The women dress black jackets decorated with silver decorations. They also wear wool skirts made in bright colors The men also wear black and wide pants. They cover their heads with turbans: the youths with white turbans and the adults with black turbans<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
Their ancestors lived in the Tibetan plateau and they migrated gradually toward the south. To their arrival to the present province of Yunnan they received the name of ''Xunchuanman''. It is possible that they might be related to the Qiang.<br />
<br />
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they continued migrating to being established in their present territory. They have received diverse names along the centuries: ''Echang'', ''Zhexie'', and ''Yeren'', the latter name which was used in China from the Yuan dynasty to the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.<br />
<br />
The Kachin people are an ethnic affinity of several tribal groups, known for their fierce independence, disciplined fighting skills, complex clan inter-relations, embrace of Christianity, craftsmanship, herbal healing and jungle survival skills. Other residents of Kachin State include Shans , Nagas, and Burmans, who form the largest ethnic group in Burma, also called Bamar. During the British colonial period, some tribes were well integrated into the state while others operated with a large degree of autonomy. Kachins, including those organized as the Kachin Levies provided assistance to British and American units fighting the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.<br />
<br />
Following the end of World War II and Burma’s independence from Britain, long standing ethnic conflicts between frontier peoples such as the Kachins and the Burman-dominated central government resurfaced. The first uprising occurred in 1949. The uprisings escalated following the declaration of Buddhism as a national religion in 1961. However, Kachins fought both for and against the government during most of the ethnic conflicts.Kachin soldiers once formed a core part of the Burmese armed forces and many stayed loyal after the Kachin Independence Organisation with its military wing, the Kachin Independent Army was formed in 1961. After Ne Win's coup in 1962, there were fewer opportunities in the Burma Army for Kachins. Much of Kachin State outside of the cities and larger towns was for many years KIO administered.<br />
<br />
The KIO formed alliances with other ethnic groups resisting the Burmese occupation, and later despite its non-communist stance along with China informally supported the Communist Party of Burma , which held strategically sensitive parts of the country vis a vis the Kachin positions. The KIO continued to fight when Ne Win’s dictatorship was succeeded by another incarnation of the military junta in 1988 called the State Law and Order Restoration Council . However, with a gradual withdrawal of Chinese support, in 1989 the Communist Party of Burma soon disintegrated into warlord led groups that negotiated ceasefire deals with the junta. This led to the KIO being surrounded by organizations effectively aligned with the SPDC. It was squeezed by redeployed battalions of the rearmed and ever growing Burma Army, and constantly urged to make peace by a civilian population suffering from years of warfare. In 1994 the KIO chose to enter into a ceasefire with the junta.<br />
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The ceasefire delivered neither security nor prosperity to the Kachin. With the end of hostilities the Burma Army presence has increased considerably, along with allegations of atrocities against the civilian population, including forced labor and rape.<br />
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High demand from China is currently encouraging logging-based deforestation in the Kachin region of Burma. . Increasingly impoverished, some Kachin women are drawn into the child and adult sex trade to Thailand, China and in Yangon .<br />
<br />
<a name='Sources' id='Sources'></a><h2>Sources</h2><br />
<br />
*E.R. Leach, ''Political Systems of Highland Burma: A Study of Kachin Social Structure'' .<br />
* Kachin Women's Association Thailand , . <br />
*Fredrich Kahrl, Horst Weyerhaeuser, and Su Yufang, . Forest Trends, World Agroforestry Centre, 2004. <br />
* Global Witness , 2005. <br />
* Liú Lù: <strong>Jǐngpōzú yǔyán jiǎnzhì - Jǐngpōyǔ</strong> 刘璐景颇族语言简志——景颇语 .<br />
* Xú Xījiān 徐悉艰, Xú Guìzhēn 徐桂珍: <strong>Jǐngpōzú yǔyán jiǎnzhì - Zǎiwǎyǔ</strong> 景颇族语言简志——载瓦语 .<br />
* All Kachin Students and Youth Union , Kachin Development Networking Group, .phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-85728743028068636562008-09-03T20:03:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:03:24.656-07:00Chinese Daur People''This arcticle is about the Daur people and their language. For the Daur region of Pakistan, see Daur region''----<br />
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The <strong>Daur</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the officially recognized in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 132,394 according to the latest census , and most of them live in the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner in Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China. There are also some near Tacheng in Xinjiang, where their ancestors were moved during the Qing Dynasty. <br />
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<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
Daur is a . There is no written standard, although a Pinyin-based orthography has been devised by the native Daur scholar Merden Enhebatu. <br />
The Daur language retains some Khitan substratal features, including a number of lexemes not found in other Mongolic languages. It is made up of three dialects: Bataxan, Hailar, Qiqihar. <br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
<br />
Genetically, the Daurs are descendants of the , as recent DNA analyses have proven. The Daurs gave their name to the region of , also called Transbaikal, now the area of Russia east of Lake Baikal. <br />
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Facing the Russian expansion in the Amur region, between 1654 and 1656, during the reign of Shunzhi Emperor, the Daurs were forced to move southward and settle on the banks of the , from where they were constantly conscripted to serve in the banner system of the Qing emperors. The Daurs were engaged in border skirmishes with the Cossacks in 1643 and 1651. When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, the Daurs carried out an intense resistance against them.<br />
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<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
There is a very noticeable hierarchic structure. People sharing the same surname are in groups called ''hala'', they live together with the same group, formed by two or three towns. Each ''hala'' is divided in diverse clans that live in the same town. If a marriage between different clans is made, the husband can go to live with the clan of his wife but he does not hold any property rights.<br />
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In the weddings, the fiancé goes out to look for the fiancée when the sun when coming out. It is custom that offers wine, meat and paste to all the neighbors who are attending. The celebration of the wedding usually concludes with a festival of flat racing.<br />
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During the winter, the Daur women wear long dresses, generally blue in color and boots of skin that they change by long trousers during the summer. The men dress in winter made orejeros caps in fox or red deer skin. In summer, they cover its head with fabrics with white color or straw hats.<br />
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A customary sport of the Daur is Beikou, a game similar to field hockey or street hockey, that has been played by the Daur for about 1,000 years.<br />
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<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
Many Daurs are shamanists. Each clan has its own shaman in charge of all the important ceremonies in the lives of the Daur. However there are a significant number of Daurs who have taken up Lamaism .phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-85721752208230422932008-09-03T20:03:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:03:13.566-07:00Chinese Nakhi peopleThe <strong>Nakhi</strong> are an inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan , as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan in China.<br />
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The Nakhi are thought to have come originally from Tibet and, until recently, maintained overland trading links with Lhasa and India. They were brought to the attention of the world by two men: the botanist Joseph Rock and the Russian doctor Peter Goullart, both of whom lived in and travelled throughout the area during the early 20th century. Peter Goullart's book ''Forgotten Kingdom'' describes the life and beliefs of the Nakhi and neighbouring peoples, while Joseph Rock's legacy includes diaries, maps, and photographs of the region.<br />
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The Nakhi form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The official Chinese government classification classes the Mosuo as part of the Nakhi people. However, despite similar origins and very striking resemblances from a linguistic point of view, the two groups are now culturally distinct, the Nakhi more influenced by Han Chinese culture, the Mosuo more influenced by Tibetan culture. <br />
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<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
Nakhi culture is largely a mixture of Tibetan and Han Chinese influences, with some indigenous elements. Especially in the case of their musical scores, it acts as the foundation of the Nakhi literature. <br />
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<h3>Music</h3><br />
Nakhi music is 500 years old, and with its mixture of literary lyrics, poetic topics, and musical styles from the , , and dynasties, as well as some Tibetan influences, it has developed its own unique style and traits. There are three main styles: Baisha, , and Huangjing, all using traditional Chinese instruments.<br />
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The origin of Baisha music lies in a gift from the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan. Upon his expedition to , he had difficulty crossing the Golden Sand River, and received help from Mailiang, the chief of the Nakhi people. To show his appreciation, Kublai Khan left half of his band and many musical scores as a gift to the chief. "Baisha Fine Music" is one of ancient China's few large-scale, classical orchestral forms of music and has twenty four tunes, locally known as ''qupai''. Although archaic, simple, and elegant in style, modern Baisha is exquisite, euphonious, and energetic in character.<br />
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Taoist in origin, and fused with some indigenous elements, Dongjing music was introduced to the Nakhi from the central plains during the and dynasties, and today it is the most well-preserved musical form in China. In addition to its intrinsic stateliness, purity, and elegance, Dongjing music incorporated the local musical elements and styles. Originally reserved for the nobles, the local passion for music overcame this restriction.<br />
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<h3>Art and architecture</h3><br />
Absorbing architectural styles of the and the , the houses of the Nakhi are built in a unique vernacular style of one courtyard with five skylights, which have a crude and simple appearance, but with elaborate and delicate patterns on casements and doors. <br />
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The temples, though looking very staid and ordinary from the outside, are decorated on the interior with carvings on poles, arches and idols of gods. The decorations include depictions of episodes from epics, dancers, warriors, animals and birds, and flowers. The mural paintings depict Dongba gods, and are derived from Tibetan styles. A good example is the Delwada Temple.<br />
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<h3>Festivals</h3><br />
The Nakhi celebrate the annual Torch Festival on the 24th and 25th of the sixth month of the Lunar calendar, which corresponds approximately to July 8th-9th, and the Sanduo Festival on February 8<br />
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According to legend, Sanduo is a war god who defends the local people. In ancient times a hunter discovered a strange stone on Jade Dragon Mountain, and carried the stone home. On his way home, he had to put the stone down for a rest, because it was extremely heavy. When he decided to continue his trip, he could no longer lift the stone, and many thought that it was the embodiment of a god. <br />
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The Nakhi later built a temple to honour this god, whom they later named Sanduo, and depicted as an immortal in a white coat and a white helmet, carrying a white spear and riding a white horse. They believed that Sanduo would protect the local people and their land. Because Sanduo was thought to have been born in the , a goat is sacrificed at his festival.<br />
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<a name='Customs' id='Customs'></a><h2>Customs</h2><br />
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Cremation has been a tradition since ancient times, although burial was adopted in certain Nakhi areas during the late Qing Dynasty. Religious scriptures were chanted at the funeral ceremony to expiate the sins of the dead.<br />
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Among the Nakhi in Yongning County in Yunnan and the Yanyuan County in Sichuan, existing remnants of a matriarchal family structure were evident until the beginning of democratic reform, when it changed to a patriarchal structure. <br />
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As the heads of the family, the women gave inheritance to the children either through the mother, or to her nephews through her brothers. This is called decent, where one belongs to one's mother's lineage.<br />
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A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant in which the individuals in all intervening generations are female. In Nakhi society, women also acted as the main work-force; thus they were respected at home and in the Nakhi society.<br />
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In 2005, Kuang Jianren, a famous Chinese film script writer produced "Snow Bracelet", a film based on the life of Nakhi ethnic minorities in Yunan.<br />
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Nakhi men have a tradition of hunting with falcons.<br />
<br />
<h3>Nakhi music</h3><br />
<br />
The Nakhi have several indigenous forms of music, including ''baisha xiyue'' and the Chinese-inspired ''''.<br />
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<a name='Dress' id='Dress'></a><h2>Dress</h2><br />
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The Nakhi women wear wide-sleeved loose gowns accompanied by jackets and long trousers, tied with richly decorated belts at the waist. is worn slung over the shoulder. Especially in Ninglang County, the women wear short jackets and long skirts reaching the ground with several folds. Large black cotton turbans are worn around their heads, which are accompanied with big silver earrings. The men's costumes is much like that of Han Chinese. In modern times, traditional dress is rarely worn among the younger generation, since most of them prefer to wear Chinese dress. It is now usually only worn at cultural events and on special occasions.<br />
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The dress of the Dongba lamas resembles that of the B& priests of Tibet; they wear conical hats like those of the lamas of the Black Hat sect, with a piece of red cloth.<br />
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<a name='Language and script' id='Language and script'></a><h2>Language and script</h2><br />
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<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
The Nakhi are believed to be the descendants of the nomadic Qiang, an ethnic group inhabiting the Tibetan plateau since ancient times. During the and dynasties, the Nakhi were known as the Mosha-yi, or the Moxie-yi. Only after communist rule in China did they call themselves Nakhi, which means "people who worship the black things of the nation". <br />
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Frequently harassed by neighbouring tribes, the proto-Nakhi then moved to head of the Nujiang River from the Jinsha and then to the Along River in the present-day province of Sichuan in western China. After being pushed south by other conquering tribes, the Nakhi finally settled in Baisha and by 3 CE.<br />
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The Nakhi split into three groups while their ancestors were still in Baisha. The ones who remained are known as the Nakhi, those in are known as Bai, and those living around the Lugu Lake are called the Mosuo. Even today, the three groups share similar customs. <br />
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Between the and , agricultural production in underwent marked changes, and agriculture eventually replaced livestock breeding as the main occupation of the people. The production of agricultural, handicraft, mineral, and livestock products led to considerable prosperity, and during this period a number of slave-owning groups in Ninglang, Lijiang, and Weixi counties grew into a feudal caste of lords. Tibetan Buddhism got a foothold among the Nakhi from the onwards.<br />
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In 1278, the Yuan Dynasty established the Lijiang Prefecture, which represented the imperial court in Yunnan. A chieftain, Mude, was made the hereditary chieftain of Lijiang Prefecture, exercising control over the Nakhi people and other ethnic groups during the Ming Dynasty. The hereditary chieftains from the Mu family collected taxes and tribute, which then went to the Ming court in the form of silver and grains. The Ming relied on the Mu family as the mainstay for the control of the people of various ethnic groups in northwestern Yunnan Province.<br />
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Land-leasing began to take place, thus marking the beginning of an economy controlled by a landlord. In 1723, during the Qing Dynasty, hereditary local chieftains in the Lijiang area were replaced by court officials, and the Mu chieftain became the local administrator.<br />
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The ancient Nakhi town of Lijiang is now a major tourist destination. Some Nakhi run shops catering to tourists, such as those serving traditional Nakhi bread .<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
The Nakhi are traditionally followers of the Dongba religion. Through both Han Chinese and Tibetan cultural influences, they adopted Tibetan Buddhism and, to a lesser extent, Taoism, in the .<br />
<br />
<h3>Dongba</h3><br />
Dongba religion was rooted in the beliefs of the Tibetan B& religion; the word "Dongba" literally means "wise man" in the Nakhi language. Tracing its origins to a Bön shaman from eastern Tibet named Dongba Shilo, who lived in a cave near Baishuitai 900 years ago. According to Nakhi legends, he was said to have created the Lijiang Mural.<br />
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Anthropologists claim that many of the Dongba rituals show strong influences from the Bön religion, and are not native in origin. Bön lamas are believed to have settled among the Nakhi as farmers, and to have begun to practise exorcisms as a way of earning a little money on the side; they were thus in competition with the native ritual specialists, locally known as ''Llü-bu'', or ''Ssan-nyi''. <br />
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Religious scriptures suggest that the Llü-bu were female shamans who practised divination, exorcism, and other rites in a trance. By the early , the Dongba priests had created a huge religious vocabulary accompanied by a variety of rituals, and had largely displaced the Llü-bu.<br />
<br />
Adherents of Dongba had no places of worship, and so they were not officially recognized as a religion. A Dongba shaman is merely a part-time practitioner priest, who is literate in Dongba religious texts that were unreadable by most Nakhi.<br />
<br />
The Dongba religion is based on the relationship between nature and man. In Dongba mythology, "Nature" and "Man" are half-brothers, having different mothers. According to the villagers of Shu Ming Village, nature is controlled by spirits called "Shv". These gods are depicted as human-snake chimeras. The Dongba priests practice rituals such as the "Shv Gu" to appease these spirits and prevent their anger from boiling into natural disasters such as earthquakes and droughts. <br />
<br />
Before communist rule in China, many villages still had shrines or places of worship dedicated to nature gods such as Shu, and until recently, at least, inhabitants of Tacheng, which is in the Lijiang-Nakhi Autonomous county, still professed belief in the "nature and man" concept.<br />
<br />
Their attitude towards nature is clearly illustrated by the story of He Shun, a Dongba priest, who forbade his three sons to cut down more trees than they needed, as this would anger the gods and bring misfortune to his family. <br />
<br />
One of the most widely practised Dongba rituals, ''Zzerq Ciul Zhuaq'' , is often seen in the village of Shuming. The ritual was conducted if somebody was stricken with illness or bad luck, when a Dongba priest would be consulted. On many occasions, the result would show that the person had carried out logging or washing of dirty things in the forest, and the family or person concerned would have to ask the Dongba priest to hold the ritual near where the activity had taken place, and apologise to the nature god Shu. <br />
<br />
<br />
Being a conservative people, the villagers prohibited logging, and even the cutting of tree branches and gathering of dry pine-needles from the coniferous trees wasn't generally allowed. The gathering of pine needles was only allowed in July, when the forests were lush and green. However, only one person of each household was allowed to do this job, in order to enforce fairness between households with more or fewer labourers.<br />
<br />
The elders, locally known as ''Lao Min '', would watch the all these activities. The elders also voluntarily carried out the public affairs of the village. Traditionally, they played an important role, which still influences many villages. <!--Another obscure passage: Successful management of forest resources such as those in the Yulong village of Baisha Township, uses the Lao Min of the village, and many elders of high prestige are members of the organization, which is very active to assist <br />
the villagers' committee, and the headman of the village is to protect the community's environment and resources.--><br />
<br />
Especially in Longquan, the villagers have a traditional custom for regulations for logging and firewood. Known as ''Jjuq-ssaiq'' or ''Jjuq-Hal-Keel'' by the local people, this refers to the regular logging of trees and firewood every two to three years in the forested area near the particular village. A group of people comprising the Lao Min, the village headman, and the mountain guards will organise the procedure in advance. Even in recent years, Nakhi villages still retain an organisation that protects the forests, who were administered by the members of the village committee. This necessarily include the heads of the agricultural Productive Cooperatives, the members of the female union, and the village mountain guard.<br />
<br />
Until the communists came to power in China in 1949, villagers followed these traditional principles and tried to use the natural resources conservatively, with thought for the preservation the natural resources for future generations. However, after 1949 serious cultural and social change came to the Nakhi, and the government encouraged logging in the area, which in turn led to a relaxation of the traditional customs.<br />
<br />
<h3>Lamaism</h3><br />
The Nakhi's Tibetan origins and proximity to Tibet led them to embrace the Kagyu lineage of Lamaism during the . Over the years, the Nakhi in Lijiang built Buddhist Gompas which acted as the place of worship for the Nakhi Buddhist community. The first monastery, Ogmin Namling at Lashiba, was founded by the tenth Karmapa, Ch&. Religious Mani stones can also be found in some of the Nakhi households, especially among the Mosuo sub-group.<br />
<br />
The story is told of the Nakhi king inviting the eighth Karmapa, Miky& to Lijiang in 1516. The king, worried about the safety of the Karmapa on his long journey to Lijiang, dispatched an army of four generals and ten thousand soldiers to accompany him. On the third day of the fourth month the Karmapa reached the border between Tibet and the Nakhi kingdom. Accompanied by his brother and his uncle, who were both riding elephants and escorted by many riders on horseback, the Nakhi king, riding on a palanquin, received a magnificent welcome. The king prostrated himself before the Karmapa, the elephants broke their tethers and bowed down three times before him, and raised their trunks to the sky causing thunderclaps with their trumpeting.<br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
<h3>Asia Harvest reference profiles</h3><br />
* <br />
* <br />
<br />
<a name='External links' id='External links'></a><h2>External links</h2><br />
* — Deqen, Lijiang, Weixi, & Yenyuan <br />
* — holders of most of Joseph Rock's work<br />
* — an alternative interface to the images held at Harvard<br />
* — book by Peter Goullart<br />
* — on-line selections from the Library of Congress Nakhi manuscript collection<br />
* <br />
* <br />
* <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<!--Other languages-->phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-82973492640113469442008-09-03T20:02:00.004-07:002008-09-03T20:03:02.063-07:00Chinese Qiang peopleThe <strong>Qiang</strong> people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 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.<br />
<br />
<a name='Early history' id='Early history'></a><h2>Early history</h2><br />
<br />
In ancient China, Qiang was usually used as a generic term for the non- 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 under Duke Mu was the Qiang expansion effectively checked.<br />
<br />
The structure of the graph also reflects this view. It was composed of two elements: and , suggesting a sheep-herding people. During the Eastern Han Dynasty and Wei-Jin periods , Qiang were widely distributed along the mountainous fringes of the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, from the Kunlun Mountains in Xinjiang province, and eastern Qinghai area, to southern Gansu, western Sichuan, and northern Yunnan.<br />
<br />
Later, the Chinese restricted the term Qiang min to refer to sinicized non-Han living in the valley in Sichuan and used the term Fan Qiang to refer to less sinicized non-Han living in the vicinity.<br />
<br />
<a name='Recent history' id='Recent history'></a><h2>Recent history</h2><br />
At present, the Qiang have a self-identity, referring to themselves as Qiang zu and ''erma'' or ''rma'' . There are some 198,000 Qiang today in western Sichuan, predominantly in the five counties of Maoxian, Wenchuan, Lixian, Beichuan and Heishui, of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. On 12 May 2008, the Qiang people were heavily affected by a , whose epicenter was in Wenchuan County.<br />
<br />
The Qiang today are mountain dwellers. A fortress village, ''zhai'' , composed of 30 to 100 households, in general is the basic social unit beyond the household. An average of two to five fortress villages in a small valley along a mountain stream, known in local Chinese as ''gou'' , make up a village cluster . The inhabitants of fortress village or village cluster have close contact in social life. In these small valleys, people cultivate narrow fluvial plains along creeks or mountain terraces, hunt animals or collect mushrooms and herbs in the neighboring woods, and herd yaks and horses on the mountain-top pastures. In the past, warfare between villages was common.<br />
<br />
From the linguistic point of view, all modern Qiang people speak one of two Qiang languages, which are members of the Qiangic sub-family of Tibeto-Burman. However, dialects are so different that communication between different Qiang groups is often in . Lacking a script of their own, the Qiang also use Chinese characters.<br />
<br />
<a name='Customs' id='Customs'></a><h2>Customs</h2><br />
The matrilineal Qiang society is primarily , although polyandry and cross-cousin marriages are accepted. Since most women are older than their husbands and also work as the leading people in agricultural activities, they act as the head of the family as well as the society.<br />
<br />
Romantic love is considered important, and sexual freedom is prevalent, as the Qiang find marriages important. In the past, marriages were organized by the parents, with approval from the children. It still is not unusual for brides to live in their parents' houses for a year or so after the marriage, and the children were usually separated from their parents after marriage, except for the first son and his family. However, such habits have been gradually discarded with the coming of .<br />
<br />
The Qiang also have a rigid taboo system in their birth and death. Prior to the birth of a baby, a pregnant woman is not allowed to go near the riverside or well, be at a wedding ceremony, or stand in the watchtower.<br />
<br />
Upon a delivery, a Duangong is invited to help the delivery procedure, and strangers are not allowed to wail or enter the house. This is prevented by hanging up a flail on the gate for a week upon the birth of a boy, and a bamboo basket upon the birth of a girl. <br />
<br />
After she has delivered her child, a woman is not allowed into the kitchen for one month thereafter. It would be considered a sinful action against the kitchen and family gods. A woman is also not allowed to leave her home, or meet any strangers on the first forty days after delivery. It is believed that danger of an evil spirits coming into the house would harm the mother. An initiation ceremony of cattle sacrifice would be conducted on the home altar, where the baby would be given a name.<br />
<br />
Stillborn or premature babies are not considered as human beings by the Qiang. Instead, it was considered as a demon which caused a woman to become pregnant, as it was believed that the deceased would cause problems for the family. Their bodies are thrown in a hole in the ground and then covered with dirt.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture and lifestyle' id='Culture and lifestyle'></a><h2>Culture and lifestyle</h2><br />
Owing to its ethnic diversity, Qiang culture has influenced other culture and has been influenced by others. Generally, those who live nearer to the Tibetans are influenced by the Tibetan culture, while the majority are more influenced by the Han Chinese, which has close links with its ethnic history.<br />
<br />
Both the menfolk and womenfolk wear gowns made of gunny cloth, cotton and silk with sleeveless wool jackets. Following age-old Chinese traditions, their hair and legs are bounded. The womenfolk wear laced clothing with decorated collars, consisting of plum-shaped silver ornaments. Sharp-pointed and embroidered shoes, embroidered girdles and earrings, neck rings, hairpins and silver badges are also popular.<br />
<br />
Millet, highland barley, potatoes, winter wheat and buckwheat serve as the staple food of the Qiang. Consumption of wine and smoking of orchid leaves are also popular among the Qiang.<br />
<br />
The Qiang live in granite stone houses generally consisting of two to three stories. The first floor is meant for keeping livestock and poultry, while the second floor is meant for the living quarters, and the third floor for grain storage. If the third floor does not exist, the grains will be kept on the first or second floor instead. <br />
<br />
Skilled in construction of roads and bamboo bridges, the Qiang can build them on the rockiest cliffs and swiftest rivers. Using only wooden boards and piers, these bridges can stretch up to 100 meters. Others who are excellent masons are good at digging wells. Especially during poor farming seasons, they will visit neighboring places to do chiseling and digging.<br />
<br />
Embroidery and drawn work are done extemporaneously without any designs. Traditional songs related to topics such as wine and the mountains are accompanied by dances and the music of traditional instruments such as leather drums.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
<br />
The majority of the Qiang adhere to a religion, known as Rujiao, a religion that involves belief in the White Stones that were worshipped as the sun god, who will bring good luck to their daily aspects of life. Others, who live near the Tibetans follow Tibetan Buddhism. Small minorities of and Taoists exist as well.<br />
<br />
The Qiang worship five major gods, twelve lesser gods, some tree gods, numerous stones worshiped as gods. A special god is worshippeed as well in every village and locality, who are mentioned by name in the sacred chants of the Qiang priests. Mubyasei, also known Abba Chi, is known as the god of heaven is also considered as the supreme god. This term is also used to refer to a male ancestor god, Abba Sei. In certain places, Shan Wang, the mountain god, is considered to worshipped the supreme god. The Qiang people have also adopted many practices of the Taoist gods as well.<br />
<br />
For the Polytheists, most White Stones were placed on the corners of their roofs or towers, as a good luck symbol for the sun. A square stone pagoda, which is located on the edge of many Qiang villages and on the top of a nearby hill as well. The pagoda is usually over two meters high and its uppermost part is inlaid with a circle of small white stones. A larger white stone is also placed at the pinnacle as well.<br />
<br />
A small pagoda is also sometimes built on the roof of a house, with a pottery jar that contained five varieties of grain is placed within the pagoda. On top of the pagoda, a white stone is placed together with ox and sheep horns. By tradition, the door of a Qiang house is supposed to face south and the pagoda is built on the northern end of the roof in line with the door. Every morning, the Qiang family will burn incense sticks or cedar twigs in the pagoda and kowtow to it, praying for the protection of the family by the god of the white stone.<br />
<br />
However, with the encouragement of atheism, worship of the White Stones is not nearly as common as it used to be. There are several legends that explain the origin of this stone worship.<br />
<br />
<h3>Legend of the White Stones</h3><br />
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.<br />
<br />
Upon arriving at the territory of the local Geji people, the Qiang fought a losing battle. Jirpol, witnessing the condition that they were in, instructed the Qiang to find a strong white stone and attach it to rattan sticks and fight with this weapon, tying some sheep wool to the neck of the stick as well. Victory was on their side, and the Qiangs began to look upon the white stones as gods to be worshipped.<br />
<br />
<a name='See also' id='See also'></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
* Qiang languages<br />
* Northern Qiang language<br />
* Southern Qiang language<br />
* Later Qinphufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-72504822183386786622008-09-03T20:02:00.003-07:002008-09-03T20:02:53.994-07:00Chinese Monguor peopleThe <strong>Monguor</strong> people are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are distributed throughout the 31 provinces and regions of China, with a higher concentration in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in the northwest.<br />
<br />
<a name='Ethnonym and ethnic origins' id='Ethnonym and ethnic origins'></a><h2>Ethnonym and ethnic origins</h2><br />
<br />
The official classification as "Tu Nationality" took place in 1953, when most of the Chinese nationalities were classified. The name "Tu" is derived from the Chinese phonetic transcription of Tuyuhun , the first Khan who established the Tuyuhun Kingdom after it separated from the Murong group of the Xianbei nationality in northeast China in the third century. <br />
<br />
The earliest use of the specific designation "Tu" dates to the early Song Dynasty, in 1001 CE. Prior to that time official records called them the "Tuhun ren" or "Tuihun er" . <br />
<br />
The Tu in and counties in Qinghai also call themselves "Chaaghaan monguor" in contrast to their reference to the as "Khara Monguor" . This contrast is the result of the Tu in these areas encountering the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty and most likely reflected on the lighter skin of the Tu people, derived from the Murong Section of Xianbei who were referred to as the "Baibu Xianbei" , which marked their difference from the other sections of the Xianbei , from the latter of which the Mongolians derived their ancestry. The shared ancestral origins of the Tu and Mongolians have contributed to the similarities in the languages of the two groups, the parallel festival celebrations of ''Nadun'' among the Tu and ''Nadam'' among the Mongolians, and shamanism as part of their religious practices.<br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
The Tu language is classified as one of the ; 85% of the Tu vocabulary is similar to the that of the Mongolian language .<br />
<br />
The term "Monguor" language usually refers to the Northern, or Huzhu , dialect of Monguor, on which the most research has been conducted. There is also a Southwest and a Southeast variety, both of which have orthographic and grammatical differences from Northern Monguor and which have had different amounts of contact throughout history with the neighboring languages Tibetan, Salar, Wutun, and the local, -influenced variety of Chinese.<br />
<br />
<a name='Religion' id='Religion'></a><h2>Religion</h2><br />
The Tu religion is a harmonious blend of the Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, and Shamanism. In many Tu villages, a Buddhist temple and a Taoist shrine coexist. While Buddhist monks are common in most villages, Taoist priests and shamans are few and each serves a large area. The shaman's primary function is as a trance medium during the Nadun celebration.<br />
<br />
<a name='Cultural traditions' id='Cultural traditions'></a><h2>Cultural traditions</h2><br />
The Tu, whose social organization reflects Confucianism, have preserved ancient cultural traditions, most characteristically demonstrated in the unique Nadun and Anzhao. Nadun is similar in name to Nadam celebrated by the Mongolians, but different in format and content. It is specifically held among the Tu people who live in the Sanchuan Region of Minhe County, on the border of Qinghai and Gansu Provinces by the Yellow River, whose subpopulation totaled 39,616. It is celebrated at the end of the harvest each year and lasts over two months across the Sanchuan area from the twelfth of the seventh month to the fifteenth of the ninth month by the Chinese lunar calendar. Anzhao is traditional Tu dance predominantly held in Huzhu County, which has the largest Tu community of 62,780 people. <br />
<br />
Traditional Tu weddings are incomparable affairs with elaborate rituals that encompass hundreds of wedding songs, called "daola," that are sung over days and nights with great variations in melody and contents. <br />
<br />
<a name='Origins and History' id='Origins and History'></a><h2>Origins and History</h2><br />
The origins of the Tu are reflected in the local folktales that accounted the struggles the Tu ancestors, Donghu , with the Wangmang people about three thousand years ago in northeast China. Donghu first developed bronze technology in northeast China, where proto-Mongolian language was spoken, and developed into powerful coalitions formed by the Donghu, Wuheng , and Xianbei tribes during the 8th to 2nd centuries BC.<br />
<br />
<h3>Origins as the Murong of the Xianbei kingdom </h3><br />
After Donghu was annihilated by Xiongnu at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Wuheng and Xianbei moved respectively to Mt. Wuheng and Mt. Xianbei. The Murong Section of Xianbei resided towards the north, and because of their lighter skin, they were referred to as "Bai Bu" , by the other Xianbei sections that resided in the west. After the Han defeated Xiongnu , Xianbei forced inside the Great Wall and annexed the Wuheng tribe, moved further to the vast grassland of Mongolia, and killed the Xiongnu chief, Shanyu Youliu , thereby taking over the Xiongnu territory and a powerful Xianbei Kingdom was formed under the leadership of Tanshihuai . <br />
<br />
In 235 AD, the last Khan of Xianbei, Kebineng, was assassinated by the Wei Kingdom , and resulted in the disintegration of the Xianbei Kingdom. The Murong section separated first, led by Mohuba , to submit under Wei. He was succeeded by his son Muyan in 246, and grandson, Shegui , the latter of whom was appointed as the Xianbei Khan . After She Gui died in 283, his brother, Nai , first took the position of the Khan and, after being killed, was replaced by his younger son, Murong Gui . In 284, an internal feud developed between Murong Gui and his older brother, Tuyuhun, which folktales accounted to be caused by a horse race and in fact by disputes over the position of the Khan. As a result of the dispute, Tuyuhun led his people, proclaimed as the , and undertook the long westward journey, whereby the official history of the Tu people began.<br />
<br />
<h3>Westward migration to Qinghai </h3><br />
Tuyuhun "migrated westward 4,000 kilometers" to pass the territories of the Yuwen and Duan sections , further crossing the Bai sections in the Ru River and Mt. Bai to settle by Mt. Yin facing the Yellow River. In 315, Tuyuhun crossed the river and move southward to settle on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, whereby the Tu presence in northwest China began. Two years later, Tuyuhun died at the age of 72 years old and was succeeded by his oldest son, Yeyan . Yeyan occupied the land of Xiqiang through military conquest and established capital at Gansong , occupying a vast territory that covered the great Marshes of Gannan and Shaqiang , the upper and middle streams of the Tao River , and reached the Ruoergai Marshes . After overtaking the Aba Grasslands , they expanded northwest along the Yellow River, Mt. Great Jishishan and Mt. Bailan . <br />
<br />
<h3>Expansion </h3><br />
The subsequent Tuyuhun Khans vastly expanded the territory. Achai developed diplomatic relationships with the Liu-Song Dynasty , and expanded southwest to the east of River Jinsha , the middle and upper streams of Yalong River , Greater and Lesser Jinchuan , and the Qiang areas around the Dadu River . He further expanded across Bailan to the other Qiang areas along the Tongtian River , and opened a route into the Xinu Kingdom , current Lhasa and Nepal. In the northwest, he annexed the territories of Yifu and Qihan and further expanded northward to reach the south of River Ruo . His son, Mugui , brought the kingdom to its highest peak, by annexing West Qin and eliminating Haolian Xia , and further expanding the territory to the upper streams of the Wei River . At the southeast, the Kingdom extended to the Baishui River area . After his death in 436, his brother, Muliyan , succeeded to be the Khan. In face of the growing and expanding North Wei from the east, he undertook a famous westward campaign to eliminate the smaller kingdoms and to expand into the northwest of the present Tibet. After he died in 452, his son Shiyan succeeded him as Khan and further expanded to annex the south of the Great Chaidamu Basin under his territory. Through these successful military conquests, he was able to expand into North Wei by 471.<br />
<br />
Subsequently major changes took place in central China. Yang Jian replaced the North Zhou with Sui Dynasty. The Tuyuhun leadership did not adapt with changes in foreign policy and engaged in decades of warfare with the Sui. By 576, internal conflicts developed within the kingdom and brought it to a gradual decline. The Tuyuhun Khan, Kualu , repeatedly abolished his heirs, killing those who were deemed not loyal, and further sent troops to assault the Sui and provoked the Sui to send troops to attack the Kingdom. Turmoil ensued and portions of the kingdom abandoned Tuyuhun and surrendered to the Sui. <br />
<br />
<h3>Tibet breaks away from the Tuyuhun kingdom </h3><br />
After the Tang Dynasty was established, the Chinese defeated the in the north. Because the Tuyuhun kingdom controlled the crucial trade routes between the east and the west, the kingdom became the immediate target of attack by the Tang. Meanwhile, as the Tuyuhun kingdom underwent a decline through internal conflicts under the changing international politics, the region called Tubo , located in the southwest of the Kingdom, developed rapidly and expanded northward, directly threatening the kingdom. Songzanganbu united the entire Tubo region and moved its capital to present Lhasa. The exile Tuyuhun Khan, Dayan , submitted himself under Tubo, which resorted to an excuse that Tuyuhun objected its marriage with the Tang and sent 200,000 troops to attack. Tuyuhun troops retreated to the Qinghai area, whereas Tubo went eastward to attack the Dangxiang groups and reached the southern Gansu. The Tang Government was shocked and sent five troops to fight. Although Tubo withdrew in response, Tuyuhun lost much of its territory in southern Gansu. Meanwhile, the Tuyuhun Government was split between the pro-Tubo and pro-Tang fractions, with the former increasingly becoming stronger. In the struggle between the different fractions, the pro-Tubo fractions corroborated with Tubo and brought the Tubo troops to attack the Kingdom. The Tang sent the famous general, Xue Rengui , who led 100,000 troops to fight Tubo in Dafeichuan . They were annihilated by the ambush of 200,000 troops of Dayan and Tobu, which became the biggest debacle in the Tang history.<br />
<br />
<h3>Split into eastern and western kingdoms </h3><br />
After the war, the originally independent and unified Tuyuhun kingdom fell into the east and west Tuyuhun kingdoms, respectively controlled by two puppet governments supported by the Tang in the east and the Tibetan kings in the west. The west Tuyuhun was placed under the total control of Tubo and served as its base to attack Tang and main procurement for material goods and soldiers. The east Tuyuhun was distributed on the eastern side of Mt. Qilian and increasingly migrated eastward to central China, particularly following the An Shi Rebellion and the continued attacks of Tubo. The Anshi Turmoil shook the Tang Dynasty and caused its emperor to flee, during which Tubo overtook the entire territory of Tuyuhun. The former Khan and officials of Tuyuhun were forced to serve under the reign of Tubo until the internal turmoil developed within the Tubo Government and massive revolts brought an end to its ruling. <br />
<br />
<h3>Tuyuhun diaspora</h3><br />
Following the fall of the Tuyuhun Kingdom, the Tuyuhun people underwent continuous diasporas and were widely distributed over the vast territory in the north of the Yellow River, which stretched from the northwest to the central and eastern parts of China that covered the present Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong Provinces. Through the later dynasties, many Tuyuhun descendants became high-ranking officials and military generals. For example, the legendary general, Murong Yanzhao , played a key role in the founding of the Song Dynasty and enjoyed the highest ranking position under its first emperor, Zhao Kuangyin . As an overall trend, the Tuyuhun people underwent constant dispersal and gradual absorption into other ethnic groups, the bulk into the Han. <br />
<br />
<h3>Northern Tu establish the West Xia kingdom </h3><br />
In the eleventh century, the Tu who disseminated northward established the Xixia Kingdom, which also had a mixture of Dangxiang Qiang. When the Mongolians troops marched southward in the thirteen century, Xixia resisted for 22 years before it was eventually overrun. The Tu settlement in the current Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan occurred after the fall of Xixia. A continuous cluster distribution was maintained especially in Qinghai until after the Ming Dynasty, during which the Han migrations occurred and increasingly disrupted the former settlement of the Tu. In the following centuries, the Tu population underwent further decline from more dispersals and absorption into other populations. The assimilation occurred predominantly into the prevailing populations around them. Few were absorbed into Tibetans, some into Muslims, and the bulk of the Tu who dispersed in central China became Han Chinese. <br />
<br />
<h3>Modern Tu groups</h3><br />
By the turn of the 20th century, the Tu were found predominantly in Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan. The Tu population declined from nearly 4 million during the peak of the Tuyuhun Kingdom to about 49,000 when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. During the 1950s, the Chinese Government launched a large-scale nationwide survey to grasp the precise locations and numbers of all the ethnic groups in China. The Tu were identified as one of the official nationalities in the initial classification in 1953. Because the sub-groups have been separated and lived in isolation, surrounded by other ethnic groups, they have been under different extents of linguistic and cultural influences from the surrounding peoples. The Huzhu Tu live among the Tibetans and absorbed more influence from the Tibetan language, whereas the Minhe Tu show greater influence from the Han Chinese, an overall pattern demonstrated in the Tuyuhun culture which adopted the Chinese language and Confucianism since the early Xianbei period. The bulk of the Tu who have been absorbed into the Han Chinese, and some who became Tibetan Buddhists and no longer carried the ethnic characteristics to be identified as Tu. After another half a century passed, the Tu population increased to over 200,000 in China by the turn of this century.<br />
<br />
The Tu are the direct descendants of the Xianbei Nationality. After the bulk of Xianbei have been absorbed into the Han and other groups hundreds of years ago, the Tu have kept intact the unique cultural heritages of Xianbei. After thousands of years, the Tu legends continue to give off the reminiscence of the struggles that the earliest Tu ancestors had had with the Wangmang people, and the unique Nadun celebration vividly demonstrates the intense warfare that took place during the Three Kingdoms, at a time when Tuyuhun separated from Xianbei. In absence of a written language, Xianbei and Tuyuhun relied on the Chinese language to record and communicate officially, which is a feature maintained in the elaborate Tu wedding songs and rituals at present. As a result of continuous military expansions over a vast territory and annexation of diverse nomadic groups, the Tu language and culture absorbed the vocabulary and cultural elements of these groups, including the Shatuo Turks who submitted allegiance under Tuyuhun. The original religion of Tuyuhun was the Chinese Buddhism, which subsided following the westward migration and gradually gave way to the increasingly strong influence of the Tibetan Buddhism in northwest China.<br />
<br />
<a name='Bibliography' id='Bibliography'></a><h2>Bibliography</h2><br />
*Anonymous. 1977. Pater Lodewijk, Jozef, Maria Schram , Een Brugs missionaris en etnoloog. Haec Olim 21: 16-24.<br />
*Dpal ldan bkra shis, Hu Jun, Hu Ping, Limusishiden , Keith Slater, Kevin Stuart, Wang Xianzhen, and Zhu Yongzhong. 1996. Language Materials of China’s Monguor Minority: Huzhu Mongghul and Minhe Mangghuer. Sino-Platonic Papers No 69.<br />
*Arienne M. Dwyer. 2005. Language Contact and Variation: A Discourse-based Grammar of Monguor. http://neh.gov/grants/guidelines/delsamples/mongour.pdf.<br />
*Ethnologue. 09 January 2008. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mjg<br />
*Feng Lide and Kevin Stuart. 1992. Interethnic Cultural Contact on the Inner Asian Frontier: The Gangou People of Minhe County, Qinghai. Sino Platonic Papers No 33.<br />
*Hans-Rainer Kämpfe. 1974. Die soziale Rolle des 2. Pekinger Lcang skya qutuqtu Rol pa’i rdo rje : Beitrage zu einer Analyse anhand tibetischer und mongolischer Biographien. Bonn: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität.<br />
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*Hu Jun and Kevin Stuart. 1992. Illness Among the Minhe Tu, Qinghai Province: Prevention and Etiology. Mongolian Studies 15:111 135.<br />
*Jonathan N. Lipman. 1981. The Border World of Gansu, 1895-1935. Stanford University PhD dissertation. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.<br />
*Juha Janhunen, editor. 2003. The Mongolic Languages. London: Routledge. <br />
*Juha Janhunen. 2003. Shirongol and Shirongolic. Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 8:83-89.<br />
*Juha Janhunen. 2006. On the Shirongolic Names of Amdo. Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 11:95-103. <br />
*Juha Janhunen, Lionel Ha Mingzong and Joseph Tshe.dpag.rnam.rgyal. 2007. On the Language of the Shaowa Tuzu in the Context of the Ethnic Taxonomy of Amdo Qinghai. Central Asiatic Journal. <br />
*Kenneth L. Field. 1997. A Grammatical Overview of Santa Mongolian. University of California, Santa Barbara PhD dissertation.<br />
*Li Keyu. 1987. Mongghul Qidar Merlong . Xining: Qinghai renmin chubanshe .<br />
*Li Xuewei and Kevin Stuart. 1990. Population and Culture of the Mongols, Tu, Baoan, Dongxiang, and Yugu in Gansu. Mongolian Studies 12:71 93.<br />
*Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart. 1994. ‘Caring for All the World’: The Huzhu Monguor Pram IN Edward H. Kaplan and Donald W. Whisenhunt, editors. Opuscula Altaica: Essays in Honor of Henry Schwarz. Bellingham: Western Washington University Press.<br />
*Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart. 1995. Larinbuda and Jiminsu: A Monguor Tragedy. Asian Theatre Journal 12:2, 221-263.<br />
*Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart. 1996. Review of Shilaode editor, translator, Li Keyu. Tuzu gesaer . Anthropos 91:297.<br />
*Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart, editors. 1998. Huzhu Mongghul Folklore: Texts and Translations. München: Lincon Europa.<br />
*Limusishiden and Kevin Stuart. 1999. Huzhu Mongghul Language Materials. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja—Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 88:261-264.<br />
*Limsishiden and Kevin Stuart, editors. 2001. Huzhu Mongghul Texts: Chileb 1983 -1996 Selections. 2 vol. München: Lincom Europa.<br />
*Liu, Xuezhao, 劉學銚, 1994. Xianbei shi lun 鮮卑史論. Taibei Shi 台北市, Nan tian shu ju 南天書局.<br />
*Lu Jianfu . 2002. "Tu Zu Shi" . Beijing , Chinese Social Sciences Publishing House . <br />
*Marina Illich. 2006. Selections from the Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Polymath: Chankya Rolpai Dorje , 1717-1786. Columbia University PhD dissertation.<br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1920. Geschiedenis van de Christenheid Si-ning: 77-82 ; 110-116.<br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1920. Lettres du P.Schram: 38-41. <br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1920. Notes sur la prefecture chinoise d Si-ning : 79-85 &112-119.<br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1921. De gelukkigste men's in Kansoe: 138.<br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1921. L’Immaculee et les paiens de Chine: 201-220.<br />
*Missions de Scheut. 1921. De zwarte ellende in Si-ning: 217-223.<br />
*Gabriella Molè . The Tu-yü-hun from the Northern Wei to the Time of the Five Dynasties. Serie Orientale Roma 41. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estreme Oriente. <br />
*Antoine Mostaert. 1931. The Mongols of Kansu and their Language. Bulletin of the Catholic University of Peking 8:75-89.<br />
*Antoine Mostaert. 1963-1964. Over Pater Louis Schram CICM. Haec Olim 15:103-108.<br />
*Ngag dbang chos ldan and Klaus Sagaster. 1967. Subud erike, “ein Rosenkranz aus Perlen”: die Biographie des 1. Pekinger lCang skya Khutukhtu, Ngag dbang blo bzang chos ldan. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.<br />
*Ngag dbang thub bstan dbang phyug and Hans-Rainer Kämpfe. 1976. Nyi ma’i ‘od zer/ Naran-u gerel: Die Biographie des 2. Pekingger lCang skya Qutugtu Rol pa’i rdo rje , Monumenta Tibetica Historica, Abteilung II: Vitae, Band 1. St. Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.<br />
*Kalsang Norbu , Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart. 1999. A Ritual Winter Exorcism in Gnyan Thog Village, Qinghai. Asian Folklore Studies 58:189-203.<br />
*Gerard A. Postiglione, editor. 1999. China’s National Minority Education: Ethnicity, Schooling and Development. New York: Garland Press.<br />
*G. N. Potanin. 1893. Tangutsko-tibetskaya okraïna Kitaya i Central’naya Mongoliya, vols. 1-2. St. Petersburg. <br />
*G. N. Potanin. 1950. Tangutsko-tibetskaya okraina Kitaya i tsentral’naya Mongoliya . Moscow. State Publisher. <br />
*Qi Huimin, Limusishiden, and Kevin Stuart. 1997-1998. Huzhu Monguor Wedding Songs: Musical Characteristics. Parts I, II, III, IV. Chinese Music 20:1, 6-12, 14-17; 20:2, 32-37; 20:3, 43-52; 20:4, 68-71; 21:1, 10-13.<br />
*Qi Huimin, Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart. 1999. Minhe Mangghuer Wedding Songs: Musical Characteristics. Asian Folklore Studies 58:77-120.<br />
*Louis Schram. 1912. Kansou. Missions en Chine et au Congo 149.<br />
*Louis Schram. 1918. Catholic Missions. Ethnographic Notes 229-231. <br />
*Louis Schram. 1927. Christelijke Kunst in China. Bulletin Catholique de Peking 668-376.<br />
*Louis MJ Schram. 1932. Le mariage cez les T’ou-jen du Kan-sou . Variétés Sinologiques 58. .<br />
*Louis MJ Schram. 1954. The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Their Origin, History, and Social Organization. Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 44:1.<br />
*Louis MJ Schram. 1954. The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Part II. Their Religious Life. Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 47:1.<br />
*Louis MJ Schram. 1955. Two letters to Marguerite Hebert. Hebert Papers Mss. 4769, Subseries 8. Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University. <br />
*Louis MJ Schram. 1961. The Monguors of the Kansu-Tibetan Frontier: Part III. Records of the Monguor Clans. Philadelphia: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 51:3.<br />
*Louis Schram . 2006. 蒙 古 尔 部 族 的 组 织 meng gu er bu zu de zu zhi . 青 海 民 族 研 究 qing hai min zu yan jiu . 1:29-36. <br />
*Louis Schram . 2006. meng gu er bu zu de zu zhi 蒙古尔部族的组织 . 青 海 民 族 研 究 qing hai min zu yan jiu) . 2:10-14.<br />
*Dominik Schröder. 1952/1953. Zur Religion der Tujen des Sininggebietes . Anthropos 47:1-79, 620-658, 822-870; 48:202-249. <br />
*Dominik Schröder. 1959. Aus der Volksdicntung der Monguor ; 1. Teil: Das weibe Glücksschaf . Asiatische Forschungen 6. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. <br />
*Dominik Schröder. 1964. Der dialekt der Monguor In B. Spuler, editor Mongolistik. . Leiden: EJ Brill.<br />
*Dominik Schröder. 1970. Aus der Volksdichtung der Monguor ; 2. Teil: In den Tagen der Urzeit . Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. <br />
*Keith Slater. Mangghuer In Janhunen 2003:307-324.<br />
*Keith W. Slater. 2003. Minhe Mangghuer: A Mongolic Language of China’s Qinghai-Gansu Sprachbund. Curzon Asian Linguistic Series 2. London: RoutledgeCurzon. <br />
*Albrecht de Smedt & Antoine Mostaert . Le dialecte monguor parlé par les Mongols du Kansou occidental, Ière partie: Phonétique. Anthropos 24: 145-166, 801-815; 25: 657-669, 961 973; 26: 253. <br />
*Albrecht De Smedt & Antoine Mostaert . Le dialecte monguor parlé par les Mongols du Kansou occidental, IIIe partie: Dictionnaire monguor-français. Pei-p’ing: Imprimerie de l’Université Catholique. <br />
*Albrecht De Smedt & Antoine Mostaert . Le dialecte monguor parlé par les Mongols du Kansou occidental, IIe partie: Grammaire. Monumenta Serica, Monograph 6. Peking. <br />
*Elliot Sperling. 1997. A Note on the Chi-kya Tribe and the Two Qi Clans in Amdo. Les habitants du Toit du monde, Recherches sur la Haute Asie, 12:111-124.<br />
*Kevin Stuart and Hu Jun. 1992. Death and Funerals Among the Minhe Tu . Asian Folklore Studies 51:2, 67 87.<br />
*Kevin Stuart and Hu Jun. 1993. ‘That All May Prosper’: The Monguor Nadun of the Guanting / Sanchuan Region. Anthropos 88:15-27. <br />
*Kevin Stuart and Limusishiden, editors. 1994. China’s Monguor Minority: Ethnography and Folktales. Sino-Platonic Papers No 59.<br />
*Sun Zhu, editor. 1990. Menggu yuzu yuyan cidian . Xining: Qinghai renmin chubanshe .<br />
*Thu’u bkwan Blo bzang chos kyi nyi ma. 1989 . Lcang skya Rol pa’i rdo rje’i rnam thar. Lanzhou: Gansu’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang. <br />
*Buljash Khojchievna Todaeva. 1959. Über die Sprache der Tung-hsiang. Acta Orientalia Hungarica 9: 273-310. <br />
*Buljash Khojchievna Todaeva. 1961. Dunsyanskii yazyk. Moskva: Institut narodov Aziï AN SSSR. <br />
*Buljash Khojchievna Todaeva. 1963. Einige Besonderheiten der Paoan-Sprache. Acta Orientalia Hungarica 16: 175-197. <br />
*Buljash Khojchievna Todaeva. 1966. Baoan’skii yazyk. Moskva: Institut narodov Aziï AN SSSR.<br />
*Buljash Khojchievna Todaeva. 1973. Mongorskii yazyk: Issledovanie, teksty, slovar . Moskva: Institut vostokovedeniya AN SSSR. <br />
*Üjiyediin Chuluu . 1994. Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Monguor. Sino-Platonic Papers No 57.<br />
*Wang Xianzheng and Kevin Stuart. 1995. ‘Blue Skies and Emoluments’: Minhe Monguor Men Sing I and II. Chinese Music 18:13-18; 18::28-33.<br />
*Wang Xianzheng, Zhu Yongzhong, and Kevin Stuart. 1995. ‘The Brightness of the World’: Minhe Monguor Women Sing. Mongolian Studies 18:65-83.<br />
*Wang Xianzhen, writer; Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart, editors. 2001. Mangghuerla Bihuang Keli . Chengdu, China-Chengdu Audio Press.<br />
*www. 4corners.org <br />
*www.cybercities.com/t/westernyugur/new.htm <br />
*www.tu.advocate.net <br />
*Xinhua. 8 May 2004. http://202.84.17.11/english/china_abc/minzu.htm.<br />
*Zhaonasitu, editor. Tuzu yu jianchi . Beijing: Minzu chubanshe .<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1996. Minhe Monguor Nadun Texts. CHIME 9:Autumn, 89-105.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1996. A Minhe Monguor Drinking Song. Central Asiatic Journal 40:283-289.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1997. Minhe Monguor Children’s Games. Orientalia Suecana XLV-XLVI:179-216.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart. Education Among the Minhe Monguor IN Postiglione . <br />
*Zhu Yongzhong and Kevin Stuart. 1999. ‘Two Bodhisattvas From the East’: Minhe Monguor Funeral Orations. Journal of Contemporary China 8:179-188.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu , Keith Slater, and Kevin Stuart. 1997. Gangou Chinese Dialect: A Comparative Study of a Strongly Altaicized Chinese Dialect and Its Mongolic Neighbor. Anthropos 92:433-450.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu , and Kevin Stuart. 1995. The Frog Boy: An Example of Minhe Monguor. Orientalia Suecana XLII-XLIV:197-207.<br />
*Zhu Yongzhong, Üjiyediin Chuluu, and Kevin Stuart. 1999. NI in Minhe Mangghuer and Other Mongol Languages. Archív Orientální 67 :323-338.phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-41438590710785753042008-09-03T20:02:00.001-07:002008-09-03T20:02:42.805-07:00Chinese Xibe peopleThe <strong>Xibe</strong> are an ethnic group living mostly in northeast China and Xinjiang. They form one of the officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.<br />
<br />
<a name='History' id='History'></a><h2>History</h2><br />
The Xibe originally lived on the and river valleys in central Manchuria. They are known as one of the nine states that were defeated by Nurhaci in the Battle of Gure in 1593. They were under loose domination of the Khorchin Mongols even after the Khorchin came under the control of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.<br />
<br />
The Xibe started to make direct contact with the Qing Dynasty when it conducted military campaigns against Russia. They provided logistical support to the Qing. In 1692, the Khorchin dedicated the Xibe, the Gūwalca and the Daur to the Kangxi Emperor in exchange for silver. The Xibe was incorporated into the Eight Banners and were stationed in Qiqihar and other cities in Manchuria.<br />
<br />
After conquering Eastern Turkestan, the Qianlong Emperor garrisoned part of the Xibe there in 1764 to defend the new frontier. They formed a community in the region south of the Ili River.<br />
<br />
<a name='Culture' id='Culture'></a><h2>Culture</h2><br />
The traditional dress of the Xibe was similar to the traditional dress of the Manchus. Nowadays almost all the Xibe wear Western clothing and the traditional clothing is worn by elders during festivals.<br />
<br />
Traditionally, the Xibe were divided into ''hala'', clans consisting of people who shared the same surname. Until modern times, the dwellings of the Xibe housed up to three different generations from a same family, since it was believed that while the father was alive no son could break the family clan and to leave the house.<br />
<br />
<a name='Language' id='Language'></a><h2>Language</h2><br />
<br />
The Xibe in northeast China speak as their first language. In Xinjiang, descendants of the Qing dynasty military garrison preserve their language, which is an innovative dialect of the . Unlike the Manchu language, the Xibe language is reported to have eight vowel distinctions as opposed to the six found in Manchu, differences in morphology, and a complex kind of vowel harmony. The general vocabulary and structure of Xibe has not been affected as much by the influence of Chinese as Manchu has been. However, there are a number of Chinese loanwords, and a large body of sociological terminology, such as ''gəming'' and ''gungshə'' , have been borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the everyday vocabulary of the language. They use the , a slightly revised .<br />
<br />
* The Xibe believe that they are descendants of the Xianbei. <br />
* Dr. Pamela Kyle Crossley, Professor of History at Dartmouth College, asserts that the Russians named Siberia after the Sibe/Xibe.<br />
<br />
<a name='References' id='References'></a><h2>References</h2><br />
* Wu Yuanfen, Zhao Zhiqiang. 1981. "Xibozu xiqian gaishu" . ''Minzu yanjiu'' 2:22-29.<br />
* Ramsey, S. Robert. 1987. ''The Languages of China''. Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey ISBN 0-691-06694-9 <br />
* ''C. G. Mannerheimin Valokuvia Aasian-Matkalta 1906-1908 '', ISBN: 9511113577. Contains photographs of Xibe/Xibo and other ethnic groups.<br />phufrouwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811215359608035991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7644456015882951433.post-31839692212267576292008-09-03T20:01:00.011-07:002008-09-03T20:01:58.358-07:00Chinese Yugur PeopleThe <strong>Yugurs</strong> , <br />
or Yellow as they are traditionally known, <br />
are one of China's , consisting of 13,719 persons according to the 2000 census. The Yugur live primarily in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in Province.<br />
<br />
About 4,600 of the Yugurs speak a and about 2,800 a Mongolic language; the remaining Yugurs of the Autonomous County lost their respective Yugur language and speak . A very small number of the Yugur reportedly speak . They use Chinese for intercommunication. Both Yugur languages are now unwritten, although vertical Uyghur script was in use in some Yugur communities till end of 18th century.<br />
<br />
The Turkic speaking Yugurs are considered to be the descendants of a group of Uyghurs who fled from Mongolia southwards to Gānsù, after the collapse of the Uyghur Empire in 840 A.D., and soon established there a prosperous Ganzhou Kingdom with capital near present Zhangye city on the foots of in the valley of the Ejin River . Population of this Kingdom, that was estimated at 300,000 in Song Dynasty chronicles, worshipped Manichaeism and Buddhism in numerous temples flourished throughout the country and had forcibly been incorporated into Tangut Kingdom, despite of fierce resistance, after bloody war of 1028-1036 A.D.. The Mongolic speaking Yugurs are probably the descendants of one of the Mongolic speaking groups invading northern China during the Mongol conquests in the thirteenth century. The Yugurs were eventually incorporated in the Chinese Qing empire in 1696, during the reign of the second emperor Kangxi . <br />
<br />
The nationality's current, official name, Yugur, derived from the Yugur's autonym: the Turkic speaking Yugur designate themselves as ''Yogïr'' or ''Sarïg Yogïr'' , and the Mongolic speaking Yugur likewise use either ''Yogor'' or ''Šera Yogor'' . Chinese historical documents have recorded these ethnonyms as ''Sālǐ Wèiwù'ěr'' or ''Xīlǎgǔ'ěr''. During the Qing dynasty, the Yugur were also called ''Huángfān'' . In order to distinguish both groups and their languages, Chinese linguists coined the terms ''Xībù Yùgù'' and ''Dōngbù Yùgù'' , based on their geographical distribution.<br />
<br />
The Turkic speaking Yugur mainly live in the western part of the County in Mínghuā District, in the Townships of Liánhuā and Mínghǎi, and in Dàhé District, in the centre of the County.<br />
The Mongolic speaking Yugur mainly live in the County's eastern part, in Huángchéng District, and in Dàhé and Kānglè Districts, in the centre of the County.<br />
<br />
The traditional religion of the Yugur is Tibetan Buddhism, which used to be practiced alongside shamanism.<br />
<br />
The Yugur people are predominantly employed in animal husbandry.<br />
<br />
<a name='Literature' id='Literature'></a><h2>Literature</h2><br />
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