Yao people explained

Group:Yao people
Native Name:Chinese: 瑶族
Total:3,500,000+
Popplace:

2,796,003 (2010)
: 891,151 (2019)[1]

Rels:Predominantly Yao folk religion, minority Buddhism
Langs:Mienic languages, Bunu, Pa-Hng, Lakkja, Mandarin Chinese, Shaozhou Tuhua, Badong Yao, Yeheni, Vietnamese, English
C:瑶族
P:Yáo zú
Wuu:yau zoh
Buc:Ièu-cŭk
Poj:Iâu-cho̍k
Teo:Iêu-tsôk
H:Yâu-tshu̍k
Y:yìuh juhk
J:jiu4 zuk6
Qn:người Dao
Hn:猺

The Yao people or Dao (Vietnamese: người Dao) is a classification for various ethnic minorities in China and Vietnam. Their majority branch is also known as Mien. They are one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China and reside in the mountainous southwest and south of the country. They also form one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognized by Vietnam. They numbered 2,796,003 in the 2010 Chinese census and 891,151 in the 2019 Vietnamese census. An estimated 60,000 Yao of the Iu Mien branch reside in the United States, mostly in the Western coastal states.[1]

History

Early history

The origins of the Yao can be traced back two millennia to Hunan. They are said to be descended from the Nanman.[2] Their descriptions in Book of Rites and Romance of the Three Kingdoms cannot be taken as facts however, as they are vague and heavily romanticized, even the exonym itself meant vague "southern barbarians", in no way being specific nor accurate about Yao history and culture.

The Yao and Hmong were among the rebels during the Miao Rebellions against the Ming dynasty. As the Han Chinese expanded into South China, the Yao retreated into the highlands between Hunan and Guizhou to the north and Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and stretching into Eastern Yunnan.[3] Around 1890, the Guangdong government started taking action against Yao in Northwestern Guangdong.[4]

The first Chinese exonym for "Yao people" was the graphic pejorative yao (radical with the phonetic). In the 20th century language reforms, this was changed to its present form, with the radical.

Laotian Civil War

During the Laotian Civil War, the Yao tribes of Laos had a good relationship with U.S. forces and were dubbed to be an "efficient friendly force". They fought in favour of the (South Vietnamese) government against the communists.[5] This relationship caused the new communist Laotian government to target Yao tribal groups once the war was over. This triggered further immigration into Thailand, where the tribes would be put into camps along the Thailand-Laos border.

Immigration to the United States

After obtaining refugee status from the Thai government, and with the help of the United Nations, many Yao people were able to obtain sponsorship into the United States (although many remain in Thailand). Most of the Yao who have immigrated to the United States have settled along the Western part of the US, mainly in central and northern California such as Visalia, Oakland, Oroville, Redding, Richmond, Sacramento, but also in parts of Oregon like Portland, Salem, and Beaverton as well as the state of Washington in Seattle and Renton. See Mien American for those identified as Mien.

Culture, society, and economy

Yao society is traditionally patrilineal, with sons inheriting from their fathers. The Yao follow patrilocal residence.[6]

The Yao people have been farmers for over a thousand years, mostly rice cultivation through plowing, although a few practice slash-and-burn agriculture. Where the Yao live nearby forested regions, they also engage in hunting.[6]

During the Southern Song (1127–1279), an imperial Chinese observer, Zhou Qufei, described the Yao as wearing distinctive fine blue clothing produced using indigo.[7]

The Yao celebrate their Pan Wang (King Pan) festival annually on the sixteenth day of the tenth lunar month. The festival celebrates the mythical original story of the Yao people, and has evolved "into a happy holiday for the Yao to celebrate a good harvest and worship their ancestors."[8]

Religion

See main article: Yao folk religion. Taoism has historically been important to the Yao.[9] Jinag Yingliang, in a 1948 study, argued that Yao religion was characterized by (1) a process of Han Chinese-influenced Daoisation ; (2) the endurance of pre-Daoist folk religion; and (3) some Buddhist beliefs.

The description of Yao religion is similar to the definition of Chinese folk religion as described by Arthur Wolf and Steve Sangren.[10] Scholar Zhang Youjun takes issue with claims of "strong Buddhist influence" on the Yao, arguing that "although Yao ritual texts contain Buddhist expression, the Yao do not believe in Buddhism at all. They are resolutely Taoist."

Groups and languages

There are several distinct groups within the Yao nationality, and they speak several different languages, The Iu Mien comprise 70% of the Yao population.

In addition to China, Yao also live in northern Vietnam (where they are called Dao), northern Laos, and Myanmar. There are around 60,000 Yao in northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. The lowland-living Lanten of Laos, who speak Kim Mun, and the highland-living Iu Mien of Laos are two different Yao groups. There are also many Iu Mien Americans, mainly refugees from the highlands of Laos. The Iu Mien do not call themselves "Yao". Not all "Yao" are Iu Mien. A group of 61,000 people on Hainan speak the Yao language Kim Mun; 139,000 speakers of Kim Mun live in other parts of China (Yunnan and Guangxi), and 174,500 live in Laos and Vietnam.[11]

The Bunu people call themselves Nuox pronounced as /no13/, Buod nuox pronounced as /[po43 no13]/, Dungb nuox pronounced as /[tuŋ33no13]/, or their official name Yaof zuf pronounced as /[ʑau21su21]/. Only 258,000 of the 439,000 people categorised as Bunu in the 1982 census speak Bunu; 100,000 speak the Tai–Kadai Zhuang languages, and 181,000 speak Chinese and the Tai–Kadai Bouyei language.

Mao (2004)

Mao Zongwu (2004:7-8)[12] gives a detailed list of various Yao endonyms (i.e., self-designated names) and the Chinese names of various groups and clans associated with them. Endonyms are written in the International Phonetic Alphabet with numerical Chao tones.

Plains Yao

Groups considered to be "Plains Yao" (Pingdi Yao 平地瑶) include:

Vietnam

Tim Doling (2010:82-83) lists the following Yao (spelled Dao in the Vietnamese alphabet) subgroups in northern Vietnam.[17]

Black Dao of Dien Bien and Lai Chau; Red Dao of southern Lao Cai, Yen Bai, and Son La

Dao Tà Pán 大板瑶 (Dao Đại Bản, Dao Coóc Ngáng,[18] Dao Sừng[19]) of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, and Yen Bai; Red Dao of northern and eastern Lao Cai; Hongtou Red Dao 红头瑶 in northern Lai Chau

Red Dao of Sa Pa

Coin Dao of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, and Bac Can

Coin Dao of Hoa Binh and Son La

Hoa Binh, Son La, Tuyen Quang, Bac Can (also called the Dao Nga Hoàng, Dao Sơn Đầu[19])

Dao Lô Gang and Dao Đầu Trọc of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Mong Cai

According to Doling (2010), only Kim Mun, Kim Mien, and Lô Gang may be found outside Vietnam.

Nguyen (2004:14-15, 128) lists Đại Bản, Tiểu Bản, Khố Bạch, and Làn Tiẻn as the 4 primary subdivisions of ethnic Yao in Vietnam.[20]

Distribution

Yao peoples are distributed primarily in the provinces Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan of China. Ethnic Yao are also found in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

In China

By county

County-level distribution of the Yao, 2000 Chinese Census

(Only counties or county equivalents with more than 0.1% of county population are shown.)

County/CityYao %YaoTotal
Hunan Province1.11704,56463,274,173
Dongkou County1.5511,639752,581
Xinning County2.5914,438557,120
Chenzhou City1.6370,5134,324,812
Beihu District1.253,921314,477
Rucheng County15.4552,955342,861
Zixing City1.224,284351,581
Yongzhou City9.57513,8315,367,106
Shuangpai County4.907,916161,510
Dao County5.9236,938624,199
Jiangyong County62.39147,164235,893
Ningyuan County2.1615,943738,259
Lanshan County5.2917,608332,937
Xintian County1.826,541358,831
Jianghua Yao Autonomous County61.87270,889437,835
Huaihua City1.5571,9524,639,738
Zhongfang County1.333,147236,675
Chenxi County6.7732,405478,708
Xupu County3.1825,398798,983
Hongjiang City1.477,137485,061
Guangdong Province0.24202,66785,225,007
Shaoguan City1.1331,0422,735,433
Shixing County2.004,115205,684
Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County10.7519,121177,894
Longmen County2.516,726267,949
Qingyuan City3.0596,0433,146,713
Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County14.3314,19599,070
Liannan Yao Autonomous County52.2969,968133,814
Lianzhou City1.315,366409,360
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region3.361,471,94643,854,538
Xincheng District1.305,560426,346
Chengbei District1.505,901392,726
Shijiao District1.152,949256,730
Guilin City8.15375,9024,614,670
Xiufeng District1.632,050125,924
Diecai District1.722,312134,401
Xiangshan District1.423,527249,135
Qixing District1.764,003227,278
Lingui County3.5314,957424,182
Lingchuan County3.2010,169318,036
Quanzhou County4.2927,984652,963
Xing'an County2.358,317353,920
Yongfu County3.488,202235,368
Guanyang County7.7717,971231,288
Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County17.5628,237160,796
Ziyuan County3.195,014156,946
Pingle County14.0855,553394,575
Lipu County7.4825,893346,169
Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County58.60158,937271,216
Wuzhou City1.1532,0212,796,087
Mengshan County12.0222,587187,918
Fangchenggang City4.6334,074735,952
Gangkou District1.371,462106,403
Fangcheng District6.5920,840316,111
Shangsi County4.228,666205,307
Dongxing City2.873,106108,131
Guigang City1.8671,0633,827,945
Pingnan County6.2966,3911,055,782
Nanning City1.4368,9754,839,536
Shanglin County6.5024,697379,986
Mashan County8.4833,873399,439
Liuzhou City3.57125,8393,522,322
Heshan City1.872,452131,249
Luzhai County2.018,424418,665
Laibin County1.2510,475839,790
Rong'an County1.885,313283,029
Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County3.8811,798304,149
Rongshui Miao Autonomous County6.4827,560425,608
Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County37.4550,532134,934
Xincheng County2.057,051343,556
Hezhou Prefecture12.49241,8221,936,849
Hezhou City4.8441,130850,023
Zhaoping County4.4615,746353,298
Zhongshan County8.7540241460021
Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County52.91144,705273,507
Baise Prefecture3.82127,3513,332,096
Baise City3.2911,211340,483
Tiandong County4.6316,674360,123
Pingguo County4.1616,344392,800
Debao County1.845,085276,335
Napo County2.744,661170,158
Lingyun County21.0536,954175,573
Leye County1.972,857144,816
Tianlin County11.6427,559236,799
Xilin County3.544,934139,282
Hechi Prefecture9.93349,8193,523,693
Hechi City2.317,355318,348
Yizhou City5.5430,436549,434
Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County1.213,903322,116
Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County5.3617,807332,067
Nandan County9.1829,284318,844
Tian'e County2.443,461141,649
Fengshan County7.7112,714164,807
Donglan County4.2910,581246,715
Bama Yao Autonomous County17.2437,706218,724
Du'an Yao Autonomous County21.66117,609543,019
Dahua Yao Autonomous County21.4678,963367,970
Guizhou Province0.1344,39235,247,695
Liping County1.105,046458,533
Rongjiang County1.705,101300,369
Congjiang County2.046,158301,513
Majiang County3.356,807203,481
Libo County3.455,915171,366
Yunnan Province0.45190,61042,360,089
Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture1.8676,9474,130,463
Yuanyang County2.187,922362,950
Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County12.0037,937316,171
Lüchun County3.466,968201,256
Hekou Yao Autonomous County22.1021,09795,451
Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture2.5081,7743,268,553
Malipo County7.0618,926267,986
Guangnan County2.1615,781730,376
Funing County10.3539,646382,913
Jingdong Yi Autonomous County1.154,063352,089
Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County3.943,946100,243
Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture1.8818,679993,397
Mengla County6.7715,944235,657

Guizhou

The Yao of Guizhou are found in the following locations (Guizhou Province Gazetteer 贵州志 2002).[21]

townships of Yaoshan 瑶山, Yaolu 瑶麓, and Yao'ai 瑶埃

the 4 villages of Shangyoumai 上油迈, Xiaoyoumai 下油迈, Xinzhai 新寨, and Jiaxian 加现 in Youmai Township 油迈瑶族乡

23 Yao villages in Longshan Township 龙山乡, including Heba 河坝 (with 6,474 people)

2 subgroups of Red Yao 红瑶 and Pan Yao 盘瑶

Pailu 排路, Yangwu 杨武, Jiapei 加配

Zhandi Village, Taiyong Township 太拥乡展迪村

Wuxia 巫不, Pu'an 普安, Jiaxiong 甲雄, Shangjiang 上江, Niuchang 牛场

Ankang 安抗 of Luotuo 罗妥; Naji 纳吉, Nakao 纳考, Nanao 纳闹, Luoyang 罗羊, Longping 龙坪, Bianyang 边阳 of Fengting 风亭

The Yao of Guizhou have various autonyms, such as:[21]

Hunan

The Jianghua Yao Autonomous County is the only Yao-designated autonomous county in Hunan. Some subgroups of ethnic Yao in Hunan include:[22]

The Hunan Province Gazetteer (1997) gives the following autonyms for various peoples classified by the Chinese government as Yao.

Tan Xiaoping (2012)[27] also gives the following autonyms for Yao subgroups of Jiangyong County.

The Yao of Shaoyang Prefecture are found in the following locations (Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer 1997). Population statistics are from 1990.

The Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer (1997) reports that the Yao of Shaoyang Prefecture, Hunan speak the following languages.

The following population statistics of ethnic Yao in Hunan are from the 1990 Chinese census, as given in the Hunan Province Gazetteer (1997).

Population of
ethnic Yao in Hunan! County! Population (1990)
Jianghua210,944
Jiangyong62,647
Dao26,771
Ningyuan16,361
Lanshan16,123
Shuangpai7,206
Xintian6,295
Qiyang3,209
Chenxi26,132
Xupu13,989
Qianyang3,264
Huaihua2,066
Tongdao1,657
Xinning12,756
Dongkou8,473
Longhui6,151
Chenzhou5,872
Yizhang4,145
Zixing3,999
Guiyang2,323
Changning1,085
Total460,667

Written languages

After 1982, the Guangxi Nationality Institute and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences together created a new Yao writing system which was unified with the research results of the Yao-American scholar Yuēsè Hòu (Traditional Chinese: 約瑟·候/Simplified Chinese: 约瑟·候). The writing system was finalized in 1984 in Ruyuan County (乳源瑤族自治縣), Guangdong, which included Chinese professors Pan Chengqian (盤承乾/盘承乾), Deng Fanggui (鄧方貴/邓方贵), Liu Baoyuan (劉保元/刘保元), Su Defu (蘇德富/苏德富) and Yauz Mengh Borngh; Chinese government officials; Mien Americans Sengfo Chao (Zhao Fuming), Kao Chiem Chao (Zhao Youcai), and Chua Meng Chao; David T. Lee.

American linguist Herbert C. Purnell developed a curriculum and workshop presentations on language learning in East and Southeast Asia, as well as Yao Seng Deng from Thailand. The US delegation took the new writing system to the Iu Mien community in the United States where it was adopted with a vote of 78 to 7 by a conference of Mien American community leaders.http://iumien.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1&page=2This writing system based on the Latin alphabet was designed to be pan-dialectal; it distinguishes 30 syllable initials, 121 syllable finals and eight tones.

For an example of how the unified alphabet is used to write Iu Mien, a common Yao language, see Iu Mien language.

There is a separate written standard for Bunu, since it is from the Hmong/Miao side, rather than the Mien/Yao side, of the Miao–Yao language family.

Some people think that a variety of Yao is, or was, written in Nüshu, an indigenous script in Southern part of Hunan Province in China. But this connection between Yao language and Nüshu is disputed, because Nüshu more likely recorded local Chinese dialect which might be also known by Yao people in Hunan.

Officially, illiteracy and semi-literacy among the Yao in China still stood at 40.6% in 2002.[28]

See also

Sources

Films

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.gso.gov.vn/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Ket-qua-toan-bo-Tong-dieu-tra-dan-so-va-nha-o-2019.pdf Census 01/04/2019
  2. Web site: Theobald . Ulrich . Man 蠻 . 2019-09-14 . www.chinaknowledge.de . en.
  3. Book: Wiens, Herold Jacob. Han Chinese expansion in South China. registration. 1967. Shoe String Press. 276.
  4. Book: The Chinese times, Volume 4. 1890. THE TIENTSIN PRINTING CO.. TIENTSIN. 24.
  5. Web site: Independent Lens . DEATH OF A SHAMAN . The Mien . PBS. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073346/https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deathofashaman/mien.html. 14 February 2018.
  6. "Yao" in Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China (ed. James Stuart Olson: Greenwood Press, 1998), p. 374.
  7. Sean Marsh, Imperial China and Its Southern Neighbours (eds. Victor H. Mair & Liam Kelley: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015), p. 96.
  8. Liming Wei, Chinese Festivals (Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 106-07.
  9. Deborah A. Sommer, "Taoism and the Arts" in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts (ed. Frank Burch Brown: Oxford University Press, 2014), p. 384.
  10. Book: Litzinger, Ralph A.. Other Chinas: The Yao and the Politics of National Belonging. 2000. Duke University Press. 0-8223-2549-7. 289–90.
  11. Web site: Kim Mun. ethnologue.com. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130203145110/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mji. 3 February 2013.
  12. 毛宗武 / Mao Zongwu. 2004. 瑤族勉语方言研究 / Yao zu Mian yu fang yan yan jiu [A Study of Mien Dialects]. Beijing: 民族出版社 / Min zu chu ban she.
  13. Web site: 江华瑶族自治县的汉语方言和民族语言分布，欢迎补充！！！【江华县吧】_百度贴吧 . 2017-03-13 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063159/http://www.tieba.com/p/630175107 . 2017-03-14 .
  14. Chen, Qiguang [陈其光] (2013). Miao and Yao language [苗瑶语文]. Beijing: China Minzu University Press.
  15. Web site: 景东彝族自治县太忠乡岔箐村委会 . 2013-12-30 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232920/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=217095 . 2013-12-30 .
  16. Web site: 景东彝族自治县太忠乡大松树村委会 . 2013-12-30 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235247/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=217070 . 2013-12-30 .
  17. Doling, Tim. 2010. Mountains and Ethnic Minorities: North West Việt Nam. Thế Giới Publishers.
  18. Chảo Văn Lâm. 2013. Thơ ca hôn lễ: người Dao Đỏ ở Lào Cai. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
  19. Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng. 2013. Lễ cưới người Dao Nga Hoàng. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
  20. PGS. TS. Nguyễn Khắc Tụng, TS. Nguyễn Anh Cường. 2004. Trang phục cổ truyền của người Dao ở Việt Nam. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản khoa học xã hội [viện khoa học xã hội Việt Nam].
  21. Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].
  22. 湖南瑶族社会历史调查 (2009)
  23. Lei Biying; Zheng Linguang [雷碧英; 郑林光; 新宁县民族宗教事务局; 新宁县黄金瑶族乡中心学校]. 2012. Badong Yao language [八峒瑶语]. Xinning: Xinning County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau [新宁县民族宗教事务局].
  24. Web site: 新宁县瑶族乡濒危方言峒话调查. 道客巴巴. 7 June 2012. www.doc88.com. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180503142058/http://www.doc88.com/p-287797318753.html. 3 May 2018.
  25. 湖南新宁瑶族"峒话"音系. 吴萍. 3 May 2018. 现代语文：下旬．语言研究. 10. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130731055625/http://www.cqvip.com/QK/87478A/201210/43954194.html. 31 July 2013.
  26. 新宁县瑶族乡峒话的语音系统. 许阳. 胡萍. 3 May 2018. 文教资料. 32. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130730234703/http://www.cqvip.com/QK/80738X/201032/35823904.html. 30 July 2013.
  27. Tan Xiaoping [谭晓平]. 2012. Language contact and evolution: the Mien language of the Yao people of Jiangyong County, southern Hunan 语言接触与语言演变: 湘南瑶族江永勉语个案研究. Wuhan: Central China Normal University Press [华中师范大学出版社].
  28. Web site: 您访问的页面丢失了 - 中国红河网 - 官方网站. www.hh.cn. 3 May 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174222/http://www.hh.cn/whwx/yz/2002/2002-10/2002-10-31/1036034262_2. 3 March 2016.

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