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Ethnic group in China and Vietnam From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Yao people (simplified Chinese: 瑶族; traditional Chinese: 瑤族; pinyin: Yáozú) 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]
瑶族 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) A Yao woman, Tiantouzhai, Longji Terraces, China, November 2010 | |
| Total population | |
| 3,500,000+ | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 China: 2,796,003 (2010) Vietnam: 891,151 (2019)[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Mienic languages, Bunu, Pa-Hng, Lakkja, Mandarin Chinese, Shaozhou Tuhua, Badong Yao, Yeheni, Vietnamese, English | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Yao folk religion, minority Buddhism |
| Yao people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 瑶族 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | người Dao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | 𠊛猺 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The origins of the Yao can be traced back two millennia to Hunan around the Dongting Lake region. According to a Yao tale, the Chinese Emperor Gao Xin was saved from an enemy chieftain by his faithful dog, Pan Hu. As a reward, Pan Hu was turned into a man and given the emperor's daughter in marriage. The descendants of the two became the Yao people. This tale was used as a basis for their connection to the Mo Yao, a group of highlanders who were exempt from forced labour during the Tang dynasty (618-907).[2] Between 200 BCE and 900 CE, the Yao migrated into mountainous areas to the south of the Yangtze River.[3]
The Yao were conquered by the Han Chinese between the 900s and 1200s.[4] However they were covered under a loose reign system known as the Jimi system or Tusi. The local chieftains collected tribute and taxes from their own people and paid taxes to the emperor.[2]
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, rule over the Yao was tightened. Ming and Qing authorities sent in their own bureaucrats to directly collect taxes, supplanting the role of the Yao chieftains.[5] The Yao and Miao people were among the rebels during the Miao Rebellions against the Ming dynasty during the 1370s and 1449. Conflict drove the Yao further south into the highlands between Hunan and Guizhou to the north and Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and stretching into Eastern Yunnan. Some left for Southeast Asia.[4][6]
Around 1890, the Guangdong government started taking action against Yao in Northwestern Guangdong.[7]
After the Mao Zedong's Communist Party won the civil war in the late 1940s, the Yao benefited greatly from the ideology of equality and were able to access education, becoming part of the regional and national elite. They were often recruited as specialists to assist with the ethnic identification program within the framework of a large unified China.[5]
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.[8] 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.
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.
Yao society is traditionally patrilineal, with sons inheriting from their fathers. The Yao follow patrilocal residence.[9] Polygyny was allowed until it was banned in China in the 1950s. Adoption was common among the wealthy [10]
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.[9]
During the Southern Song (1127–1279), an imperial Chinese observer, Zhou Qufei, described the Yao as wearing distinctive fine blue clothing produced using indigo.[11]
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."[12]
The description of Yao religion is similar to the definition of Chinese folk religion as described by Arthur Wolf and Steve Sangren.[13] Like the Han, the Yao engage in patrilineal ancestor worship, celebrate lunar new year, and recognize a set a 18 gods and goddesses, mostly of Han Chinese origin. The Yao had shaman priests as part of their community who engaged in activity such as exorcism, spiritual communication, and divination using chicken bones or bamboo sticks.[10]
Taoism has historically been important to the Yao.[14] Jinag Yingliang, in a 1948 study, argued that Yao religion was characterized by (1) a process of Han Chinese-influenced Daoisation (Chinese: 道教化; pinyin: Dàojiào huà); (2) the endurance of pre-Daoist folk religion; and (3) some Buddhist beliefs.
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."[13]
There are several distinct groups within the Yao nationality, and they speak several different languages, The Iu Mien comprise 70% of the Yao population.[citation needed]
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.[20]
The Bunu people call themselves Nuox [no13], Buod nuox [po43 no13], Dungb nuox [tuŋ33no13], or their official name Yaof zuf [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.[citation needed]
Mao Zongwu (2004:7-8)[21] 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.
Groups considered to be "Plains Yao" (Pingdi Yao 平地瑶) include:[citation needed]
Tim Doling (2010:82-83) lists the following Yao (spelled Dao in the Vietnamese alphabet) subgroups in northern Vietnam.[26]
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.[29]
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.
(Only counties or county equivalents with more than 0.1% of county population are shown.)
| County/City | Yao % | Yao | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunan Province | 1.11 | 704,564 | 63,274,173 |
| Dongkou County | 1.55 | 11,639 | 752,581 |
| Xinning County | 2.59 | 14,438 | 557,120 |
| Chenzhou City | 1.63 | 70,513 | 4,324,812 |
| Beihu District | 1.25 | 3,921 | 314,477 |
| Rucheng County | 15.45 | 52,955 | 342,861 |
| Zixing City | 1.22 | 4,284 | 351,581 |
| Yongzhou City | 9.57 | 513,831 | 5,367,106 |
| Shuangpai County | 4.90 | 7,916 | 161,510 |
| Dao County | 5.92 | 36,938 | 624,199 |
| Jiangyong County | 62.39 | 147,164 | 235,893 |
| Ningyuan County | 2.16 | 15,943 | 738,259 |
| Lanshan County | 5.29 | 17,608 | 332,937 |
| Xintian County | 1.82 | 6,541 | 358,831 |
| Jianghua Yao Autonomous County | 61.87 | 270,889 | 437,835 |
| Huaihua City | 1.55 | 71,952 | 4,639,738 |
| Zhongfang County | 1.33 | 3,147 | 236,675 |
| Chenxi County | 6.77 | 32,405 | 478,708 |
| Xupu County | 3.18 | 25,398 | 798,983 |
| Hongjiang City | 1.47 | 7,137 | 485,061 |
| Guangdong Province | 0.24 | 202,667 | 85,225,007 |
| Shaoguan City | 1.13 | 31,042 | 2,735,433 |
| Shixing County | 2.00 | 4,115 | 205,684 |
| Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County | 10.75 | 19,121 | 177,894 |
| Longmen County | 2.51 | 6,726 | 267,949 |
| Qingyuan City | 3.05 | 96,043 | 3,146,713 |
| Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County | 14.33 | 14,195 | 99,070 |
| Liannan Yao Autonomous County | 52.29 | 69,968 | 133,814 |
| Lianzhou City | 1.31 | 5,366 | 409,360 |
| Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region | 3.36 | 1,471,946 | 43,854,538 |
| Xincheng District | 1.30 | 5,560 | 426,346 |
| Chengbei District | 1.50 | 5,901 | 392,726 |
| Shijiao District | 1.15 | 2,949 | 256,730 |
| Guilin City | 8.15 | 375,902 | 4,614,670 |
| Xiufeng District | 1.63 | 2,050 | 125,924 |
| Diecai District | 1.72 | 2,312 | 134,401 |
| Xiangshan District | 1.42 | 3,527 | 249,135 |
| Qixing District | 1.76 | 4,003 | 227,278 |
| Lingui County | 3.53 | 14,957 | 424,182 |
| Lingchuan County | 3.20 | 10,169 | 318,036 |
| Quanzhou County | 4.29 | 27,984 | 652,963 |
| Xing'an County | 2.35 | 8,317 | 353,920 |
| Yongfu County | 3.48 | 8,202 | 235,368 |
| Guanyang County | 7.77 | 17,971 | 231,288 |
| Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County | 17.56 | 28,237 | 160,796 |
| Ziyuan County | 3.19 | 5,014 | 156,946 |
| Pingle County | 14.08 | 55,553 | 394,575 |
| Lipu County | 7.48 | 25,893 | 346,169 |
| Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County | 58.60 | 158,937 | 271,216 |
| Wuzhou City | 1.15 | 32,021 | 2,796,087 |
| Mengshan County | 12.02 | 22,587 | 187,918 |
| Fangchenggang City | 4.63 | 34,074 | 735,952 |
| Gangkou District | 1.37 | 1,462 | 106,403 |
| Fangcheng District | 6.59 | 20,840 | 316,111 |
| Shangsi County | 4.22 | 8,666 | 205,307 |
| Dongxing City | 2.87 | 3,106 | 108,131 |
| Guigang City | 1.86 | 71,063 | 3,827,945 |
| Pingnan County | 6.29 | 66,391 | 1,055,782 |
| Nanning City | 1.43 | 68,975 | 4,839,536 |
| Shanglin County | 6.50 | 24,697 | 379,986 |
| Mashan County | 8.48 | 33,873 | 399,439 |
| Liuzhou City | 3.57 | 125,839 | 3,522,322 |
| Heshan City | 1.87 | 2,452 | 131,249 |
| Luzhai County | 2.01 | 8,424 | 418,665 |
| Laibin County | 1.25 | 10,475 | 839,790 |
| Rong'an County | 1.88 | 5,313 | 283,029 |
| Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County | 3.88 | 11,798 | 304,149 |
| Rongshui Miao Autonomous County | 6.48 | 27,560 | 425,608 |
| Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County | 37.45 | 50,532 | 134,934 |
| Xincheng County | 2.05 | 7,051 | 343,556 |
| Hezhou Prefecture | 12.49 | 241,822 | 1,936,849 |
| Hezhou City | 4.84 | 41,130 | 850,023 |
| Zhaoping County | 4.46 | 15,746 | 353,298 |
| Zhongshan County | 8.75 | 40241 | 460021 |
| Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County | 52.91 | 144,705 | 273,507 |
| Baise Prefecture | 3.82 | 127,351 | 3,332,096 |
| Baise City | 3.29 | 11,211 | 340,483 |
| Tiandong County | 4.63 | 16,674 | 360,123 |
| Pingguo County | 4.16 | 16,344 | 392,800 |
| Debao County | 1.84 | 5,085 | 276,335 |
| Napo County | 2.74 | 4,661 | 170,158 |
| Lingyun County | 21.05 | 36,954 | 175,573 |
| Leye County | 1.97 | 2,857 | 144,816 |
| Tianlin County | 11.64 | 27,559 | 236,799 |
| Xilin County | 3.54 | 4,934 | 139,282 |
| Hechi Prefecture | 9.93 | 349,819 | 3,523,693 |
| Hechi City | 2.31 | 7,355 | 318,348 |
| Yizhou City | 5.54 | 30,436 | 549,434 |
| Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County | 1.21 | 3,903 | 322,116 |
| Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County | 5.36 | 17,807 | 332,067 |
| Nandan County | 9.18 | 29,284 | 318,844 |
| Tian'e County | 2.44 | 3,461 | 141,649 |
| Fengshan County | 7.71 | 12,714 | 164,807 |
| Donglan County | 4.29 | 10,581 | 246,715 |
| Bama Yao Autonomous County | 17.24 | 37,706 | 218,724 |
| Du'an Yao Autonomous County | 21.66 | 117,609 | 543,019 |
| Dahua Yao Autonomous County | 21.46 | 78,963 | 367,970 |
| Guizhou Province | 0.13 | 44,392 | 35,247,695 |
| Liping County | 1.10 | 5,046 | 458,533 |
| Rongjiang County | 1.70 | 5,101 | 300,369 |
| Congjiang County | 2.04 | 6,158 | 301,513 |
| Majiang County | 3.35 | 6,807 | 203,481 |
| Libo County | 3.45 | 5,915 | 171,366 |
| Yunnan Province | 0.45 | 190,610 | 42,360,089 |
| Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture | 1.86 | 76,947 | 4,130,463 |
| Yuanyang County | 2.18 | 7,922 | 362,950 |
| Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County | 12.00 | 37,937 | 316,171 |
| Lüchun County | 3.46 | 6,968 | 201,256 |
| Hekou Yao Autonomous County | 22.10 | 21,097 | 95,451 |
| Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture | 2.50 | 81,774 | 3,268,553 |
| Malipo County | 7.06 | 18,926 | 267,986 |
| Guangnan County | 2.16 | 15,781 | 730,376 |
| Funing County | 10.35 | 39,646 | 382,913 |
| Jingdong Yi Autonomous County | 1.15 | 4,063 | 352,089 |
| Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County | 3.94 | 3,946 | 100,243 |
| Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture | 1.88 | 18,679 | 993,397 |
| Mengla County | 6.77 | 15,944 | 235,657 |
The Yao of Guizhou are found in the following locations (Guizhou Province Gazetteer 贵州志 2002).[30]
The Yao of Guizhou have various autonyms, such as:[30]
The Jianghua Yao Autonomous County is the only Yao-designated autonomous county in Hunan. Some subgroups of ethnic Yao in Hunan include:[31]
The Hunan Province Gazetteer (1997) gives the following autonyms for various peoples classified by the Chinese government as Yao.
Tan Xiaoping (2012)[36] 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).
| County | Population (1990) |
|---|---|
| Jianghua | 210,944 |
| Jiangyong | 62,647 |
| Dao | 26,771 |
| Ningyuan | 16,361 |
| Lanshan | 16,123 |
| Shuangpai | 7,206 |
| Xintian | 6,295 |
| Qiyang | 3,209 |
| Chenxi | 26,132 |
| Xupu | 13,989 |
| Qianyang | 3,264 |
| Huaihua | 2,066 |
| Tongdao | 1,657 |
| Xinning | 12,756 |
| Dongkou | 8,473 |
| Longhui | 6,151 |
| Chenzhou | 5,872 |
| Yizhang | 4,145 |
| Zixing | 3,999 |
| Guiyang | 2,323 |
| Changning | 1,085 |
| Total | 460,667 |
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. This writing system based on the Latin alphabet was designed to be pan-dialectal; it distinguishes 30 syllable initials, 121 syllable finals and eight tones.
For an example of how the unified alphabet is used to write Iu Mien, a common Yao language, see Iu Mien language.
There is a separate written standard for Bunu, since it is from the 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.[37]
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