China 56 Ethnic Groups 3
Tajik – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The word “Tajik” means crown and this is how they refer to themselves. The Tajik originates from the East Iranian-speaking tribes in the eastern part of the Pamirs a couple of centuries before Christ.
From the late 17th to the 19th century, many Tajiks in western and southern Pamirs moved into Selekur and gradually became an ethnic group of China.
Most of he Tajiks live in compact communities in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, and the rest are scattered over areas in southwest Xinjiang. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the Tajik numbered 41,028.
The Tajik language belongs to Pamir subbranch of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. A majority of the Tajik can speak both the Uygur and the Kirgiz languages, and generally use the Uygur script for wrting.
Shui – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The shuis call themselves “Shui”, meaning water. The shuis descended from the Luo-Yue people that inhabited the southeast coast of China before the Han Dynasty. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Luo-Yue, together with Zhuang and the Dong, was called by a joint name of the “Liao”. The Shui ethnic minority has been formally named after the founding of the PRC.
The Shui is distributed manily in the Sandu Shui Autonomous County, as well as Libo, Dushan and Duyun counties of Qiannan Bouyei-Miao Autonomous Prefecture. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the Shui had a population of 406,902.
The Shuis speak their own language, which belongs to the Zhuang-Dong language branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The ancestors of the Shui created their own written language, Shui script, whose shape resembled that of the inscriptions on oracle bones or bronze, mostly in religious activities. The Shuis use written Chinese for their daily activities.
She – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The Shes call themselves “Shanha”, meaning “dwellers in mountain”. As an ancient ethnic group, its origin has not yet confirmed. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the name of “She” began to appear in the historical records.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Shes appears in great numbers in the mountainous areas in eastern Fujian and southern Zhejiang. The Shes regarded themselves as the descendants of the Phoenix Mountains in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, where is said to be the tomb of their legendary ancestor “Pangu”.
The She mainly lives in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces. Based on the fifth national census, the She numbered 709,592.
They have their own language which belongs to the Miao-Yao branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Having no written script, they mainly use the Chinese characters.
Salar – China 56 Ethnic Groups
With a self-proclaimed name of “Salar”, the ethnic minority believe in Islamism, thus also known as “Salar Hui. Other local ethnic groups called them “Sala”. The Salars are closely related to ethnic groups in Central Asia. In the 13th century, Samarkand people in Central Asia moved to Xunhua area, and integrated with the Tibetan, Han, Hui, and Mongol groups. The Salar ethnic minority gradually came into being in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
The Salar ethnic minority has dwells in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County and Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Qinghai Province.
The language of the Salars belongs to the Turkic branch of the Altaic language family. Many Salars speak Chinese and the Tibetan. They have no written script and use Chinese characters instead.
Russ – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The Russes are descendants of Russian immigrants. As early as the 18th century, there had been batches immigrates moving to China. In the 19th century as well as around the October Revolution, an increasing number of Russians migrated into Xinjiang and other areas in China.
Till the 1930s, Russians still immigrated from time to time into China. They were called “Guihua” then, and after the founding of the PRC, they were renamed the Russ ethnic minority.
Most Russes in China live in lli Kazak Autonomous Prefecture and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The rest are scattered in the north of Heilongjiang Province and the east of Inner Mongolia.
Their common language is Russian, belonging to the Slavonic branch of indo-European language family.
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