China 56 Ethnic Groups 6
Lisu – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The Lisu group has a long history. As early as in the 8th century, the forebears of the Lisu people lived along the banks of the Yalong River, Sichuan province, and of the Jinsha River at the borderline between Sichuan and Yunan provinces.
The name “Lisu” dates back to the Tang Dynasty, when it was considered as a branch of “Wuman” tribe. The Lisus migrated to the Nujiang River and Dehong areas since the 16th century.
The Lisu River live in concentrated communities in the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the Lisu numbered 634,912.
The Lisu language belongs to the Yi subbranch of Tibetan-Burmeses branch in the Sino-Tibetan family. The Lisu ethnic group has used three scripts successively. The fist one is an alphabetic script created by western missionaries, the second is a syllabic script created by Lisu peasants in Weixi County, and the third is a Latin script after the establishment of PRC.
Lhoba – China 56 Ethnic Groups
“Lhoba” means southerners in Tibetan. The Luoyu Prefecture, located at the southern foot of the eastern end of the Himalayas, is the ancient home of the Lhobas. Luoyu came under the control of Tibet in the 7th century, when the ruler then was Sontzen Gampo. From the 17th century onward, the area was ruled by the local Tibetan government of the Qing Dyansty.
The Lhobas reside mainly in Medog, Mainling nad Zayu counties of Nyingchi District, in southeastern Tibet. Based on the fifth national census in 2000, the Lhoba numbered 2,965.
The Lhobas have their own language, which belongs to the Tibetan-Burmese branch of Sino-Tibetan language family, but the Lhobas in northern Medog speak Tibetan. Having no written script, the Lhoba people have kept the tradition of keeping records by notching wood or tying knots. A few of them know the Tibetan language well.
Lahu – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The Lahu call themselves “Lagu”. They are also called “Guohei”. The ancestor of the Lahu trace back to the ancient Qiang people living in Gansu and Qinghai, who moved south to Yunnan and Zhongna Peninsula. In April 1953, the name “Lahu” was finally fixed according to the will of the ethnic group.
According to the fifth national census in 2000, the Lahu population was 453,705.
The Lahu language, belonging to the Yi subbanch of the Tibetan –Burmese branch, Sino-Tibetan language family, has two dialects of the Lahu Na nad the Lahu Shi. Having lived with the Han and Dai people for quite a long time, most of the Lahus can also speak Chinese and the Dai languages. In the past, they used the Latin alphabetic script created by Western missionaries. In 1957, the new alphabetic script was formulated based on the original letters.
Korean – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The ancestors of the Korean ethnic group are Koreans migrating from the Korean peninsula into the Northeast of China. It has been more than 300-year history since the first settlers moved in.
From the mid 19th century, more Koreans moved from the Korean peninsula into China, forming the main body of the Korean ethnic minority in China. After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, large numbers of Koreans migrated into the Northeast of China, and the total population reached 360, 000 till 1918.
According to the fifth national census in 2000, the population of Korean was 1,923,842.
The Koreans have their own spoken and written language. It is still controversial on the question to which language family the Korean language belongs in the academic circles, but most academicians believe that it belongs to Altaic family. A small number of Koreans in areas populated by several ethnic groups speak and write Chinese.
Kirgiz – China 56 Ethnic Groups
The self-given name “Kirgiz” is a Turkic word, which means “forty girls”, “forty tribes” or “people of the grasslands”, etc. In the 3rd century BC, the forefathers of the Kirgiz lived o nthe upper reaches of the Yenisei Rriver.
They gradually migrated southwest to the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, and then blended with the local Turkic and Mongolian tribes. In Chinese ancient documents, it was called “Gekun”. The name was officially fixed in April, 1935.
The Kirgiz ethnic minority finds most of its inhabitants in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the Kirgiz had a population of 160,823.
The Kirgiz has its own language, a member of the Turkic branch of the Altaic language family. Its two dialects are Jiegai and Tes. The Kirgiz script is based on the Arabic alphabets. Quite a few Kirgizs are multilingual, mastering Uighur, Kazak or Chinese.
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