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]
Yao people
瑶族
A Yao woman, Tiantouzhai, Longji Terraces, China, November 2010
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.
A Yao child with traditional dress in GuangxiA red Yao woman in Vietnam
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]
Iu Mien, 2,172,000 speakers (1,699,750 in China, 350,000 in Vietnam, 40,000 in Thailand, 20,250 in Laos, 60,000 in the United States, 2,000 in France) [15]
Kim Mun (also known as Lanten), more than 300,000 Yao people [16]
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[po43no13], 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.
Autonym mjen31 勉 or ju31mjen31 优勉: Pangu Yao 盘古瑶, Pan Yao 盘瑶, Panhu Yao 盘瓠瑶, Trans-Mountain / Guoshan Yao 过山瑶, Large-Board / Daban Yao 大板瑶, Small-Board / Xiaoban Yao 小板瑶, Board / Ban Yao 板瑶, Top-Board / Dingban Yao 顶板瑶, Sharp-Headed / Jiantou Yao 尖头瑶, Level-Headed / Pingtou Yao 平头瑶, Red-Head / Hongtou Yao 红头瑶, Arrow-Pole / Jian'gan Yao 箭杆瑶, Cattle-Horn Yao / Niujiao 牛角瑶, Tu Yao 土瑶 (in Hezhou, Guangxi), Native / Bendi Yao 本地瑶, Flowery / Hua Yao 花瑶 (in Yangshuo County, Guangxi), Ao Yao 坳瑶, Zheng Yao 正瑶, Liang Yao 粮瑶
Autonym kim33mun33 金门 or kem53di35mun21 甘迪门: Blue-Indigo / Landian Yao 蓝靛瑶, Shanzi Yao 山子瑶, Flowery-Headed / Huatou Yao 花头瑶, Sand / Sha Yao 沙瑶, Level-Headed / Pingtou Yao 平头瑶, Bazi Yao 坝子瑶
Autonym bjau31mɔn31 标曼 or ɕi31mun31 史门: Min Yao 民瑶, "Four Great" Min Yao 四大民瑶
Autonym bjau31min31 标敏 or tɕau44koŋ55meŋ55 交公勉: East Mountain / Dongshan Yao 东山瑶 (in Quanzhou County, Guangxi), Dog-Headed / Goutou Yao 狗头瑶
Autonym pu53nu25 布努: Beilou Yao 背篓瑶, Beilong Yao 背陇瑶, West Mountain / Xishan Yao 西山瑶, East Mountain Yao / Dongshan 东山瑶 (in Bama Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi), Tudi Yao 土地瑶, Tu Yao 土瑶 (in Pingguo County and Mashan County, Guangxi), Mountain / Shan Yao 山瑶, Man Yao 蛮瑶, East Valley / Dongnong Yao 东弄瑶, West Valley / Xinong Yao 西弄瑶, Fan Yao 反瑶, Anding Yao 安定瑶, White Yao 白瑶, Black Yao 黑瑶, Black-Trouser / Heiku Yao 黑裤瑶, Long-Shirt / Changshan Yao 长衫瑶
Autonym pa31ŋ̊ŋ35 巴哼: Dog Yao 狗瑶, Eight-Surname / Baxing Yao 八姓瑶, Red Yao 红瑶 (in Liping and Congjiang Counties of Guizhou; Rongshui Miao Autonomous County and Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County of Guangxi), Wood Yao 木瑶
Groups considered to be "Plains Yao" (Pingdi Yao 平地瑶) include:[citation needed]
Autonym Bingduoyou 炳多尤 (Pingdi Yao 平地瑶, Dainaijiang 代奈江): in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County 江华 of Hunan; Gongcheng 恭城, Fuchuan 富川, Zhongshan 钟山, and Lingui 临桂 counties of Guangxi
Autonym Yeheni 爷贺尼 (Pingdi Yao 平地瑶): in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County 江华, Hunan (Jianghua County Gazetteer). The Yeheni speak a divergent Chinese dialect. It is spoken in Taoxu Town 涛圩镇 and Helukou Town 河路口镇 in Jianghua County, Hunan.[22]
Autonym Younian 优念 (Pinghua-speaking Red Yao 平话红瑶; ʑou13ȵen13): in Longsheng 龙胜 and Guanyang 灌阳 counties of Guangxi. According to Chen Qiguang (2013:30),[23] the ʑəu21ȵien21 number about 10,000 speakers in Sishui 泗水, Madi 马堤, Mengshan 孟山, Jiangliu 江柳, and other locations of Longsheng County.
Autonym Youjia 优嘉 (Yaojia 瑶家): in Guanyang County 灌阳, Guangxi
Jingdong Yao 景东县瑶族 (autonym: Lewu people 乐舞人): Jingdong County 景东彝族自治县, Yunnan. According to the Jingdong County Gazetteer (1994:519), ethnic Yao numbered 3,889 individuals in 1990, and lived mainly in Chaqing 岔箐[24] and Dasongshu 大松树[25] of Taizhong 太忠乡.
Iu Mien: Black Dao of Dien Bien and Lai Chau; Red Dao of southern Lao Cai, Yen Bai, and Son La
Kim Mien: Dao Tà Pán 大板瑶 (Dao Đại Bản, Dao Coóc Ngáng,[27] Dao Sừng[28]) 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
Dao Đỏ (Hùng Thầu Dào, Dao Coóc Ngáng, Dao Quý Lâm): located in Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen
Dao Quần Chẹt (Dao Sơn Đầu, Dao Tam Đảo, Dao Nga Hoàng): located in Hoa Binh, Ha Tay, Phu Tho, Vinh Yen, Son La, Yen Bai
Dao Thanh Phán (Dao Coóc Mùn, Dao Đội Ván, Dao Lô Gang, Dao Dụ Kiùn, Dao Thêu): located in Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Bac Giang
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.
The Yao of Guizhou are found in the following locations (Guizhou Province Gazetteer 贵州志 2002).[30]
Libo County: townships of Yaoshan 瑶山, Yaolu 瑶麓, and Yao'ai 瑶埃
Shiqian County (2,522 people): 9 Yao villages including Leijiatun 雷家屯 and Wurongguan 乌荣关 of Beita Township 北塔乡, and Shuiwei Village of Huaqiao Township 花桥乡水尾村
Wangmo County: 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
Majiang County: 23 Yao villages in Longshan Township 龙山乡, including Heba 河坝 (with 6,474 people)
Shunhua Township 顺化瑶族乡 (1,316 people in 1992): Gongcun 贡村, Gaoka 高卡, Yibuwan 已补晚, Yishu 已树; Gaozizhai of Gaoshu Village 高抒村高仔寨
Leidong Township 雷洞瑶族水族乡 (1,576 people in 1992): Jinchengzhai 金城寨 and Yibizhai 已毕寨 of Jincheng Village 金城村, Sanshanzhai of Xilao Village 戏劳村三山寨; Cenpangzhai 岑胖寨, Nongbozhai 弄播寨, Yunnanzhai 云南寨
The Jianghua Yao Autonomous County is the only Yao-designated autonomous county in Hunan.
Some subgroups of ethnic Yao in Hunan include:[31]
Pan Yao 盘瑶 (Mian 勉): in Jianghua, Chenxian, Lanshan, Ningyuan, Daoxian, Guiyang, Lingling, Chengbu, Chenxi, Xinning; speak a Mienic language.
Guoshan Yao 过山瑶: in Jianghua, Lanshan, Ningyuan; speak a Mienic language.
Huajiao Yao 花脚瑶 (Wunai 唔奈): in Longhui, Tongdao, Xupu, Chenxi; speak a Hmongic language.
Badong Yao 八峒瑶 (Batong Yao 八垌瑶): in Xinning. The Badong Yao speak an endangered Sinitic language. It is spoken in the villages of Huangyandong 黄岩峒, Malindong 麻林峒, and Dazhendong 大圳峒 in Huangjin Ethnic Yao Township 黄金瑶族乡, Xinning County.[32]
Pingdi Yao 平地瑶 (Bingduoyou 炳多尤): in Jianghua, Jiangyong, and speak a Chinese dialect.
Qixing Yao 七姓瑶: in Chenxi, and speak a Chinese dialect.
The Hunan Province Gazetteer (1997) gives the following autonyms for various peoples classified by the Chinese government as Yao.
tom21pen21ju21 董本尤: in Xintian County, Yizhang County, Changning County
ku21goŋ55ju21 谷岗尤: in Lanshan County, Jianghua County
thou21ju21 土尤
dzau21min21 藻敏: in Shuangpai County, Dao County, Ningyuan County
Donglixiao 洞里销: in Xinning County; also called Bunu 布努, Donglixiao 峒里俏, or Dong Yao 峒瑶 (Xinning County Gazetteer 2009). Their language is called Donghua 峒话.[33][34][35]
mm21nai33 唔奈: in Longhui County, Xupu County
piŋ21toa52jeu21 炳多尤 (also called Dainaijiang 代奈江): in Jianghua County, Jiangyong County
Tan Xiaoping (2012)[36] also gives the following autonyms for Yao subgroups of Jiangyong County.
mjəŋ31 勉
jəu31mjən31 优勉
i31mjəŋ31 壹勉
iou231ȵie231 优尼
piu42tau42iou42 炳多优
The Yao of Shaoyang Prefecture are found in the following locations (Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer 1997). Population statistics are from 1990.
Xinning County (12,756 Yao persons): Malin 麻林乡, Huangjin 黄金乡, Jingwei 靖位乡 (in Yuanshui 源水瑶族村)
Dongkou County (8,473 Yao persons): Naxi 𦰡溪乡 (那溪乡), Changtang 长塘乡, Dawu 大屋乡; Yuexi 月溪, Zhaping 渣坪, Tongshan 桐山
Longhui County (6,151 Yao persons): Huxingshan 虎形山乡, Mao'ao 茅坳乡, Xiaoshajiang 小沙江镇, Qingshan 青山, Matangshan 麻塘山
Chengbu County (2,276 Yao persons): Lanrong 兰蓉, Qingyuan 清源, Dayang 大阳, Tingping 汀坪, Pengdong 蓬洞, Yangmei 杨梅
Suining County (1,641 Yao persons): Jinta 金趿, Shuikou 水口
The Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer (1997) reports that the Yao of Shaoyang Prefecture, Hunan speak the following 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.[6]
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]
^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.
^Doling, Tim. 2010. Mountains and Ethnic Minorities: North West Việt Nam. Thế Giới Publishers.
^Chảo Văn Lâm. 2013. Thơ ca hôn lễ: người Dao Đỏ ở Lào Cai. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
^ abNguyễn Mạnh Hùng. 2013. Lễ cưới người Dao Nga Hoàng. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
^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].
^ abGuizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].
^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].
^道客巴巴 (7 June 2012). "新宁县瑶族乡濒危方言峒话调查". www.doc88.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
^吴萍 (3 May 2018). "湖南新宁瑶族"峒话"音系". 现代语文：下旬．语言研究 (10). Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
^许阳; 胡萍 (3 May 2018). "新宁县瑶族乡峒话的语音系统". 文教资料 (32). Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
^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]. ISBN978-7-5622-5409-6
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Barker, Judith C., and Saechao, Kaochoy. "A Household Survey of Older Iu-Mien Refugees in Rural California." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 12.2 (1997): 121–143.
Barker, Judith C. & Saechao, Kaochoy. (2000). A demographic survey of Iu-Mien in West Coast States of the U.S., 1993. Journal of Immigrant Health, 2:1, 31–42.
Phan Ngọc Khuê. 2003. Lễ cấp sắc của người Dao Lô Gang ở Lạng Sơn. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
West, Barbara A. (2009), Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania
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China: 2,796,003 (2010)
Vietnam: 891,151 (2019)[1]
