Tujia people

TheTujia(Northern Tujia:Bifjixkhar/Bifzixkar,IPA:/bi˧˥dʑi˥kʰa˨˩//pi˧˥tsi˥kʰa˨˩/, Southern Tujia:Mongrzzir,/mõ˨˩dzi˨˩/;Chinese:土家族;pinyin:Tǔjiāzú;Wade–Giles:Tu-chia-tsu) are anethnic groupand, with a totalpopulationof over 8 million, the eighth-largestofficially recognizedethnic minorityin thePeople's Republic of China. They live in theWuling Mountains, straddling the common borders ofHunan,HubeiandGuizhouProvincesandChongqingMunicipality.
TheendonymBizikameans "native dwellers". In Chinese,Tujialiterally means "local families", in contrast to theHakka(客家;Kèjiā), whose name literally means "guest families" and implies migration.
Although there are different accounts of their origins, the Tujia may trace their history back over twelve centuries and possibly beyond, to the ancientBa peoplewho occupied the area around modern-dayChongqingsome 2,500 years ago. TheBa Kingdomreached the zenith of its power between 600 BC and 400 BC but was annexed by theQinin 316 BC.
After being referred to by a long succession of different names in ancient documents, the Tujia appeared in historical records from about 14th century onwards.
The Tujiatusichieftains reached the zenith of their power under theMing dynasty(1368–1644), when they were accorded comparatively high status by the imperial court. They achieved this through their reputation as providers of fierce, highly disciplined fighting men, who were employed by the emperor to suppress revolts by other minorities. On numerous occasions, they helped defend China against outside invaders, such as thewokou("Japanese" pirates) who ravaged the coast during the 16th century.
TheManchusinvaded and conquered the Ming in 1644 and established the Great Qing Empire, known in China as theQing dynasty. Ever suspicious of local rulers, the Qing emperors always tried to replace Han officials with Manchu officials wherever they could. In the early 18th century, the Qing court finally felt secure enough to establish direct control over minority areas as well. This process, known asgaituguiliu(literally 'replace the local [ruler], return to mainstream [central rule]'), was carried out throughout South-West China gradually and, in general, peacefully. The court adopted acarrot and stickapproach of lavish pensions for compliantchieftains, coupled with a huge show of military force on the borders of their territories.
Most of the Tujia areas returned to central control during the period 1728–1735. While the rule of the Qing government was more orderly compared to the rule of chieftains, many in the Tujia peasantry came to resent the attempts of the Qing court to impose national culture and customs on them. With the weakening of central Qing rule, numerous large-scale uprisings occurred, culminating in the violentTaiping Rebellion.
Following the collapse of the Qing, the Tujia found themselves caught between various competingwarlords. More and more land was given over to the cultivation of high-earningopiumat the insistence of wealthy landlords andbanditrywas rife. After the founding of thePeople's Republic of Chinain 1949, Tujia areas came under communist control and banditry was rapidly eradicated. TheGreat Leap Forwardled to mass famine in Tujia communities.
The Tujia were officially recognized as one of the 55ethnic minoritiesin January 1957 and a number ofautonomous prefecturesandcountieswere subsequently established.
State CouncillorDai Bingguo, one of China's top officials on foreign policy, is the most prominent Tujia in the Chinese government.
Today, traditional Tujia customs can only be found in the most remote areas.
The Tujia are renowned for their singing and song composing abilities and for their tradition of theBaishou dance(摆手舞), a 500-year-old collective dance which uses 70 ritual gestures to represent war, farming, hunting, courtship and other aspects of traditional life. They are also famous for their richly patternedbrocade, known asxilankapu, a product that in earlier days regularly figured in their tribute payments to the Chinese court. For their spring festival they prepare handmadeglutinous ricecakes calledciba cake. They gather round the fire to singfolk songsand eat grilled ciba.
Regarding religion, most of the Tujia worship a white tiger totem, although some Tujia in western Hunan worship a turtle totem.
Tujiais aSino-Tibetan languageand is usually considered an isolate within this group.  It has some grammatical and phonological similarities withNuosu, though its vocabulary is very different.
Today there are at most 70,000 native speakers of theTujia language, most of whom live in the northern partsXiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecturein North-WesternHunan Province.
The vast majority of the Tujia usevarieties of Chinese, mainlySouthwestern Mandarin; a few speakHmongic languages. Few monolingual Tujia speakers remain; nearly all are bilingual in some dialect of Chinese. Children now learn Chinese from childhood and many young Tujia prefer to use Chinese when communicating among themselves. Among fluent Tujia speakers, Chinese borrowings and even sentence structures, are more common.
TheFifth National Population Censusof 2000 recorded 8,028,133 Tujia in China.
In Chongqing, Tujia make up 4.67% of the total population; in Hunan, 4.17%; in Guizhou, 4.06%; in Hubei, 3.66%; and in Guangdong, 0.16%.
(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.5% of China's Tujia population.)