page_title: Nakhi people
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nakhi people / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Lijiang, Yunnan, China: Traditional clothing of a Naxi woman (backside view)
context_page_description: The Nakhi or Nashi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China.
  The Nashi are thought to have come originally from northwestern China, migrating south toward Tibetan populated regions, and usually inhabiting the most fertile river-side land, driving the other competing tribes farther up the hillsides onto less fertile land. The Nashi, along with Bai and Tibetans, traded over the dangerous overland trading links with Lhasa and India, on the so-called Tea and Horse Caravan routes. They were brought to the attention of the Western world by two men: the American botanist Joseph Rock and the Russian traveller and writer Peter Goullart, both of whom lived in Lijiang and travelled throughout the area during the early 20th century. Peter Goullart's book Forgotten Kingdom describes the life and beliefs of the Nashi and neighbouring peoples, while Joseph Rock's legacy includes diaries, maps, and photographs of the region, many of which were published in National Geographic. The two were friends and left the region together when the Communist troops came in.
context_section_description: The Nashi, like Mosuo, are believed to be the descendants of the nomadic proto-Qiang, an ethnic group inhabiting the Tibetan plateau since ancient times. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Nashi were known as the Mosha-yi, or the Moxie-yi.
  Frequently harassed by neighbouring tribes, the proto-Nakhi then moved southward to the banks of the Nujiang River and the Jinsha River and then to the Along River in the present-day province of Sichuan in western China. After being pushed south by other conquering tribes, the Nashi settled in the very fertile Baisha and Lijiang areas by the year 3 CE.
  Nashi histories describe a split into three groups while their ancestors were still in Baisha. The ones who remained are known as the Nashi, those in Dali are known as Bai, and those living around the Lugu Lake are called the Mosuo. Today, this description of the origins of the Bai and Mosuo is strenuously contested.
  Historians have decided that between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, agricultural production in Lijiang replaced livestock breeding as the main occupation of the people. The production of agricultural, handicraft, mineral, and livestock products led to considerable prosperity, and during this period a number of slave-owning groups in Ninglang, Lijiang, and Weixi counties developed into a feudal caste of lords. Tibetan Buddhism took hold in the Lijiang region following visits from the Karmapas from the fourteenth century onwards.
  In 1278, the Yuan Dynasty established the Lijiang Prefecture, which represented the imperial court in Yunnan. A chieftain, Mude, was made the hereditary chieftain of Lijiang Prefecture, exercising control over the Nashi people and other ethnic groups (particularly the Eastern Tibetans inhabiting the region of Kham) during the Ming Dynasty. The hereditary chieftains from the Mu family collected taxes and tribute, which then went to the Ming court in the form of silver and grains. The Ming relied on the Mu family as the mainstay for the control of the people of various ethnic groups in northwestern Yunnan Province.
  In 1723, during the Qing Dynasty, hereditary local chieftains in the Lijiang area were replaced by court officials, and the Mu chieftains were included in this group retaining position as local administrators.
  The ancient Nashi town of Lijiang is now a major tourist destination. In the old town, the Nashi rent buildings to Han merchants who run shops catering to tourists.
caption: Traditional clothing of a Naxi woman
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