Bouyei people


The Bouyei, otherwise known as the Zhongjia, are an ethnic group living in Southern Mainland China. Numbering 2.5 million, they are the 11th largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Some Bouyei also live in Vietnam, where they are one of that nation's 54 officially recognized ethnic groups. Despite the Chinese considering them a separate group, they consider themselves Zhuang.
The Bouyei live in semi-tropical, high-altitude forests of Guizhou Province, as well as in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces and speak a Tai language.

Names

The Bouyei consist of various subgroups. Below are their autonyms written in the International Phonetic Alphabet with numerical Chao tones.
Some clans within the Bouyei groups include:
In Congjiang County, Guizhou, there is a group that refer to themselves as "Buyeyi, 布也益", but are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Zhuang.

Distribution

In China by county

;County-level distribution of the Bouyei, from the 2000 Chinese census
ProvincePrefectureCountyBouyei Population% of China's Bouyei Population
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoDushan 194,4686.54%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoDuyun 190,3476.41%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoWangmo 174,8065.88%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoLuodian 158,4945.33%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoCeheng 158,0195.32%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoAnlong 139,9304.71%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoHuishui 135,9434.58%
GuizhouAnshunZhenning Buyei and Miao 131,9624.44%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoZhenfeng 125,0584.21%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoXingyi 124,9014.2%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoPingtang 107,4733.62%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoLibo 93,6813.15%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoGuiding 92,6073.12%
GuizhouAnshunZiyun Miao and Buyei 86,5132.91%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoChangshun 81,0222.73%
GuizhouAnshunGuanling Buyei and Miao 68,9672.32%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoQinglong 64,0012.15%
GuizhouAnshunXixiu 62,4972.1%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoXingren 50,2101.69%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoSandu Shui 49,8771.68%
GuizhouGuiyangHuaxi 41,4461.4%
GuizhouLiupanshuiShuicheng 41,2551.39%
GuizhouLiupanshuiLiuzhi 35,7721.2%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoLongli 34,2591.15%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongMajiang 33,9581.14%
GuizhouAnshunPingba 29,4520.99%
YunnanQujingLuoping 25,1520.85%
GuizhouGuiyangQingzhen 25,0170.84%
GuizhouQianxinan Buyei and MiaoPu'an 23,6390.8%
GuizhouGuiyangWudang 23,5970.79%
GuizhouGuiyangKaiyang 22,6110.76%
GuizhouGuiyangNanming 20,6080.69%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoFuquan 19,5200.66%
GuizhouBijieQianxi 17,4470.59%
GuizhouLiupanshuiPan 16,0720.54%
GuizhouGuiyangBaiyun 15,1160.51%
GuizhouAnshunPuding 15,0830.51%
GuizhouBijieZhijin 14,5120.49%
GuizhouGuiyangYunyan 14,2930.48%
GuizhouGuiyangXiaohe 12,1380.41%
GuizhouBijieWeining Yi, Hui, and Miao 7,4840.25%
GuizhouBijieNayong 7,2220.24%
GuangxiHechiNandan 6,8220.23%
GuizhouGuiyangXiuwen 6,3970.22%
YunnanWenshan Zhuang and MiaoMaguan 6,0850.21%
GuangdongDongguannone5,5840.19%
GuizhouBijieDafang 5,2940.18%
GuizhouLiupanshuiZhongshan 4,0750.14%
GuizhouBijieJinsha 3,8040.13%
YunnanKunmingGuandu 3,5820.12%
YunnanZhaotongQiaojia 3,0630.1%
GuizhouBijieHezhang 2,7730.09%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongKaili 2,5730.09%
SichuanLiangshan YiNingnan 2,3530.08%
YunnanHonghe Hani and YiHekou Yao 2,1900.07%
ZhejiangNingboCixi 2,1550.07%
GuizhouGuiyangXifeng 1,8460.06%
GuangxiHechiHuanjiang Maonan 1,8330.06%
GuangdongFoshanShunde 1,7960.06%
GuangdongShenzhenBao'an 1,7770.06%
GuangdongShenzhenLonggang 1,7450.06%
YunnanKunmingXishan 1,6680.06%
SichuanLiangshan YiHuidong County, Sichuan 1,5340.05%
ZhejiangJinhuaYongkang 1,3630.05%
GuizhouZunyiHonghuagang 1,3230.05%
GuangdongHuizhouHuiyang 1,2270.04%
ZhejiangJinhuaDongyang 1,2220.04%
YunnanKunmingDongchuan 1,1500.04%
YunnanQujingFuyuan 1,0970.04%
ZhejiangNingboYuyao 1,0590.04%
GuizhouQiannan Buyei and MiaoWeng'an 1,0190.03%
GuangxiHechiTian'e 1,0170.03%
SichuanLiangshan YiMili Tibetan 9880.03%
GuangdongHuizhouBoluo 9830.03%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongRongjiang 9810.03%
ZhejiangQuzhouJiangshan 8540.03%
ZhejiangJinhuaYiwu 8460.03%
JiangsuWuxiYixing 8200.03%
ZhejiangHuzhouChangxing 7970.03%
YunnanYuxiHongta 7900.03%
GuizhouBijieQixingguan 7890.03%
ZhejiangShaoxingShangyu 7850.03%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongDanzhai 7780.03%
ZhejiangTaizhouWenling 7600.03%
GuangdongFoshanNanhai 7370.03%
GuangdongGuangzhouBaiyun 6410.02%
GuangdongGuangzhouPanyu 6380.02%
ZhejiangHangzhouFuyang 6320.02%
FujianQuanzhouJinjiang 5960.02%
YunnanXishuangbanna DaiMengla 5960.02%
ZhejiangWenzhouRui'an 5940.02%
YunnanQujingQilin 5890.02%
GuangdongZhongshannone5850.02%
GuizhouZunyiRenhuai 5750.02%
ZhejiangJinhuaPujiang 5480.02%
GuangxiBoseTianlin 5380.02%
ZhejiangWenzhouOuhai 5060.02%
GuangxiYulinRong 5060.02%
GuangxiHechiJinchengjiang 5010.02%
YunnanHonghe Hani and YiGejiu 5010.02%
ZhejiangShaoxingShaoxing 4980.02%
YunnanKunmingWuhua 4830.02%
GuizhouZunyiZunyi 4650.02%
ZhejiangWenzhouYueqing 4530.02%
JiangsuChangzhouLiyang 4400.02%
GuangxiBoseLeye 4390.01%
GuangxiYulinXingye 4230.01%
HebeiTangshanLuannan 4160.01%
GuangxiBoseXilin 4100.01%
GuangxiYulinYuzhou 4000.01%
GuangdongChaozhouXiangqiao 3980.01%
GuangdongMaomingGaozhou 3970.01%
ZhejiangNingboYinzhou 3950.01%
YunnanKunmingAnning 3910.01%
GuangxiLiuzhouLiunan 3890.01%
ZhejiangHangzhouXiaoshan 3880.01%
FujianZhangzhouLonghai 3820.01%
GuangdongMaomingDianbai 3810.01%
GuizhouTongrenShiqian 3760.01%
ZhejiangShaoxingZhuji 3730.01%
HebeiTangshanQian'an 3510.01%
BeijingnoneHaidian 3480.01%
YunnanKunmingPanlong 3470.01%
GuizhouTongrenBijiang 3380.01%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongLiping 3370.01%
ZhejiangHangzhouYuhang 3360.01%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongCongjiang 3360.01%
HebeiBaodingYi 3340.01%
GuangxiGuigangGangbei 3310.01%
ZhejiangJinhuaLanxi 3300.01%
GuizhouQiandongnan Miao and DongHuangping 3290.01%
JiangsuWuxiJiangyin 3120.01%
GuangxiBoseLonglin 3050.01%
GuangdongShenzhenNanshan 3010.01%
Other73,2192.46%

In Vietnam

;Province-level distribution of the Bố Y, from the 2009 Census
ProvinceBố Y Population% of Vietnam's Bố Y Population
Lào Cai1,39861.5%
Hà Giang80835.5%
Other672.9%

Language

The Bouyei speak the Bouyei language, which is very close to Standard Zhuang language. There is a dialect continuum between these two. The Bouyei language has its own written form which was created by linguists in the 1950s based on the Latin alphabet and with spelling conventions similar for the Pinyin system that had been devised to romanise Mandarin Chinese.

History

The Bouyei are the native Tai peoples of the plains of Guizhou. They are one of the oldest peoples of China, living in the area for more than 2,000 years.
Prior to the establishment of the Tang dynasty, the Bouyei and Zhuang were linked together; the differences between both ethnic groups grew greater and from year 900 already they were two different groups.
The Qing dynasty abolished the system of local heads and commanded in its place to officials of the army which caused a change in the local economy; from then on, the land was in the hands of a few landowners, which caused the population to revolt. During the Nanlong Rebellion of 1797, the Bouyei underwent a strong repression that caused many of them to emigrate to faraway Vietnam.