Lu people

Lự

Total population
556,000+
Regions with significant populations
China (Xishuangbanna), Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam (Lai Châu Province)
China	280,000 (2000) classified as Dai
Laos	123,054 (2005) classified as Leu[1]
Thailand	83,000 (2001) classified as Thai Lue
Burma	60,000 (2013) classified as Shan
Vietnam	5,601 (2009) classified as Lự[2]
United States	4,000 (1998)[3]
Languages
Tai Lü, Chinese, Laotian, Thai, Vietnamese
Religion
Theravada Buddhism

The Tai Lü people (Chinese: 傣仂 Dǎi lè, Lao: ລື້ Lư̄, Thai: ไทลื้อ rtgs: Thai Lue, Vietnamese: Người Lự) are an ethnic group of China, Laos, Thailand, Burma, and Vietnam. They speak a Southwestern Tai language.

Distribution

In Vietnam, most Lu live in Lai Châu Province, and their population was 5,601 in 2009. In China, they are officially recognized as part of the Dai ethnic group. The 2000 census counted about 280,000 Dai people speaking Lü language. The population in Thailand, where they are called Thai Lue (Thai: ไทลื้อ), was in 2001 estimated to be approximately 83,000.^[4] Most Thai Lue in Thailand live in Nan, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Chiang Mai Province.

In Vietnam, Lu are the indigenous people in Mường Thanh ("Land of the God of Tai people", Tai Lü: muong theng). They had built Tam Vạn wall in Mường Thanh and managed there for 19 generations before Hoàng Công Chất, a Thái leader, came. Nowadays, nearly all Vietnamese Lu live in Lai Châu Province. The Lu take their father's last name and have the middle name Bạ (for males) and Ý (for females). Their religion is Theravada Buddhism. They sing khắp lự and play pí me luk ("mother-children" flute).

Gallery

• 
  Lu Woman in Laos, c. 1900
• 
  Lu Woman in Laos, c. 1900
• 
  A Thai Lue Buddha statue in Wat Non Bua, Tha Wang Pha District, Thailand
• 
  A Thai Lue musician plays in the garden of Wat Nong Bua, Tha Wang Pha District, Thailand
• 
  The interior of the wihan of Wat Nong Daeng, Chiang Klang District, Thailand
• 
  Vat Nam Keo Luang in Muang Sing, Laos
• 
  The interior of Vat Xieng Chai, Muang Sing, Laos

References

1. "Lao population census, Table 1.6" (PDF). 2005. p. 15.
2. "The 2009 Vietnam Population and Housing Census: Completed Results". General Statistics Office of Vietnam: Central Population and Housing Census Steering Committee. June 2010. p. 134. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
3. Tai Lue, Infomekong.com
4. Johnstone and Mandryk 2001; cited in "Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Online version" (18th ed.). SIL International.

External links

• Ethnologue entry for Lu