Tujia people

Tujia
Total population
approx. 8 million
Regions with significant populations

 China
(Hunan · Hubei · Guizhou · Chongqing)
Languages
Mandarin Chinese
Tujia language (traditional)
Religion
Predominantly Nuoism

The Tujia (Northern Tujia: Bifzivkar, IPA:pi˧˥ ʦi˥ kʰa˨˩; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzir, IPA: /mõ˨˩ ʣi˨˩/; Chinese: 土家族, pinyin: Tǔjiāzú), with a total population of over 8 million, is the 8th largest ethnic minority in the People's Republic of China. They live in the Wuling Mountains, straddling the common borders of Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou Provinces, and Chongqing Municipality.

The endonym Bizika means "native dwellers". In Chinese, Tujia means also "local", as distinguished from the Hakka (Chinese: 客家, Kèjiā) whose name implies wandering.[1]

Origins

Although there are different accounts of their origins, the Tujia may trace their history back over twelve centuries, and possibly beyond, to the ancient Ba people who occupied the area around modern-day Chongqing some 2,500 years ago. The Ba Kingdom reached the zenith of its power between 600 BC and 400 BC but was destroyed by the Qin in 316 BC. After being referred to by a long succession of different names in ancient documents, they appear in historical records as the Tujia from about 14th century onwards.

Ming and Qing Dynasties

The Tujia tusi chieftains reached the zenith of their power under the Ming 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 also helped defend China against outside invaders, such as the wokou ("Japanese" pirates) who ravaged the coast during the 16th century.

The Manchus invaded and conquered the Ming in 1644 and established the Great Qing Empire, known in China as the Qing 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 as gaituguiliu (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 a carrot-and-stick approach of lavish pensions for compliant chieftains, 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. Whilst the Tujia peasantry probably preferred the measured rule of Qing officials to the arbitrary despotism of the Tujia chieftains whom they had replaced, many resented 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 Taiping Rebellion which affected the area badly.

Recent history

Tujia village in current-day Yichang
Tujia brocade

Following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the Tujia found themselves caught between various competing warlords. More and more land was given over to the cultivation of high-earning opium at the insistence of wealthy landlords, and banditry was rife. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Tujia areas came under Communist control, and banditry was rapidly eradicated. The Great Leap Forward led to mass famine in Tujia communities.

The Tujia were officially recognised as one of the 55 ethnic minorities in January 1957, and a number of autonomous prefectures and counties were subsequently established.

State Councillor Dai Bingguo, one of China's top officials on foreign policy, is the most prominent Tujia in the Chinese government.

Culture

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 the Baishou 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-patterned brocade, known as xilankapu, a product that in earlier days regularly figured in their tribute payments to the Chinese court.

Regarding religion, most of the Tujia worship a white tiger totem, although some Tujia in western Hunan worship a turtle totem.

Language

Main article: Tujia language

Tujia is a Tibeto-Burman language and is usually considered an isolate within this group, although it has grammatical and phonological similarities with Yi (though its vocabulary is very different).[2]

Today there are at most 70,000 native speakers of the Tujia language, most of whom live in the northern parts Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in north-western Hunan Province.

The vast majority of the Tujia use Chinese dialects (mainly Southwest Mandarin); a few speak Miao language. 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.

Distribution

By province

Furong, an ancient town located in Yongshun County of Xiangxi, Hunan

The 2000 Chinese census recorded 8,028,133 Tujia in China.

Provincial Distribution of the Tujia
Province Tujia Population % of Total
Hunan 2.639.534 32.88%
Hubei 2.177.409 27.12%
Guizhou 1.430.286 17.82%
Chongqing 1.424.352 17.74%
Guangdong 135.431 1.69%
Zhejiang 55.310 0.69%
Sichuan 41.246 0.51%
Fujian 29.046 0.36%
Other 95.519 1.19%

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%.

By county

County-level distribution of the Tujia

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.5% of China's Tujia population.)

Province Prefecture County Tujia Population % of China's Tujia Population
Chongqing Same Youyang 462,444 5.76%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Cili 399,906 4.98%
Hubei Enshi Lichuan 388,035 4.83%
Hunan Changde Shimen 387,480 4.83%
Guizhou Tongren Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County 383,499 4.78%
Chongqing same Shizhu 348,790 4.34%
Hunan Xiangxi Yongshun 342,570 4.27%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Yongding 319,330 3.98%
Guizhou Tongren Dejiang 300,432 3.74%
Hubei Enshi Xianfeng 276,394 3.44%
Hubei Enshi Enshi 270,753 3.37%
Chongqing same Qianjiang 261,327 3.26%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Sangzhi 260,092 3.24%
Hunan Xiangxi Longshan 251,007 3.13%
Guizhou Tongren Yinjiang 233,802 2.91%
Hubei Enshi Badong 212,424 2.65%
Hubei Yichang Changyang 211,129 2.63%
Chongqing same Xiushan 197,570 2.46%
Hubei Yichang Wufeng 174,546 2.17%
Hubei Enshi Jianshi 173,984 2.17%
Guizhou Tongren Sinan 160,089 1.99%
Hunan Xiangxi Baojing 148,291 1.85%
Hubei Enshi Hefeng 142,805 1.78%
Hubei Enshi Xuan'en 140,837 1.75%
Hunan Xiangxi Jishou 103,242 1.29%
Hunan Huaihua Yuanling 102,636 1.28%
Hubei Enshi Laifeng 93,471 1.16%
Guizhou Tongren Jiangkou 77,791 0.97%
Chongqing same Pengshui 74,591 0.93%
Guizhou Tongren Tongren 70,286 0.88%
Hunan Xiangxi Fenghuang 64,727 0.81%
Hunan Xiangxi Guzhang 47,162 0.59%
Guizhou Zunyi Wuchuan 46,253 0.58%
Hunan Huaihua Xupu 45,900 0.57%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan 41,910 0.52%
Hunan Xiangxi Luxi 40,643 0.51%
Other 771,985 9.62%

Distribution

By county

Tujia Profile regions with significant populations in Qingjiang Gallery
County-level distribution of the Tujia

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >1% of county population.)

By county/city Tujia % Tujia Total
Longwan district1,242541204935
Hubei province3,66217740959508870
Yichang city10,264255484149308
Xiling district2,088876427299
Wujiagang district1,673068184000
Dianjun district2,20106948612
Xiaoting district1,5682452827
Changyang Tujia autonomous county50,66211129416782
Wufeng Tujia autonomous county84,77174546205897
Yidu city3,4713383385779
Songzi city1,089301859941
Enshi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture45,0016987033775190
Enshi city35,83270753755725
Lichuan city49,31388035786984
Jianshi county34,08173984510555
Badong county43,77212424485338
Xuan'en county41,92140837335984
Xianfeng county75,99276394363710
Laifeng county29,5193471316707
Hefeng county64,86142805220187
Shennongjia district6,08475878242
Hu'nan province4,17263953463274173
Changde city7,074057455740875
Wuling district1,085508509940
Shimen county57,54387480673435
Zhangjiajie city68,4010212381493115
Yongding district78,66319330405968
Wulingyuan district87,764191047755
Cili county62,81399906636659
Sangzhi county64,58260092402733
Huaihua city3,491621054639738
Hecheng district1,505200346522
Yuanling county17,12102636599680
Xupu county5,7445900798983
Zhijiang Dong autonomous county1,635438334229
Xiangxi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture41,1210129972463617
Jishou city35,08103242294297
Luxi county15,8240643256869
Fenghuang county18,8264727343878
Huahuan county6,0515355253750
Baojing county57,03148291260034
Guzhang county39,5647162119202
Yongshun county76,94342570445224
Longshan county51,19251007490363
Sanshui city1,416201440119
Chongqing municipality4,67142435230512763
Districts under the municipality3,002910739691901
Wanzhou district1,12183901648870
Qianjiang district59,07261327442385
Counties under the municipality6,88113206816460869
Fengdu county1,4311054774054
Zhong county1,3612985954075
Fengjie county1,3812021871743
Shizhu Tujia autonomous county71,93348790484876
Xiushan Tujia Miao autonomous county38,93197570507522
Youyang Tujia Miao autonomous county77,81462444594287
Pengshui Miao Tujia autonomous county12,6474591590228
Xuanhan county2,95308911047230
Guizhou province4,06143028635247695
Nanming district1,5810896687804
Yunyan district1,218447698988
Baiyun district1,242319187695
Zunyi city1,541004546543860
Daozhen Gelao Miao autonomous county6,0717404286715
Wuchuan Gelao Miao autonomous county11,9846253386164
Fenggang county6,4824005370253
Yuqing county1,634128252965
Tongren prefecture37,8112486963302625
Tongren city22,7870286308583
Jiangkou county41,1077791189288
Yuping Dong autonomous county1,291628126462
Shiqian county1,625425334508
Sinan county29,46160089543389
Yinjiang Tujia Miao autonomous county69,74233802335263
Dejiang county77,30300432388639
Yanhe Tujia autonomous county80,85383499474331
Songtao Miao autonomous county2,5914190547488
Wanshante district2,84155454674
Qiandongnan Miao Dong autonomous prefecture 1,03395123844697
Zhenyuan county5,0411227222766
Cengong county10,4019524187734

Autonomous Areas Designated for Tujia

Province-level Division Name
Hunan Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Changyang Tujia Autonomous County
Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County
Chongqing Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County
Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County
Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
Qianjiang District (former Qianjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County)
Guizhou Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County
Yinjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County

Famous Tujia

External links

Bibliography

References


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