Everything about The Tujia totally explained
The
Tujia (土家族;
pinyin:Tǔjiāzú;
endonym:
Bizika 毕兹卡), with a total
population of over 8 million, is the 6th largest
ethnic minority in
People's Republic of China. They live in
Wuling Range, straddling the common borders of
Hunan,
Hubei and
Guizhou Provinces, and
Chongqing Municipality.
Their
endonym Bizika means "native dwellers" in the
Tujia language.
The Origins of the Tujia
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
1300s onwards.
The Tujia under the 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
Japanese pirates who ravaged the coast during the 16th century.
The
Manchus conquered China in 1644 and established the
Qing Dynasty. Ever suspicious of local rulers, the Qing emperors always tried to replace Chinese officials with
Manchu officials wherever they could. In the early
1700s, 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 [centralrule]'), 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'd replaced, many resented the attempts of the Qing court to impose Chinese culture and customs on them. With the weakening of central Qing rule, numerous large-scale uprisings occurred. The
Taiping Rebellion affected the area badly, and western imperialist aggression caused great economic hardship as cheap foreign goods flooded the region, with local products being bought up at rock-bottom prices.
Recent History
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. Subsequent
land reform meant that the spectre of starvation ceased to be the ever-present companion of the peasant farmer.
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.
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.
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).
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Today there are at most 70 thousand speakers of the Tujia language, most of whom live in the northern parts
Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in north-western
Hunan Province and in
Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in south
Hubei Province. Tujia is a member of the
Sino-Tibetan language group; many consider it an
isolate within this group.
The vast majority of the Tujia use a dialect of
Chinese; a few speak
Miao. 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 common.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tujia'.
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