Tujia people

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Tujia
Total population
approx. 8 million
Regions with significant populations
Place - Tujia.gif
 China
(Hunan · Hubei · Guizhou · Chongqing)
Languages
Mandarin Chinese
Tujia language (traditional)
Religion
Predominantly Nuoism

The Tujia (Tujia: Bizika; 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. 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

Tujia village in current-day Yichang

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

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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 province

By county

County-level distribution of the Tujia

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

By county/city Tujia  % Tujia Total
Longwan district 1,24 2541 204935
Hubei province 3,66 2177409 59508870
Yichang city 10,26 425548 4149308
Xiling district 2,08 8876 427299
Wujiagang district 1,67 3068 184000
Dianjun district 2,20 1069 48612
Xiaoting district 1,56 824 52827
Changyang Tujia autonomous county 50,66 211129 416782
Wufeng Tujia autonomous county 84,77 174546 205897
Yidu city 3,47 13383 385779
Songzi city 1,08 9301 859941
Enshi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture 45,00 1698703 3775190
Enshi city 35,83 270753 755725
Lichuan city 49,31 388035 786984
Jianshi county 34,08 173984 510555
Badong county 43,77 212424 485338
Xuan'en county 41,92 140837 335984
Xianfeng county 75,99 276394 363710
Laifeng county 29,51 93471 316707
Hefeng county 64,86 142805 220187
Shennongjia district 6,08 4758 78242
Hu'nan province 4,17 2639534 63274173
Changde city 7,07 405745 5740875
Wuling district 1,08 5508 509940
Shimen county 57,54 387480 673435
Zhangjiajie city 68,40 1021238 1493115
Yongding district 78,66 319330 405968
Wulingyuan district 87,76 41910 47755
Cili county 62,81 399906 636659
Sangzhi county 64,58 260092 402733
Huaihua city 3,49 162105 4639738
Hecheng district 1,50 5200 346522
Yuanling county 17,12 102636 599680
Xupu county 5,74 45900 798983
Zhijiang Dong autonomous county 1,63 5438 334229
Xiangxi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture 41,12 1012997 2463617
Jishou city 35,08 103242 294297
Luxi county 15,82 40643 256869
Fenghuang county 18,82 64727 343878
Huahuan county 6,05 15355 253750
Baojing county 57,03 148291 260034
Guzhang county 39,56 47162 119202
Yongshun county 76,94 342570 445224
Longshan county 51,19 251007 490363
Sanshui city 1,41 6201 440119
Chongqing municipality 4,67 1424352 30512763
Districts under the municipality 3,00 291073 9691901
Wanzhou district 1,12 18390 1648870
Qianjiang district 59,07 261327 442385
Counties under the municipality 6,88 1132068 16460869
Fengdu county 1,43 11054 774054
Zhong county 1,36 12985 954075
Fengjie county 1,38 12021 871743
Shizhu Tujia autonomous county 71,93 348790 484876
Xiushan Tujia Miao autonomous county 38,93 197570 507522
Youyang Tujia Miao autonomous county 77,81 462444 594287
Pengshui Miao Tujia autonomous county 12,64 74591 590228
Xuanhan county 2,95 30891 1047230
Guizhou province 4,06 1430286 35247695
Nanming district 1,58 10896 687804
Yunyan district 1,21 8447 698988
Baiyun district 1,24 2319 187695
Zunyi city 1,54 100454 6543860
Daozhen Gelao Miao autonomous county 6,07 17404 286715
Wuchuan Gelao Miao autonomous county 11,98 46253 386164
Fenggang county 6,48 24005 370253
Yuqing county 1,63 4128 252965
Tongren prefecture 37,81 1248696 3302625
Tongren city 22,78 70286 308583
Jiangkou county 41,10 77791 189288
Yuping Dong autonomous county 1,29 1628 126462
Shiqian county 1,62 5425 334508
Sinan county 29,46 160089 543389
Yinjiang Tujia Miao autonomous county 69,74 233802 335263
Dejiang county 77,30 300432 388639
Yanhe Tujia autonomous county 80,85 383499 474331
Songtao Miao autonomous county 2,59 14190 547488
Wanshante district 2,84 1554 54674
Qiandongnan Miao Dong autonomous prefecture 1,03 39512 3844697
Zhenyuan county 5,04 11227 222766
Cengong county 10,40 19524 187734

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

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References