Bouyei people

The Bouyei people, also known as Puyi, Buyei, Buyi, and formerly Zhongjia, are an officially recognized ethnic minority within the People's Republic of China. Numbering approximately 2.5 to 3 million people, the Bouyei live primarily in semitropical, high-altitude forests in the Guizhou province. They also inhabit the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southern China. The Guizhou province can be characterized as a remote and environmentally challenging territory. The Bouyei have also settled in northern Vietnam, where they are referred to as Giáy.

Although many Bouyei have assimilated into the dominant Han Chinese culture, others still farm rice, wheat, maize, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, potatoes, beans, cotton, tea, and other cash crops, as is traditional for the Bouyei. During the Qing dynasty, the Bouyei, then known as Zhongjia, were marginalized by the Han Chinese ethnic majority. The imperial forces removed their leaders from power, redistributed their property, and forced them to work as indentured servants.

Brief History

The Bouyei originally lived on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Throughout history, they have also been known as the Zhongmiao, Bafan, Zhongjia, and Dujunman people. The Bouyei evolved from the ancient Luoyue and Liao people in the southeast portion of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), officials deposed the native Bouyei rulers, and the Bouyei homeland of Nanlong was officially brought under the control of the Qing dynasty. While it retained some small forms of autonomy, it was primarily controlled by the Qing. The administration abolished the local heads of state, replacing them with Qing army officials. This caused changes in the local economy and placed Bouyei land in the hands of a few Han Chinese landowners. Han immigrants from China's central provinces controlled the land and rented it back to the original owners at high rates, forcing the Bouyei to become tenants on their own ancestral fields. The landowners demanded payments in rice, wine, meat, and other gifts and forced the Bouyei to serve as unpaid laborers. The Bouyei also had to pay taxes to the central government and were required to serve in the military.

The harsh conditions imposed by the Qing dynasty caused tension between the Bouyei and their rulers. Unhappy with their living and working conditions, the Bouyei took up arms in the Nanlong Uprising of 1797, becoming one of many peasant groups to wage war against the unfair practices of the Qing dynasty. Using an effective combination of guerilla tactics and strong leadership, the Bouyei rebels staged a major uprising. They quickly seized every major town and transport route in western Guizhou, disrupting the imperial administration. The rebels then challenged state power through illegal activities such as robbery and raiding, which played a key role in their cultural and economic survival.

Despite the uprising, feudal oppression of the Bouyei lasted until the Communist Party came to power in the twentieth century, and many Bouyei immigrated to the region now known as northern Vietnam. The Nanlong Uprising is described in official Chinese accounts as a peasant rebellion. According to Bouyei folklore, the war began because of ethnic tensions. While Qing documents from the period shed light on the imperial government's goals and priorities in Guizhou, Indigenous Bouyei narratives tell their own version of the story. These narratives show the way the Bouyei people have chosen to perceive and remember the rebellion. They illustrate the ideas and beliefs that encouraged the rebels in their battles against an imperial enemy they knew was more powerful than they were.

Overview

In the twenty-first century, many Bouyei have assimilated into mainstream Han Chinese culture and are no longer counted as members of their ethnic group. However, the Bouyei who remain part of Chinese culture have retained their language and many of their traditional religious beliefs.

The Bouyei are well known for their artistic cultural practices. They have an abundant body of literature that takes the form of myths, poems, and folk ballads. They are known for their characteristic singing style and for a unique improvisational technique that allows them to sing for extended periods without any lyrical or compositional repetition.

Various traditional styles of Bouyei music include a variety of bamboo flutes called xiao, which are played vertically, like the tin whistle. The Bouyei are also known for a number of traditional dances, including the weaving dance and the lion dance.

The Bouyei are highly regarded for their colorful patterned traditional batik fabrics. Common Bouyei fabric patterns include pear flowers, waves, and chains. The Bouyei also craft colorful embroidery, bamboo hats, and sleeping mats.

Bouyei traditional cuisine utilizes rice as its staple food. The Bouyei commonly supplement rice dishes with pickled sour vegetables, glutinous rice, head cheese or meat jellies, sausage, and pig blood curd. Many Bouyei also make their own unique, traditional tea. Bouyei tea is made from honeysuckle and other plants.

Many Bouyei have adopted Han Chinese culture as their own and are no longer easily recognized as distinct representatives of the Bouyei people. Some Bouyei also identify as Buddhists or Christians.

Traditional Bouyei religious belief is known as Zhuang Shigongism or Moism, an animistic spirituality that involves multiple gods and spirits similar to other traditional Asian religions. Moism teaches that spirits are present in everything, and there are three main elements: sky, earth, and water. The Bouyei also engage in ancestor reverence and worship, with families setting special places in their homes for their ancestors. Families may also carry out sacred ancestor-based rituals during the spring festival, pure brightness festival, and Zhongyuan festival.

Bibliography

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