The Pula or Phù Lá are an ethnic group of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Most Pula live in

Xichou County Xichou County () is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the southeast of Yunnan province, China. Administrative divisions In the present, Xichou County has 2 towns and 7 townships. ;2 towns * Xisa ( ...

and

Maguan County Maguan County (, vi, Mã Quan) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Ha Giang provinces to the south. Administrative divisions In the present, Maguan County has 9 t ...

of Wenshan Prefecture of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

and the bordering Lào Cai Province of the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region of Vietnam. Their population in Vietnam is 12,471 in 2019. There are also approximately 4,200 Phù Lá in China, where they are classified as members of the Yi ethnic group. The Phù Lá speak various

Loloish languages The Loloish languages, also known as Yi in China and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relat ...

, though many are shifting to the

Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national language, national and official language. Vietnamese is spoken natively by over 70 million people, ...

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The Phula sing ''Êmê kha bá'' and play the ''ma nhí'' (bamboo mouth organ), ''pi tót'', and ''cúc kẹ'' (nose flute) musical instruments. They celebrate the Gù Shư Mu festival and Ga Ta Ma Chu festival.

Subdivisions

According to Edmondson (2003), a 1978 Vietnamese report called "Ethnic minority peoples of Vietnam" had described 6 groups of peoples belonging to the Phù Lá ethnic group. However, since 1978, the statuses of many of these groups had changed considerably. *Phù Lá Hán (Phu Kha, Phu Khla, Chinese Phù Lá, autonym ' or '): Lùng Phình Commune, Bẳc Hà District, and Tả Chu Phùng,

Mường Khương District Mường Khương is a rural district of Lào Cai province in the Northeast region of Vietnam. ''Mường'' is as variation of ''Mueang''. As of 2003, the district had a population of 48,242. The district covers an area of 552 km². The dis ...

, Lào Cai Province, Vietnam. The Phù Lá Hán are said to have arrived in Vietnam in two waves, once in the 15th century, and later in the 18th century. Mai (1995)Mai Thanh Son. 1995. "Some materials about the history of the Phu La people (work based on the perspective of their names)." reported that the Chù Lá Phù Lá and Phù Lá Trắng are regarded as part of the Phù Lá Hán as of 1995. **Chù Lá Phù Lá: Lùng Phình Commune, Bắc Hà District, Lào Cai Province, Vietnam. **Phù Lá Trắng (White Phù Lá):

, Lào Cai Province, Vietnam. *Phù Lá Lão (Xá Phó,

Laghuu Laghuu ( vi, Xá Phó, Phù Lá Lão) is a Loloish language spoken in northwestern Vietnam.Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World''. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. In Nậm Sài, Sa Pa (to ...

): southwest bank of the Red River in

Sơn La Sơn La (; Tai Dam: ) is a city in the north-west region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Sơn La Province. It is bordered by Thuận Châu District, Mường La District, and Mai Sơn District. History In the era of the Sip Song Chau Tai, Sơ ...

and

Lai Châu Lai Châu () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital city of Lai Châu Province. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District và Tam Đường District. History Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: Mư� ...

provinces. *Phù Lá Đen (Black Phù Lá): A Lù Commune, Bát Xát District, Lào Cai Province. Mai (1995) reports that they have returned to China, where they had originally immigrated from. *Phù Lá Hoa (Flowery Phù Lá): Nàn Xỉ, Xin Mần District, Hà Giang Province; A Lù Commune, Bát Xát District, Lào Cai Province; some living with the Xá Phó of Bảo Thắng District, Lào Cai Province. Mai (1995) reports that they have returned to China, where they had originally immigrated from.

References

*Edmondson, Jerold A. 2003
''Three Tibeto-Burman Languages of Vietnam''

External links

Ethnologue entry
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120321121833/http://cema.gov.vn/modules.php?name=Content&op=details&mid=525 Ethnic groups in Vietnam {{Vietnam-stub