The Qixingmin () are an officially unrecognized ethnic group of western

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

province, China. They are officially classified as Bai by the Chinese government. The Qixingmin speak a Yi (

Loloish 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 ...

) language known as Luoji. The ''Guizhou Province Ethnic Gazeteer'' (2002:692) reports that, in 1982, there were about 700 speakers among the more easterly Qixingmin.

Names

''Qixingmin'' literally means "Seven Surname People" in Chinese. This is because the Qixingmin historically had the seven surnames of Zhang 张, Su 苏, Li 李, Zhao 赵, Xu 许, Qian 钱, and Yang 杨. In Guizhou, they are also known as:贵州"六山六水"民族调查资料选编. 回族, 白族, 瑤族, 壮族, 畲族, 毛南族, 仫佬族, 满族, 羌族卷 (2008). 贵州民族出版社.''Hezhang County Gazetteer'' (2001) *Baini 白尼 *Boren 僰人 *Luoju 罗苴 *Zhuoluoju 卓罗苴 *Baizi 白子 *Minjia 民家 In

Zhaotong Zhaotong () is a prefecture-level city located in the northeast corner of Yunnan province, China, bordering the provinces of Guizhou to the south and southeast and Sichuan to the northeast, north, and west. History Zhaotong has historic and ...

Prefecture, northeastern Yunnan, there is also an ethnic group known to the local Han Chinese as Bai'erzi 白儿子, and to the local Miao as Mudou 母斗. Traditionally, the Qixingmin have also been considered an Yi subgroup. The Yi of the western extreme of Guizhou province have been divided into five subgroups, namely the Black Yi 黑彝, Red Yi 红彝, White Yi 白彝, Green Yi 青彝, and Luoju 罗苴 (a traditional name for the Qixingmin).

Distribution

The Qixingmin are distributed in the following villages. According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer, several centuries ago the Qixingmin used to live primarily in Caohai 草海 of Weining County. *

Weining County Weining Yi Hui and Miao Autonomous County (; Xiao'erjing: ) is a county of Guizhou, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People ...

(1,500 people as of 1982): Guala 瓜拉, Baodu 抱都, Jinshui 金水, Lushan 炉山, Kuadu 夸都, Jieli 结里, Kaiga 开嘎, Meihua 梅花, Caoping 草坪, Longchang 龙场, Xiushui 秀水, Yina 迤那, Mawo 麻窝, Yangjie 羊街, Shejie 蛇街, Yanjia 严家, Songlin 松林, Jinhai 金海, Xiaohai 小海, Sandaohe 三道河, Yancang 盐仓, Sifu 四甫, Yaodian 幺店, Chengguan 城关. Small numbers in the Banliang Mountains 半凉山 area of Caohai Township 草海镇 (''Weining County Gazetteer'' 1994:114). Also possibly in Ningxia Township 宁下乡 and Xiangshui Village 响水村. *

Hezhang County Hezhang () is a county in the northwest of Guizhou province, China, bordering Yunnan to the north. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Bijie. Ethnic groups The ''Hezhang County Gazetteer'' (2001:105-108) lists the follow ...

(407 people as of 1982): in Qingshan 青山 and Xinfa 新发 of Gemoye Mountain 各摩野山, Wumeng Mountain Range 乌蒙山脉 Also, the Nanjingren 南京人 of

are called Awutu 阿武吐 by the local Yi (''Hezhang County Gazetteer'' 2001). Qixingmin of the following surnames are distributed in (''Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer'' 2002:690):Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer ��州省志. 民族志(2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House ��州民族出版社 *''Zhang'' 张: Shejie 蛇街, Yangjie 羊街, Jieli 结里, Sandaohe 三道河, Yaodian 幺店, Jinzhong 金钟, Jinhai 金海 *''Su'' 苏: Xiaohai 小海, Yanjia 严家 *''Li'' 李: Shejie 蛇街, Jinhai 金海, Jinzhong 金钟 *''Zhao'' 赵: Shejie 蛇街, Baodu 抱都

Language

The Qixingmin speak the

Luoji language Luoji (autonym: ') is a moribund Loloish language of Weining County, Guizhou, China that is spoken by the Qixingmin people. There are a few semi-fluent elderly speakers in Shejie Village 蛇街村, Yangjie Town 羊街镇, Weining County, with no ...

. It is closely related to the local

Yi language Nuosu or Nosu (, transcribed as ), also known as Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, and Sichuan Yi, is the prestige language of the Yi people; it has been chosen by the Chinese government as the standard Yi language () and, as such, is the only one taug ...

, which is intermediate between the Western and Eastern Yi dialects of

(Weining 1997:328).威宁彜族回族苗族自治县民族事务委员会编. 1997. ''Weining County Ethnic Gazeteer'' ��宁彝族回族苗族自治县民族志 Guiyang: Guizhou People's Press ��州民族出版社

References

{{Reflist *http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/Q/Qixingmin-OC.pdf *http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/Q/Qixingmin-PBW.pdf Ethnic groups in China

Names

Distribution

Language

See also

References