The Tunbao or Tunpu () are an ethnic subgroup of the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, located in
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 ...
and
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 ...
provinces, China. The Tunbao are descended from ethnic Han who were part of an army sent on an expedition to Guizhou during the reign of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
's
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
.
Long thought to have been a non-Han ethnic minority, their Han origins were proved by Japanese anthropologist
Torii Ryuzo in 1896. The Tunbao have preserved much of their culture, costumes, and language from the Ming era.
The
Tianlong Tunbao town Tianlong Tunbao (also spelled Tunpu) (simplified Chinese:天龙屯堡) is an historic town and tourist attraction located near Anshun city of Guizhou province in China. The town is home to members of the Tunbao, an officially unrecognized ethnic g ...
, located near
Anshun
Anshun () is a prefecture-level city located in southwestern Guizhou province, southwest China, near the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the tallest in China. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 2,297,339. The city proper had a population of 7 ...
is a historic site where Tunbao homes and customs have been preserved, including the traditional Dixi opera or "ground opera" performances.
References
{{Han subgroups
Ethnic groups in Yunnan
Subgroups of the Han Chinese