Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an

autonomous prefecture Autonomous prefectures () are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, existing at the prefectural level, with either ethnic minorities forming over 50% of the population or being the historic home of significant minorities. A ...

in southeastern

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in 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 Kunming. The province borders the ...

, People's Republic of China and the easternmost prefecture-level division of the province. It borders

Baise Baise (; local pronunciation: ), or Bose, is the westernmost prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China bordering Vietnam as well as the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. The city has a population of 4.3 million, of which 1.4 million live in the ...

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

to the east, Vietnam's Hà Giang Province to the south for ,

Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (; Hani: ; Yi: ꉼꉸꉳꆃꁈꆃꁈꊨꏦꍓ) is an autonomous prefecture in Southeast-Central Yunnan Province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Lai Châu provinces to the south. Its name ...

to the west and Qujing to the north.

Subdivisions

Ethnic groups

Wenshan is highly diverse. According to a local saying, "Han and Hui live by the market, Zhuang and Dai live by the water, Miao and Yi live on the mountains, and Yao live among the bamboos." () Some of Wenshan's ethnic groups include: *

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

Tai peoples Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, a ...

** Zhuang (3 branches according to Kaup (2000); 4 branches according to Johnson (2011)Johnson, Eric C. 2011.
A Lexical and Phonological Comparison of the Central Taic Languages of Wenshan Prefecture, China: Getting More Out of Language Survey Wordlists Than Just Lexical Similarity Percentages.
SIL Electronic Working Papers 2011-005: 170.) *** Nong ***Sha ("

Yei Zhuang Yei Zhuang is a Northern Tai language complex spoken in Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan, China. Its speakers are also known as the Sha (沙族). Distribution In Yunnan, Yei Zhuang dialects are spoken in Funing and Guangnan counties (also in Guangxi ...

") ***Tu (" Dai Zhuang") ***

Min Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Am ...

** Dai ***

Tai Hongjin Tai Ya (), also known as Tai-Cung, Tai-Chung and Daiya, is a Southwestern Tai language of southern China. It is also known as Tai Hongjin () in China. Speakers of Tai Hongjin live in the Red River (红河 or 元江) and Jinsha River (金沙� ...

Maguan County Maguan County (, vi, Mã Quan) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Provi ...

Kra peoples The Kra languages (also known as the Geyang 仡央 or Kadai languages) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family spoken in southern China (Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan) and in northern Vietnam (Hà Giang Province). Names The name ''Kra'' comes ...

** Buyang -

Funing County Funing may refer to the following locations in China: *Ningde, Fujian, formerly named Funing * Funing County, Hebei (抚宁县) *Funing County, Jiangsu (阜宁县) *Funing County, Yunnan Funing County (; Zhuang language: ) is located in Wenshan Z ...

Guangnan County Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, f ...

** Lachi -

** Gelao -

Malipo County Malipo County (, vi, Ma Lật Pha) is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the southeast of Yunnan province, China, bordering Ha Giang Province to the southeast. Administrative divisions In the presen ...

** Qabiao -

*Miao–Yao peoples **

Miao people The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in ...

(listed from east to west)Castro, Andy & Gu Chawen. 2010. "Phonological innovation among Hmong dialects of Wenshan." ''Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS)'' 3.1:1-39. ***Lopsided Miao ( ''Shuat'') ***White Miao ( ''Dleub'') ***Green Miao ( ''Shib'', ''Nzhuab'') ***Flowery Miao ( ''Soud'', ''Bes'', ''Buak'') **

Yao people The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in ...

*Tibeto-Burman peoples **

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with eac ...

** Bai people -

Qiubei County Qiubei County () is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in southeast Yunnan province, China. Administrative divisions In the present, Qiubei County has 3 towns, 4 townships and 5 ethnic townships. ;3 to ...

(in Mazhelong , etc.), Yanshan County (in Jiayi ),

(in Zhulin ) *Mon-Khmer peoples ** Bolyu -

** Bugan -

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 ( ...

Yunnan (1979) lists Jiazhou (pop. 475), Longjiang (pop. 54), Tusi (pop. 134), and Bendi (pop. 7) as Zhuang subgroups of unknown linguistic affiliation.

Yi

The ''Wenshan Prefecture Gazetteer'' () (2000) and the ''Wenshan Prefecture Ethnic Gazetteer'' () (2005) list the following Yi ethnic subdivisions in Wenshan Prefecture. *Luo () **White Lolo () (autonyms: ''Suodu'' , ''Luoluobu'' , ''Xiqima'' , ''Gaisip''o ) ***Mokong () (''Gaokujiao Luo'' ) of Funing and Guangnan counties ***Mudai () of Funing and Napo counties **Black Lolo () (autonyms: ''Nuosupo'' , ''Luoluopo'' ): in Qiubei, Yanshan, and Wenshan counties **Flowery Lolo () (autonyms: ''Hanluowu'' , ''Luwu'' , ''Niesu'' ): in Funing, Guangnan, Malipo, Xichou, Maguan, and Yanshan counties *Pu () **Black Phula () (autonym: ''Azha'' ) **White Phula () (autonym: ''Zuoke'' ) **Flowery Phula () (autonym: ''Abo'' ) *Sani () (autonym: ''Sanipo'' ): in Qiubei County *Awu () (autonym: ''Awu'' ; exonyms: ''Mengwu'' , ''Awu'' , ''Mengwu'' , ''Mengzu'' ) **Lai () (autonym; a branch of the ''Awu'' , also called ''Mengwu'' ):''Wenshan Prefecture Ethnic Gazetteer'' () (2005) in Xisa , Xichou; Daping and Nanwenhe of Malipo *Gepu () (autonyms: ''Gepo'' , ''Alingpo'' ; exonyms: ''Geluoluo''/''duo'' , ''Adu'' , ''Aga'' ): in Tiechang and Donggan townships of Malipo County *Axi (): in Wenshan, Yanshan, and Qiubei counties *Lalu () (''Lalupu'' ; exonym: ''Xiangtang'' ): in Nanping

Yao

The ''Wenshan Prefecture Gazetteer'' () (2000) lists the following Yao ethnic subdivisions in Wenshan Prefecture. *Men () or Jinmen () (exonym: ''Landian Yao'' ) *Mengmian () or Youmian () (exonyms: ''Daban Yao'' , ''Jiao Yao'' ) *Xiu () or Ya () (exonyms: ''Shan Yao'' , ''Guoshan Yao'' ): in Longmen () and Longshao () of Funing County, and in Tiechang (), Jinchang (), and other locations of Malipo County

Gelao

The ''Wenshan Prefecture Gazetteer'' (2000) lists the following Gelao ethnic subdivisions in Wenshan Prefecture. The Gelao of Wenshan are also locally known as the Laobazi or Bazi . *White Gelao () *Green Gelao () *Red Gelao () *Flowery Gelao () (also known as the ''Wai Gelao'' () or ''Pipao Gelao'' ())

History

Wenshan Malipo Dawang Yanya Neolithic Painting

The prefecture has been inhabited for at least 4000 years, as evidenced by surviving neolithic rock art in

. The seat of

Guangnan Guangnan County (; Zhuang languages, Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximat ...

, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, from 111 BC to 316 AD.

Transportation

Wenshan Airport Wenshan Puzhehei Airport is an airport serving Wenshan City in Yunnan Province, China. It is located 6 km from the center of Yanshan County and 25 km from Wenshan City Wenshan (; za, Vwnzsanh Si) is a city in and the seat of Wensha ...

References

External links

Wenshan Prefecture Official Site
{{Zhuang autonomy in the People's Republic of China Zhuang autonomous prefectures Miao autonomous prefectures