Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an

autonomous prefecture Autonomous prefectures ( zh, c=自治州, p=zìzhìzhōu) are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, autonomous administrative division in China, existing at the Prefecture-level divisions of China, prefectural level, with eith ...

in southeastern

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

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

Baise Baise ( zh, c=百色, p=Bǎisè, Bósè; 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 wh ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

, to the east, Vietnam's

Hà Giang Province Hà Giang (, ) was formerly a Provinces of Vietnam, province in the Northeast (Vietnam), Northeast region of Vietnam. It was located in the far north of the country, and contains Vietnam's northernmost point. It shared a 270 km long China-Vi ...

to the south for ,

Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture ( zh, s=红河哈尼族彝族自治州, t=紅河哈尼族彝族自治州, p=Hónghé Hānízú Yízú Zìzhìzhōu; Hani language, Hani: ; Yi script, Yi: ꉼꉸꉳꆃꁈꆃꁈꊨꏦꍓ) is an auto ...

to the west, and

Qujing Qujing ( zh, c= , p=Qūjìng) is a prefecture-level city in the east of Yunnan province, China, bordering Guizhou province to the north and east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the south; thus, it was called "Key between Yunnan and Gui ...

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 valleys." () Some of Wenshan's ethnic groups include: *

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

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 people, Dai, Thai people, Thai, Isan people, Isan, ...

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

Tai Hongjin Tai Ya (), also known as Tai Cung, Tai Chung and Dai Ya, is a Southwestern Tai languages, Southwestern Tai language of southern China. It has one dialect, Tai Hongjin (); Red Tai. Speakers of Tai Hongjin live in the Red River (Asia), Red River ...

Maguan County Maguan County (, ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Ha Giang provinces to the south. Geography Maguan County is located in the southwest of Wenshan Prefecture, ...

* Kra peoples ** Buyang - Funing County,

Guangnan County 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 ...

** Lachi -

** Gelao -

Malipo County Malipo County () 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. Geography Malipo County is located in the south of Wensha ...

** Qabiao -

*Miao–Yao peoples **

Miao people Miao is a word that the Chinese use to designate some ethnic minority groups living in southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia. Miao is thus officially recognized by the Chinese government as one of the largest ethnic minority groups that h ...

(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 () or Dao () is a classification for various ethnic minorities in China and Vietnam. Their majority branch is also known as Mien. They originated in the areas around Changsha, which today is the capital of Hunan province. They s ...

*Tibeto-Burman peoples **

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people (Nuosu language, Nuosu: , ; see also #Names and subgroups, § Names and subgroups) are an ethnic group in South China, southern China. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 Ethnic minorit ...

- Funing County,

Bai people The Bai or Pai (Bai language, Bai: , ; zh, c=白族, p=Báizú), are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, Yunnan Province, Bijie area of Guizhou, Guizhou Province, and Sangzhi C ...

Qiubei County Qiubei County () is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in southeast Yunnan province, China. Qiubei County is bordered by Guangnan County across the Qingshui River to the east, Yanshan County, Yunnan an ...

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

(in Zhulin ) *Mon-Khmer peoples **

Bolyu Bolyu is one of the unrecognized ethnic groups in China. Bolyu language (autonym: '; ; also known as Paliu, Palyu, or Lai 俫语, 徕语) is an Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainl ...

** 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

Demographics

Among the resident population, the Han population is 1,501,852, accounting for 42.69% of the total population; the

ethnic minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

population is 2,016,089, accounting for 57.31% of the total population.

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

Yelang Yelang, also Zangke, was an ancient political entity first described in the 3rd century BC in what is now western Guizhou province, China. It was active for over 200 years. The state is known to modern Chinese from the idiom, "Yelang thinks too ...

kingdom existed in the area during the 3rd century BC. The seat of Guangnan, 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

References

External links

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