Tujia people

The Tujia (Northern Tujia: Bifjixkhar/Bifzixkar, IPA: /bi˧˥ dʑi˥ kʰa˨˩/ /pi˧˥ tsi˥ kʰa˨˩/; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzir /mõ˨˩ dzi˨˩/; Chinese: 土家族; pinyin: Tǔjiāzú), with a total population of over 8 million, is the eighth-largest ethnic minority in the People's Republic of China. They live in the Wuling Mountains, straddling the common borders of Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou Provinces, and Chongqing Municipality.

Not to be confused with Monguor people or Tu people.
Biji
土家族
Tujia girl in traditional dress
Total population
approx. 8 million
Regions with significant populations

 China
(Hunan · Hubei · Guizhou · Chongqing)
Languages
Mandarin Chinese
Tujia language (traditional)
Religion
Predominantly Nuo folk religion

The endonym Bizika means "native dwellers". In Chinese, Tujia means also "local", as distinguished from the Hakka (客家; Kèjiā) whose name implies wandering.[1]

Origins

Although there are different accounts of their origins, the Tujia may trace their history back over twelve centuries, and possibly beyond, to the ancient Ba people who occupied the area around modern-day Chongqing some 2,500 years ago. The Ba Kingdom reached the zenith of its power between 600 BC and 400 BC but was destroyed by the Qin in 316 BC. After being referred to by a long succession of different names in ancient documents, they appear in historical records as the Tujia from about 14th century onwards.

Ming and Qing Dynasties

The Tujia tusi chieftains reached the zenith of their power under the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), when they were accorded comparatively high status by the imperial court. They achieved this through their reputation as providers of fierce, highly disciplined fighting men, who were employed by the emperor to suppress revolts by other minorities. On numerous occasions, they helped defend China against outside invaders, such as the wokou ("Japanese" pirates) who ravaged the coast during the 16th century.

The Manchus invaded and conquered the Ming in 1644 and established the Great Qing Empire, known in China as the Qing Dynasty. Ever suspicious of local rulers, the Qing emperors always tried to replace Han officials with Manchu officials wherever they could. In the early 18th century, the Qing court finally felt secure enough to establish direct control over minority areas as well. This process, known as gaituguiliu (literally 'replace the local [ruler], return to mainstream [central rule]'), was carried out throughout south-west China gradually and, in general, peacefully. The court adopted a carrot-and-stick approach of lavish pensions for compliant chieftains, coupled with a huge show of military force on the borders of their territories.

Most of the Tujia areas returned to central control during the period 1728-1735. Whilst the Tujia peasantry probably preferred the measured rule of Qing officials to the arbitrary despotism of the Tujia chieftains whom they had replaced, many resented the attempts of the Qing court to impose national culture and customs on them. With the weakening of central Qing rule, numerous large-scale uprisings occurred culminating in the Taiping Rebellion which affected the area badly.

Recent history
Tujia village in current-day Yichang
Tujia brocade

Following the collapse of the Qing, the Tujia found themselves caught between various competing warlords. More and more land was given over to the cultivation of high-earning opium at the insistence of wealthy landlords, and banditry was rife. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Tujia areas came under Communist control and banditry was rapidly eradicated. The Great Leap Forward led to mass famine in Tujia communities.

The Tujia were officially recognised as one of the 55 ethnic minorities in January 1957, and a number of autonomous prefectures and counties were subsequently established.

State Councillor Dai Bingguo, one of China's top officials on foreign policy, is the most prominent Tujia in the Chinese government.

Culture

Today, traditional Tujia customs can only be found in the most remote areas.

The Tujia are renowned for their singing and song composing abilities and for their tradition of the Baishou Dance (摆手舞), a 500-year-old collective dance which uses 70 ritual gestures to represent war, farming, hunting, courtship and other aspects of traditional life. They are also famous for their richly patterned brocade, known as xilankapu, a product that in earlier days regularly figured in their tribute payments to the Chinese court. For their spring festival they prepare handmade glutinous rice cakes called ciba cake. They gather round the fire to sing folk songs and eat grilled ciba.[2]

Regarding religion, most of the Tujia worship a white tiger totem, although some Tujia in western Hunan worship a turtle totem.

Language
Main article: Tujia language

Tujia is a Sino-Tibetan language and is usually considered an isolate within this group, although it has grammatical and phonological similarities with Nuosu (though its vocabulary is very different).[3]

Today there are at most 70,000 native speakers of the Tujia language, most of whom live in the northern parts Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in north-western Hunan Province.

The vast majority of the Tujia use varieties of Chinese, mainly Southwestern Mandarin; a few speak Hmongic languages. Few monolingual Tujia speakers remain; nearly all are bilingual in some dialect of Chinese. Children now learn Chinese from childhood and many young Tujia prefer to use Chinese when communicating among themselves. Among fluent Tujia speakers, Chinese borrowings, and even sentence structures, are more common.

Distribution

By province
Furong, an ancient town located in Yongshun County of Xiangxi, Hunan

The Fifth National Population Census of 2000 recorded 8,028,133 Tujia in China.

Provincial Distribution of the Tujia
ProvinceTujia Population% of Total
Hunan2.639.53432.88%
Hubei2.177.40927.12%
Guizhou1.430.28617.82%
Chongqing1.424.35217.74%
Guangdong135.4311.69%
Zhejiang55.3100.69%
Sichuan41.2460.51%
Fujian29.0460.36%
Other95.5191.19%

In Chongqing, Tujia make up 4.67% of the total population; in Hunan, 4.17%; in Guizhou, 4.06%; in Hubei, 3.66%; and in Guangdong, 0.16%.

By county
County-level distribution of the Tujia

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.5% of China's Tujia population.)

Province Prefecture County Tujia Population % of China's Tujia Population
Chongqing Same Youyang 462,444 5.76%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Cili 399,906 4.98%
Hubei Enshi Lichuan 388,035 4.83%
Hunan Changde Shimen 387,480 4.83%
Guizhou Tongren Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County 383,499 4.78%
Chongqing same Shizhu 348,790 4.34%
Hunan Xiangxi Yongshun 342,570 4.27%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Yongding 319,330 3.98%
Guizhou Tongren Dejiang 300,432 3.74%
Hubei Enshi Xianfeng 276,394 3.44%
Hubei Enshi Enshi 270,753 3.37%
Chongqing same Qianjiang 261,327 3.26%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Sangzhi 260,092 3.24%
Hunan Xiangxi Longshan 251,007 3.13%
Guizhou Tongren Yinjiang 233,802 2.91%
Hubei Enshi Badong 212,424 2.65%
Hubei Yichang Changyang 211,129 2.63%
Chongqing same Xiushan 197,570 2.46%
Hubei Yichang Wufeng 174,546 2.17%
Hubei Enshi Jianshi 173,984 2.17%
Guizhou Tongren Sinan 160,089 1.99%
Hunan Xiangxi Baojing 148,291 1.85%
Hubei Enshi Hefeng 142,805 1.78%
Hubei Enshi Xuan'en 140,837 1.75%
Hunan Xiangxi Jishou 103,242 1.29%
Hunan Huaihua Yuanling 102,636 1.28%
Hubei Enshi Laifeng 93,471 1.16%
Guizhou Tongren Jiangkou 77,791 0.97%
Chongqing same Pengshui 74,591 0.93%
Guizhou Tongren Tongren 70,286 0.88%
Hunan Xiangxi Fenghuang 64,727 0.81%
Hunan Xiangxi Guzhang 47,162 0.59%
Guizhou Zunyi Wuchuan 46,253 0.58%
Hunan Huaihua Xupu 45,900 0.57%
Hunan Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan 41,910 0.52%
Hunan Xiangxi Luxi 40,643 0.51%
Other — — 771,985 9.62%

Distribution

By province

By county
Tujia Profile regions with significant populations in Qingjiang Gallery
County-level distribution of the Tujia

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >1% of county population.)

By county/city Tujia % Tujia Total
Longwan district, Wenzhou1.242,541204,935
Hubei province3.662,177,40959,508,870
Yichang city10.26425,5484,149,308
Xiling district2.088,876427,299
Wujiagang district1.673,068184,000
Dianjun district2.201,06948,612
Xiaoting district1.5682452,827
Changyang Tujia autonomous county50.66211,129416,782
Wufeng Tujia autonomous county84.77174,546205,897
Yidu city3.4713,383385,779
Songzi city1.089,301859,941
Enshi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture45.001,698,7033,775,190
Enshi city35.83270,753755,725
Lichuan city49.31388,035786,984
Jianshi county34.08173,984510,555
Badong county43.77212,424485,338
Xuan'en county41.92140,837335,984
Xianfeng county75.99276,394363,710
Laifeng county29.5193,471316,707
Hefeng county64.86142,805220,187
Shennongjia district6.084,75878,242
Hunan province4.172,639,53463,274,173
Changde city7.07405,7455,740,875
Wuling district1.085,508509,940
Shimen county57.54387,480673,435
Zhangjiajie city68.401,021,2381,493,115
Yongding district78.66319,330405,968
Wulingyuan district87.7641,91047,755
Cili county62.81399,906636,659
Sangzhi county64.58260,092402,733
Huaihua city3.49162,1054,639,738
Hecheng district1.505,200346,522
Yuanling county17.12102,636599,680
Xupu county5.7445,900798,983
Zhijiang Dong autonomous county1.635,438334,229
Xiangxi Tujia Miao autonomous prefecture41.121,012,9972,463,617
Jishou city35.08103,242294,297
Luxi county15.8240,643256,869
Fenghuang county18,8264,727343,878
Huahuan county6.0515,355253,750
Baojing county57.03148,291260,034
Guzhang county39.5647,162119,202
Yongshun county76.94342,570445,224
Longshan county51.19251,007490,363
Sanshui city1.416,201440,119
Chongqing municipality4.671,424,35230,512,763
Districts under the municipality3.00291,0739,691,901
Wanzhou district1.1218,3901,648,870
Qianjiang district59.07261,327442,385
Counties under the municipality6.881,132,06816,460,869
Fengdu county1.4311,054774,054
Zhong county1,3612,985954,075
Fengjie county1.3812,021871,743
Shizhu Tujia autonomous county71.93348,790484,876
Xiushan Tujia Miao autonomous county38.93197,570507,522
Youyang Tujia Miao autonomous county77.81462,444594,287
Pengshui Miao Tujia autonomous county12.6474,591590,228
Xuanhan county2.9530,8911,047,230
Guizhou province4.061,430,28635,247,695
Nanming district1.5810,896687,804
Yunyan district1.218,447698,988
Baiyun district1.242,319187,695
Zunyi city1.54100,4546,543,860
Daozhen Gelao Miao autonomous county6.0717,404286,715
Wuchuan Gelao Miao autonomous county11.9846,253386,164
Fenggang county6.4824,005370,253
Yuqing county1.634,128252,965
Tongren city37.811,248,6963,302,625
Tongren city (Bijiang)22.7870,286308,583
Jiangkou county41.1077,791189,288
Yuping Dong autonomous county1.291,628126,462
Shiqian county1.625,425334,508
Sinan county29.46160,089543,389
Yinjiang Tujia Miao autonomous county69.74233,802335,263
Dejiang county77.30300,432388,639
Yanhe Tujia autonomous county80.85383,499474,331
Songtao Miao autonomous county2.5914,190547,488
Wanshante district2.841,55454,674
Qiandongnan Miao Dong autonomous prefecture1.0339,5123,844,697
Zhenyuan county5.0411,227222,766
Cengong county10.4019,524187,734

Autonomous Areas Designated for Tujia
Tujia autonomous prefectures and counties in China.
Province-level Division Name
Hunan Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Changyang Tujia Autonomous County
Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County
Chongqing Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County
Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County
Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County
Qianjiang District (former Qianjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County)
Guizhou Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County
Yinjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County

Famous Tujia

References
  1. 土家族族源 [Origins of the Tujia]. Xinhua.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-eObWLjzLs
  3. Brief Introduction to the Tujia Language

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