Yao (瑶族)

Geography of Yao (瑶族)

Around seventy per cent of the Yao ethnic group live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; the other thirty per cent live in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. The name Yao was adopted after the founding of the PRC as there are historically around thirty names for this ethnic group based on their ways of life.

• Population: 2,637,421
• Distribution:  Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Guizhou
• Language: Yao and Miao
• Religion: Polytheism

Language of Yao (瑶族)

The Yao language is related to Chinese-Tibetan and around half of all Yao people use it; others use either Miao or Dong. Many Yaos speak Chinese and Zhuang as a result of close contact with Zhuangs and Hans. There was no written script prior to 1949; records were kept by carving notches on bamboo slips or wood. Chinese characters were used after the PRC was founded.

Climate of Yao (瑶族)

Most Yaos live in mountainous areas, thickly forested with tea bushes, pines, firs and others. Medicinal herbs, honey, mushrooms and bamboo are abundant.

History of Yao (瑶族)

The Yaos’ ancestors lived around Changhsa about 2,000 years ago, called the ‘savage Wuling tribes’ until the name was changed a couple of centuries later to the ‘Moyao.’ Agriculture and handicrafts developed during the Song dynasty and, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yaos in Guangdong and Guangxi developed paddy fields, dug ditches and set up irrigation troughs. Three types of economy existed before 1949: farming, in places with good natural conditions and with Han influence; forestry and agriculture, with landlords owning most of the land; and slash-and-burn, with land having belonged for centuries to ancient communes. ‘Singing-and-digging,’ which can still be witnessed in Guangxi, was when one man stood in the fields beating a drum and singing while people were working. The workers would sing along with him.

Traditions of Yao (瑶族)

The Yaos’ staple foods are taros, corn, rice and sweet potatoes. Soybeans peppers and pumpkins are common and ‘oily tea,’ occasionally taken as lunch, is consumed daily in northern Guangxi. Pickled meats are also popular, though eating dog meat is taboo among many Yao people; those who do eat it must cook it outside the house.

Houses are typically rectangular, made of wood and bamboo, with a living room in the centre and a bedroom either side. In each bedroom is a stove for cooking. In hillside houses, the lower floor is used as stables.

Young people court by singing and they choose their own lovers; marriage is by parental consent, not arrangement. Pork and silver dollars were given to the bride’s family by the groom’s and, if they could not afford this, he would live and work in the bride’s family home. In olden times, maternal uncles held sway; in parts of Guangxi, daughters of paternal sisters had to marry sons of maternal brothers. Otherwise, betrothal gifts were offered to the bride’s maternal uncles.

Religion of Yao (瑶族)

Yaos celebrate festivals around once a month, with some common festivals and others separate according to the area. Gods and ancestors were worshipped and remnants of totemic religion remain in their belief in the dog spirit ‘Panhu.’ Legends tell of boys walking on hot coals, climbing knife-poles, jumping from three-metre-high platforms and dipping bare hands into boiling oil. He could only be a man, marry and take part in formal activities after completing these tests. Traditions such as these are dying out with the growth of cultural and scientific knowledge.

Culture of Yao (瑶族)

Folk songs form a part of a rich oral tradition and words have been passed down the generations. The waist drum is an instrument unique to the Yaos.

Hunting is still important in Yao life, providing them with a variety of food and a way of preventing forests and crops being damaged by animals.

Until recently, hereditary headmen ruled the Yao people and these headmen obeyed the central government.

Modern Times of Yao (瑶族)

The Longsheng Autonomous County was established in 1951, followed by others. Tunnels, dams and reservoirs have helped stop flooding and drought, industry has been brought to the area and now most children go to school. Hospitals have helped improve people’s health and the population has doubled since 1949.