Buyei

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Template:Ethnic group Image:Shitoucun,Longtanzhen,Guizhou,China.jpg The Buyei, (also spelled Puyi, Bouyei and Buyi; self called: Buxqyaix, IPA: [pu ʔjai], or "Puzhong", "Burao", "Puman"; Chinese: 布依族; Pinyin: Bùyīzú) are an ethnic group living in southern China. Numbering 2.5 million, they are the 11th largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

The Buyei live in semi-tropical, high-altitude forests of Guizhou province, as well as in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, and speak a Tai language. Traditionally they practice animism, although some have now converted to Christianity.

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Language

The Buyei speak the Buyei language which is very close to the Zhuang language. There is a dialect continuum between these two. The Buyei language has its own written form which was created by linguists in the 1950s based on the Latin alphabet and with spelling conventions similar for the Pinyin system that had been devised to romanise Chinese.

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External links

The Bouyei ethnic minority (government homepage, in English)
Buxqyaix Qyusmail - 布依在线 (Buyei online, in Buyei and Chinese)
僚人全民概况 (Outline of the whole Liao [Rao, Lao, Tai] people)

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References

Yù Cuìróng 喻翠容: Bùyīyǔ jiǎnzhì 布依语简志 (Introduction to the Buyi language; Beijing, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 1980).
Wú Qǐlù 吴启禄: Bùyī-Hàn cídiǎn 布依汉词典 (Buyei-chinese dictionary; Beijing, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 2002), ISBN 7-105-04965-0.

Chinese ethnic groups (classification by PRC government)

Achang - Bai - Blang - Bonan - Buyei - Dai - Daur - De'ang - Derung - Dong - Dongxiang - Evenk - Gaoshan - Gelao - Han - Hani - Hezhen - Hui - Jingpo - Jino - Kazakh - Kinh - Kirgiz - Korean - Lahu - Lhoba - Li - Lisu - Manchu - Maonan - Miao - Monba - Mongol - Mulao - Naxi - Nu - Oroqen - Pumi - Qiang - Russian - Salar - She - Shui - Tajik - Tatar - Tibetan - Tu - Tujia - Uyghur - Uzbek - Va - Xibe - Yao - Yi - Yugur - Zhuang - Undistinguished nationalities