She people

She, Sa
She traditional dance performance in Huanglongyan (黄龙岩), Heyuan, Guangdong
Total population
709,592 (2000)
Regions with significant populations
 China (Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Anhui)
Languages
Predominantly Hakka. A minuscule minority speak She in Zengcheng, Boluo County, Huidong County and Haifeng County in Guangdong province.
Religion
She indigenous religion (She Wuism),[1] Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Yao, Miao, Hakka Han
She people
Chinese 畲族

The She (畲) people (She Hakka: [sa]; Cantonese: [sɛ̏ː]; Fuzhou: [sia˥]) are a Chinese ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

The She are the largest ethnic minority in Fujian province. They are also present in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangdong. Some descendants of the She also exist amongst the Hakka minority in Taiwan.

Languages

Today, over 400,000 She people of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces speak Shehua, an unclassified Chinese variety that has been heavily influenced by Hakka Chinese.

There are approximately 1,200 She people in Guangdong province who speak a Hmong–Mien language called She, also called Ho Ne meaning "mountain people" (Chinese: 活聂 huóniè). Some said they were descendants of Dongyi, Nanman or Yue peoples.[2][3]

Shēhuà (畲话) should not be confused with Shēyǔ (畲语), also known as Ho Ne, which is a Hmong-Mien language spoken in east-central Guangdong. Shehua and Sheyu speakers have separate histories and identities, although both are officially classified by the Chinese government as She people. The Dongjia of Majiang County, Guizhou are also officially classified as She people, but speak a Western Hmongic language closely related to Chong'anjiang Miao (重安江苗语).

History

The She people are some of the earliest known settlers of Guangdong; they are thought to have originally settled along the shallow shore for easier fishing access during the Neolithic era. Eventually, after an influx of Yuet people moved south during the Warring States period, serious competition between the two peoples for resources developed.

From the time of the Qin dynasty on, waves of migrants from northern China have had a serious impact on the She people. Because they possessed superior tools and technology, these migrants were able to displace the She and occupy the better land for farming. As a result of this, some of the She were forced to relocate into the hilly areas of the Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.

Following this relocation, the She people became hillside farmers. Their methods of farming included burning grasses on the slope, casting rice seeds on those embers and then harvesting the produce following the growth season. Some of the She people also participated in the production and trade of salt, obtained from the evaporation of local pools of salt water.

Many conflicts took place between the Han Chinese and She peoples. For example, in one incident, She salt producers on Lantau Island in Hong Kong attacked the city of Canton in a revolt during the Song dynasty.

During the Ming-Qing dynasties they moved into and settled Zhejiang's southern region and mountain districts in the Lower Yangtze region, after they left their homeland in Northern Fujian. It is theorized that the She were pushed out of their land by the Hakka, which caused them to move into Zhejiang.[4]

PRC Autonomous Counties and Ethnic Townships

Zhejiang Province

She ethnic county, townships and towns in Zhejiang

Hangzhou Municipality

Quzhou Municipality

Jinhua Municipality

  • Shuiting She Ethnic Township (水亭畲族乡) in Lanxi City
  • Liucheng She Ethnic Town (柳城畲族镇) in Wuyi County

Wenzhou Municipality

  • Qingjie She Ethnic Township (青街畲族乡) in Pingyang County
  • Xikeng She Ethnic Town (西坑畲族镇) in Wencheng County
  • Zhoushan She Ethnic Township (周山畲族乡) in Wencheng County
  • Fengyang She Ethnic Township (凤阳畲族乡) in Cangnan County
  • Dailing She Ethnic Township (岱岭畲族乡) in Cangnan County
  • Siqian She Ethnic Town (司前畲族镇) in Taishun County
  • Zhuli She Ethnic Township (竹里畲族乡) in Taishun County

Lishui Municipality

Anhui Province

Xuancheng Municipality

Fujian Province

She ethnic townships in Fujian

Fuzhou Municipality

Ningde Municipality

  • Muyun She Ethnic Township (穆云畲族乡) in Fu'an City
  • Kangcuo She Ethnic Township (康厝畲族乡) in Fu'an City
  • Banzhong She Ethnic Township (坂中畲族乡) in Fu'an City
  • Xiamen She Ethnic Township (硖门畲族乡) in Fuding City
  • Yantian She Ethnic Township (盐田畲族乡) in Xiapu County
  • Shuimen She Ethnic Township (水门畲族乡) in Xiapu County
  • Chongru She Ethnic Township (崇儒畲族乡) in Xiapu County

Zhangzhou Municipality

  • Longjiao She Ethnic Township (隆教畲族乡) in Longhai City
  • Huxi She Ethnic Township (湖西畲族乡) in Zhangpu County
  • Chiling She Ethnic Township (赤岭畲族乡) in Zhangpu County

Longyan Municipality

  • Gongzhuang She Ethnic Township (宫庄畲族乡) in Shanghang County
  • Lufeng She Ethnic Township (庐丰畲族乡) in Shanghang County

Jiangxi Province

She ethnic townships in Jiangxi

Shangrao Municipality

  • Taiyuan She Ethnic Township (太源畲族乡) in Yanshan County
  • Huangbi She Ethnic Township (篁碧畲族乡) in Yanshan County

Yingtan Municipality

  • Zhangping She Ethnic Township (樟坪畲族乡) in Guixi City

Fuzhou Municipality

  • Jinzhu She Ethnic Township (金竹畲族乡) in Le'an County

Ganzhou Municipality

Ji'an Municipality

Guangdong Province

Heyuan Municipality

Distribution of She people in China

An entire block in Beijing Niu Jie (Cow Street) is fenced with a capital wall, decorated with a block-long poster wrapping around the block and depicting all 56 "recognized" ethnic groups of China (including Han) forming "The great united family of peoples" (民族团结大家庭). The section in this photograph shows the following ethnic groups: Gelao people (仡佬) (right) and She people 畲族 (left).

The roughly 45,000 She living in Guizhou Province form a separate subgroup, the Dongjia (东家人 Dongjia ren), who differ notably in culture from the She in other areas.[6]

Provincial level

In a 2000 census, 709,592 She have been counted in China.

Distribution of She people in China
Administrative divisionNumber of ShePercentage of all She in China
Fujian Province375,19352.87%
Zhejiang Province170,99324.1%
Jiangxi Province77,65010.94%
Guizhou Province44,9266.33%
Guangdong Province28,0533.95%
Hunan Province2,8910.41%
Hubei Province2.5230.36%
Anhui Province1,5630.22%
Other Provinces5,8000.82%

District level

Distribution of She people by district (as of 2000)

Only values of 0.5% and greater have been considered.

Superior provincial level Superior district level City, town, urban district Number of She Relative percentage of all She in China
Province of Fujian City of Ningde City of Fu'an 59,931 8.45%
Province of Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture Majiang County 35,422 4.99%
Province of Fujian City of Ningde District of Xiapu 35,071 4.94%
Province of Fujian City of Longyan District of Shanghang 30,735 4.33%
Province of Fujian City of Ningde City of Fuding 28,207 3.98%
Province of Fujian City of Ningde Urban district of Jiaocheng 22,054 3.11%
Province of Fujian City of Zhangzhou District of Zhangpu 20,729 2.92%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui Urban district of Liandu 19,455 2.74%
Province of Fujian City of Fuzhou District of Luoyuan 18,495 2.61%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui Jingning She Autonomous County 16,144 2.28%
Province of Zhejiang City of Wenzhou District of Cangnan 16,133 2.27%
Province of Zhejiang City of Wenshan District of Taishun 13,862 1.95%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui District of Suichang 13,658 1.92%
Province of Fujian City of Fuzhou Lianjiang County 11,918 1.68%
Province of Fujian City of Zhangzhou District of Zhao'an 11,048 1.56%
Province of Fujian City of Zhangzhou City of Longhai 9,583 1.35%
Province of Zhejiang City of Wenzhou Wencheng County 9,287 1.31%
Province of Zhejiang City of Wenzhou Pingyang County 9,137 1.29%
Province of Zhejiang City of Quzhou District of Longyou 8,934 1.26%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou City of Nankang 8,888 1.25%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui Yunhe County 8,884 1.25%
Province of Fujian City of Quanzhou Anxi County 8,673 1.22%
Province of Fujian City of Ningde Gutian County 7,708 1.09%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui City of Longquan 7,486 1.05%
Province of Zhejiang City of Jinhua Wuyi County 7,218 1.02%
Province of Fujian City of Sanming District of Ninghua 7,003 0.99%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou Xinfeng County 6,462 0.91%
Province of Fujian City of Nanping District of Shunchang 6,246 0.88%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou District of Xingguo 5,777 0.81%
Province of Fujian City of Quanzhou Urban district of Quangang 5,521 0.78%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou Dayu County 5,380 0.76%
Province of Fujian City of Fuzhou City of Fuqing 5,261 0.74%
Province of Fujian City of Quanzhou City of Nan'an 5,218 0.74%
Province of Fujian City of Sanming City of Yong'an 4,637 0.65%
Province of Guangdong City of Heyuan Dongyuan County 4,621 0.65%
Province of Zhejiang City of Hangzhou Tonglu County 4,536 0.64%
Province of Zhejiang City of Lishui District of Songyang 4,526 0.64%
Province of Guangdong City of Shaoguan City of Nanxiong 4,430 0.62%
Province of Fujian City of Zhangzhou Urban district of Xiangcheng 4,332 0.61%
Province of Fujian City of Nanping City of Jianyang 4,327 0.61%
Province of Fujian City of Fuzhou Yongtai County 4,231 0.6%
Province of Guizhou Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture City of Fuquan 4,022 0.57%
Province of Fujian City of Xiamen Urban district of Huli 4,017 0.57%
Province of Zhejiang City of Quzhou Urban district of Qujiang 4,014 0.57%
Province of Fujian City of Fuzhou Urban district of Jin'an 3,867 0.54%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou District of Huichang 3,632 0.51%
Province of Jiangxi City of Ganzhou District of Yudu 3,630 0.51%
Province of Zhejiang City of Hangzhou City of Lin'an 3,616 0.51%
Rest of China 161,626 22.78%

Notes and references

  • You, Wenliang. 2002. She zu yu yan (The Language of the She people). Fuzhou, China: Fujian ren min chu ban she. (游文良. 2002. 畲族语言. 福州: 福建人民出版社)
  1. ↑ 从科仪唱本看畲族的巫术文化
  2. ↑ 众说纷纭的畲族民族起源
  3. ↑ 南溟網· 關於畬族研究的回顧
  4. ↑ Susan Naquin, Evelyn Sakakida Rawski (1989). Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century (reprint, illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-300-04602-2. Retrieved 2011-10-30. Both the She and the Tanka were quite assimilated into Han Chinese culture. The She had migrated north in the late Ming and Qing from the hills of northern Fujian into southern Zhejiang; some even moved into the Lower Yangtze mountain districts farther north.
  5. ↑ Est. 2008, Jinping is home to eight minority nations, living in 19 designated villages (村, cun). The township as a whole cannot be said to be expressly for the She. In all, Jiangxi Province has 56 She villages in non-She townships.
  6. ↑ Dong Bo [董波]. 2008. From Dongjia to She [从东家人到畲族——贵州麻江县六堡村畲族的人类学考察]. M.A. dissertation, Xiamen University. http://www.docin.com/p-467133563.html
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