The Zhuang (/ˈdʒwæŋ, ˈdʒwɒŋ/; Chinese: 壮族; pinyin: Zhuàngzú; Zhuang: Bouxcuengh; [poːu˦˨ ɕeŋ˧]) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. With the Bouyei, Nùng, Tày, and other Northern Tai speakers, they are sometimes known as the Rau or Rao people. Their population, estimated at 18 million people, makes them the largest minority in China, followed by the Hui and Manchu. The Chinese character used for the Zhuang people has changed several times. Their autonym, “Cuengh” in Standard Zhuang, was originally written with the graphic pejorative Zhuàng, 獞 (or tóng, referring to a variety of wild dog). Chinese characters typically combine a semantic element or radical and a phonetic element. John DeFrancis recorded Zhuàng was previously Tóng, 獞, with “dog radical” 犭 and tóng, 童 phonetic, a slur, but also describes how the People’s Republic of China eventually removed it. In 1949, after the Chinese civil war, the logograph 獞 was officially replaced with a different graphic pejorative, 僮 (Zhuàng or tóng, meaning “child; boy servant”), with the “human radical” 亻with the same phonetic. Later 僮 was changed to a different character Zhuàng, 壮 (meaning”strong; robust”).
The Zhuang languages (/ˈdʒwæŋ, ˈdʒwɒŋ/; autonym: Vahcuengh, pre-1982: Vaƅcueŋƅ, Sawndip: 話僮, from vah, ‘language’ and Cuengh, ‘Zhuang’; simplified Chinese: 壮语; traditional Chinese: 壯語; pinyin: Zhuàngyǔ) are any of more than a dozen Tai languages spoken by the Zhuang people of Southern China in the province of Guangxi and adjacent parts of Yunnan and Guangdong. The Zhuang languages do not form a monophyletic linguistic unit, as northern and southern Zhuang languages are more closely related to other Tai languages than to each other. Northern Zhuang languages form a dialect continuum with Northern Tai varieties across the provincial border in Guizhou, which are designated as Bouyei, whereas Southern Zhuang languages form another dialect continuum with Central Tai varieties such as Nung, Tay and Caolan in Vietnam. Standard Zhuang is based on the Northern Zhuang dialect of Wuming. The Tai languages are believed to have been originally spoken in what is now southern China, with speakers of the Southwestern Tai languages (which include Thai, Lao and Shan) having emigrated in the face of Chinese expansion. Noting that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same exonym for the Vietnamese, kɛɛu, from the Chinese commandery of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam, Jerold A. Edmondson posited that the split between Zhuang and the Southwestern Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi in 112 BC. He also argues that the departure of the Thai from southern China must predate the 5th century AD, when the Tai who remained in China began to take family names.
Zhuang, Wade-Giles romanization Chuang, largest ethnic minority of South China, chiefly occupying the Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi (created 1958) and Wenshan in Yunnan province. They numbered some 16 million in the early 21st century. The Zhuang speak two closely related Tai dialects, one classified as Northern and the other as Central Tai, with Chinese as their second language. The culture ancestral to that of modern Tai speakers, including the Zhuang, appears to have developed in the regions of Sichuan and the lower Yangtze River valley; its maximum geographic distribution occurred about 2,500 years ago, during the period of its earliest contact with Han Chinese culture. The advance of the empire controlled by the Han dynasty pushed the Tai-speaking peoples southward. Other cultural heirs of these early peoples include the Thai of Thailand, the Lao of Laos, the Shan of Myanmar (Burma), the Tai of Yunnan, and the Buyei of Guizhou. Of these, the Zhuang and Buyei have become the most assimilated into contemporary China’s predominantly Han culture. The Zhuang have nevertheless retained several cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the Han. Most Zhuang prefer to settle on valley lands adjacent to streams, to cultivate wet rice with the use of buffalo or oxen, and to build their houses on pilings rather than on the ground. Most also allow young people to contract marriages without the intervention of middlemen; brides remain with their natal family from marriage until the birth of their first child, as that birth is regarded as the consummation of the marriage. Magical rites, sorcery with human figurines, and ancestor veneration are additional elements that distinguish Zhuang culture. In the late 20th century, customs associated with the use of bronze drums were revived as tourist attractions.
The Zhuang ethnic group has 18 million members and is the largest of China’s 55 official minorities. Most of them inhabit Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where they are almost a third of the population, and Yunnan Province. In history, they are known as a people who sometimes made alliances and carved out kingdoms and empires of their own around Guangxi and Yunnan. Tourists like to visit their beautiful terraced rice fields, tribal villages and towns and to stay to experience their agrarian culture. Most Zhuang live in Guangxi, and more than a million live in adjacent areas of Yunnan Province, both of which border Vietnam. Some live in neighboring Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. The 18 million Zhuang live among other ethnic groups such as the Dong and the Yao. Most Zhuang speak Mandarin Chinese, but they have their own spoken languages that are related to Thai. They have two main dialect divisions: northern dialects and southern dialects, and there numerous local dialects. Ethnologists count the Zhuang as several people groups due to their mutually unintelligible dialects (and localized cultures). They also have a traditional written language called Sawndip, but few Zhuang can read it
China’s largest minority group, the Zhuang, have persisted through centuries of unification attempts, helping to create the beloved landscape of Guangxi through their unique agricultural practices. At over 16 million members strong, the Zhuang make up the largest of China’s 55 ethnic minorities. Although they have long been integrated into the national fabric, the Zhuang have preserved their cultural traditions that date as early as the Paleolithic period. An estimated 90 percent of Zhuang people live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, located in south China on the border with Vietnam. The area has been a part of China on and off since the country’s unification in 221 BC, but it has always been considered a ‘wild’ province. Guangxi is incredibly popular with international travelers, due in part to its iconic, geologically karstic landscape, which is featured on the RMB20 bill, as well as the cultural shows that some Zhuang perform in their home villages. The remaining 10 percent of Zhuang people are scattered across the other southern provinces of Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan.
The Zhuang were once a branch of the ancient Baiyue people. They descended from clans in present-day Guangxi province after the fall of the Han Dynasty in AD 220. Each clan had many slaves, much property, and great political power. The Tang Dynasty ( AD 618–907) appointed local clan chieftains to govern for them. From then on, the Zhuang submitted to the rule of China’s central government. The Zhuang have a rich mythology, much of it concerned with their origins. One story claims that there were no grains long ago and people had to eat wild plants. In fact, there were grain seeds in heaven but no one on Earth could get any of them. A dog was sent to hunt for seeds in heaven. In those days, dogs had nine tails. When the dog got to where the seeds were, it put its tails on the floor. Many seeds stuck in the hairs. Then the dog was discovered by a guard, who chopped off eight of its nine tails. But the dog ran away, and the seeds stuck to the one tail that was left. These seeds brought great benefits to humanity. For this reason, dogs are kept at home and fed with rice. The Zhuang observe dozens of holidays. New Year’s Eve is celebrated with a family dinner and firecrackers. Women boil water with brown sugar, bamboo leaves, onions, and ginger to brew a special holiday drink. Sports and other activities are held in small towns. The Zhuang observe the same customs for the Late New Year at the end of the month. The eighth of April is the birthday of the Buffalo God. People brush the buffalo, feed them colored sticky rice, and let them rest all day. Huapo (flower woman) is the goddess of childbirth and also the patron saint of babies. Right after a child is born, a holy plaque in honor of Huapo and a bunch of wildflowers are placed by the wall near the baby’s bed. If the baby gets sick, the mother offers gifts to Huapo and waters the wild-flowers.The Zhuang’s funeral rites are unusual. The dead person is buried in a coffin about two feet below ground level. Three or five years later, the coffin is opened. Any flesh that is left is cleaned off the bones. The skeleton is then placed sitting up inside a clay jar and sprinkled with cinnabar (a red powder). The dead person’s name and dates of birth and death are written inside the lid. The sealed jar is then buried in the clan graveyard.
With a population of about 16,178,811, Zhuang ethnic group is the largest minority group in China with a long history and glorious culture. Over 90 percent of the population live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The rest reside in Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan Provinces. They have a language of its own that belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of Zhuang-Dong Austronesian (an austronesian belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages). The language is divided into two dialects although they have few differences. Chinese characters were used before 1955 for writing, however since 1957, a writing system based on the Latin alphabet has been created with the help of the Chinese government. The Latin alphabet has been adopted to publish many books. Since then, they have had their own language. In the year of 1982, the Zhuang language was revised and has been greatly used. Like some other ethnic group women, the Zhuang women are skilled at weaving and embroidering. These women have a great reputation for the distinctive designs of cotton woven yarn brocade they make in colorful velour. Zhuang brocade is renowned for its color, luster, durability and the wide range of use. Another skill such as dying with wax is also popular. You can appreciate the excellent skills used in handcrafting carpets, aprons, bed covers, waistbands, tablecloth and curtains as a beautiful purchase for homes all over the world. Now, Zhuang brocade is not only a wonderful handicraft favored by the people in China but also has won international fame and enjoys a large market both at home and abroad.
The Zhuang ethnic group mainly live in provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has the largest population of Zhuang people. In the year 1990 there were 15.48 million Zhuang people in China. According to the fifth nationwide population census conducted in the year 2000, the population of the Zhuang nationality was 16178811. Nowadays the Zhuang nationality has the largest population among all the 55 ethnic minority groups in China. There are also one million Zhuang people living in Yunnan Province , most of whom live in areas of Wenshan City, Honghe City and Qujing City. In Lianxshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County of Guangdong Province, Congjiang County of Guizhou City, and Jianghua County of Hunan Province there are also distributions of the Zhuang nationality. Before they were uniformly called Zhuang people in 1965, there had been various names of this nationality called by both themselves and other ethnic groups. The appellations of the Zhuang people in Guangxi at that time included Buzhuang, Butu, Buliao, Buyayi and so on, in total there were more than 20 different times. While in Yunnan Province they were called Nongren, Sharen, Tuliao and so on.
Guangxi was known as the land of Baiyue (“Hundred Yue,” referring to the aboriginal peoples of South China) during the Warring States (Zhanguo) period (475–221 BCE) of the Dong (Eastern) Zhou dynasty (770–256 BCE). A subgroup of the Tai people, known as the Zhuang, inhabited the region and had an economy based on wet (irrigated) rice cultivation. Eastern Guangxi was conquered by the Han people in 214 BCE under the Qin dynasty (221–207 BCE), and the Ling Canal was dug to link the Xiang and Gui rivers to form a north-south waterway. An independent state known as Nan (Southern) Yue was created by Gen. Zhao Tuo, with Zhuang support, at the end of the Qin dynasty and existed until it was annexed in 112–111 BCE by the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The Han rulers reduced the power of the Zhuang people by consolidating their own control in the areas surrounding the cities of Guilin, Wuzhou, and Yulin. The Song governed Guangxi by the alternate use of force and appeasement—a policy that neither satisfied the aspirations of the Zhuang nor ended the savage warfare waged by the Yao against the Chinese. In 1052 a Zhuang leader, Nong Zhigao, led a revolt and set up an independent kingdom in the southwest. The revolt was crushed a year later, but the region continued to seethe with discontent. The Yuan dynasty (1206–1368) imposed direct rule and made Guangxi a province, but relations between the government and the people did not improve. To further complicate interethnic relations, another indigenous people—the Miao (who refer to themselves as Hmong)—migrated from Guizhou, and more Zhuang also came from Jiangxi and Hunan.
The Zhuang developed as a branch of the ancient Baiyue people. They are historically linked with the Xi’ou and Luoyue people of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States (475-221 BC) during the Zhou Dynasty (1121- 221 BC); with the Liao, Li, and Wuhu of the Han (206 BC-AC 220) and Tang dynasties (618-907); and with the Zhuang, Liang, and Tu of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), as recorded in ancient Chinese books. After unifying China, the First Emperor of Qin (221-207 BC) sent an army half a million strong to Lingnan (present Guangxi and Guangdong). Having conquered the Xi’ou, he set up three command posts and ordered the local population to dig a canal connecting the Xiangjiang and Lijiang rivers, thus linking the Yangzi River system with the Zhujiang River system. A great number of Chinese moved from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River to the south to live together with the Xi’ou and the Luoyue. After the fall of the imperial Qin in 207 BC, Zhao Tuo, an ex-general of Qin, proclaimed himelf King of South Yue. The rebellion was put down by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 7). After the fall of the Han Dynasty in ad 220, there appeared in present Guangxi large clans, such as Lu, Xian, Ning, etc., each of whom had large numbers of slaves, extensive property and great political power. The imperial Tang Dynasty appointed local hereditary chieftains as its officials. Thereafter, the ancestors of the Zhuang, despite sporadic restlessness and rebellions, submitted to the rule of the central government.
WA SHI (1498–1560)
Zhuang warrior, noted general, and shrewd political figure in southern China in the latter years of the Ming Dynasty, who became the most famous woman in the history of the Zhuang ethnic minority. Trained in the art of combat and known for her strength, was briefly married to the most powerful and wealthy of the Zhuang lords; returned with her son to her father’s court; after the death of her former husband at her father’s hands, created shrewd alignments that allowed the Zhuang people to live in peace with the Chinese, gaining great influence for her family and protection for her people; chosen as the general to lead an army against Japanese pirates plaguing the Chinese coast, achieved military success (1557). In the southern province of China that adjoins Vietnam, the people of the ethnic minority known as the Zhuang have long been accorded an unusual degree of autonomy, largely because of the political and military role they have played in maintaining the Chinese border. A millennium ago, the Zhuang shamaness A Nong fought for the identity of her people against the Chinese and lost. Five hundred years later, the famous Zhuang warrior Wa Shi helped to guarantee the survival of her people by serving the Chinese Empire with distinction. A shrewd politician, as well as skilled in the traditional martial arts, she ably led her family through continuous internecine quarrels while avoiding direct Chinese control, becoming the most famous woman in the history of the Zhuang and one of the very few women ever to hold the rank of general in the Chinese imperial armies.
The Nong Zhuang people live in southeastern Yunnan Province, primarily in the counties of Guangnan, Yanshan, Wenshan, Maguan, Malipo, and Xichou, as well as a smaller population in the Vietnamese provinces of Lao Cai and Ha Giang. Most members of this ethnic group continue to speak a unique Central Taic language, though some young people who group up in or near cities only speak Chinese. Many Nong Zhuang people also have a functional ability in standard Mandarin or the local dialect of Chinese, though older people and those who have not left the villages often have more limited Chinese comprehension and some Nong are completely monolingual. The Nong Zhuang, who call themselves Pu Nong or Pu Day (“Pu” meaning “people” or “tribe”), are known to surrounding ethnic groups as “Nongzu” or “Longzu” (侬族) and were classified into the official Zhuang nationality in 1958.
Sanyuesan Festival of Zhuang People
On March 3rd in the Chinese lunar calendar, Zhuang people dressed in festival clothes to get together to sing songs in antiphonal style in the mountains. Most of the lyrics are spontaneous with a theme of love, from shallow to deep and involve broad. Young men and women also take part in touching colored eggs and throwing embroidered balls. Young girls who are not married can throw an embroidered ball to choose a husband telling by sing songs. The man will come to visit the girl on the second day to propose marriage with the embroidered ball threw by the girl. Besides, older Zhuang people will have a song match by sing songs as well. There is also a large-scale bamboo dance for a lot of people and bullfighting. Travelers can also see a lot of Zhuang brocade which is an important element to Zhuang people’s life and culture. Nowadays, the Zhuang people’s Song Festival is more and more popular and magnificent. It is widely celebrated by Zhuang people in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It has been a legal holiday to celebrate in Guangxi since 2014. The festival plays an important role in Zhuang people’s culture and is an influential national song festival.
Located in the south of Ping’an Village of Longsheng County, Longji Ancient Zhuang Village (Longji Gu Zhuang Zhai) has a history of more than 700 years. It consists of four tribes, which are Liao Family Tribe, Hou Family Tribe, Pingduan Tribe and Pingzhai Tribe. Zhuang people of three family names (Liao, Hou and Pan) live there. They belong to the Baiyi Zhuang – White Clothes Zhuang. The Longji Zhuang Ancient Village is quieter and more traditional than some other ethnic villages, because it was only recently developed and to tourists. Their houses are very unique and consist the largest scale of Diaojiaolou wooden houses in China. Diaojiaolou are a kind of wooden houses built by the ethnic people in mountainous areas. They were built by the mountain slopes, and supported by wooden columns over the ground. They can protect against snakes or bugs and are damp proof. The handrails are useful for hanging clothes and other agricultural produce.
Zhuang Song Festival (San Yue San)
The Zhuang Song Festival is also known as San Yue San, which means ‘Third Month’s Third (Day)’, as it is celebrated on the third day of the third lunar month in the traditional Chinese calendar. It is a public holiday in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, when people can enjoy a two-day holiday.
There will be a four-day public holiday in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region: April 21 – 24, 2023.
There are many legendary stories about the San Yue San Festival. One of the most popular stories in the Zhuang ethnic group is about Liu Sanjie… There was once a Zhuang girl called Liu Sanjie, who was very good at singing. She loved ordinary people and despised the vicious landlords. She inspired people with folk songs. However the landlords were jealous of her singing, and afraid of her rebellious character. They tried to forbid Liu Sanjie from singing, but failed. Later Liu Sanjie was persecuted by the landlords. She was drowned in a pond, but she went to heaven on the back of carp in the pond and became the “Singing Goddess”. Many Zhuang people honor Liu Sanjie with the Song Festival, and give yet another name to this festival: ‘Singing Goddess Day’.
The Zhuang people are one of the ancient nationalities and second largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the government of China. Zhuang brocade, Nanjing brocade, Chengdu brocade and Suzhou brocade are known as “China’s four big famous brocade”. The Zhuangs ethnic minority is China’s largest minority group. Its population of 16,926,381 approaches that of Australia. Most of the Zhuangs live in southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which is nearly the size of New Zealand. The rest have settled in Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces. While most Zhuang communities concentrate in a compact area in Guangxi, the others are scattered over places shared by other ethnic groups such as Han, Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulao, Maonan and Shui. Lying in Guangxi’s mountainous regions, the Zhuang area is high in the northwest, undulating in the middle and low in the southeast. Limestone is widely distributed in the area, which is known round the world for its karst topography. Many rocky peaks rise straight up from the ground, and the peaks hide numerous fascinating grottoes and subterranean rivers. Guilin, a tourist attraction in Guangxi, is an excellent example of such landscape. As the saying goes: “The landscape in Guilin is the best in the world, and the best landscape in Guilin is in Yangshuo.” Wuming, Jingxi and Lingyun counties are also known for their scenic splendours. Crisscrossing rivers endow the Zhuang area with plentiful sources of water for irrigation, navigation and hydropower. The coastline in south Guangxi not only has important ports but also yields many valuable marine products including the best pearls in China.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 
