Nan Ren Zhuang

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TheZhuang (/ˈdʒwŋ, ˈdʒwɒŋ/;[2] Chinese: 壮族; pinyin: Zhungz; Zhuang: Bouxcuengh [poːu ɕeŋ]); Sawndip: 佈獞) 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, Nng, Ty, 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.

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 Zhung, 獞 (or tng, referring to a variety of wild dog).[3] Chinese characters typically combine a semantic element or radical and a phonetic element. John DeFrancis recorded Zhung was previously Tng, 獞, with "dog radical" 犭 and tng, 童 phonetic, a slur, but also describes how the People's Republic of China eventually removed it.[4] In 1949, after the Chinese civil war, the logograph 獞 was officially replaced with a different graphic pejorative, 僮 (Zhung or tng, meaning "child; boy servant"), with the "human radical" 亻with the same phonetic. Later 僮 was changed to a different character Zhung, 壮 (meaning "strong; robust").

The Zhuang, Nng, and Ty people are a cluster of Tai peoples with very similar customs and dress known as the Rau peoples. In China, the Zhuang are today the largest non-Han Chinese minority with around 14.5 million population in Guangxi Province alone. In Vietnam, as of 1999, there were 933,653 Nng people and 1,574,822 Ty people.[5] Recently the Ty and Nng have been referred to as a combined Ty-Nng minority.[6] However these ethnonyms are a recent phenomenon and did not exist until the modern age. According to Keith Taylor, the Vietnamese terms were "categories of French colonial knowledge" used to differentiate highlanders from lowlanders. The ethnic Zhuang was a product of the "ethnic identification project" pursued in 1950s China.[7]

Although both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities labeled all of the local inhabitants "barbarians of the South" (Man), there were many distinct communities throughout this region. The majority belonged to a single Tai-speaking ethnicity, the Chinese Zhuang (or Vietnamese Nng) ethnic group.[8]

Many scholars of the Tai peoples consider the Zhuang and Nng to be essentially the same people, a single ethnic group.[9] During the early 11th century, ethnic identities and boundaries were more fluid than in the modern Sino-Vietnamese borderland. The Zhuang leader Nong Zhigao was defeated in 1055 by the Song dynasty. Had he won, it is possible that he might have established a state under his own clan name, Nong. Instead, his people in China continued to be referred to as Zhuang, which in their own language means "cave", while in Vietnam they came to be known as Nng.[10] The majority ethnic group and now the largest minority, however, was and still is the same, the Zhuang/Nng, who together number more than 15 million people. They are just recognized by different names in China and Vietnam.[11] Nong Zhigao (V. Nng Tr Cao) has sometimes been claimed by Vietnam as a Vietnamese native, but this is due to antagonism with modern China, while in previous times the Vietnamese sometimes saw him as primarily Chinese.[12]

In one instance, a Zhuang student said that he had previously regarded himself as Han Chinese before being taught that he was Zhuang.[7] The Zhuang did not perceive themselves as marginalized or in need of promotion. Zhuang peasants displayed resistance to the ideal of a formal Romanized Zhuang script, noting that they had used Han script for centuries. Formal classification of the Zhuang also ignored historical similarities between northern Zhuang and the Bouyei people.[13]

The Zhuang are the indigenous peoples of Guangxi, according to Huang Xianfan.[16][17] The Zhuang's origins can be traced back to the paleolithic ancient human,[18] as demonstrated by a large amount of contemporary archaeological evidence.[19][20]

The Zhuang do not seem to have aspired to creating an empire after the collapse of the Tang and sought merely autonomy. In fact the opposite seemed to have occurred and the wars in the south drew more Zhuang into contact with Han Chinese as they were sought after as mercenary troops and river porters.[24]

The Song dynasty continued the Jimi system of the Tang dynasty and named the officials of those jimi prefectures zhi. So the ruler of Nandan was called "Zhi Nandan". The Zhuang people were governed under this system but not the Yao people, who were far less numerous. Zhuang leaders sought Song approval to legitimate their position. After being recognized, they also received a salary and their family was guaranteed hereditary succession to the post. Song authority was bestowed through seals, which theoretically went to the hereditary leader, but in practice usually went to the claimant put forward by the locals, often after military conflicts. When there was no obvious heir, the seals often went to the wife of the deceased, whose accession to the post became customary. In theory the Song court could replace recalcitrant leaders like an ordinary official, but in practice this power was weighed against the cost to maintain tranquillity among the Zhuang and stability on the Sino-Viet border. As a result, Jimi rulers who were disobedient were usually sufficiently powerful to refuse replacement as well.[24]

Zhuang jimi prefectures were essentially feudal. Land was held by lesser families in perpetuity and could not be sold or transferred. As a result the Zhuang habitually entered military service under the Han Chinese to seek new land, often at the expense of other minorities such as the Yao people. Han Chinese were forbidden from buying Zhuang land or to engage in commercial activity within their jimi districts. However Zhuang-Han marriages were allowed, resulting in land titles that were nominally Zhuang held but had been subsumed under Han administration. The jimi prefectures paid a tax that was usually more a customary and semi-voluntary exaction in practice, though this depended upon the power of the lord. Even when taxed, it was at a lower rate than that of regular prefectures. Many jimi prefectures did not pay taxes but "tribute." The Mo clan paid 100 ounces of silver as tribute annually.[24]

It is evident that the headmen entered into the tribute system with great enthusiasm. As part of the practice of paying tribute they could periodically journey to the capital and be treated as a foreign ambassador, with all of the opportunities for tourism and trade which this presented. As a consequence, headmen frequently petitioned to pay tribute more frequently than they were obliged to, and to increase the size of their deputation when doing so. Because the court actually paid for the expenses of travel, it was regarded as an unnecessary expense to permit overly frequent visits, and such requests were usually refused.[24]

The jimi prefectures often engaged in petty squabbles that escalated to military conflict. At one point the Mo clan of Nandan pillaged each other over the ownership of an ox before Song authorities settled the matter. Such small scale conflicts were frequent and Song authorities preferred to remain uninvolved and avoided confrontation when possible.[24]

In 1001, Zhuang calling themselves the Troops of Chen (chenbing) rebelled in Yizhou. Their leader, Su Chengzhun, titled himself King of the Pacified South (nanping wang). The rebels took a few towns but were hampered by floods and suffered several defeats until their leader was killed three months later.[24]

In 1038, there was a disturbance at Rongzhou and Yizhou which took troops from three prefectures the loss of six high-ranking officials to suppress. The prefect of Yizhou blamed the unrest on bad administration and that the problem was the result of systematic neglect of the south on the throne's part: administrators received inadequate salaries and local troops only received supplies sporadically. As a result, the temptation to raid barbarian lands was irresistible.[24]

In 1044, Ou Xifan of the Ou clan rebelled to the northwest of Yizhou. Ou Xifan had received a jinshi degree and served as an officer but grew dissatisfied with his rewards. He declared the Great Tang and declared war on the Song. He was caught in 1045 and executed by vivisection.[24]

During the early Song period, the Huang clan was left in charge of the You and Zuo rivers.[25] The Wei had settled on the Song-Viet boarder.[26] However the power of the Nong clan increased and began to upset Huang supremacy. By the early Song, they ruled over an area known as Temo, which stretched from modern Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in the west to Jingxi in the east and Guangyuanzhou (Quảng Nguyn, now Cao Bằng province[27]) in the south.[28] Emperor Taizong of Song (r. 976-997) bestowed special favors on Nong leadership, acknowledging that they had succeeded the Huang in the Zuo River region.[29]

The Guangyuan zhou Man-barbarian Nong clan came from the south west... of Yongzhou and held the districts there. The terrain was steep mountains and inaccessible valleys; it produced gold and cinnabar. A good many people lived there. They wore their hair long and fastened their clothes on the left. They loved to fight and struggle and regarded death lightly. Earlier the leaders were of the Wei, Huang, Zhou and Nong clans which were constantly contending and pillaging each other.... The Huang clan offered pledges and 13 Bu-districts and 29 Man-barbarian Zhou-districts were established.[30]

In 1005, a woman known as A Nong was born to a notable warrior chieftain who accepted titles from both the Song dynasty and the Early L dynasty of Đại Cồ Việt. A Nong learned to spin and weave from her mother. At some point she was separated from the other girls and learned the ways of a shaman. She married Nong Quanfu and became his primary political adviser. Her brother, Nong Dangdao, inherited Wulezhou near Guangyuanzhou. She gave birth to Nong Zhigao in 1025. A Nong induced Quanfu to kill his brother, the leader of the Cen clan, and take his lands. The Nong clan eventually controlled 14 major grottoes (dong) in comparison to only 5 for the Huang clan.[32]

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