Bonan people

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Bonan people
Total population
22,500
Regions with significant populations
People's Republic of China, mostly concentrated in Gansu Province and a small number in Qinghai
Languages
Mandarin Chinese, Hezhou, Bonan (traditional)
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Mongols, Daurs, Dongxiangs

The Bonan people (Chinese :保安族; pinyin :Bǎo'ānzú) are a distinct ethno-linguistic group from all other Mongolic peoples, living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in Northwestern China. They are one of the "titular nationalities" of Gansu's Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County, which is located south of the Yellow River, near Gansu's border with Qinghai.

Contents

Bonan are the 10th-smallest (47th out of 56) of the ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.[ citation needed ] 95% of Bonan live in Jishishan County, numbering 21,400 of the county's population. [1]

History

The Bonan people are believed to be descended from Mongol and Central Asian soldiers stationed in Qinghai (around modern day Tongren County) during the Yuan dynasty. [2] [3] After the collapse of the Yuan dynasty, the ancestors of the Bonan stayed in the region and eventually intermingled with the surrounding Hui, Tibetan, Han, and Monguor peoples, which would contribute to the emergence of the modern Bonans. [3]

The ancestors of the Bonan people were Lamaist and it is known that around 1585 they lived in Tongren County (in Amdo Region; presently, in Qinghai Province), north of the Tibetan Rebgong Monastery. It was in that year that the town of Bao'an was founded in that area. [4] Later on, some of the members of the Bonan-speaking community converted to Islam and moved north, to Xunhua County. It is said that they have been converted to Islam by the Hui Sufi master Ma Laichi (1681?–1766). [5] Later, in the aftermath of the Dungan Rebellion (18621874) the Muslim Bonans moved farther east, into what's today Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County of Gansu Province. [4]

Hui, Baoan and Dongxiang troops served under Generals Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang in the Boxer Rebellion, defeating the invading Eight Nation Alliance at the Battle of Langfang. Hui, Baoan, Dongxiang, Salar and Tibetan troops served under Ma Biao in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese.

It were the members of this Muslim part of the original Bonan community who are officially recognized as the separate "Bonan" ethnic group in today's PRC. Their brethren who have remained Lamaists and stayed in Tongren, are now officially classified as part of the Monguor (Tu) ethnic group, even though they speak essentially the same Bonan language. The official concept of the "Bonan ethnic group" still remains somewhat artificial for the Bonans themselves. [4]

Language

Both the Muslim Bonans in Gansu and their Buddhist cousins in Qinghai (officially classified as Monguor) have historically spoken the Bonan language, a Mongolic language. The Buddhist Monguor of Qinghai speak a slightly different dialect than the Muslim Bonan of Gansu. Whereas the Bonan language of Gansu has undergone Chinese influences, the Bonan language of Qinghai has been influenced by Tibetan. [4] The language is also closely related to archaic versions of Mongolian. [2]

There are 11 vowels in the Bonan language, as well as many compound vowels and there are 26 consonants, 5 of which are unstable. [6]

They have no script for their language. [7]

The Muslim Gansu Bonans are more numerous than their Buddhist Qinghai cousins (the estimates for the two groups were around 12,200 (in 1990) and around 3,500 (in 1980), respectively). However, it has been observed that in Gansu the use of Bonan language is declining (in favor of the local version – the "Hezhou dialect" – of Mandarin Chinese), while in Qinghai the language keeps being transmitted to younger generations. [4]

Genetics

Distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroups in Bonan: [8]

In another study in 2010 found: [9]

Culture

The Bonan share many traditions with the Dongxiang and Hui. Their traditional dress includes elements of Tibetan, Hui and Dongxiang clothing. Married Bonan women wear black veils, while unmarried women wear green veils. Women wear more colorful dress, including trousers with colored cuffs. Bonan men typically wear black or white skullcaps and white or dark blue jackets. Fur-lined jackets are used during the winter. [10]

The economy of the Bonan consists of farming (mainly wheat and rye), raising livestock, selling local handicrafts and working in the lumber industry. Bonan knives are renowned for their beauty and hardness and their manufacture and sale also form an important part of the local economy. [10]

Popular pastimes for the Bonan include horse-riding, wrestling, and archery. The Bonan also enjoy poetry, singing, dancing and playing traditional Chinese instruments. [10] Majority of the Bonan are Muslim. A small minority of Bonans are Tibetan Buddhists that reside in Qinghai, but they have been largely acculturated to neighboring ethnic groups. [3]

The Bonan in Jishishan county follow a halal diet consisting mainly of beef and mutton, combined with carrots, potatoes and glass noodles. They also enjoy drinking tea. [6] Bonan traditional villages have the roofs of the houses connected, in a way allowing the villagers to walk between houses over the roofs. However these traditional houses are rare nowadays. [6]

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The Dongxiang people are a Mongolic people and one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Half of the population live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. According to the 2010 census, their population numbers 621,500, although research has found that the number is inflated due to Hui identifying themselves as Dongxiang for the census, in order to benefit from minority policies.

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The Kangjia language is a Mongolic language spoken by a Muslim population of around 300 people in Jainca (Jianzha) County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province of China. As to its taxonomic affiliation, Kangjia seems to be an intermediate between Bonan language and Dongxiang language (Santa).

The Wutun language is a Mandarin–Amdo–Bonan creole language. It is spoken by about 4,000 people, most of whom are classified as Monguor (Tu) by the Chinese government. Wutun speakers reside in two villages of Tongren County, eastern Qinghai province, China. It is also known as the Ngandehua language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture</span> Autonomous prefecture in Gansu, Peoples Republic of China

Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, formerly known as Hezhou (河州) and Baohan (枹罕), is located in Gansu Province, south of the provincial capital Lanzhou, bordering Qinghai to the west. It is an autonomous prefecture for the Muslim Hui people, a large Chinese ethnic group. It also includes two autonomous counties for other Muslim groups, namely Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar.

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The Bonan language is the Mongolic language of the Bonan people of China. As of 1985, it was spoken by about 8,000 people, including about 75% of the total Bonan ethnic population and many ethnic Monguor, in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces. There are several dialects, which are influenced to varying degrees — but always heavily — by Chinese and Tibetan, while bilingualism in Wutun is less common. The most commonly studied is the Tongren dialect. There is no writing system in use. The language is also referred to as "Manegacha", natively.

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After the fall of the Qing dynasty following the Xinhai Revolution (1911-1912), Sun Yat-sen, who led the new Republic of China (1912–1949), immediately proclaimed that the country belonged equally to the Han, Hui (Muslim), Meng (Mongol), and Tsang (Tibetan) peoples. When the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Chinese Muslims suffered political repression along with all other religious groups in China, especially during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).

Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County is an autonomous county of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, in Gansu province, China. It is located in the mostly mountainous area to the south of the Yellow River, near Gansu's border with Qinghai province. The total population was 239,390 in 2020; 64.9% were of an ethnic minority. The county's titular ethnic groups are the Bonan, Dongxiang, and Salar peoples. There are 21,400 Bonan people living in Jishishan, which accounts for 95% of all Bonan in China. The Bonan are known for their cultivation of Sichuan peppers and walnuts. Jishishan's local cuisine includes Bonan-style maisui baozi and lamb meat.

The Qinghai–Gansu sprachbund or Amdo sprachbund is a sprachbund in the plateau traversed by the upper Yellow River, including northeastern Qinghai and southern Gansu. This has long been an area of interaction between speakers of northwestern varieties of Mandarin Chinese, Amdo Tibetan and Mongolic and Turkic languages. These families feature contrasting typologies, which spread between languages in the region. The languages have come to share many features, and differ significantly from their relatives outside the region.

References

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  8. Wen, Shaoqing; Xu, Dan (2017), "The Silk Road: Language and Population Admixture and Replacement" (PDF), Languages and Genes in Northwestern China and Adjacent Regions, Springer, Singapore, pp. 55–78, doi:10.1007/978-981-10-4169-3_4, ISBN   9789811041686, archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-29, retrieved 2019-12-13
  9. Xiao, Chun-Jie; Tang, Wen-Ru; Shi, Hong; Tan, Si-Jie; Dong, Yong-Li; Wei, Chuan-Yu; Qiao, En-Fa; Shou, Wei-Hua (May 2010). "Y-chromosome distributions among populations in Northwest China identify significant contribution from Central Asian pastoralists and lesser influence of western Eurasians". Journal of Human Genetics. 55 (5): 314–322. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2010.30 . PMID   20414255.
  10. 1 2 3 Elliot, Sheila Hollihan (2006). Muslims in China. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers. pp. 68–69. ISBN   1-59084-880-2.