You can mark you interesting snippets of text that will be available through a unique link in your browser.


Zhuang

Translation
Zhuang

▪ people

      largest ethnic minority of South China, chiefly occupying the Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi (Kwangsi) (created 1958) and Wenshan in Yunnan province. They numbered some 16 million in the early 21st century. The Zhuang speak two closely related Tai (Tai languages) dialects, one classified as Northern and the other as Central Tai, with Chinese (Chinese languages) 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.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

  
Share  

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Zhuang — in Guilin Die Zhuang (auf Zhuang Bouxcuengh, chinesisch 壯族 / 壮族 Zhuàngzú) sind ein Tai Volk, das zum größten Teil im Autonomen Gebiet Guangxi der Zhuang, im Südosten Chinas, lebt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Zhuang — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Zhuang Nombres alternativos Ninguno Población total 18.000.000 Asentamientos importantes Guangxi, Yunnan …   Wikipedia Español

  • Zhuang — may refer to: Zhuang people (or Bouxcueng people), ethnic group in China Zhuang language, language of Zhuang people Zhuang logogram Zhuang studies Zhuang (surname), Chinese surname This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same… …   Wikipedia

  • Zhuang — Los Zhuang son un grupo étnico que habita principalmente en la Región Autónoma Zhuang de Guangxi, en la República Popular China. Es uno de los 56 grupos étnicos reconocidos oficialmente en el país. Con una población estimada de 18 millones de… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Zhuang — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Zhuang peut désigner : Les Zhuang, un groupe ethnique du sud de la Chine La langue zhuang parlée principalement par les Zhuang, qui appartient au… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Zhuang — noun a) The language of these people, belonging to the Tai language group. b) An ethnic group of people who mostly live in the in southern China …   Wiktionary

  • Zhuang — 1) Лингвистика: чжуанский язык (язык чжуанов. Большая часть говорящих на этом языке проживает в Гуанси Чжуанском автономном районе Китая, а меньшая в провинциях Юньнань и Гуандун), чжуанский (язык, распространённый на юге Китая) 2) Политика:… …   Универсальный англо-русский словарь

  • zhuang — 1) Лингвистика: чжуанский язык (язык чжуанов. Большая часть говорящих на этом языке проживает в Гуанси Чжуанском автономном районе Китая, а меньшая в провинциях Юньнань и Гуандун), чжуанский (язык, распространённый на юге Китая) 2) Политика:… …   Универсальный англо-русский словарь

  • Zhuang — Abbreviation: ZHA …   Универсальный русско-английский словарь

  • Zhuang language — Zhuang Vaƅcueŋƅ Vahcuengh Spoken in China Native speakers 8.8 million Northern (2007) 5.1 million Southern  (2000) Language family …   Wikipedia