 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 | |
| PredominantlyShe Chinese,Standard Chinese (lingua franca) and otherSinitic languages. A minuscule minority speak theShe language inZengcheng,Boluo County,Huidong County andHaifeng County inGuangdong Province. | |
| Religion | |
| She indigenous religion (SheWuism),[1]Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Yao,Miao,Hakka Han |
| She people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 畲族 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheShe people (Chinese:畲;She Chinese:[sa˦];Cantonese:[sɛː˩],Fuzhou:[sia˥]) are anethnic group in China. They form one of the 56ethnic groups officially recognized by thePeople's Republic of China.
According to the2021 China Statistical Yearbook, the total population of the She was 746,385, including 403,516 males and 342,869 females. The She are the largest ethnic minority inFujian,Zhejiang, andJiangxi Provinces. They are also present in the provinces ofAnhui andGuangdong. Some descendants of the She also exist amongst the Hakka minority inTaiwan.
Today, over 400,000 She people ofFujian,Zhejiang, andJiangxi provinces speakShe Chinese, an unclassifiedChinese variety that has been heavily influenced byHakka Chinese.
There are approximately 1,200 She people inGuangdong province who speak aHmong–Mien language calledShe, also calledHo Ne meaning "mountain people" (Chinese:活聂;pinyin:huóniè). Some said they were descendants ofDongyi,Nanman orYue peoples.[2][3]
She Chinese (畲话) should not be confused withShēyǔ (畲语), also known asHo Ne, which is aHmong-Mien language spoken in east-centralGuangdong. She and Sheyu speakers have separate histories and identities, although both are officially classified by the Chinese government as She people. TheDongjia ofMajiang County,Guizhou are also officially classified as She people, but speak aWestern Hmongic language closely related to Chong'anjiang Miao (重安江苗语).
Some scholars believe that the birthplace of the She ethnic group may be Phoenix Mountain (凤凰山) in the north ofChao'an District,Chaozhou.[4][5][6][7] The She people are some of the earliest known settlers ofGuangdong; they are thought to have originally settled along the shallow shore for easierfishing access during theNeolithic era. Eventually, after an influx ofYuet people moved south during theWarring States period, serious competition between the two peoples for resources developed.
From the time of theQin dynasty on, waves of migrants from northern China have had a serious impact on the She people. Because they possessed superior tools andtechnology, 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 theJiangxi andFujian 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 ofsalt, obtained from theevaporation of local pools of salt water.
Many conflicts took place between theHan Chinese and She peoples. For example, in one incident, She salt producers onLantau Island inHong Kong attacked the city ofCanton in a revolt during theSong 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.[8]
ShunChang County
Dehua County
The roughly 45,000 She living inGuizhou Province form a separate subgroup, the Dongjia (东家人;Dōngjiā Rén), who differ notably in culture from the She in other areas.[10]
In a 2000 census, 709,592 She have been counted in China.
| Administrative division | Number of She | Percentage of all She in China |
|---|---|---|
| Fujian | 375,193 | 52.87% |
| Zhejiang | 170,993 | 24.1% |
| Jiangxi | 77,650 | 10.94% |
| Guizhou | 44,926 | 6.33% |
| Guangdong | 28,053 | 3.95% |
| Hunan | 2,891 | 0.41% |
| Hubei | 2,523 | 0.36% |
| Anhui | 1,563 | 0.22% |
| Other Provinces | 5,800 | 0.82% |
Only values of 0.5% and greater have been considered.
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.
| Sino-Tibetan |
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| Overseas diaspora |
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Underlined: the 56 officially recognised ethnic groups ranked by population in their language families according to2020 census | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
