TheRau people (Zhuang:Bou^xraeu^z), also known asLao (Chinese:僚人;pinyin:Lǎorén;Lao:ລາວ), were an ethnic group ofancient China. Their descendants are theZhuang,Buyei,Tày–Nùng and otherKra–Dai-speaking peoples.

The ethnonym and autonym of theLao people, together with the ethnonym of theKra-speakingGelao people, would have emerged from theAustro-Asiatic*k(ə)ra:w 'human being'.^[1][2]

The etymon*k(ə)ra:w would have also yielded the ethnonymKeo/Kæw/kɛːw^A1/, a name given to the Vietnamese byTai speaking peoples, currently slightly derogatory.^[3] In fact,Keo/Kæw/kɛːw^A1/ was an exonym used to refer to Tai speaking peoples, as in theepic poem of Thao Cheuang, and was only later applied to the Vietnamese.^[4] InPupeo (Kra),kew is used to name theTay (Central Tai) of North Vietnam.^[5]

The nameLao is used almost exclusively by the majority population ofLaos, theLao people, and two of the three other members of the Lao-Phutai subfamily ofSouthwestern Tai:Isan people (occasionally),Nyaw people andPhu Thai speakers.

The nameRau comes fromZhuangraeu^z and means 'we, us'.

In Southern China, people speaking Kam–Tai (Zhuang–Dong) languages are mainly found inGuangxi,Guizhou,Yunnan,Hunan,Guangdong andHainan. According to statistics from the fourth census taken in China in 1990, the total population of these groups amounted to 23,262,000. Their distribution is as follows:

Zhuang

Zhuang people are the largest ethnic minority in China, with a population of 15,489,630. The Zhuang live mainly in Guangxi and inWenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. In addition, there are some Zhuang scattered throughout Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan (Zhao Jia 1994).

Bouyei (Buyi)

TheBouyei people are mostly found in the south and southwest of Guizhou Province, where there are two autonomous prefectures and three autonomous counties designated for the Buyi and the Miao. There are also Buyi living in the suburban areas of thecapital of Guizhou, in Yunnan, and inSichuan. According to statistics collected in 1990, the total number of Buyi is 2,545,059 (Zhou Guomao et al. 1994). Although the Chinese regard them as a group separate from the Zhuang, a commonly held belief among the Buyi is that they are Zhuang.

Kam (Dong)

TheKam people have a population of 2,514,014. They are found mainly in Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi and Hubei (Yang Quan et al. 1994).

Hlai (Li)

Hlai people, with a population of 1,110,900, reside primarily in Hainan (Wen Mingying 1994).

Mulam (Mulao)

TheMulao people have a population of 159,328. 80% live inLuocheng Mulao Autonomous County, Guangxi. The rest are scattered throughout Guangxi (Qin Xiaohang 1994)

Maonan

TheMaonan people have a population of 71,968, mainly inHuanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Guangxi, while the rest are scattered throughout the province (Che Rushan 1994). In the early 1990s, about thirty thousand Yanghuang (T'en) people in Guizhou identified themselves as ethnic Maonan (Zhang Min 1991).

Lin'gao

The Lin'gao people are an ethnic group clustered inHainan who speak theLin'gao language.^[6] According to statistics from the early 1980s, there are about 500,000 speakers of the language. At this stage, they have not been recognized as an individual ethnic group (Ni Dabai 1990). They are categorized asHan Chinese under China's system of ethnic classification.

Kra peoples are reside in theGuangxi,Guizhou,Yunnan,Hunan andHainan provinces of China, as well as in theHà Giang,Cao Bằng,Lào Cai andSơn La provinces ofVietnam.

Kam–Sui peoples are found inChina (as Kam, Mulam, Maonan, etc.), as well as in neighboring portions of NorthernLaos andVietnam.

The center of theSaek population is theMekong River in Central Laos. A smaller Saek community makes its home in theIsan region of NortheastThailand, near the border with Laos.

Biao-speaking people are found inGuangdong, China.^[8]

Lakkia people are an ethnic group residing inGuangxi, China, and neighboring portions ofVietnam. They are ofYao descent but speak a Tai–Kadai language calledLakkia.^[9] These Yao were likely in an area dominated by Tai speakers and assimilated an early Tai–Kadai language (possibly the ancestor of theBiao language).

• Tày people
• Lao people
• Tai peoples
• Tai–Kadai-speaking peoples

• Chamberlain, James R. (2016)."Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam".Journal of the Siam Society.104:27–77.
• Ferlus, Michel (2009),"Formation of Ethnonyms in Southeast Asia",42nd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics,Chiang Mai:1–6.
• Pain, Frédéric (2008), "An Introduction to Thai Ethnonymy: Examples from Shan and Northern Thai",Journal of the American Oriental Society,128 (4):641–662,JSTOR 25608449.

• 僚人概况

• Ethnic groups in China

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• Short description matches Wikidata
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