Minority Nationalities of China

Unified and multi-ethnic, China is a country which came into being as a collective creation of all the Chinese. In the long course of historical development, all the nationalities have joined in the effort to create the great culture that China represents.

On this richly endowed land one can find 56 different nationalities with a total population of more than 1.2 billion. Apart from the Han nationality ,the other 55 ethnic groups ,with a total of more than 96.5million people, constitute roughly 8.04 per cent of the total population .

Although small in size ,peoples of various minority nationalities inhabit over half of the land area of the country. It is a wide expanse of land containing a great wealth of water reserves, dense forests and abundant mineral resources. The minority groups have traditionally established their abodes in mountainous and pastoral areas, on high plateaus and in deep forests.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China. the social and economic development of the various nationalities was most uneven. Generally speaking, the social and economic development of the Han people was on a higher plane than that of most of the minority nationalities. For the minority nationalities that lived far from the Han people, their social economy remained in a quite backward state. Some had an economy based on primitive fishing and hunting, others on a pastoral life, and still others practised slash-and-burn agriculture. Agriculture and animal husbandry developed at a snail's pace owing to the discriminatory policies pursued by the ruling elites. Industrial enterprises were almost nonexistent except for a few handicraft in work-shops.

Following the founding of new China, the government, in accordance with a cautious policy of making steady progress while taking into account the specific characteristics of the various minority nationalities, took steps to eliminate the de facto inequality between the various nationalities by helping then develop their economy and culture.

Now the minority nationalities, with mutual influence on each other in the fields of economy ,politics and culture and close ties with the Han people, have developed communities of their own which are full of cultural peculiarities, Except Hui ,Manchu and She who use the language of the Hans ,all ethnic groups speak their own languages. Many of the old customs and traditions that benefit production and prosperity have been well preserved and further developed .Take, for example, the Mongolian traditional festival called the Nadam Fair, the Water-Sprinkling Festival of the Dais ,the Torch Light Festival of the Miaos .These have become days for strengthening national unity and days on which people carry out cultural and physical activities as well as exchange souvenirs People are free to wear whatever costumes they wish to.

All the nationalities ,with intermingled efforts, have made sizable contributions to the country's economic and cultural development. Generally speaking, the Han people are more developed economically, especially in agriculture, sericiculture and metallurgy , But there are many advances made by minority nationalities that have in turn exerted an influence on the Hans, enriched and further developed the country's economy and culture. Basing their livelihood on animal husbandry, many minority nationalities have achieved great skill in raising horses, donkeys, and mules. This has contributed to the development of a diversified economy in the country.

Great contributions are also made by the minority nationalities in China's culture and science. Many beautiful poems, myths, folk tales, songs, and dances, are directly related to them. For example ,the folk instruments now generally used throughout china-flutes, pipas, Hu fiddles, waist drums and corner gongs-com from minority nationalities.

Facts and achievements have proved the correctness of the country's policy towards her national minorities. Today, the people of various nationalities are united as one in their effort to eliminate vestiges of inequality left over from the past history and in building a powerful , prosperous and modern socialist country.