#China ethnic minorities

[mapsontheweb]

China's Autonomous Regions and its Designated Ethnic Minority

[beehunni62]

Fishskin Robes of the Ethnic Tungusic People of China and Russia

Oroch woman’s festive robe made of fish skin, leather, and decorative fur trimmings [image source].

Nivkh woman’s fish-skin festival coats (hukht), late 19th century. Cloth: fish skin, sinew (reindeer), cotton thread; appliqué and embroidery. Promised gift of Thomas Murray L2019.66.2, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota, United States [image source].

Back view of a Nivkh woman’s robe [image source].

Front view of a Nivkh woman’s robe [image source].

Women’s clothing, collected from a Nivkh community in 1871, now in the National Museum of Denmark. Photo by Roberto Fortuna, courtesy Wikimedia Commons [image source].

The Hezhe people 赫哲族 (also known as Nanai 那乃) are one of the smallest recognized minority groups in China composed of around five thousand members. Most live in the Amur Basin, more specifically, around the Heilong 黑龙, Songhua 松花, and Wusuli 乌苏里 rivers. Their wet environment and diet, composed of almost exclusively fish, led them to develop impermeable clothing made out of fish skin. Since they are part of the Tungusic family, their clothing bears resemblance to that of other Tungusic people, including the Jurchen and Manchu.

They were nearly wiped out during the Imperial Japanese invasion of China but, slowly, their numbers have begun to recover. Due to mixing with other ethnic groups who introduced the Hezhen to cloth, the tradition of fish skin clothing is endangered but there are attempts of preserving this heritage.

Hezhen woman stitching together fish skins [image source].

Top to bottom left: You Wenfeng, 68, an ethnic Hezhen woman, poses with her fishskin clothes at her studio in Tongjiang, Heilongjiang province, China December 31, 2019. Picture taken December 31, 2019 by Aly Song for Reuters [image source].

Hezhen Fish skin craft workshop with Mrs. You Wen Fen in Tongjian, China. © Elisa Palomino and Joseph Boon [image source].

Hezhen woman showcasing her fishskin outfit [image source].

Hezhen fish skin jacket and pants, Hielongiang, China, mid 20th century. In the latter part of the 20th century only one or two families could still produce clothing like this made of joined pieces of fish skin, which makes even the later pieces extremely rare [image source].

Detail view of the stitching and material of a Hezhen fishskin jacket in the shape of a 大襟衣 dajinyi or dajin, contemporary. Ethnic Costume Museum of Beijing, China [image source].

Hezhen fishskin boots, contemporary. Ethnic Costume Museum of Beijing, China [image source].

Although Hezhen clothing is characterized by its practicality and ease of movement, it does not mean it’s devoid of complexity. Below are two examples of ornate female Hezhen fishskin robes. Although they may look like leather or cloth at first sight, they’re fully made of different fish skins stitched together. It shows an impressive technical command of the medium.

赫哲族鱼皮长袍 [Hezhen fishskin robe]. Taken July 13, 2017. © Huanokinhejo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 [image source].

Image containing a set of Hezhen clothes including a woman’s fishskin robe [image source].

The Nivkh people of China and Russia also make clothing out of fish skin. Like the Hezhen, they also live in the Amur Basin but they are more concentrated on and nearby to Sakhalin Island in East Siberia.

Top to bottom left: Woman’s fish-skin festival coat (hukht) with detail views. Unknown Nivkh makers, late 19th century. Cloth: fish skin, sinew (reindeer), cotton thread; appliqué and embroidery. The John R. Van Derlip Fund and the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund; purchase from the Thomas Murray Collection 2019.20.31 [image source].

Top to bottom right: detail view of the lower hem of the robe to the left after cleaning [image source].

Nivkh or Nanai fish skin boots from the collection of Musée du quai Branly -Jacques Chirac. © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 [image source].

Detail view of the patterns at the back of a Hezhen robe [image source].

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[baiwu-jinji]

Came across this very informative video about the Hmong/Miao people (for people who like TGCF, this is the culture that Hua Cheng's mother comes from, and that's why Hua Cheng is perceived as this somewhat "exotic" figure in the novel since Miao is an ethnic minority in China). I recommend this video if you're interested in their culture and history :)

[fouryearsofshades]

#MiniBAZAAR三月刊##中华民族服饰之美芭莎大片#这次我们最终拍摄选出来修好的照片有三百张之多，从重要节日着装的盛装，到平日穿着的常服，民族服饰博大精深，而我们记录下来的只是中国传统民族服饰文化的冰山一角。我们将这次未刊登的部分民族的其他图片分享给大家，希望有更多的人投入其中，用自己力所能及的方式，去发扬和保护我们的民族服饰。（按首字母排序） 监制 /@卫甜Weitian 摄影 /@章__Zhang     总策划 / @BAZAAR王古古 部分服饰文字参考 /中国民族事务委员会官网 部分服饰提供 / 中国民族博物馆、云南民族博物馆

妆发鸣谢 / @松果sir、李惟嘉、俄木西梅、莫妍、春来、阿梅、阿依、阿吉 部分服饰提供 / 内蒙古商贸职业学院艺术设计系、@季节术工作室、彝生彝饰、@后物堂、@峯裳、@鶯梭、@鱼汤传统服饰、@元熙·、树德堂银楼 、入迷文创、西域古梦摄影

服饰指导 / @鱼汤小哥哥、@松果sir、@误人子弟_陶冶（新疆和甘肃部分）、@元熙·、俄木西梅、苏婷玲、王景慧、杨智雅、王艳梅、吴玲芝、金铭峰、陈妍、郭旭光、@in_kashgar 发型 / Lucy Li（云南）、刘静（北京） 化妆 / @drinkhoneyinthepark（云南）、KIKO（北京） 联络 /@BAZAAR王古古、@drinkhoneyinthepark、@-黄三抖、郭茜、郭考拉、杰克 制片 / @BAZAAR王古古、@Yashukuo87 服饰文字 / 蒋贞（云南民族博物馆藏品部）、 董苏艺（内蒙古博物院）、@误人子弟_陶冶（新疆和甘肃部分）、姚、@鱼汤小哥哥、@元熙·

56 ethnic groups of China, arranged by hanyu pinyin.

Extra photos that didn’t get chosen to be included in the magazine March 2023 MiniBAZAAR (an online sub-issue of China Harper’s Bazaar) (on weibo, or my last post).

[labyrynth]

there’s this one blog that i see. a lot. who is a blatant tankie.

like. not even trying to hide it.

“hong kong and taiwan have always been part of china. the soviet union was a very nice place for everyone to live. mao’s leadership was amazing. you’ve been brainwashed by capitalism to think otherwise. they were wonderful and the fascists are lying to you” type shit.

i would really, really like to see them less bc every time i see them it leaves a bad taste in my mouth

[knuckle]

I really try not to be petty but the pettiness fills me. Trying not to name an obvious racefaker/national origin faker on here is hard

[panicinthestudio]

The New Face of Chinese Propaganda, March 22, 2023

Influencers are the new face of Chinese propaganda. Hidden amongst the vlogs about puppies and makeup, they clandestinely allow Beijing to whitewash its crimes against humanity. 

Despite being blocked in China, YouTube has become a key ideological battleground for the Chinese Communist Party. And they have created a whole new ecosystem of influencers who tow the party line. 

From looking at these videos, these Uygher influencers portray their homeland of Xinjiang as idyllic and prosperous. However, numerous and credible reports document China’s ongoing crimes against the Uygher population - from rape, forced sterilization to slave labor.

Daria Impiombato, a Researcher at The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and her team, watched over 1,700 of these videos. Soon enough, they found a worrying grey area in which these influencers operate. 

Through working for ‘multi-channel networks’ or MCNs,. These “influencer agencies”, with state-approved VPN networks, allow them to circumnavigate the all-powerful “Great Firewall of China”. 

However, these agencies are linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and their content must strictly follow Chinese law. 

Beijing’s propaganda machine is attempting to control the narrative, not just within their borders, but directly within your algorithms too.

To read the research for yourself; https://www.aspi.org.au/report/frontier-influencers

VICE

[clara-ontheroad]

Summer rains in a Hani village, Yuanyang 元阳, China

@clara_ontheroad on Instagram

[fish-in-need-of-a-bicycle]

Update below original post

The Iranian Regime is going to execute rapper Toomaj Salehi for supporting protests of Jina Amini’s murder by the regime in his songs.

Iranian activist Elica Le Bon says, “Iranians in the diaspora picked up on the fact that the regime tends not to execute people who become known to the international community. We have seen many examples of prisoners that were either released on bail or had their sentences commuted through our “say their names to save their lives” campaign on social media, using hashtags to garner attention for their causes, and even before social media existed, through getting the stories of political prisoners to international media outlets. Once reported on, and once the eyes shift to the regime and the reality of its pending brutality, realizing that the action is not worth the repercussions, we have seen them back down and not execute. For that reason, this is part of an urgent campaign for readers to talk about Toomaj as much as you can, using the hashtag #FreeToomaj or #ToomajSalehi. Every comment makes a difference, and if we were wrong, what did we lose by trying?”

Update: Hey everyone! Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence was overturned! The most recent article I could find says he is still in jail though. Please keep sharing, because people to need to understand what’s happening. According to Amnesty International, Iran carried out 74% of the world’s executions in 2023, not including executions from China since they don’t release those numbers. The execution rate is growing higher with 67 executions in June alone, 48 of which were ethnic minorities despite all together being only 40% of the population. Their crimes are protesting the government for murdering women. Please keep sharing, because while there are many injustices happening far away that can’t be stopped by posting, the Say Their Names to Save Their Lives Movement works.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

It reminds me of a meme in how Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian are considered different "languages" despite them being able to understand each other, whereas different forms of Chinese are considered "dialects".

It's also cool to see how these different ethnic minorities remained in China.

Understanding the Ethnic Geography of China

First, understand the provinces of China:

When people think of China, they all assume that everyone in China is Chinese, speaks Chinese, looks and live like this:

Now let’s look at the Ethnic Make-Up of China!

Look how many Han Chinese there are? But first things first! All the Han Chinese do not speak the same language! Chinese is probably as useful as saying the “Europeans”.

Let’s pretend that Europe is combined into a single country! But with London as the Capital City, and everyone is officially, “European” and they all speak “European”, with European English as the official language of Europe! The French, German, Spanish and Russians? They are their own entire language, culture and ethnicity.

Same goes with China. China is much larger than Europe, speaking different languages, eating different foods, practicing different religions, wearing different clothing. Beijing is the capital, with Mandarin Chinese as the official language of the entire country. However, Chinese languages are considered “Dialects”, but not their own distinct language, culture or ethnicity.

Now let’s look at the Han Chinese languages:

Mandarin Chinese not only has it’s “Northern, Eastern, Southwestern” dialects, but they even break up into more different dialects and accents from different region, city and province. There’s a difference between London accent, Welsh accent, Scottish and Irish accents. To simplify it, the government simply grouped everyone together.

Southern Chinese languages cannot mutually understand with any other Chinese. That’s like an Englishman trying to communicate with a German, a Dutch, or a Danish. They all belong from the same language group, but they cannot understand one another mutually.

But what about the other Non-Han Chinese?

See where Han is at? (Look where Beijing would be!) That is the original homeland of all Han Chinese people.

There are officially 56 Ethnic Groups in China, but there are hundreds and even more that are unofficial and undocumented. It’s the Chinese government way of saying, “Meh. Saffron, Violet and Pink are the same thing. Let’s just call it “Red”.

But how did Han Chinese became the major language and ethnic group of China?

Through conquest! Very much like how the Romans of today Italy killed, pillaged, raped and took over the Gauls of France, the Germania of Central Europe and the Britannia’s of the British Isles, and turned them “Roman citizens” through colonization and expansion!

But what makes China a unique case, is that the surviving natives of the Northern Han conquest, is that they still retain much of their native cultures. They survived, because most of the ethnic groups lived up in the mountains, where the ancient Han Chinese were too lazy to bring their armies up mountains:

Those who were colonized and assimilated into Chinese culture?

The Vietnamese were colonized by the Chinese more than three times.

Korea was colonized/tributing state for the longest time ever.

And Southern China! They would be influenced and assimilated strongest to Northern Chinese culture and language!

But why is everyone considered Chinese?

Same bullshit as your government saying that you’re an American, Canadian, British, Australian, etc. etc. citizen. It’s like a rich White straight male, taking control of the government and dictating how you live, under his life style. The Han Chinese says that everyone in China is all Chinese.

And mostly the blatent ignorance and education on the diversity of China. 

Chinese Dialects?

It’s another bullshit ideology.

Is French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese a dialect of Europe? No. They are their own distinct languages. They may come from the same Roman history, the same Romance language family, but they are their own language. Teochow, Hakka, Minnan, Cantonese, Mandarin, etc. etc. are their own distinct language and ethnicity.

Unified China?

To unify Germany, Hitler said that the German Race was the greatest race! Germans from all over Europe, the German Swiss, the Austrian Germans, etc. etc. united as a single “Race” and rose to power.

To unify China, Northern Chinese Emperors said that they were the greatest race! And attempted to conquer everyone else, killing anyone who wasn’t “Chinese”. This was done for more than 3,000 years, resulting in many extinct native cultures and ethnicities in China, and resulting many cultures (like Korea, Vietnam and even Taiwan) to assimilate into Northern Han Chinese culture.

Conclusion:

Not everyone in China are Mandarin Han Chinese, the major ethnic and language speaking group of China. Three different dialects of Mandarin and 6 different languages of Southern Chinese (Hakka, Min, Wu, etc.).

There is an official recognized 56 ethnic groups, but hundreds that are unrecognized. Such as Tibetans, Miao, Manchu and even Koreans and Mongolians!

China is very diverse in language, culture, religion and ethnicity. Not everyone is ethnically Chinese, nor speak Mandarin Chinese.

[mapsontheweb]

China's Autonomous Regions and its Designated Ethnic Minority

[6ebe]

Why did I just see someone say that if Barca need money so bad they should just start selling pedri sex tapes

[idkthisismyusernameiguess]

the fact that I’m still seeing clowns panic over Xinjiang in 2023

[wiisagi-maiingan]

1) The reason why Christianity and languages like English, Spanish, and French are so spread out in the world (primarily in the West but not entirely) is because of colonialism and violence. People rarely mass convert and give up all their own languages, beliefs, and traditions by choice.

2) If you can understand the above statement, then you also need to learn to apply that to other religions and languages that have spread massively in parts of the world and give space to people who need to talk about the kinds of colonialist violence in their cultures and communities that you aren't personally familiar with, like the Islamic conquests throughout Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe.

3) This also applies to massive countries. We can understand how Canada and the US grew so large through colonialist expansion and by displacing, absorbing, and killing the original inhabitants of the lands, but we also need to apply that to countries like Russia and China that have also become so large through expansionism and violence.

4) These things do not make any religion/language/nationiality/etc inherently bad or violent, because anything and everything can be used to justify atrocities, but we need to recognize and acknowledge these realities to avoid repeating and contributing to them. We also need to boost the voices of the religious and ethnic minorities under these colonial and imperialist powers, especially as those powers work harder to silence those monorities and repaint their violent histories as just peaceful and respectful expansion.

[guoman]

Kaleidoscope (万华镜 ) | Zhou Fanyuan

The graduation film of 2021 Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design student Zhou Fangyuan, Kaleidoscope is a short film celebrating the 56 officially recognized ethnic minority groups in China (I've added the respective groups in the alt text description of all relevant gifs). Since posting, it has gone viral on Bilibili, Weibo, and even Twitter. Zhou has a lovely interview with Animation Obsessive here about the creation process of the short. Since then, she was also hired to create an animated ad for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which you may view here.

[atlaculture]

Cultural Fashion: Katara's Fire Nation Outfit

Was looking at some of my old posts and wanted to re-do a few of them, now that I'm 4 years older wiser.

Katara's Fire Nation outfit is inspired by the outfits worn during traditional Dai folk dance performances. These outfits are typically comprised of form-fitting tops that show off the midriff paired with flowing skirts or pants that emphasizes the elegant movements of the dancer. The necklace and other accessories that Katara wears are also reminiscent of the costume jewelry worn for these performances.

The Dai minority group refers to several Tai-speaking ethnic groups in southern China (Yunnan province) that are closely related to Lao and Thai people, both linguistically and culturally. They're a great inspiration for Fire Nation fashion. Fittingly, Katara debuts this outfit in the show's dancing-focused episode. Below are some examples of the elegance of Dai dance:

The "Peacock Dance" is the most famous Dai dance: