Bai people

The Bai or Baip (Bai language: Baipho /pɛ̰˦˨xo̰˦/ (白和); Chinese: 白族; pinyin: Báizú; endonym pronounced [pɛ̀tsī]) are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They numbered 1,858,063 as of 2000.

Names

The Bai people hold the colour white in high esteem and call themselves "Baipzix" (pɛ42 tsi33; Baizi 白子), "Baip'ho" (pɛ42 xo44; Baihuo 白伙), "Baip yinl" (pɛ42 ji21; Baini 白尼), or "Miep jiax". Baip people literally means 'white people' in Chinese. In 1956, the Chinese authorities named them the Bai nationality according to their preference.

Historically, the Bai had also been called Minjia (民家) by the Chinese from the 14th century to 1949. Minjia means civil people and natives, as opposite to Junjia (軍家)， which means the military people who were Han Chinese.

The origin of the name Bai is not clear, but most scholars believe that it has a strong connection to the first state Bai people built in roughly the 3rd century. This state, called Baizi Guo (白子國; State of Bai), was not documented in Chinese orthodox history but was frequently mentioned in the oral history of Yunnan Province. It was believed to be built by the first king, Longyouna (龍佑那), who was given the family name "Zhang" (張) by Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the state of Shu Han (221–263 CE). Zhuge Liang conquered the Dali region at that time and picked up Longyouna and assisted him in building the State of Bai. The State of Bai was located in present-day Midu County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.

Bai people (South Sudan)

The Bai people is an ethnic group speaking the Bai language in South Sudan. The Bai language is a Niger–Congo language. Several thousand persons belong to this group. The Bai people mostly inhabit the Southern Sudanese state of Western Bahr el Ghazal.

References