Introduction
This article explores the often misunderstood and mysterious origin of the Bai people, a Sino-Tibetan tribe, in Yunnan.
The Bai people were originally called Bo (僰) in ancient times. From the Yuan dynasty onwards, this character was simplified to the character for white color 'Bai' 白 because both Bo and Bai had the same sound i.e. 'Baak' in ancient times.
They were also called Minjia by the Chinese from the Ming dynasty onwards. They are also mistakenly called 'White Lolo' although Lolo-Yi is a native branch of Sino-Tibetan in Yunnan.
Homeland
The homeland of Bai is in Erhai Lake basin in Dali prefecture of Yunnan province. |
| Erhai lake in Yunnan |
Original homeland
During Xia dynasty, their earliest homeland was in Puyang prefecture in Henan province. During the Shang dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC), they migrated to Han River basin in Hubei province.
When the Chinese Chu state expanded into Han River basin, the Bai migrated further south to western Hunan.
Migration to Yunnan
During the Warring States of China (475 BC-221 BC), they reached southeastern Sichuan and Zhaotong (昭通) prefecture in northeastern Yunnan.
In southeastern Sichuan, they established a kingdom called Bo Hou (僰侯) kingdom in Yibin (宜賓) city which was later conquered by Qin dynasty.
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| King of Bo mountain in Yibin |
After their kingdom was annexed by the Qin dynasty, most of them migrated to Dian Lake basin but some still remained in southeastern Sichuan.
In 42-43 AD, the Bo people migrated further west into Erhai lake due to oppression by the Han dynasty army.
During Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD), the Kra people, part of Kra-Dai people, migrated to southeastern Sichuan and took over most of the Bai territories forcing the remaining Bai people to move south to Yunnan.
Bai kingdom
Duan Siping, an ethnic Bai, founded the Dali kingdom in Yunnan in 937 AD with its capital in Dali city near Erhai lake. He was a military general who restored order to Yunnan after the fall of Nanzhao kingdom.
The kingdom was invaded by the Mongols and incorporated into China in 1253 AD.
Language and writing
The Shanhua (山花) tablet in Dali city recorded their writing script which is basically Chinese characters written during the Ming dynasty.
This written script was called 'Script of the Bo (僰) people' which the Bai people started to use during Nanzhao kingdom (738–902 AD).
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| Shanhua tablet |
The language of the ancestors of Bai people split off from the Chinese spoken during the end of the Xia dynasty around 1600 BC. Whereas, the modern Sinitic languages were mostly descended from the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771 BC-476 BC).
Linguists found the oldest layer of Sinitic words in the Bai language and the Bai grammar is similar to the Min Chinese grammar which is the older form of Chinese. In other words, some aspects of Bai language are much older than even Min Chinese.
Due to their migration to southeastern Sichuan and northwestern Yunnan, they absorbed some Loloish words from the native Lolo-Yi people through their intermarriage with them. Note that the earliest Sino-Tibetan branch in Yunnan are the Lolo-Burmese people.
Some linguists were uncertain whether these 15 basic Loloish words out of 100-word Swadesh list were native or loanwords; however, judging from their origin, these Loloish words are actually influences from the native Lolo-Yi people in Yunnan.
Another evidence is that the character for love in early Old Chinese was 字 and not 愛 but this character is retained in Bai language (but not other modern Chinese languages) which proves that the Bai people couldn't possibly have been the natives of Yunnan.
Bai subgroups
There are five main surnames of the Bai people which are Mong 蒙、Zheng 鄭、Zhao 趙、Yang 楊、Duan 段.
The Baic subgroups are
- Bai: Bai/Minjia, Nama, Leimo in Yunnan
- Cai-Long: Caijia, Longjia in north-western Guizhou
- Waxiang in north-western Hunan
The current distribution of the Baic subgroups lie along their migration path from Han River basin to Yunnan; and provides evidence that they are not the natives of Yunnan which was mistaken by some linguists and scholars.
The Nama and Leimo subgroups are Bai people who escaped to Mekong River basin when the Mongols invaded Dali kingdom. 'Nama' means tiger because they worshipped tiger.
Leimo means 'arrived from across the mountain' which was named by the native Lolo-Yi people.
Closest ethnic relative
Judging from their origin and language, the Bai people's closest ethnic relative are the Han Chinese where both ethnic groups originated from the Yangshao neolithic culture.
The Baic people developed their own unique culture after they migrated to Yunnan but is still similar to Han Chinese culture.
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| Bai culture |
Conclusion
Contrary to popular beliefs, the Bai people are not the natives of Yunnan. The Lolo-Yi are the natives of eastern Yunnan whereas the Austroasiatic Palaungic people are the natives of western Yunnan.
The Bai people can be considered a branch of the North-eastern Sino-Tibetan people who migrated from Henan to south-western China in ancient times.
They aren't traditionally considered part of the Han Chinese as they were separated from the mainstream Sinitic people very early in history.
Related links
Origin of Tujia
Origin of Han Chinese
Sources
- On the genetic position of Bai language.By Wang Feng 2005. https://www.persee.fr/doc/clao_0153-3320_2005_num_34_1_1728
- Classifying Chinese dialects on shared innovations. By Sagart, Laurent. (2011)
- Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. By Carl Skutsch
- Lee, Yeon-ju; Sagart, Laurent (1998). "The strata of Bai". University of Lund, Sweden.
- The historical position of Bai. 1994. By Sergei Starostin.
- Tomb history - the Return of Bo (僰人歸來). By Li Zhengqing 李正清, expert on ethnology in Zhaotong.
- Chinese cultural display:Ethnic Bai. 中國文化大博覽·白族 By Hua Wen Hui 華文輝. Publisher: Beijing Book Co. Inc.
- Sichuan: Qing dynasty history book. 四川《珙縣誌》
- Nama and Leimo subgroups of Bai. http://en.chinaculture.org/2014-12/30/content_589485.htm
- Origin of Bai script. By Zhao Yan Sun 趙衍蓀. Tienjin publisher 1987.
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Last updated: 16 May 2021
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