Introduction
The Ba people are part of the Sino-Tibetan tribes. They are called Tujia by the Han Chinese but they call themselves Bicika which in their language means 'tiger'.Homeland
The current homeland of Tujia is in Chongqing and it was part of Sichuan before 1997 AD.
Most Tujia people live in eastern Chongqing, south-western Hubei, western Hunan. where there are many Tujia autonomous counties.
Original homeland
The original homeland of the Ba people is along the upper reaches of Han River basin in southern Shaanxi province.They were conquered by the Shang dynasty which expanded from the east.
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| Original homeland of the Ba |
The Ba people aided the founder of Zhou dynasty King Wu who live in neighboring Wei River basin, to overthrow the Shang dynasty in 1046 BC. King Wu bestowed his surname Ji (姬) to the ruler of Ba people for their aid and their homeland in upper Han River basin became a vassal state of the Zhou dynasty.
Migration to Hubei
During the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BC), the Ba people tried to expand their border further down to lower reaches of Han River basin in Hubei but was defeated by the Chu state around the 7th century BC.After their defeat by the Chu state, the Ba ancestors migrated south to the Qing (清) river basin (old name was Yi 夷) in modern-day Changyang (長陽) Tujia county in south-western Hubei province.
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| Migration to Hubei |
King Lin (廩君), their first king in their new homeland, established the Ba kingdom with its capital in modern-day Enshi Tujia prefecture controlling the whole Qing river basin.
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| White tiger artifact found in Ba site |
Migration to Sichuan
The expansion of the Chu kingdom into southwestern Hubei caused the Ba people to migrate their capital to modern-day Chongqing city in eastern Sichuan during Warring States period (475-221 BC).The capital was at the intersection between the Jialing River and Yangtze River. The old name for Jialing was Yu (渝) river. The Ba kingdom controlled mainly eastern Sichuan.
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| Ba kingdom after migration to Sichuan |
After the annexation by the Qin dynasty in 316 BC, one group of Ba people migrated to western Hunan. The Ba people who stayed behind in eastern Sichuan assimilated into the natives of Jialing river basin.
The natives of Jialing River are the Cong (賨) aka Ban-Shun (板楯蠻) people. As can be seen from their earliest history, the Cong people were initially not Ba people although both groups are Sino-Tibetan people.
Genetics
According to a genetic study of various Tujia in different regions; as a group in general, the Tujia cluster closer with Han Chinese compared with the Tibetans in Tibet and the Lolo-Naxi group in Yunnan.Whereas, the genetics of Tujia in Longshan and Yongshun counties is a bit further away from Han Chinese suggesting an admixture with the natives of Chongqing.
Language
The Tujia language is unclassified due to extensive number of basic and non-basic cognates of many layers of Chinese which confused linguists as to whether these layers are loanwords or native words.Moreover, the language also has a non-Sinitic layer possibly from the language of the natives of Chongqing after the Ba people migrated there.
In consideration of their genetics, their original homeland, their migration path and their legend as told in the next section, it is concluded that the native layer is the Sinitic layer and not the non-Sinitic layer as previously thought.
The video below shows the Tujia language.
Culture
The Ba people were famous for their war dance in ancient times before they go to war. Nowadays, it has been reduced to a 'swinging hand dance'. Watch the video below.
Closest ethnic relative
The earliest ancestor of the Ba before they migrated to Yangtze River is Fuxi (伏曦). Fuxi was one of the Three Sovereigns in Chinese history. Fuxi's descendants split into five main tribes which are Ba (巴), Fan (樊), Hui (暉)、Xiang (相)、Zheng (鄭).
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| Fuxi |
Moreover, Ba's archaeological sites in Hubei revealed many artifacts that is from Yangshao neolithic site in addition to later inventions such as the white tiger artifacts.
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| Ba Artifact |
Therefore, Ba people can be considered to be a separate branch of the North-eastern Sino-Tibetan who originated from the Yangshao Neolithic culture.
This branch broke off before the Sinitic branch formed which also explains the easterly location of their original homeland near the Wei River where the Yangshao Neolithic culture started.
In conclusion, their closest ethnic relative is the Han Chinese.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular beliefs, the Ba people who are Tujia ancestors are not the natives of southwestern China.
Related links
Origin of Sino-Tibetan tribeshttp://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/08/origin-of-sino-tibetan-tribes.html
Ethnic origin of Han Chinese
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-han-chinese.html
Sources
- Great Perfection. By Terry F. Kleeman
- Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China. By Steven F. Sage
- Genetic structure of Tujia. Acta Genetica Sinica, Oct 2004. By Xie Xuan Hua et al.
- https://kknews.cc/history/k38eoxv.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/3j8ayx3.html
- https://kknews.cc/culture/q2me2gy.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/4q9ryjv.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/gbqv5m9.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/ao4n8vx.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/eppebqn.html
- https://kknews.cc/culture/vz8gmyl.html
- Huxiang cultural dictionary 湖湘文化辞典. By Wan Li 万里
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