The Zhuang are China's largest officially recognized ethnic minority, a Tai-Kadai-speaking people native to Guangxi in southern China, where most now live within the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region established in 1958, with related populations extending into northern Vietnam. Traditionally wet-rice agriculturalists, the Zhuang historically worshipped a pantheon centered on ancestor veneration and nature spirits, later blending with Daoist and Buddhist practice, and the Huashan rock art site in Guangxi, attributed to Zhuang ancestors, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. A standardized Zhuang script based on the Latin alphabet was introduced in the 1950s to supplement centuries of earlier logographic Sawndip writing derived from Chinese characters.
Facts
Group TypeTai-speaking ethnic group 1 Typical RegionGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Southern China 1 Population Estimate19,568,546 (2020 census) 1 Primary Language Population Band
Population Band (category) Partially Attested
Subsistence ModeOnly a 19th century Qing official description quoted in the article; no dedicated subsistence statement. Group Type
Group Type (category) Subsistence Mode
Subsistence Mode (category) Connections
In Rule Category
Source Countries and Their Cultures (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Gale): Zhuang - Kinship
In the Other Atlases
Used In
Also in Language Atlas: which uses this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Zhuang peopleLeadQuote, Lead
The Zhuang ( ; Chinese: 壮族; pinyin: Zhuàngzú; Zhuang: Bouxcuengh, [poːu˦˨ ɕeŋ˧], Sawndip: 佈獞) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Zhuang people
Opening subtitle
Tai-speaking ethnic group
Opening paragraph, region
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China
Infobox, population
19,568,546 (2020 census)
Infobox, languages
Zhuang languages
Customs and culture, Qing-era description
The inhabitants labor in the rice-fields
Opening paragraph, alternative names
Rau or Rao people
Lead
Their population, estimated at 19 million people, makes them the largest minority in China.
View the Source2. Encyclopedia.com (Encyclopedia of World Cultures): Zhuang
Encyclopedia.com (Encyclopedia of World Cultures)EconomyQuote, Economy
The Zhuang have traditionally engaged in agriculture and in forestry.
Countries and Their Cultures (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Gale): Zhuang - Kinship
Countries and Their Cultures (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Gale)In Rule Category: Patrilineal Descent, Kin Groups and DescentQuote, In Rule Category: Patrilineal Descent, Kin Groups and Descent
Beyond the three-generation household, the significant group is the localized patrilineage, which shares a common surname and traces descent from a common ancestor.
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