Lisu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lisu | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Total population | 700,000 (est.) |
| Regions with significant populations | China, Thailand, Myanmar, India |
| Language | Lisu |
| Religion | Shamanism, Christianity |
The Lisu people (Chinese: 傈僳族 : Lìsù Zú) are an ethnic group who inhabit Myanmar (Burma), China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. They are also known as Yawyin or, in a few places Yobin. However, this is a derogatory term meaning "savage" used by the Kachin of the Lisu; and was used by the Chinese of the Kachin before them. The Lisu are believed to originate from eastern Tibet, but recent historical linguistic work by Dr. David Bradley indicates that they moved to eastern Tibet/northwestern Yunnan in the 18th century. Not long after that, in the early 19th century, Lisu peoples began moving southwards down the Salween River Valley into northern Burma and northern Thailand.
The Lisu form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 30,000 live in Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes. Traditionally living in villages high in the mountains or in mountain valleys, Western missionaries have attempted to convert them to Christianity.
Their religion is part animist and ancestor worship; curing took place through shamanism. However, some Lisu converted to Protestant Christians starting in the early 20th century. The first Lisu to be reached by Christian missionaries were the Salween branch of the Lisu in Yunnan Province, China. The Scottish missionary James O. Fraser was the first Christian ever to have Lisu converts. In the 1930s and 1940s, other missionaries such as the couples Isobel Kuhn and John Kuhn continued the missionary work once Fraser died. Several Christian missions in Thailand have also been set up for the Lisu. Many Lisu have resisted the missionary change. Others, in China, greeted Christianity as it drew them into a global network of knowledge and identity, helping them to resist the alienation of their land and forced assimilation by the influx of the Han into Yunnan.
Lisus in Arunachal Pradesh are were believed to have migrated from the Patkai Hills. A population of missionized Lisu migrated from China to Burma, fleeing the Communists, and then were ordered to leave Burma by the government at the time; this group also settled in Arunachal Pradesh. In Arunachal Pradesh, they are primarily concentrated in Vijoynagar town of Changlang District.[1]
Lisu villages are usually built close to water to provide easy access for washing and drinking. Their homes are usually built on the ground and have dirt floors and bamboo walls, although an increasing number of the more affluent Lisu are now building houses from wood or even concrete.
Lisu subsistence was based on mountain rice, fruit and vegetables. However, they have typically lived in ecologically fragile regions that do not easily support subsistence. They also faced constant upheaval from both physical and social disasters (earthquakes and landslides; wars and governments). Therefore, they have typically been dependent on trade for survival. This included work as porters, caravan guards, or robbers of caravans. With the introduction of the opium poppy as a cash crop in the early 19th century, many Lisu populations were able to achieve economic stability. This lasted for over 100 years, but opium production has all but disappeared in Thailand and China due to interdiction of production. Very few Lisu ever used opium, or its more common derivative heroin, except for medicinal use by the elders to alleviate the pain of arthritis.
The Lisu practiced swidden (slash and burn) horticulture. In conditions of low population density where land can be fallowed for many years, swiddening is an environmentally sustainable form of horticulture. Despite decades of swiddening by hill tribes such as the Lisu, northern Thailand had a higher proportion of intact forest than any other part of Thailand. However, with road building by the state, logging (some legal but mostly illegal) by Thai companies, enclosure of land in national parks, and influx of immigrants from the lowlands, swidden fields can not be fallowed, can not re-grow, and swiddening results in large swathes of deforested mountainsides. Under these conditions, Lisu and other swiddeners have been forced to turn to new methods of agriculture to sustain themselves.
Perhaps the best-known subgroup of the Lisu is the Flowery Lisu in Thailand, due to hill tribe tourism. Lisu women are remarked for their brightly colored dress. They wear a multi-colored knee-length tunics of red, blue or green with a wide black belt and blue or black pants. Sleeve shoulders and cuffs are decorated with a dense applique of narrow horizontal bands of blue, red and yellow. Men wear baggy pants, usually in bright colours but normally wear a more western type of shirt or top.
Their language is Tibeto-Burman of the Loloish family, so closely related to Lahu, Akha, and Yi. However, they often incorporate vocabulary from the language of their dominant neighbors. Thus, the Flowery Lisu have incorporated many Chinese words into their language through long term contact with the Han before migration to Burma and Thailand. This makes it difficult for Lisu from neighbouring countries to communicate to each other. Lisu history is passed from one generation to the next in the form of songs. Today, this song is so long that it can take more than a week to sing.
Christian missionaries developed a written form of Lisu developed by James O. Fraser called the Fraser alphabet, and recognised by the Chinese Government as the official script. Many Lisu, particularly in Burma, have converted to Christianity and learned the Lisu script.
[edit] Linguistic classification
- A.K.A.: Lisaw/Yobin
- Language family: Tibeto-Burman
- Language branch: Lolo
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Chinese ethnic groups (as classified by the government of the PRC) |
|---|
| Achang • Bai • Blang • Bonan • Buyei • Dai • Daur • De'ang • Derung • Dong • Dongxiang • Evenk • Gaoshan • Gelao • Han • Hani • Hezhen • Hui • Jing • Jingpo • Jino • Kazakh • Kirgiz • Korean • Lahu • Lhoba • Li • Lisu • Manchu • Maonan • Miao • Monba • Mongol • Mulao • Nakhi • Nu • Oroqen • Pumi • Qiang • Russian • Salar • She • Shui • Tajik • Tatar • Tibetan • Tu • Tujia • Uyghur • Uzbek • Va • Xibe • Yao • Yi • Yugur • Zhuang • Undistinguished ethnic groups |
| Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh | |
| Major Tribes | |
| Adi - Mishmi | |
| Standard Tribes | |
| Aka - Apa Tani - Ashing - Bori - Chikum Dui - Chugpa - Deori - Digaru - Gallong - Hill Miri - Khamba - Khampti - Khamyang - Khowa - Lhoba - Lishipa - Lisu - Padam - Palibo - Phake - Memba - Monpa - Miji - Mikir - Minyong - Miju - Mishing - Nishi - Nocte - Nga - Ran - Sherdukpen - Singpho - Sulung - Takpa - Tangsa - Tutsa - Wancho - Zekhring |
|
|
|---|
| Anu • Anun • Asho • Atsi • Awa Khami • Bamar (Burman) • Beik • Bre (Ka-Yaw) • Bwe • Chin • Dai (Yindu) • Daingnet • Dalaung • Danaw (Danau) • Danu • Dawei • Dim • Duleng • Eik-swair • Eng • Ganan • Gheko • Guari • Gunte (Lyente) • Gwete • Haulngo • Hkahku • Hkun (Khün) • Hpon • Intha • Kachin (Jingpo) • Kadu (Kado) • Ka-Lin-Kaw (Lushay) • Kamein • Kaung Saing Chin • Kaungso • Kaw (Akha-E-Kaw) • Kayah (Karenni) • Kayin (Karen) • Kayinpyu (Geba Karen) • Ka-Yun (Kayan; Padaung) • Kebar • Khami • Khamti Shan • Khmu (Khamu) • Khawno • Kokang • Kwangli (Sim) • Kwelshin • Kwe Myi • Kwi • Lahu • Lai (Haka Chin) • Laizao • Lashi (La Chit) • Lawhtu • Laymyo • Lhinbu • Lisu • Lushei (Lushay) • Lyente • Magun • Maingtha • Malin • Manu Manaw • Man Zi • Maramagyi • Maru (Lawgore) • Matu • Maw Shan • Meithei (Kathe) • Mgan • Mi-er • Miram (Mara) • Moken (Salon; Salone) • Mon • Monnepwa • Monpwa • Mon Kayin (Sarpyu) • Mro • Naga • Ngorn • Oo-Pu • Paku • Palaung • Pale • Pa-Le-Chi • Panun • Pa-O • Pyin • Rakhine (Arakanese) • Rawang • Rongtu • Saing Zan • Saline • Sentang • Sgaw • Shan • Shan Gale • Shan Gyi • Shu (Pwo) • Son • Tai-Loi • Tai-Lem • Tai-Lon • Tai-Lay • Taishon • Ta-Lay-Pwa • Tanghkul • Tapong • Taron • Taungyo • Tay-Zan • Thado • Thet • Tiddim (Hai-Dim) • Torr (Tawr) • Wa (Va) • Wakim (Mro) • Yabein • Yao • Yaw • Yin Baw • Yin Kya • Yin Net • Yin Talai • Yun (Lao) • Za-How • Zahnyet (Zanniet) • Zayein • Zizan • Zo • Zo-Pe • Zotung |
|
|
|---|
| Akha • Bru • Cham • Chinese • Hmong • Karen • Khmer • Khmu • Kuy • Lahu • Lanna (Northern Thai) • Lao • Lawa • Lisu • Lolo (Yi) • Lü (Tai Lü) • Lua • Malay • Mani (Negrito) • Mlabri • Moken • Mon • Nyahkur (Nyah Kur, Chao-bon) • Palaung (De'ang) • Phai • Phu Thai • Phuan • Saek • Shan • So • Southern Thai • Tai Dam (Black Tai) • Tai Nüa • Thai • Urak Lawoi • Yao/Iu Mien |
