Utsul

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Utsul
Alternative names: Utsat, Utset, Huihui, Hui, Hainan Cham
Total population
5,000
Regions with significant populations
China: southern Hainan
Languages
Tsat
Religions
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Chams, Malay people, other Austronesian peoples

The Utsuls are a tiny ethnic group which lives on the Chinese island of Hainan and are considered one of the People's Republic of China's undistinguished ethnic groups. They are found on the southernmost tip of Hainan near the city of Sanya. According to the traditions of the Utsuls, their ancestors were Muslims who migrated southward out of Central Asia into their present day location. However, they are thought to be descendants of Cham refugees who fled their homeland in what is now southern Vietnam to escape from Annamese invasion.

While most of the Chams who fled Champa went to neighbouring Cambodia, a small business class fled northwards. How they came to acquire the name Utsul is unknown.

Although they are culturally distinct from their neighbours, the Chinese government places them as members of the Hui nationality. However, from reports by Hans Stübel, the German ethnographer who "discovered" them in the 1930s, their language is completely unrelated to any other language spoken in mainland China. They are speakers of the Tsat language, which is one of the few Malayo-Polynesian languages that is tonal. In any case, they share nothing more but religion with other Hui people.

[edit] References

• Ramsey, S. Robert (1987). The Languages of China. Princeton. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-06694-9

[edit] See also

• Undistinguished ethnic groups in China