1061, 3164 CHINA (Guangdong / Guangxi / Guizhou / Hainan / Hubei / Hunan / Sichuan / Yunnan) - Miao people

3164 Miao people

Posted on 21.04.2014, 08.10.2017

Miao is an ethnic group who live primarily in southern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, and Hubei, but also, in smaller numbers, in northern Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Miao is actually the official Chinese term for four distinct groups of people who are only distantly related through language or culture (and doesn't reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people): the Hmu people of southeast Guizhou, the Kho (Qho) Xiong people of west Hunan, the A-Hmao people of Yunnan, and the Hmong people of Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Yunnan.

1061 Long Skirt Miao women in Guizhou

There are some nine million Miao in China, of whom the Hmong constitute probably one-third. The Miao are related in language and some other cultural features to the Yao; among these peoples the two groups with the closest degree of relatedness are the Hmong (Miao) and the Iu Mien (Yao). Much of the Miao area is hilly or mountainous, and is drained by several big rivers. The weather is mild with a generous rainfall, and the area is rich in natural resources. Major crops include paddy rice, maize, potatoes, Chinese sorghum, beans, rape, peanuts, tobacco, ramie, sugar cane, cotton, oil-tea camellia and tung tree.

3093 CHINA (Yunnan) - Pumi people

The Pumi people are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China, ethnically related to the Tibetans, and recognized as an official minority nationality unique to Yunnan, with a population of 30,000. They live on rugged mountains as high as 2,600 meters above sea level, cut by deep ravines. They live in approximately 500 villages spread in rugged mountains as high as 2,600 meters above sea level, cut by deep ravines. In many locations they live beside members of the Naxi nationality. Prinmi, the Pumi language, belongs to the Qiangic branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.

3018 CHINA - Yao people

The Yao people are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China, and one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognised by Vietnam (where they are called Dao), but they also live, in small numbers, in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. In the last census in 2000, they numbered more tahn 2,600,000 in China and roughly 470,000 in Vietnam. In China they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south. Long ago, there were about 20 Yao subgroups (and many of them still exist as separate ethnic groupings). Each of these groups had different customs and lifestyles.

2127, 3007 CHINA (Yunnan) - Jino people

2127 Young Jino woman

Posted on 16.12.2015, 01.04.2017
The Jino people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group, which live in an area of about 70x50 km in the Jinoshan Mountain, in the extreme south of Yunnan province, in a series of mild hills with wet climate, crisscrossed by numerous rivers and streams. They are one of the less numerous (about 22,000 people) of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China and the last one included as "national minority", being recognized in 1979.

3007 Jino women beating in a Sun Drum

It is said that they migrated from Pu'er and Mojiang or from places even farther north, and when they settled around the Jinoshan Mountain, still lived in a matriarchal society. This gave way to a patriarchal society some 300 years ago, but they were still in the transitional stage to a class society at the time when the People's Republic was founded in 1949. Zhuoba (the village father) and Zhuose (the village mother) were the leaders in a communal village.

2813 CHINA (Guangxi) - Cormorant fishing at the Li River

Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae) is a family of some 40 species of aquatic bird, which range around the world, except for the central Pacific islands. They are medium-to-large birds, with body weight in the range of 0.35-5kg and wing span of 45-100cm. The majority of species have dark feathers. The bill is long, thin and hooked. Their feet have webbing between all four toes. All species are fish-eaters, catching the prey by diving from the surface. They are excellent divers, and under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings.

2773 CHINA (Inner Mongolia) - Camel racing

The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), the camel with two humps, is one of the tavunhorshoo (five snouts), the five domesticated animals on which the mongolian's herding economy depends (horse, cow/yak, sheep, goat, and camel). With its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitudes, it enabled the travel of caravans on the Silk Road. A Bactrian camel can go nine days without water, 33 days without food.

2707 CHINA (Inner Mongolia) - Hādá

A Hādá (khata, dhar, khadag or hatag) is a traditional ceremonial scarf in tengrism and Tibetan Buddhism, so is common in cultures where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced. It symbolizes purity and compassion and are worn or presented at many ceremonial occasions, including births, weddings, funerals, graduations and the arrival or departure of guests. Tibetan khatas are usually white, symbolising the pure heart of the giver, though it is quite common to find yellow-gold khata as well.

2604 CHINA (Inner Mongolia) - Mongolian yurts

2604 Yurts in Inner Mongolia in 1986

"...They [the Mongols] have circular houses made of wood and covered with felt, which they carry about with them on four-wheeled wagons wherever they go. For the framework of rods is so neatly and skillfully constructed that it is light to carry. And every time they unfold their house and set it up, the door is always facing south." Even though seven centuries have passed since Marco Polo wrote the above, the Mongols still live in such dwellings, whether they live in Mongolia, in China (Inner Mongolia) or in Russia.

2564 CHINA (Inner Mongolia) - Tsagaan sar, the White Moon Festival

Tsagaan sar (literally White Moon) is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian lunar calendar, and is a big celebration for the Mongols. The traditional Mongol calendar is a lunisolar calendar based on Tegus Buyantu zurkhai system developed in 1747 by monk Ishbaljir. The Mongol year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, so that an average year is equal to the solar year.

2392 CHINA (Inner Mongolia) - A Wedding Ceremony

The Mongolian wedding ceremony has changed over time, but still the Mongolian people are trying to keep the traditional rituals. When a couple agrees to marry one another, they explain their engagements to the groom’s parents. Then the groom’s father gives a hadag (a specially made band of silk) and a silver bowl-like cup filled with milk to the bride’s father, this meaning that he welcomes his daughter-in-law and they will treat her like their own daughter. When the bride’s family accepts the engagement, it means they accept the groom as their own son.

1988 CHINA - A Small Southern Town

The concepts of northern and southern China originate from differences in climate, geography, culture, and physical traits; as well as several periods of actual political division in history. For a large part of Chinese history, the North was economically more advanced than the South. The Jurchen and Mongol invasion caused a massive migration to South, and the Emperor shifted the Song Dynasty capital city from Kaifeng to Hangzhou.

1972 CHINA - Imperial Concubine Consort Hua in "Empresses in the Palace"

Empresses in the Palace, also known as The Legend of Zhen Huan, is a Chinese television series based on the Internet novel of the same name, first aired in China on 17 November 2011. The drama has been praised for being one of the best historical dramas broadcast in Chinese mainland in recent years, and achieved very high ratings not only in China, but also in Taiwan and Japan. In the postcard is the Imperial Concubine Consort Hua, played by the actress Jiang Xin.

1748-1750 UNITED NATIONS - We the peoples...

1748 - A child from Solomon Islands

 

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS
PREAMBLE

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

1749 - A Kirghiz family at the foot of
the Kongur mountains in Xinjiang, China

AND FOR THESE ENDS

• to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
• to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
• to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
• to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

1750 - A Northern Ndebele woman from Zimbabwe

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

1691 CHINA (Guizhou / Guangxi / Yunnan / Sichuan) - A Gelao women

The Gelao people (also spelled Gelo) are an ethnic group of China and northern Vietnam. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China. However, many Gelao are also variously classified as Yi, Miao, and Zhuang by the Chinese government. They number approximately 500,000 and are mainly located in the western part of Guizhou, being often considered the aboriginal inhabitants of this province. Some live in western Guangxi, southeastern Yunnan, and southern Sichuan. The main religion practiced is  Taoism with a small but significant Buddhist minority. The Gelao language is a dialect cluster of  Kra languages in the Tai-Kadai language family. Today, only a small minority of the Gelao still speak this language.

1197 CHINA (Tibet) - A Lhoba man in traditional clothes

Lhoba is a term which apply to a diverse amalgamation of Tibeto-Burman tribespeople living in and around Pemako, a region in Southeastern Tibet. It is largely promoted by the Chinese government, which officially recognises Lhoba as one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, even though it has, according to official statistics, only 2970 members, and most people designated as Lhoba don't self-identify as a single entity. The two main tribal groups which fall under the designation Lhoba in are the Yidu (Idu Mishmi) and the Bo'gaer (Bokar Adi), who are found in far greater numbers inside Arunachal Pradesh, a state of India (claimed by China). Other groups identified by Chinese authorities as Lhoba include the Na (Bangni). The area which Lhoba live today was known as Lhoyü in medieval texts, but it isn't known whether they inhabited the area at the time of Tibetan conquest, in 7th century.

1031 CHINA (Hubei) - The hometown of the poet Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan (343-278 BC) was a poet who served in high offices in the ancient state of Chu, known for his contributions to the classical poetry, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology (also known as The Songs of the South), written in exile. It is said that, when his king decided to ally with the powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and even accused of treason. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying (the Chu capital), and Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.

0965 CHINA (Shaanxi) - Inside the Yellow Earth

In China, the Yellow Earth usually refers to the Loess Plateau (also known as the Huangtu Plateau), located in the country's northern part, on the upper and middle reaches of Yellow River (which in fact took its name even at the Yellow Earth), extending northeast to southwest for more than 1,000km, and having several hundred kilometers wide. More specifically, the Loess Plateau and its dusty soil cover almost all of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, as well as parts of Gansu province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, being a transition zone to the steppes and desert regions of Inner Mongolia.

0949 CHINA (Sichuan) - A teahouse in Chengdu

A teahouse is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments, and, even if its function varies widely depending on the culture, it often serves also as center of social interaction. In China, a teahouse is traditionally similar to the American cafe. People gather at teahouses to chat, socialize, and enjoy tea, and young people often meet at teahouses for dates. Tea culture in China differs from that of Europe, Britain or Japan in such things as preparation methods, tasting methods and the occasions for which it is consumed. Even now, in both casual and formal Chinese occasions, tea is consumed regularly.

0914 CHINA (Hong Kong) - A man with a rickshaw

The rickshaw began as a two or three-wheeled passenger cart, called a pulled rickshaw, generally pulled by one man with one passenger, and it is believed to have been invented in Japan in the 1869, after the lifting of the ban on wheeled vehicles from the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). The first known use of the term was in 1887, and originates from the Japanese word jinrikisha (jin = human, riki = power or force, sha = vehicle). Pulled rickshaws created a popular form of transportation, and a source of employment, within Asian cities in the 19th century, but their popularity declined when cars, trains and other forms of transportation became widely available.

0893 CHINA (Hong Kong) - Elaborate make-up of Chinese Opera performer

Chinese opera together with Greece tragic-comedy and Indian Sanskrit Opera are the three oldest dramatic art forms in the world. Its roots going back as far as the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), and during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) the Emperor Taizong established an opera school with the poetic name Liyuan (Pear Garden). Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) it has been encouraged by court officials and has become a traditional art form. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it became fashionable among ordinary people, and performances were watched in tearooms, restaurants, and even around makeshift stages.