introduction
In ancient China, there were many names for "nationalities" - tribes, tribes, people's groups, etc., for example, in the "Book of Northern Qi, Wang Huai's Biography": "Gao Zu went out of the east, Huai led his people to more than 3,000 families, and followed Gao Zu in Jizhou." Among them, "tribe" means tribe.
As we all know, China is a multi-ethnic country with a long history and deep roots. In fact, in addition to the fifty-six nationalities that everyone knows, there are several unidentified ethnic groups that have not yet been identified. What is an unidentified ethnicity? Simply put, it is an ethnic group that does not meet the definition of nationality in our country.
▲Ethnicity is not identified
01
According to China's policy, although the unrecognized ethnic groups do not belong to the 56 ethnic groups, most of them are preferentially treated according to ethnic minorities, and the ID card comes with a "special logo". The wearing of green people is such a nation. At present, there are about 600,000 people in China who call themselves "wearing green", most of whom live in Bijie, Guizhou. The origin of the wearing green people is still uncertain, but there are roughly two theories.
The first is that the wearing of the green people was originally a native ethnic group originating in Guizhou; the second theory categorizes the source of the wearing of the green people into the Han nationality. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Yuanzhang had already ascended the throne as emperor, there were still some places that were not unified, including some areas in Yunnan and Guizhou. So Zhu Yuanzhang sent about 300,000 troops from Jiangxi, Jiangsu and other provinces to go out on a campaign, and when the Yunnan-Guizhou area was recaptured, some of the troops withdrew to their original positions, while the other part stayed, while reclaiming wasteland and guarding the border. Some Han Chinese who accompanied the army stayed in the local area and intermarried with the local indigenous peoples.
▲Stills of the Ming Dynasty army
02
After a long period of ethnic integration, the descendants of the Ming army still retained many Han chinese living habits. Therefore, they have obvious differences with other ethnic minorities in the local area, but they are also different from the Han people in the interior, which has led to the formation of the current Qing people.
The title "wearing green" has no special meaning, the people of this ethnic group do not have a fixed self-designation, this is not the local ethnic minorities for their name, other local ethnic minorities will still call them Han, but will add some adjectives, such as "Bigfoot Han", "White Han" and so on. It can be seen that in their minds, the green people are still Han Chinese, but they are slightly different from ordinary Han People.
▲ Wearing green people
The reason why they are called "wearing green people" is actually to separate them from the local ethnic minorities called "wearing orchids". Another reason may be because they generally prefer to wear cyan clothing, so they are called so. During the Kangxi Dynasty, officials regarded the wearing of green people as part of the "Nine Yi Barbarians". The Qing Dynasty's Records of Dading County say that they were because: "... green...... Also known as wearing green".
But there is also a saying that after the liberation of our country, the policy of land reform in ethnic minority areas was different from that of Han areas. Therefore, landlords in some parts of Guizhou have held meetings on this matter, and they do not want land reform to lose their original real estate, so they hope that the wearing green people can be officially defined as a minority in China and be treated as an ethnic minority - not to participate in land reform.
▲Guizhou mountain village
03
The Wearers did not have their own language, and they first spoke a dialect that is still popular in the southeastern part of Guizhou. But now it is not used much, and only some traces of pronunciation have been retained. Since they also did not have their own script, their mother tongues had been indistinguishable for a long time, which was one of the reasons why it was impossible to determine whether they were an independent people. At present, most of the people wearing green people use Guizhou dialect.
The green wearers have their own totem, and their totem is more special - the mountain fish. As a totem, the image of the mountain fish will appear on many production and living utensils worn by green people. It is precisely because the mountain fish is the totem of the green people, so they associate it with their ancestors. Usually, you can't talk about mentions at will, let alone insult them. In the Anshun area of Guizhou, there is also a group of Tunbao people belonging to the Han nationality, they are clearly the descendants of the Ming Dynasty army Tunjun at that time, the costumes and habits of the Tunbao people are very similar to those of the Sichuan Qing people, and have formed a unique Ming Dynasty cultural custom, which has also become one of the local tourism projects.
▲ Tunbao people take group photos in front of drones
The wearing of green people is not now recognized as an ethnic group, so in official occasions or official documents, they can not be called "wearing green people", and the difference between the identity card of the wearing green person and the identity card of his ethnic minority is that the three words "wearing green people" are written at the back of the ethnic column.
epilogue
Although the identity card of the person wearing the green is not marked with ethnicity, it is also a valid identity document legally prescribed by our country. Like ordinary people's ID cards, they have various functions, which will not affect their normal life. At present, many Sichuan youths are actively applying to become truly recognized ethnic minorities, and the relevant state departments have been studying the history and culture of the wearing green people, and it is believed that this issue will be finally concluded in the near future.
Resources:
Book of Northern Qi and The Biography of Wang Huai
"Dading County Chronicle"