China is a large family of 56 ethnic groups, and for some of them, the Chinese people are not very familiar with them, and some have never heard of it, let alone seen it, so the stories about these unfamiliar ethnic minorities are always very mysterious.
The Daman people are a group of people who have waited for more than 200 years to become Chinese nationals and become members of our nation.
What are some bizarre twists and turns in this?
Lost cavalry
The ancestors of the Dammam people are Nepalese, which stems from a period of history more than 200 years ago.
The present-day Nepalese, known as the Gurkhas during the Qing Dynasty, were a powerful tribe within Nepal at the time.
As we all know, the border of China's Tibet region is close to Nepal, and due to the long and tortuous border line, complex terrain and harsh natural conditions, the border defense in this area is relatively weak.
This provided an opportunity for the surrounding Gurkhas to exploit loopholes to invade.
During the Qianlong period, the Gurkhas, who were ruling Nepal at the time, formed a powerful cavalry, their people were fierce, their soldiers were strong, and they often burned and plundered in the border area between China and Nepal.
It not only overthrew the Mara dynasty in Nepal at the time, but also occupied a small country like Sikkim, forcing the king of Sikkim to flee into the Qing Dynasty to escape the disaster.
The successive conquests of Nepal and Sikkim made the aggressive ambitions of the Gurkha tribes expand instantaneously, and they actually targeted the next invasion in the southern Tibet region of the Qing Dynasty in China, and just when they were about to move, the internal strife in the Tibetan region provided them with a perfect excuse to send troops.
In 1780, after the death of the Sixth Panchen Lama of Tibet, the Qianlong Emperor issued a condolence payment to Tibet for mourning, but it was this money that made the two younger brothers of the Panchen Lama, Bahuktu and Sharmalpa, fight for red ears, and finally Shamarpa, who had limited influence in Tibet, failed to compete with Bahuktu, so he became crooked.
He directly left southern Tibet and defected to the Gurkha tribes at that time, trying to use his power to invade southern Tibet and regain power in Tibet.
At this time, the Gurkha tribes were worried about running out of food, so they sent troops to the southern Tibetan region on the pretext of helping Tibet return to orthodoxy.
At that time, the strength of the Qing Dynasty troops stationed in Tibet was weak, coupled with the heavy snow about to close the mountain, the Qing army lacked confidence in victory, so it promised the Gurkha to give it a certain amount of silver every year in exchange for its retreat, and after listening to the Qing Dynasty's promise, the Gurkha tribe withdrew from Tibet.
When it was time to issue silver, the Gurkhas found that the local officials in Tibet were not trustworthy, so they made a comeback again in 1791.
The suspicious Qianlong Emperor began to investigate why the Gurkha had invaded for the second time, and was very angry when he learned that the previous commander Ba Zhong had committed suicide by lying, but he could not beat himself in front of the group of courtiers, so he made a killing move - beating the Gurkha tribe to the knees and begging for forgiveness.
So in 1792, Qianlong sent Fukang'an to mobilize more than 10,000 Qing troops to suppress Gorkha, and gave Fukang'an a death order not to subdue Gorkha and not to withdraw troops.
Fukang'an was very angry, and when he arrived in southern Tibet, he always fought the Gurkha tribes into a defensive battle for the capital, and the Gurkha had to submit to the Qing Dynasty when the soldiers were under the city.
A small number of Gurkhas who were scattered in the battle against the Qing army got lost in the southern Tibetan region with complex terrain, because Nepal was already occupied by the Qing army at that time, it was impossible to go back, but it was inappropriate to join the Qing Dynasty immediately, so these people temporarily wandered in the dense forests of the mountains, relying on the acquisition of mountain wild fruits, birds and animals to survive.
Due to the harsh natural environment, some of these people were wiped out by nature, and after more than 1 year of wandering life, they finally decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, hoping to join the Qing Dynasty.
However, due to the strong folk customs of this nation, the Qing Dynasty was skeptical about whether it could settle down in the country, so it was never allowed to join the Qing Dynasty.
Later, they settled in the town of Jilong on the Chinese side of the China-Nepal border at that time, and when they learned that the Qing army had left Nepal, they had the idea of returning to Nepal, but it was obviously not so easy.
Because of the long time, the Nepalese government was wary of their return again, and the Qing Dynasty was much stronger than Nepal, so they lived in The town of Jilong without becoming a Qing Dynasty citizen, and their descendants have continued to this day.
Later, the British conquered Nepal, and some of the fleeing Nepalese also fled here and joined them.
The Gurkhas intermarried and lived with the local Tibetan Chinese people, eventually becoming today's Damans.
It has been counted for six or seven generations now, but because nationality is a very serious matter, coupled with various historical reasons, they have not been able to acquire Chinese nationality, and have been staying in Jilonggou in Jilong Town to work and live.
The Dammam people, the epitome of national integration
In the old China, which was poor and weak, due to the continuous change of the central government and the limited ability of the state to manage the border, it did not attach enough importance to ethnic minorities, resulting in various discordant problems in the integration of ethnic minorities with the big family of the Chinese nation, and for outsiders such as the Daman people, they directly refused.
The Process of Daman Joining China and Integrating China's 56 Ethnic Groups cannot be achieved overnight.
Before becoming Chinese nationals, the Daman people have been living with Tibetans in China, they have blue eyes, deep concave eye sockets, and are more similar to Tibetans in terms of physical characteristics, it is difficult for people who have a long-term understanding of them to distinguish whether they are Tibetans or not, because of the long-term travel between China and Nepal, so some media call them "Gypsies of the East".
The Daman people in The town of Geelong, because they do not have Chinese nationality, they can not obtain land, there is no house to live in, education issues are impossible to talk about, their survival has been in a state of uncertainty.
In order to protect them from the wind and rain, they built a simple shed with stones, thatch, and wood they found, but such houses obviously lacked stability and safety.
They often think that the local residents do some manual work as a means of livelihood, carpenter, blacksmith, this profession is usually a male way of making a living, while women are weaving cloth and tidying up the housework, and the elderly are left at home to take care of the fire pit and cut bamboo and rattan.
The Daman people have their own language system, but they have not developed a script, for 200 years, they have lived with the Tibetans for a long time, in terms of culture, clothing, diet and other aspects have been assimilated by the Tibetans, but in daily social activities, their distinction from the Tibetans is still more obvious.
The Daman people are good at climbing mountains, acting as guides for the mainlanders who come to travel, and transporting goods to the mountains is their best skill.
With their hard-working character and quality, the Daman people can survive in The town of Geelong, but without nationality, they cannot enjoy the various rights and legal guarantees of the Chinese, and without legal land and housing, it is extremely inconvenient to have food, clothing, shelter and transportation.
Although the Damans aspire to Chinese citizenship, their repeated requests have been rejected by successive Chinese governments.
The era when the Damans first fell into Exile in China was the late years of Qianlong's administration, when China's national strength was already showing signs of weakening, the Qing Dynasty after Qianlong was worse than a generation, and when China fell into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the weak central government had no time to worry about the survival of the Damans, which were only a few hundred people.
The fact that the Damans have not been recognized and accepted by the central government for more than 200 years shows that the integration of various ethnic groups in China requires a tortuous process.
There are many multi-ethnic integration events in Chinese history, such as the southern crossing of the Yiguan in the Wuhu Chaohua period, the southward migration of the Han people in the Song and Yuan dynasties, the westward migration of the Xiongnu, etc. The most famous of these things is the return of the former Mongol Turbat tribe to the east.
The difference between the two is that the Turks originally had deep ties with China, and later decided to break away from the Qing Dynasty to rule themselves, but they did not live well, were frequently bullied by Tsarist Russia, regretted their original decision, and wanted to return to the embrace of the Qing Dynasty, while the Damans were "enemies".
The history of the Turks dates back to the Mongol Empire.
Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes in 1206 to form the Mongol Empire, and later the Mongol state was divided into the Wala and Tatars, and the Turks were derived from the Wala.
The Turks and the other 3 Walas lived together on the western side of the Gobi Desert, but the Dzungars later rose and suppressed the other 3 tribes, and the Turks were forced to migrate west to the Volga River Valley, but unknowingly entered the Tsarist sphere of influence.
As a foreign nationality, when they arrived at the territory of Tsarist Russia, they naturally had to listen to the dispatch of Tsarist Russia, but the enslavement and exploitation of ethnic minorities by Tsarist Russia made the Turgut Ministry realize that it was still good for China, so it secretly exerted its strength under the oppression of Tsarist Russia on the one hand, and finally in 1761, it set up camp and began the journey of returning east to China's Xinjiang.
Before departing, the Turbat chief Wolbasi burned down all existing facilities, including the imperial palace, indicating that he would not turn back.
But Tsarist Russia, which had been using turks as cannon fodder, intended to continue to control the tribe and make it die for Tsarist Russia. Therefore, Tsarist Russia not only personally sent troops to pursue and kill, but also mobilized its political vassal Cossack cavalry to carry out many interceptions on the way home from turks.
Because they moved west not only to the people of the tribe, but also a large number of livestock and other personal property, they suffered tragic population losses in the process of moving west, and some of the troops responsible for driving livestock were more than 9,000 people who were caught up by the Russian cavalry due to slow action, and all died after desperate fighting.
After the tests of war, hunger, plague and harsh winter, Wolbasi led the Turbats finally reached Ili, Xinjiang, in July 1771, but the losses were very heavy, and the population of Ili was less than 80,000, less than 1/2 of the time of its departure.
At that time, the Turks did not contact the Qing Dynasty before leaving, and the Qianlong Emperor only learned of this from the Russian government in April 1771.
At that time, Tsarist Russia demanded that Qianlong should not accept them, and also asked the Qing Dynasty to unite with Tsarist Russia to kill the Turks, but after several considerations, Qianlong still refused the unreasonable demands of Tsarist Russia and did not hesitate to meet with the Tsarist soldiers.
Later, the Qianlong Emperor gave a high-standard reception and reward to Wolbasi, who had returned from a bloody bath, and the Turks swore allegiance to the Qing Dynasty. However, the Qing government adopted the consistent policy of enwei and use, dividing it into several parts and placing them in different places to recuperate, which was also very reasonable at that time, and so far the Turks had a good home.
Although there are only less than 200 people in Dammam, after all, it represents a nationality, or a foreign race that has never lived in China, and it is easy to accept "enemies", and it is already benevolent and righteous for the Chinese government to expel them without force.
The Damans eventually acquire Chinese citizenship
With the liberation and unification of the whole of China by the Communist Party, the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country have finally ushered in a new situation.
After the founding of New China, the powerful Communist Government attached great importance to the issue of common prosperity of all nationalities, implemented the policy of treating all ethnic groups as equals, and welcomed undetermined ethnic groups like the Dammam nation who were willing to participate in China's construction and support the Communist Party's rule.
On May 26, 2003, China's State Council approved the application of Dammam people to chinese nationality and classified them as part of the Tibetan ethnic group, enjoying all the equal rights of Tibetans in accordance with China's ethnic policy.
After more than 200 years of homelessness, the People of Dammam have finally achieved their dreams.
In order to resettle the "New Chinese Nationals" of these more than 40 households with less than 100 people, the central government instructed the local government to set up a new village for them, called Dammam Village.
The local government has invested millions of yuan to build a two-story new building for all Dammam villagers, allocated land, livestock, agricultural tools and other living facilities, and also invested more than 200,000 yuan to build drinking water infrastructure for Dammam village to ensure their daily life.
In order to make the Dammam people feel the deep friendship of the Chinese people, the Chinese government provides a one-stop service for their lives, and even the furniture, bedding, daily necessities and so on in the buildings are readily available.
In terms of education, special schools have also been built to enable their children to receive Chinese education in a timely manner and guarantee their right to education.
After the establishment of Dammam Village, the Chinese government has funded the construction of roads to facilitate their travel, in addition, the Chinese government will also be Daman village into the poverty alleviation target, every year to give it a large amount of medical and educational assistance, to help them integrate into the local Chinese society as soon as possible, with the strong support of the Chinese government, today's Daman people's life is getting better and better.
In life, some people continue to play iron, keep their traditional craftsmanship alive, while participating in agricultural production, they planted corn, ginger and other cash crops in the fields allocated by the government, and with the support of the local government, Dammam Village has also become a tourist resort, and its traditional handicrafts such as blacksmithing, weaving and other ways of making a living have become a characteristic culture, attracting many foreign tourists to visit.
In terms of economic development, Dammam villagers have long used the e-commerce platform to achieve the export of handicrafts, such as the dog leg knife used in the field of domestic room decoration is now from the hands of The Daman people, and the superb blacksmithing skills of the Daman people have brought them high income.
It takes only one day to build an axe, but it can sell for 500 yuan, and the kitchen knife only takes 2 hours and can sell for 25 yuan.
The People of Dammam attach great importance to the inheritance of their own iron-making skills and culture. In Dammam Village, villagers often carry some discarded copper and iron tools, while bringing barley wine and good dishes, to the blacksmith shop to invite the blacksmith to eat a good meal, and then began to build living utensils, and after playing, they had to pay, which has become a way of life of the people.
Culturally, Dammam children work hard to learn Chinese characters and Tibetan, and the 2017 college entrance examination has made Dawa Dorji, a Dammam man, the first college student since the establishment of the village, another great joy since the establishment of the village.
In the 18 years since they joined the Chinese nationality, the Dammam people have long changed the situation of being ostracized and discriminated against by the local people in the past, in the past they relied on selling coolies to work for local villagers to survive, they could not even enter the Houses of Tibetans, they could not eat at the same table with Tibetans, and now they have become real Chinese citizens and have the same equal rights as other Chinese people.
Today, every household in Dammam village stands a flagpole with a five-star red flag on it, and they have long regarded China as their hometown in their thinking, and they have a deep sense of national identity.
As an ethnic minority that was once downcast and unaccepted, it is indeed their good fortune to live in peace and contentment under the protection of a powerful country like China.
As the youngest citizen of China, the development of Dammam Village has always been taken care of by the state, especially the area is at the junction of the Indian Ocean Plate and the Asian Plate, and earthquakes occur from time to time.
In 2011, after the earthquake in the local area, the Chinese government launched a post-disaster reconstruction project, and by investing 5.64 million yuan, the infrastructure of the village was upgraded, and solar street lights were installed in squares, roads, cowsheds, etc., making the village look new.
According to the latest statistics, the population of Dammam Village has increased from less than 100 people to about 200 people, with the increase of population, the size of Dammam Village will be further expanded, and its days will continue to flourish, which are all drastic changes after joining Chinese nationality, which proves China's strength and prosperity.
After more than 200 years of arduous waiting and hard work, the Daman people finally joined the big family of the Chinese nation, and in the 18 years after joining, they have realized the harmonious coexistence of living and working in peace and contentment with all ethnic groups, ushering in a new situation of "turning over and singing", which is mainly due to the correct attitude of the new Chinese government to the issue of ethnic integration.
China's development is inseparable from the unity and cooperation of the 56 nationalities, and the Chinese party and people will never condone any nationality to undermine the unity of all nationalities.
The Damans have become part of the Tibetans, and whenever someone is surprised by their blue eyes, high nose bridge, and doubts their foreigner status, they will haughtily say: Look, I am a real Chinese.
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