China Chinese ethnics

List of past Chinese ethnic groups Wikipedia

Any non clear-cut connection is denoted by a question mark (?) beside the equivalences. As many ethnic groups have appeared in history, this table is certainly not complete. The purpose of this page is to stimulate conversation and constructive arguments on connecting Eastern and Western knowledge of those ethnic groups.

Pinyin Romanization	Names in Chinese characters and Pronunciation	Approximate residing areas according to Chinese texts	Time of appearance in the history of China	Equivalence(s) in World history	Time of appearance outside China	Descendant(s)
Miao	苗 (miao2)	Various areas stretching from provinces (Hebei, Shanxi) north of the Huang He to Yunnan province	As early as 25th century BC|25th century B.C. to present	Miao	see Miao	Laos|Laotians, ethnic groups in List of Chinese ethnic groups|China, America and Europe
Xiongnu, Xianyun	匈奴 (xiong1 nu2), 玁狁 (xian3 yun3)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and eastern portion of Xinjiang	6th century BC|6th century B.C. ? to late 1st century for Northern Xiongnu who migrated westward after that period. Southern Xiongnu remained active until mid 5th century then assimilated into Chinese	Huns	late 4th century to mid 6th century in Europe	No known descendants
Yuezhi|Yuezhi	月氏 (Yue4 Zhi1)	Gansu, Xinjiang	6th century BC|6th century B.C. ? to 162 BC|162 B.C., then driven out by Xiongnu.	Kushans, Tocharians?	mid 2nd century BC|2nd century B.C. in Central Asia	No known descendants
Wuhuan	烏桓 (wu1 huan2)	western portions of Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning provinces) and Inner Mongolia	4th century BC|4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Chinese	No known equivalence	N/A	No known descendants
Xianbei	鮮卑 (xian1 bei1)	Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning provinces), Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Moved into areas north of the Huang He as they founded a Northern Wei Dynasty|dynasty there.	4th century BC|4th century B.C. ? to mid 6th century, assimilated into Chinese	No known equivalence, possibly prototurks Tuoba (Tabgač?)	N/A	No known descendants
Qiang	羌 (qiang1)	Gansu, Qinghai, westren portion of Sichuan, eastern portion of Xinjiang and northeastern portion of Tibet	4th century BC|4th century B.C. ? to late 5th century, assimilated into Chinese	No known equivalence	N/A	as minorities in Sichuan
Di	氐 (di1)	Areas of neighboring borders of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi	8th century BC|8th century B.C. ? to mid 6th century, assimilated into Chinese	No known equivalence	N/A	as minorities in Sichuan
Jie (ethnic group)|Jie	羯 (jie2)	Shanxi province	late 2nd century to mid 4th century, assimilated into Chinese	No known equivalence	N/A	No known descendants
Dingling, Gaoche, Shule	丁零 (ding1 ling2), 高車 (gao1 che1), 疏勒 (shu1 le4)	banks of Lake Baikal and on the borders of Today Mongolia and Russia then migrated to Shanxi province and Xinjiang region	1st century BC to late 5th century, assimilated into Chinese	?	?	some descendants still living by the lake ?
Rouran, Ruru,	柔然 (rou2 ran2), 蠕蠕 (ru2 ru2), 茹茹 (ru2 ru2)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and eastern portion of Xinjiang	early 3rd century to early 6th century	Avars?	late 6th century to early 9th century	descendants living in today Daghestan?
Tujue	突厥 (tu2 jue2)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, eastern portion of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan	late 5th century to mid 10th century	Gokturks	mid 6th century to early 9th century	The western Turks migrated to modern-day Turkey while the eastern Turks assimiliated to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang
Huihe	回紇 (hui2 he2)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia	early 7th century to mid 10th century	Uyghurs	early 9th century to present	largest List of Chinese ethnic groups|ethnic group in Xinjiang region
Tubo	吐蕃(tu3 fan1) sometimes pronounced as 吐播 (tu3 bo1)	Today Tibet, Qinghai, western border of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi and Southern border of Xinjiang	mid 6th century to present	Tibet|Tibetans	early 6th century to present	Tibet|Tibetans
Qidan	契丹 (qi4 dan1)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Liaoning, northern border of Shanxi and Hebei and later in Xinjiang and eastern border of Kazakhstan	late 5th century to mid 13th century	Khitan	early 6th century to present	No known descendants
Xi	奚 (xi1)	more or less the same residence of the Khitans since regarded as two ethnic groups with one unique ancestry	mid 6th century to mid 12th century	No known equivalence	N/A	No known descendants
Shiwei	室韋 (shi4 wei2)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, western Manchuria and southern Siberia	late 6th century - late 10th century	No known equivalence	N/A	conquered by Khitans, splinter groups and remnants re-emerged as Mongols
Menggu	蒙古 (meng2 gu3)	Today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, western Manchuria, southern Siberia, eastern and central Xinjiang before Genghis Khan	since late 8th century (?)	Mongol	late 12th century to present	Mongol
Dangxiang	党項 (dang3 xiang4)	Ningxia, Gansu, northern portions of Shanxi, southwestern portion of Mongolia, Southeastern portion of Xinjiang	mid 8th century to early 13th century	Tanguts	?	No known descendants
Mohe	靺鞨 (mo4 he2)	Manchuria and northern portion of Inner Mongolia, established Bohai	early 7th century to early 10th century.	Malgal	N/A	Jurchen (see entry below)
N?zhen or Manzhouren	女真 (n?3 zhen1), 滿洲人 (man3 zhou1 ren2), 滿人 (man3 ren2)	Manchuria and northern portion of Inner Mongolia	early 10th century to present, established Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)|Jin Dynasty and Qing Dynasty	Jurchen, Mancho, Manchu|Manchus or Manchurian	Since mid 17th century, first encountered by Russians	largest ethnic group in Dongbei region or Manchuria. Their culture has very much assimilated with the Chinese but some distinctive aspects still remain.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13