An Ethno-historical Study of the Na-khi Tribe

Abstract

Recently, in historical studies on China, and Southeast Asia, much work has been done about non-Chinese groups in South and Southeast China. As for studies of the non-Chinese groups in Southwest China, however, there remain many untouched areas. Among these non-Chinese peoples in ethnic groups which have the same name, there are some groups which have very similar traits and some which are radically different. With regard to the latter in particular, there are many cases in which it is doubtful whether they belong to the same ethnic group.Therefore in this paper, I will study especially the Na-khi tribe, one of the Non-chinese peoples in Southwest China belonging to the Tibet-Burman speaking tribes.The Na-khi inhabits chiefly the Li-chiang Na-khi tribe self-government district in Yunnan province. This is their center, but they are also found in the Ning-lang Yi tribe self-government district, the Wei-hsi district, the Chung-tien district, and the Yung-sheng district in Yunnan, and the Yen-yuan Yi tribe self-government district, the Yen-pien district, the Mu-li Tsang tribe self-government district in Ssu-ch'uan province. The population of this tribe is said to be about three hundred thousand.In ancient times Na-khi vas written “Mo-so” in Chinese historical documents. Even recently, scholars in China, Europe and America, often use the name Mo-so. The ethnic group (about 170 thousand) which inhabits the districts of Li-chiang, Wei-hsi, Chung-tien and Yung-sheng etc. calls itself na-ci. But the ethnic group (about 6 thousand) which inhabits the Yung-ning territory of the Ning-lang Yi tribe self-government district, calls itself na.Although both have been known as Na-khi, there are several differences in their kinship systems, marriage customs, and funeral ceremonies etc. The kinship system of the Li-chiang Na-khi is patrilineal, while that of the Yung-ning Na-khi is matrilineal. The funeral ceremony of the Li-chiang Na-khi changed from cremation to burial in about 1723, while the Yung-ning Na-khi still practise cremation. Among the Li-chiang Na-khi the daughter was sold by her parents, and if young couples wished to accomplish their love against their parents will, they used to commit suicide together. Therefore in the society of the Li-chiang Na-khi, there were a great many cases in which young Lovers comitted suicide. In contrast, there is the A-chu marriage system in the society of the Yung-ning Na-khi. This is a sort of visiting marriage, in other words, adult male and female had an A-chu relation: the male goes to the house of the female. and stays over night and comes back to his own house next morning. The Li-chiang Na-khi have two kinds of script (pictographic and syllabic), but the Yung-ning Na-khi have no script at all. The priest of the Li-chiang Na-khi is called Dto-mba and that of the Yung-ning Na-khi is called Nda-pa.Why are there so many differences? I traced back the historical background of these two groups. It is said that the home of the Na-khi was originally in the northeastern Tibet, and that they were originally a branch of the Mao-niu-yue-sui-Ch'iang, and migrated to Li-chiang during the T, ang dynasty, Tao Yun-kui gives detailed report of this based on the Chinese historical documents and his field work, and Li Lin-ts'an gives detailed reports based on the manuscripts of the Na-khi pictographic script and his field research. But both scholars did not discuss clealy the time of their separation. At present from Chinese historical documents of the T'ang and Sung dynasties, it is difficult to know how they separated and developed after their separation. But from the documents of the Yuan and Ming periods when the Chinese dynasty established the T'u-ssu system among the non-chinese peoples of southwest China, it is possible to learn about this to some extent. The T'u-ssu (native chieftains) of the Li-chiang Na-khi have several kinds of genealogies. From these genea