42. Chinese Nationalities (She Minority) -- Minorities by Alphabetic Sequence

She Minority

They have their own language that belongs to the Miao branch of Miao-Yao family of the Han-Zang Phylum. Without their own set of characters, Han characters are widely used. She people take rice and potato as their staple food. Dog meat is forbidden. Early in the Tang dynasty, people of She nationality began to settle in the joint area of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. They used to call themselves "Shanda" which means "migrated guest living in a mountain area".

She people mostly engage in agriculture, and rice, sweet potatoes, wheat, rape, beans and tobacco are their main products. They also grow tea, sugar cane, and ramie. Timber and bamboo are important commercial commodities for the She.

Some minorities had been so absorbed that their status as separate peoples was nearly lost. The She, who now speak mainly Chinese, may be descended from the Yao who retreated to the west 500 years ago under pressure of Han expansion. The origins of the She are unclear, but probably date back to the seventh century. Some are Buddhists, while others are polytheists or ancestor worshippers. The She are found in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Anhui Provinces. They are part of the Hmong-Yao language family linguistic group.