Achang

The Achang (also Ngac'ang or Maingtha ; Chinese  阿昌族 , Pinyin Āchāngzú ) are one of the smallest of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities of the People's Republic of China . According to the last census in 2010, they count 39,583 people. Most of them live in Yunnan , especially in Dehong Autonomous District .

The Achang speak their own language, which however does not have its own script. Chinese characters are often used instead .

The Husa Achang (戶 撒) from Longchuan County in Dehong speak a slightly different dialect. They see themselves as independent, but their attempt in the 1950s to gain recognition as an independent nationality was unsuccessful. The Husa are a little more "Chinese" than other Achang. For example, Confucian pedigree charts are often found in their homes. Most traditional husa believe in a mixture of Theravada - Buddhism and Daoism .

Distribution of the Achang at the provincial level according to the data of the 2010 census (reference date November 1, 2010)

area	number	proportion of
People's Republic of China	39,583	100.00%
Yunnan	38,059	096.15%
Guangdong	00 623	001.57%
Henan	00 148	000.37%
Shandong	000 99	000.25%
Jiangsu	000 98	000.25%
Zhejiang	000 93	000.23%
Fujian	000 62	000.16%
Sichuan	000 54	000.14%
Shanghai	000 51	000.13%
Beijing	000 28	000.071%
VBA	000 28	000.071%
Hunan	000 26th	000.066%
Guangxi	000 26th	000.066%
Guizhou	000 26th	000.066%
Anhui	000 25th	000.063%
Jilin	000 22nd	000.056%
Chongqing	000 19th	000.048%
Inner Mongolia	000 16	000.040%
Hebei	000 15th	000.038%
Jiangxi	000 14th	000.035%
Hubei	000 12	000.030%
Liaoning	000 10	000.025%
Tianjin	0000 9	000.023%
Xinjiang	0000 5	000.013%
Shanxi	0000 4th	000.01%
Ningxia	0000 4th	000.01%
Heilongjiang	0000 3	000.008%
Shaanxi	0000 2	000.005%
Gansu	0000 1	000.003%
Qinghai	0000 1	000.003%
Hainan	0000 0	000.00%
Tibet	0000 0	000.00%

literature

• Bruno J. Richtsfeld. Creation and primeval times of the world in the narrative tradition of the Achang (Southwest China). In: Munich contributions to ethnology. Yearbook of the State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. Volume 5, 1998, pp. 161-207.
• Bruno J. Richtsfeld. Another variation on the Achang creation myth? In: Munich contributions to ethnology. Yearbook of the State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. Volume 6, 2000, pp. 303-311.

See also

• Peoples of china

Web links

• The Achang ethnic minority (Chinese government side)
• Yuan Yan: An Interpretation of Religious Influences of the Dai Nationality on the Atsang Language and Culture: A Case Study ( Memento of March 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 155 kB)