Sui (people)

The Sui ( Shui , Chinese  水族 , Pinyin Shuǐzú ) are one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities of the People's Republic of China with 411,847 members (according to the 2010 census). They mainly live in Guizhou Province and in the Guangxi Autonomous Region of the Zhuang Nationality in southwest China.

Language and writing

Sui font

The language of the Sui, the Sui , is still spoken by over 50% of the Sui. It is one of the Kam-Tai languages .

The Sui script (Sui: Lel Sai3, Modern Chinese: 水 书, Traditional Chinese: 水 書, Pinyin : Shuǐshū) is a pictographic or pictogram-based font for the Sui. Like the Yi script , the Sui script also adopted numerous characters from Chinese. Other characters are reminiscent of archaic early forms of Chinese characters. In 2006 the Sui script was recognized as a world cultural heritage ( intangible heritage ).

The Sui script is critically endangered and the Chinese government is making efforts to preserve it.

Spread of the Sui in China

Provincial level

The 2000 census counted 406,902 Sui in China.

Distribution of the Sui population in China

Administrative division	Number of sui	% Share of all of China's Sui
Guizhou Province	369.723	90.86%
Autonomous Region Guangxi Zhuang	15,476	3.80%
Yunnan Province	12,533	3.08%
Jiangsu Province	2,775	0.68%
Province Guangdong	1,948	0.48%
Zhejiang Province	1,421	0.35%
Rest of China	3,026	0.74%

District level

Distribution areas of the Sui at the district level (2000)

Only values ​​from 0.5% were taken into account here. AG = Autonomous Area, AB = Autonomous District, AK = Autonomous District, RB = Administrative Region.

superior provincial level	superior district level	District, city, municipality	Number of sui	% of all of China's Sui
Guizhou Province	AB Qiannan 's Bouyei and Miao	AK Sandu the Sui	189,128	46.48%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiannan 's Bouyei and Miao	Libo district	35,407	8.70%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	district Rongjiang	33,678	8.28%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiannan 's Bouyei and Miao	City of Duyun	32,702	8.04%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiannan 's Bouyei and Miao	circle Dushan	26,299	6.46%
Yunnan Province	Qujing City	Fuyuan County	10,567	2.6%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	circle Danzhai	10,501	2.58%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	circle Leishan	5,227	1.28%
Guizhou Province	city Liupanshui	Circle Pan	5,164	1.27%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	Liping County	4,710	1.16%
Guizhou Province	city Liupanshui	Shuicheng County	3,875	0.95%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	circle Congjiang	3,300	0.81%
Guizhou Province	AB Qiandongnan the Miao and Dong	district Jianhe	3,293	0.81%
AG Guangxi of Zhuang	Liuzhou city	AK Rongshui the Miao	3,183	0.78%
AG Guangxi of Zhuang	City of Hechi	Nandan County	3,083	0.76%
AG Guangxi of Zhuang	City of Hechi	Yizhou City	2,160	0.53%
Guizhou Province	RB Bijie	Qianxi County	2,102	0.52%
Rest of China			32,523	7.99%

Web links

• The Shui ethnic minority (government side)

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1. ^ Ethnic Groups . Chinese government website. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
2. ↑ “水 书” 及其 造字 方法 研究, 黔南 民族 师范 学院 学报, 2005 年 25 卷 1 期
3. ↑ Multilingualism in China. Minglang Zhou, Minglang Zhou, Joshua A. Fishman, pp. 132-135
4. ↑ Shui included in China's intangible cultural heritage list . National Working Group for IPR Protection, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. August 8, 2006. Retrieved on August 28, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ^ Books in rare ancient characters of Shui group retrieved . People's Daily . April 1, 2004. Retrieved September 1, 2008.