Hi all:

Quite interesting though; in Vietnam, there are 54 identifiable ethnic groups established officially; I wonder, which ethnic groups are being left out from the Chinese's version!

Simple: some ethnicities of China are not found in Vietnam (e.g. Mongol, Uighur, Oroeqn), and vice versa. Often some "merger" happen in China (i.e. a few different groups are considered one).

Obviously if we wanted to, we can probably divide the current 56 recognized ethnic groups further down to maybe hundreds of them. It all depends on the level of tolerance of similarities and differences between various groups of people to determine whether they belong to the same ethnic group of not. In my neighborhood alone, I know some people may practice certain aspects of a culture differently than some others, does that mean they belong to a different ethnic group?

Yue is a general term identifying branches of Non-Han in the southern part of China from Ho Nam all the way to northern Viet Nam. Ancient scripts mentioned 100 branches of Yue (Bach Yue) of which only one, current day Viet Nam, survived and maintained its independence from Han assimilation.

Hi, guys!
It's interesting that China have so many ethnics (56 ethnics)
Recently I went to Yunnan for 9 days visit where there is 23 ethnics.
I met Bai people (Dali), Dai people, Yue people and naxi people and talk to them because they were our tour guide there..
I find them interesting as they told us about the history and their current condition.

Anyone can explain for me the exact reason not to consider the Khmu ethicity as one of the official nationality of China?

Can U name to me the most important roles of the national administrative system that some man of Yao,Hmong and Yi had ever taken in the mordern Chinese political activities?

What do you think of the chances of these ethnic groups retaining their cultural distinctiveness after three or four generations, 75-100 years?

I tend to think very slim and better so.

I think the PRC's characterization of itself as multi-ethnic is based on both ideological and poltical motives, a hazy blend.

The CCP in the 1950's really considered it a social virtue to promote ethnic cultural preservation, and now the portrayal of the PRC as multi-ethnic enforces the soundness of its territorial claims based mostly on Qing China. The Manchurians are of course Chinese.

Beijing actually helped in the creation of writing systems for the largest minorities, but now it suppresses rebellions based on ethnicities. Is there a contradiction? I don't think so. What country would willingly allow recognized territory to secede? Very few and far between.

In the 1950's, I believe the PRC leadership did not consider China's extent of industrialization, infrastructure development, and maturity of the service sector. In the same way that the USA has developed its sparsely populated areas, so will the PRC. Assimilation would ensue just the same.

The recent debate in the US on the Akaka bill is illustrative. The USA is smug about its "tradition of assimilation", why should the PRC? The US is forthright about the preemption of secessionist drive, why shouldn't the PRC?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/washingt...4fb&ei=5070

Some excerpts:

Critics of the measure argued that it would have created race-based privileges, that it could provide a vehicle for Hawaiian secessionists and that it could have prompted legal challenges for those seeking redress against the federal government.

Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said he could not vote for a measure "whose very purpose is to divide Americans based upon race."

The Justice Department sent a letter this week to the majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, saying that it opposed the bill because it went against the nation's tradition of assimilation and would divide people by race.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights voted last year to recommend that Congress not pass the bill, contending that it would "discriminate on the basis of race or national origin and further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege."

I would love to visit Guizhou and Yunnan one day. I've looked at pictures online and fell in love with the sceneries. Such beautiful places.

With 56 ethnic group in China, is the national unity quite strong enough? There are some group seeking independence, which causes lots of controversy.

China have only 56 ethnic group ?