Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

Xishuangbanna Prefecture 西双版纳州
—  Autonomous prefecture  —
西双版纳傣族自治州
Location of Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Yunnan
Xishuangbanna Prefecture Location within China
Coordinates: 22°00′N 100°48′E
Country	China
Province	Yunnan
GB/T 2260 CODE	532800
Admin HQ	Jinghong
Admin units	List Jinghong Menghai Mengla
Area
• Total	19,700 km2 (7,600 sq mi)
Population
• Total	993,397
• Density	Bad rounding here50/km2 (Bad rounding here130/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code	666100
Area code(s)	0691
Website	xsbn.gov.cn
1Yunnan Statistics Bureau [1] 2Yunnan Portal [2]

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	西双版纳傣族自治州
Traditional Chinese	西雙版納傣族自治州
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Xīshuāngbǎnnà Dǎizú Zìzhìzhōu - Wade–Giles Hsi1-shuang1-pan3-na4 Tai3-tsu2 Tzu4-chih4-chou1 - IPA [ɕíʂwɑ́ŋpànnɑ̂ tàɪtsǔ tsîtʂîtʂóʊ] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Sai1soeng1baan2naap6 Daai2zuk6 Zi6ci4zau1
Former Chinese name (1)
Simplified Chinese	车里
Traditional Chinese	車里
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Chēlǐ - Wade–Giles Ch'e1-li3 - IPA [tʂʰɤ́lì] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Ce1lei5
Former Chinese name (2)
Simplified Chinese	允景洪
Traditional Chinese	允景洪
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Yǔnjǐnghóng - Wade–Giles Yün3-ching3-hung2 - IPA [ỳntɕìŋxʊ̌ŋ] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping Wan5ging2hung4
Tai Lü name
Tai Lü	([sípsɔ́ŋpǎnnǎː])
Hani name
Hani	Xisual banaq
Akha name
Akha	Sǐsǎwpâna

Xishuangbanna (or Sibsongbanna, Tai Lü: [tsɯ˧˥tsɯ˧˥tsəu˧ pʰaː˥˩saː˥tai˥˩ sip˥sɔŋ˥ pan˥˩naː˥˩]; Chinese: 西双版纳傣族自治州; pinyin: Xīshuāngbǎnnà Dǎizú Zìzhìzhōu, 西傣 Xīdǎi for short) is an autonomous prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. The capital city is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Mekong River, called the Lancang River in Chinese.

Etymology

Sibsongbanna (cognate to the Thai สิบสองพันนา, RTGS: Sip Song Phan Na) meaning "twelve thousand rice fields" is a Tai Lü compound consisting of sibsong "twelve", ban "thousand" and na "rice field". Sibsong derives from Chinese 十 (ten) and 雙 (pair). The etymology is parallel to the autonomous Dai region in French Indochina from 1890 to 1945 called Sip Song Chau Tai meaning "twelve provinces of the Tai."

History

During the Han Dynasty, Xishuangbanna was subordinate to the Yizhou commandery, after which control passed to the Kingdom of Shu. From the 7th century, China's Yunnan province was dominated by the Kingdom of Nanzhao, which had a tributary relationship to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) until a rebellion in 860. In the 12th century, a Dai Lue kingdom was established in this area, which exercised influence over Laos, Kengtung, Yuanjiang, and Chiang Mai. Although the Dai Lue language is somewhat mutually intelligible with the Tai Yuan language and the Lao language, the Dai Lue (Dai) people respect ethnic differences between themselves and the Tai Yuan and the Lao, because of the non-Chinese Tais' allegiance to the historical kingdoms of Lanna (for the Tai Yuan) and Lan Xang (for the Lao). During the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), China's central government regained control of Xishuangbanna during the course of its generals Wulianghatai's and Buluheda's edpeditions against Annam and Jiaozhi (part of modern-day Vietnam). Xishuangbanna was reorganized as the Cheli Commandery (Chinese: 車里宣慰使司; pinyin: Chēlǐ Xuānwèishǐ Sī) and the local leaders were recognized as tusi, adopting the Chinese family name Dao (刀).

During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Dai Lue local chieftains such as Chao Gham Meeng pledged their allegiance to the central Chinese government. Cheli was renamed between 1422 and 1435 as the "Jing'an Pacified Administrative Region" (Jing An Xuan Wen Shi Si). The Xishuangbanna Dai people recognized the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), as with previous Chinese states, as "Muong Haw" (天朝, Tiāncháo), which is traditionally rendered as "the Heavenly Dynasty". They adapted Chinese placenames to their local language by adding "Muong" in front; for example, Dali was "Muong Tali". The Yongzheng Emperor (1722-1735) was concerned with the amount of rebellions and violence in Xishuangbanna, and determined the local rulers' authority to be the cause. His governor E'ertai implemented a policy of systematically replacing minority chieftains with Han Chinese officials and replacing traditional ways of demarcating territory with modern administrative units, otherwise known as gaitu guiliu (改土归流). Despite the fact that the royal family of Qing was ethnically Manchu, all of the Qing's posted officials in Xishuangbanna were Han people.

At the beginning of the Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769), the Burmese invaded and sacked Xishuangbanna, devastating the area's economy. The Qing counterattacked, recovering Xishuangbanna and even capturing Kengtung (part of modern Myanmar). To punish the local leadership for not halting the invasion, the Qing replaced tusi chief Tau Sau Vuen with Dao Weiping in 1767. After the War ended, thousands of troops from other parts of China remained in the area with their wives and children. China resolved its border dispute with France in 1895 by ceding the Meeng Wu, Wude, Meeng Xin, and Huabang areas of Xishuangbanna to adjacent parts of French Indochina. These areas are now administered by the Phongsaly Province of Laos. Xishuangbanna's border with Burma was formally demarcated in the 1890s. From 1888 until 1910, there existed a dispute between local tusi princes that grew increasingly violent, such that the Qing Chinese government had to send the Cantonese army of Ke Shuxun to suppress unrest and organize a new Executive Bureau of Frontier of Pu'er and Simao Area (普思沿边行政总局, Pǔ-Sī yánbiān xíngzhèng zǒngjú) for better administration of Xishuangbanna from Jinghong.

In the chaos of the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing government in 1911 in favor of a Chinese republican government, a local official named Chao Meeng Jie staged a rebellion against the Qing remnant officials. The Yunnan provincial government of the newly-established Republic of China sent troops in 1913 to oust the rebels. Ke Shuxun remained in Xishuangbanna to govern with his "13 Principles of Governing the Frontier", which emphasized ethnic, taxation, and land ownership equality between Han and Dai; allowance of intermarriage between the ethnic groups; and education in secular and technical subjects relevant to China, rather than Burmese-based monastic education. The Second Sino-Japanese War (1931-1945) saw the heavy bombardment of Xishuangbanna by Japanese troops and a simultaneous influx of Pan-Taiist propaganda from Japan's ally, fascist Thailand. This temporal combination reduced the appeal of a broad pan-Tai identity among the Dai Lue.

During the final phase of the Chinese Civil War, many remnants of the Guomindang fled the victorious Communists into Burma's Shan State from Xishuangbanna. The new People's Republic of China sent various non-military expeditions to Xishuangbanna from 1949, including the "Central Visiting Group for the Minzu" (中央民族访问团, Zhōngyāng mínzú fǎngwèn tuán) to provide services such as schools and hospitals to replace those from Christian western missionaries that had the ulterior motive of converting the Chinese ethnic minorities. The Communists liberated the prefecture from Guomindang loyalists in 1952. On January 23, 1953, the People's Republic of China (PRC) established the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region and ended the tusi system. That year, the People's Congress of Xishuangbanna created the New Dai Lue alphabet in order to provide for convenient printing of the Tai Lü language.

Xishuangbanna was renamed an autonomous prefecture in 1955, but lost some territory as the Hani and Yi-inhabited areas of Jingdong and Jiangcheng became their own autonomous counties. Peacefully negotiated land reform (和平协商土改, hépíng xiéshāng tǔgǎi) started in earnest in January 1956, finally destroying the power of the village headmen. State-owned rubber plantations accounted for most of the region's wealth during the early PRC period. Xishuangbanna also received a wave of educated youths during the late 1960s Down to the Countryside Movement. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Buddhist temples in Xishuangbanna were used as barns, although they have been retored to their original purpose in 1981. In 1987, the Xishuangbanna government promulgated the Law of the Xishuangbanna Dai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture for Self-government in order to harmonize local laws with the national Law of the People's Republic of China for Regional National Autonomy. Shao Cunxin (召存信, 1922-), former head of the Chieftain's outer council (1944-1950) and chief of Meng Peng (1938-1950), was the chief of the autonomous prefecture from 1955 to 1992.

Administrative subdivisions

Xishuangbanna governs one county-level city and two counties.

Map
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2003 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Jinghong City	景洪市	Jǐnghóng Shì	370,000	7,133	52
2	Menghai County	勐海县	Měnghǎi Xiàn	300,000	5,511	54
3	Mengla County	勐腊县	Měnglà Xiàn	200,000	7,056	28

Geography

The prefecture has an area of 19,700 km². Xishuangbanna is the home of the Dai people. The region sits at a lower altitude than most of Yunnan, and has a tropical climate. It is fast becoming a sought after tourist destination.

Biodiversity

Passiflora xishuangbannaensis

Xishuangbanna harbors much of the biodiversity of Yunnan Province, which harbors much of the biodiversity of China. Its tropical climate and its remoteness until recent times accounts for this. In addition to an abundance of plants, Xishuangbanna is home to the last few Asian elephants still in China; the species roamed over a large part of the country even as late as a few hundred years ago. The elephants are protected in a reserve, but the plant diversity is threatened by, and has for five decades been threatened by, the proliferation of rubber plantations which completely destroy the rainforest and replace it with a monoculture of trees originally from Brazil.

Passiflora xishuangbannaensis is a recently discovered passionflower species that is endemic to Xishuangbanna.

Demographics

With censuses in the year 2000 Xishuangbanna had 993,397 inhabitants with a population density of 50.43 inhabitants per km². According to the 2000 national census, Dai people make up the majority at 29.89%, with the Han people coming in at a close second 29.11%. At the time of the 1977 census, however, Han people made up the largest single ethnic group in Xishuangbanna, making up 36.53% of a population of 627,089, while the Dai made up 33.15%, and others 30.32%. The Xishuangbanna government has strived to maintain this ethnic balance of around 33% of each group: Han, Dai, and other; this policy is known as the "the plan of three-three-three" (三三三计划, sān-sān-sān jìhuà)

Before the increasing social mobility of the 1940s, inhabitants of Xishuangbanna called each other "basin people" (坝区民族, bàqū mínzú) or "mountain people" (山区民族, shānqū mínzú) in reference to the groups' stereotyped location. The Han and Dai lived mostly around the mountains and played a socially dominant role, while the non-Dai ethnic minorities lived in the basins and were politically disenfranchised. The Dai used to be called the Baiyi (摆夷), and until a 1936 Guomindang reform, the bai part was written with the dog radical (犭). The PRC government decided that regardless of radical, the term Baiyi is pejorative, and adopted Dai (傣) instead. Historically, some ethnic minorities adapted some Dai characteristics in order to alleviate discrimination and increase their social status, such as the Bulang people adopting the sarong dress, practicing matrilocal residence, and learning the Tai Tham alphabet.

Ethnic groups

The Blang village of Manpo.

Ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna, 2000 census

Ethnicity	Population	Percentage
Dai	296,930	29.89%
Han	289,181	29.11%
Hani	186,067	18.73%
Yi	55,772	5.61%
Lahu	55,548	5.59%
Blang	36,453	3.67%
Jino	20,199	2.03%
Yao	18,679	1.88%
Miao	11,037	1.11%
Bai	5,931	0.6%
ethnic background not given	5,640	0.57%
Hui	3,911	0.39%
Va	3,112	0.31%
Zhuang	2,130	0.21%
Others	2,807	0.3%

Culture

The Six famous tea mountains region (Chinese: 六大茶山; pinyin: Liù Dà Chá Shān) located in the prefecture produce some of the most highly regarded Pu-erh tea in the 20th century.

Xishuangbanna is rich in nature, historical and cultural resources, noted for its folklore, rain forests, rare plants and wildlife. Its major tourist attractions include Menglun Tropical Botanical Garden, Manfeilong Pagodas (Tanuozhuanglong), Jingzhen Pavilion, Wild Elephant Gully, Dai people's village at Ganlanba.

The well-known traditional festival is the ethnic Dai's Water-Splashing Festival. It lasts for three days from April 13 to 15. Besides the water festival event it also consists of some other events such as Dragon boat races, firing of indigenous missiles, flying Kongming Lamps.

Transport

Since the opening of the Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport (formerly "Jinghong International Airport") in 1990, traveling to Xishuangbanna by air has become more popular and convenient and there are daily flights connecting Xishuangbanna with Kunming City. The area also has air connections with Dali, Chengdu and Bangkok. The Xishuangbanna Airport is 6 km south of Jinghong City.

There are also bus routes to places all over Yunnan and neighboring provinces.

In October 2010, plans were announced for a 530 km railway linking Xishuangbanna to Vientiane in Laos; connections to Thailand are also possible.

See also

• Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

External links

• Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2011). China's Ancient Tea Horse Road. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2
• Xishuangbanna Prefecture government website
• Xishuangbanna-Jinghong city government website
• Xishuangbanna-Mengbalanaxi
• Xishuangbanna Daily
• Xishuangbanna travel information
• Xishuangbanna Biodiversity Centre and Guide
• Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden