The Sui people (autonym: ai33 sui33 ), also spelled as Shui people, are an ethnic group living mostly in Guizhou Province, China. They are counted as one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.

History

The Sui are descended from the ancient Baiyue peoples, who had inhabited southern China before the Han dynasty (Wei 2003:viii). The name "Sui," which means "water" in Chinese, was adopted during the Ming Dynasty.

Demographics

Today, 93% of all Sui people (322,000 individuals) reside in Guizhou, China, with 63% of them living in Sandu Shui Autonomous County. To the south, 10,000 Sui live around Yingdong village in Rongshui County, Guangxi (Edmondson 2008). Small pockets of Sui people also live in Fuyang and Yiliang Counties, Yunnan. Additionally, there are 120 Sui living in Hồng Quang District, Tuyên Quang Province, northern Vietnam who are the descendants of Sui people who had left Sandu County 8 generations ago (Wei 2003:vii).

Language

The Sui speak a Kra–Dai language, part of the Kam–Sui languages.

Society

The Sui are organized around family clans. Villages usually have a few hundred inhabitants, most of whom have the same family name (Wei 2003:ix). Traditional Sui houses are usually made of fir or pine, although today the houses are increasingly made with bricks. There are three main types of traditional Sui housing (Wei 2003:ix): If a woman is widowed, she covers her hair with a fabric of white color for three years. The Sui possess a lunar calendar that is initiated in the ninth lunar month. Their funeral services are elaborate and long ceremonies where animal sacrifices are carried out in honor of the dead. Except for fish, Sui villagers usually refrain from eating meat after the death of a person (Wei 2003:xvi).

Cuisine

The staple food of the Sui people is glutinous rice. Supplementary grains and tubers include corn, wheat, barley, millet, and sweet potatoes. Rice is either steamed in a bamboo steamer or cooked in a covered pot over a low fire. Popular rice-based dishes include ʔjut7 (Chinese: zongzi) and cooked glutinous rice with chrysanthemum and puffed rice (Wei 2003:xiv). Sui women also give glutinous rice to relatives when visiting them. Fish is one of the most important sources of food. Like the Dong people, many Sui raise carp in village fishponds (Wei 2003:xiv). A popular dish consumed during the summer is a kind of sour broth called lu5 hum3. Sui families also regularly hold communal hot pots. Kippered fish (hum3 mom6), kippered meat (hum3 naan4), and the meat of suckling pigs are also popular. Rice spirits are popular among the Sui, and are also consumed during marriages, funerals, festivals, and building raising events. The Sui are also famed for their jiuqian wine.

Festivals

Festivals include (Wei 2003:xix): The bronze drum is often played during festivals, and singing, dancing, slaughtering livestock for food, and giving thanks to family ancestors are typical of these festivals (Wei 2003:xxii).

Religion

The Sui are mainly polytheists and practice ancestor worship as well. Shamans were traditionally hired to carry out prayers and sacrifices in the houses of those that were sick or close to death. The Sui religion has more than 900 ghosts and gods that can cause both good fortune or misfortune (Wei 2003:xxii). Some deities and legendary figures are also borrowed from Chinese folk religion. The Sui people have a wide array of taboos and superstitions, such as (Wei 2003:xxiv-xxv):

Population

Provincial level

By county

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.5% of China's Sui population.)

Literature

Sui oral literature is rich in myths, songs, and folk tales. The list below is from Wei (2003:xxvi). Excerpts of Sui songs can also be found in Fang-Kuei Li's 1977 book Shuihua yanjiu (Research on the Sui language).