The ethnic fabric of China consists of 94 per cent Han Chinese and 6 per cent ‘fraternal nationaiities’ or national minorities who inhabit over half of China’s territory, particularly the immense border areas which are vital for defence and for potential mineral and agricultural wealth.The title ‘Han’ for ethnic Chinese comes from the Han dynasty (706 BC-AD zzo), during which many of the enduring institutions of Chineselife were established. Until recently there were fifty-four minority nationalities; Chine-se ethnographers have recently discovered another small tribe – the Jinuo – in sou-thwest China, making the total fifty-five.

At Minority Institutes, such as the Palace in Peking, cadres are trained. Much is made of the importance of unity and equality, the colourful dancing and singing,costumes and customs, and the historic precedents for unity – plays and stories about marriages between Han princesses and foreign potentates, and the part that was played by the minority nationalities in the Revolution, aiding and joining the communist guerrillas. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution the different nationalities have been able to resume their traditional religions, customs and means of livelihood, and several areas have been specifically opened to tourists. In minority areas the official language is the one spoken by the local ethnic population, and the minority nationalities are exempt from current population control programmes.

There are several important minority groups. Tibetans live in south-west China -Tibet, Qinghai and part of Sichuan. Dominated by Lamaism, the Tibetan Auton-omous Region was founded in 1965. The Turkic peoples live in the north-west -Xinjiang, Gansu and Qinghai; they are all Moslem and the majority are Uighur,although there are also some nomadic Kazakhs and Kirghiz. The Mongolians live along the border with the People’s Republic of_Mongolia. They are organized into leagues and banners (tribal groups), their life is nomadic and pastoral, and Lamaism is the religious influence. The Tungusic peoples, of whom the dominant group were the Manchus (who from 1644-1911 were rulers of China – the so-called Qing dynasty), live in north-east China and have become assimilated into the Chinese population. Koreans are found in the north-east.

In south-west China, along the borders in Yunnan and Guangxi, are several minority populations. Living in the uplands are Dais, Zhuang and the Puyi; the Miao and Yao live in southern Guizhou and Yunnan. The Zhuang is the largest group, numbering some 8 million; the smallest group comprises the Hezhe, of whom there are only 700.

Most of the minority nationalities live in autonomous regions or districts, where they have control of their own internal affairs, although Han Chinese also play an administrative role. China contains five autonomous regions (see page 5), twenty- nine autonomous prefectures and sixty-nine autonomous counties.