Speakers of Wu Chinese

Wu Chinese
吳越民系 江浙民系 江南民系

Wang Xizhi, Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yirang, Cai Yuanpei Lu Xun, Shen Kuo
Total population
(approximately 77 million people )
Regions with significant populations
China	Zhejiang Jiangsu Shanghai Anhui Jiangxi Fujian
Hong Kong	As part of Mainlander population
Republic of China (on Taiwan)	As part of Mainlander population
United States	As part of Chinese American population
Australia	As part of Chinese Australian population
Languages
Wu Chinese dialects, Jianghuai Mandarin, Zhenan Min, Hui Chinese, Standard Mandarin
Religion
Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion. Small Christian minorities.
Related ethnic groups
Huizhou people, other Han Chinese

General map of the Wuyue area.

The Wu-speaking Chinese (Chinese: 江南人; pinyin: Jiāngnán rén), also known as Wuyue people (simplified Chinese: 吴越人; traditional Chinese: 吳越人; pinyin: Wúyuè rén; Shanghainese: [ɦuɦyɪʔ ɲɪɲ]), are a major subgroup of the Han Chinese (also known as the "ethnic Chinese", see: Chinese people). They are a Wu Chinese-speaking people who hail from southern Jiangsu province, the city of Shanghai, all of Zhejiang province, as well as smaller populations in Xuancheng prefecture-level city in southern Anhui province, Shangrao, Guangfeng, and Yushan counties of northeastern Jiangxi province, and some parts of Pucheng county in northern Fujian province.

History

Origins

Main article: Jiangnan

For much of history and prehistory, the Wuyue region is home to several neolithic cultures such as the Hemudu culture, Majiabang culture, and the Liangzhu culture. Wu and Yue were two kingdoms during the Zhou dynasty, and many such allusions to those kingdoms were attributed in the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Zuo Zhuan, and the Guoyu. Later, after years of fighting and conflict, the two cultures of Wu and Yue became one culture through mutual contact and cultural diffusion. The Chu state from the west (in Hubei) expanded into this area and defeated the Yue state. After Chu was conquered by Qin, China was unified. It was not until the fall of Western Jin during the early 4th century AD that northern Chinese moved to Jiangnan in significant numbers. The Yellow River valley was becoming barren due to flooding (lack of trees after intensive logging to create farmland) and constant harassment and invasion by the Wu Hu nomads. In the 10th century, Wuyue (Ten Kingdoms) was a small coastal kingdom founded by Qian Liu who made a lasting cultural impact on Jiangnan and its people to this day. The cultural distinctiveness that began developing over this period persists to this day as the Wuyue region speaks a dialect of Chinese language called Wu (the most famous variant of which is Shanghainese), has distinctive cuisine and other cultural traits.

Subgroups

• Shanghainese people
• Ningbo people
• Wenzhou people

Culture

Traditionally, in the past, Wuyue people dominated the Imperial examinations, and were often ranked first in the imperial examinations as Zhuangyuan (狀元), or in other positions of the Jinshi (進士) degree.

Music

• Jiangnan sizhu

Opera

• Kunqu
• Shaoxing opera
• Shanghai opera
• Yongju, or Ningbo opera
• Kunqu

Literature

• Butterfly Lovers
• Legend of the White Snake
• Dream of the Red Chamber

Philosophy and Religion

• Yangming school of Neo-Confucianism
• Tiantai school of Mahayana Buddhism

Heritage Sites

• Tianyi Chamber
• The Classical Gardens in Suzhou

Cultural Items

• Silk, Jiangnan is the largest silk-producing region in China. Huzhou is known for its fine silk.
• Tea (Camellia sinensis), Hangzhou is known for its Longjing tea, and the rest of Jiangnan has their own unique tea varieties.
• Suzhou embroidery
• Shaoxing wine

DNA Analysis

The HLA-DRB1 distribution of Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Han population does share genetic characteristics with other Han Chinese populations, but it also exhibits its own characteristics distinct from that of other Han Chinese populations. This study also suggests that Wu-speaking peoples genetically, bridge the gap between Northern Han and Southern Han populations and thus are an intermediate between both populations. Even though Wu-speaking peoples form a genetic cluster, DNA analyses also show that Wu-speaking peoples are genetically coherent with other Han Chinese populations.

See also

• Wuyue
• Chinese people
• Wu (region)

External links

• wenlian.xiaoshan.gov.cn (Chinese)