Government and society

Cultural life

The minority peoples in Guizhou are among the most artistic and musical in China. The Han also have a long and mixed cultural background. Various types of folk dramas with varying degrees of elaboration, some of which are combined with folk dances, are popular among different nationalities in different areas. Some of the Han folk dramas, huadeng (“flower lantern”) in northern Guizhou and dixi (“floor plays”) in southern Guizhou, are also popular among the minority groups. Buffalo fighting is part of the festival activity over the New Year, especially among the Miao, Yao, and Zhuang peoples. The Miao often sing of their revolutionary history and heroes, and both the Miao and the Dong folk songs are well-known. Embroidery and paper cutting are both important forms of folk art among all minority peoples. The Buyi and Gelao are particularly known for their batik, the Miao and Buyi for their intricate, coloured cross-stitch work, and the Miao for their heavy silver ornaments.

Guizhou boasts numerous tourist attractions, and tourism is growing in importance. Noted nationally recognized scenic spots include Huangguoshu Falls, the largest waterfall in China; Zhijin (”Gold Weave”) Cave, China’s largest limestone cave complex; Wuyang River Gorge, with its karst landscape; Longgong (“Dragon Palace”) Cave, the caverns of which have been formed in the shape of a string of beads; and the site of a 1935 conference at Zunyi, where Mao Zedong established his dominance in the Chinese Communist Party. All attract large numbers of visitors every year.

History

Although the area has been known to the Chinese since ancient times, Guizhou came under large-scale Chinese influence only relatively recently, particularly during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when it was made a province. The colonization policy of the Ming and Qing dynasties encouraged a large number of Chinese immigrants from Hunan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan to move into the eastern, northern, and central parts of Guizhou.

During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), when the government decided to replace local chiefs with officials appointed by the central government, minority groups (particularly the Miao) rebelled. Rebellions and suppressions were so common there that there was a saying, “a riot every 30 years and a major rebellion every 60 years.” In 1726 at the Battle of Mount Leigong, more than 10,000 Miao were beheaded and more than 400,000 starved to death. The Banjiang Riot of 1797 was said to have been started by the Buyi people, and thousands of them were either burned to death or beheaded. The most important popular revolt against the central government was one led by Zhang Xiumei, a Miao, in 1855. He and his followers united with the Taiping revolutionaries, and the joint army with a centralized command that was organized soon controlled eastern and southern Guizhou and won numerous victories under the Miao leaders Yan Dawu and Bao Dadu. When the Miao were eventually defeated in 1872, however, countless numbers of them were massacred. The most recent revolt, known as the Qian Dong (Eastern Guizhou) Incident, occurred between 1942 and 1943 as a result of exploitation and suppression by the warlord Wu Tingzhang. Bitter struggles between the Miao and Wu’s armies went on until 1944.

Guizhou experienced some economic development as a result of the Japanese occupation of regions of China to the east during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). This included establishing some industry and commercial activities and setting up the first of its higher-education facilities. However, much of the investment returned to the east after the war. Limited industrialization resumed following the communist takeover of the country in 1949 and expanded considerably from the 1960s. During the 1960s and ’70s tens of thousands of workers migrated to Guizhou from other parts of China.