Jie people

The Jié (Chinese: 羯; Wade–Giles: Chieh; Middle Chinese: [ki̯at]) were members of a small tribe in North China in the 4th century. Chinese sources state that the Jie originated among the Yuezhi. Under Shi Le, they established the Later Zhao state. The Jie were allegedly "completely exterminated" by Ran Min in the Wei–Jie war in 350 CE following the fall of the Later Zhao, however, Chinese history continue to document Jie people and account of their people's activities after the Wei-Jie war.

The root 羯 may be transliterated as Jie- or Tsze- and an older form, < kiat, may also be reconstructed. (羯 Jié is also a graphic pejorative, that means "wether" – a castrated male sheep.)

According to the Book of Wei (6th century CE), the name Jie was derived from the Jiéshì area (羯室, modern Yushe County in Shanxi province), where the Jie resided.

The name of the ruling dynasty of the Later Zhao state was Shi (石) (lit. "stone"), which was derived apparently from a dominant tribe within the Jie, known as the Tsiantszüy – a name that has also been rendered Tsyanizui and Kantszui. The Russian-Kazakh sinologist Yuri Zuev cited two conflicting theories regarding the origins of the Tsiantszüy:

The Jie are known for one phrase that reached us in their native language, uttered by the Kuchan Buddhist monk and missionary Fotudeng and recorded in the Book of Jin as 秀支 替戾剛 僕谷 劬禿當 in connection with Shi Le's fight against Liu Yao in 328 CE. The phrase was glossed with Chinese translation (Middle Chinese pronunciation provided below follows Pulleyblank):

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