Southern Man (ethnic group)

Nanman (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Nánmán; Wade–Giles: Nan-man; literally: "Southern Barbarians") was a historical pejorative term given by the Chinese to the indigenous inhabitants that lived in southwestern China. They are believed by scholars to be related to the Sanmiao, dated to around the 3rd century BC. The Nanman were multiple ethnic groups including the Zhuang, the Tai, and some non-Chinese Tibetan-speaking groups such as the Bai people and all Miao peoples. There was never a single polity that united these people.

The Book of Rites describes ancient stereotypes about the Si Yi Four Barbarians surrounding China.

The people of those five regions – the Middle states, and the [Rong], [Yi], (and other wild tribes round them) – had all their individual cultures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called [Yi]. They wore their hair long and natural, and tattooed their bodies with ink made from plants & roots. They were an agrarian people who lived off the land and raised their own animals for food. Those on the south were called [Man]. They also tattooed their foreheads with symbols, and were as tan-skinned as the Yi from working their crop fields and tending to animals. Those on the west were called [Rong]. They also wore their hair long and in braids. They sometimes sewed their animal skins into warm clothing. Some of them did not eat grain-food, however meat and fish were a main source of their diet. Those on the north were called [Di]. They also wove skins of animals and colorful birds to adorn their clothing, and preferred to build their shelters in the more mountainous hillsides. Some of them also did not eat grain-food, but relied heavily on a meat supply. The people of the Middle states, and of those [Yi], Man, [Rong], and [Di], all established their own individual cultures and thriving communities, where they lived at relative ease; with much peace among their tribes. They made clothes suitable for themselves; practical tools for proper use; and their shelters were diverse and prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, as their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers) – in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, [Di-dis]; and in the north, interpreters.

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