Tujia

族About this people

The Tujia are one of China's larger ethnic minorities, with a population of over eight million concentrated in the border region of western Hunan (Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture), western Hubei (Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture), the northeastern corner of Guizhou, and the adjacent Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in Chongqing. Their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch, though its exact relatives within that branch remain debated — it appears to be an isolate rather than closely related to any other living language.

Tujia traditional architecture is characterised by the diaojiaolou — stilted wooden houses built on steep valley slopes with the lower story hanging over the hillside, supported by timber columns, and upper stories cantilevered out on projecting wooden brackets. The ancient town of Furong (Furong Zhen) in Xiangxi, built on a waterfall, preserves the most photographed examples of this architecture. The Fenghuang old town (Phoenix Town) in Xiangxi, while shared with Miao communities, contains important Tujia architecture.

Tujia hand-woven brocade (Xilankapu) uses geometric patterns — primarily rhombuses, stripes, and stylised animal and plant forms — worked in silk thread on a cotton ground. The weaving is done on a foot-pedalled back-strap loom and the patterns are passed through family teaching without written instructions. Traditional Tujia funerary practice includes the "mourning through joy" (Saka) custom, in which mourners sing and dance around the coffin through the night rather than weeping, celebrating the deceased's life.