The Jing People 京族

Overview

Chinese Name: 京族
English Name: The Jing people, The Gin people
Languages: Jing language 京语, Chinese 汉语
Total population: 2.8*10⁴ (China mainland 2022)
Distribution: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

Brief introduction

The Jing people 京族 is one of the 55 ethnic minorities in China with a relatively small number, mainly distributed in Fangchenggang City 防城港市, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The area where the Jing people are located has a subtropical climate with abundant rainfall, no snow and ice all year round, evergreen trees and extremely rich products. The Beibu Gulf 北部湾 to the south is a famous fishing ground

The Jing people have their own language, but due to the complexity of language factors, it is difficult for linguists to determine their language family. The people of the Jing and Han nationalities have been living in friendship for a long time, and most of the Jing people speak Chinese.

The history of The Jing people

The ancestors of the Jings migrated to China from Vietnam and other places in the early 16th century AD. After the Sino-French war broke out in 1884, the Jing nationality area in Jiangping Town 江平镇 was once occupied by French invaders. France dumped a lot of goods, plundered local products and cheap labor.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921, under the leadership of the party, the Jing nationality developed a vigorous anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary movement. After 1945, the Jing people actively launched a heroic struggle against the Kuomintang 国民党.

The Jing people and the Han people organized a front brigade, welcomed the arrival of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army with joy, and made their own contributions to the revolutionary cause of our country.

The religion of The Jing people

The religious belief of the Jing nationality is polytheism, including Taoism and Buddhism, and some people also believe in Catholicism.

The Cultures of The Jing people

The diet of Jing people 京族的饮食

The Jings take rice as their staple food, sweet potatoes and taro as omnivores, and like to eat fish, shrimp, crab, fish juice and glutinous rice products. Women love chewing betel nut. The Jing people’s favorite food and cooking skills are fish and shrimp.

Fish juice is a traditional condiment of the Jing nationality. The method is as follows: first wash the small fish, put them in a large vat or wooden barrel, add salt in layers, compact and seal. After a few months, the small fish will gradually dissolve and secrete a red sap called fish juice. Fish juice can be seasoned or served with meals.

The costume of Jing people 京族服饰

The costumes of the Jing nationality are simple and beautiful. Men of the Jing ethnic group wear topless shirts with no collar and no buttons. One or two colored belts are also tied around the waist; some have as many as five or six belts, and the number of belts shows their wealth or ability. Because the shirt is longer than the knee, and the split flag of the shirt fork is very long, so I usually lift the clothes on both sides.

Young women usually wear white, green or grass-green tops, and their pants are mostly black or brown. Women’s tops are the opposite of men’s. They are very short, with the feet only reaching the waist and not the buttocks. When Jing women go out of the village or visit relatives and friends, they also wear a cheongsam-like tunic with a short collar and narrow sleeves, and a black or brown bowler hat.

The architecture of Jing people 京族建筑

In the past, every family of the Jing family lived in deserted beaches and chaotic forests. The houses are rough thatched cottages with walls woven with rough wood strips and bamboo pieces. Since the 1950s, with the continuous development of production, the living conditions of the Jing people have changed. This change is a clear sign of the widespread appearance of stone-striped tile-roofed houses.

The stone-striped tile house is a residence made of rectangular light brown stone strips with a length of 0.75 meters, a width of 0.25 meters and a height of 0.20 meters. The stone-striped tile house is divided into different single rooms with strips of stone or bamboo boards.

After the Chinese economic reform 中国经济改革, the housing conditions of Jing ethnic villagers have been greatly improved. Most of the residents have built buildings with reinforced concrete structures, and the indoor facilities are very neat and beautiful. There are generally fruit trees, bamboo forests, coconut trees, etc. around the house, which not only beautify the environment, but also prevent wind and sand.