Identification. The name "Bai," meaning "white" in Chinese, seems to have been first used to refer to inhabitants of the southwest border region of China, the Baiman, as distinguished from the Wuman ( wu meaning "black") by the white sheepskins they wore. The Bai refer to themselves as "Bozi," "Baini," "Baihuo," or "Baizi." The Chinese used the term "Minjia" from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. The Chinese government now refers to the Bai as the "Baizu."
Location. Traditionally the Bai inhabited the region of present-day China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The majority of Bai now live in the Dali Baizu Autonomous Region of Yunnan. Smaller Bai groups are found in the Bijie District of Guizhou Province, Liangshan in Sichuan, and Sangzhi County in Hunan Province.
Demography. In 1982 the total Bai population numbered 1,131,124, of whom 857,410 lived in the Dali region. The 1990 census gives a total count of 1,594,827.
Linguistic Affiliation. The Bai language belongs to the Tibeto-Burmese Branch of Sino-Tibetan. The Bai have no written language, so Chinese characters have been used with Bai pronunciation. Today many Bai speak Chinese.
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