Achang People
The Achang (Traditional/simplified Chinese: 阿昌族, Pinyin: Āchāng zú), also known as the Ngac'ang (their own name) or Maingtha (Burmese name) are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They also live in Burma.
The Achang number 27,700, of whom 27,600 are from Yunnan province, especially Dehong Autonomous Prefecture. The Achang speak a Tibeto-Burman language called Achang, but there is no indigenous writing system to accompany it. Chinese characters are often used instead. Many Achang also speak the language of the Dai, mainly to make commercial transactions.
Speaking a distinct dialect, the Husa Achang (戶撒) living in Longchuan County (also in Dehong) consider themselves to be distinct and filed an unsuccessful application in the 1950s as a separate nationality. The Husa were more Sinicized than other Achang. For example, Confucian-styled ancestral memorial tablets are common in Husa homes. Most traditional Husa believe in a mixture of Theravada Buddhism (of the Hinayana school) and Taoism.
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“Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.”
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