History
The Dong are thought to be the modern-day descendants of the ancient Liáo (僚) peoples who occupied much of southern China (Geary 2003). Dong legends generally maintain that the ancestors of the Dong migrated from the east. According to the migration legends of the Southern Dong people, the ancestors of the Southern Dong came from Guangzhou, Guangdong and Wuzhou, Guangxi. The Northern Dong maintain that their ancestors fled Zhejiang and Fujian because of locust swarms. Many Dong rebellions took place during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but none of them were successful in the long run. Although the Dong and Han Chinese peoples generally get along well today, the history of Guizhou is marked by innumerable tensions and conflicts between the Han Chinese and non-Han minority groups. Today, many Dong are assimilating into mainstream Chinese society as rural Dongs move into urban areas, resulting in intermarriage with the Han Chinese and the loss of the Dong language. However, various attempts to preserve Dong culture and language have been very successful, and improving living conditions in rural Guizhou may entice local Dong villagers to stay rather than move to major urban areas.
Read more about this topic: Dong People
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)