The article contains the basic information about the Chinese Miao people: population, the areas of compact settlement, major groups and their religious worldviews. Particular attention is paid to one group of this nation, called Da Hua Miao. Based on written and oral sources, the author identifies factors of the beginning of Christianity in Da Hua Miao culture. During the field study, verification of official information about this people published in Chinese information sources was carried out, and statistical indicators of religiosity were specified. Da Hua Miao mainly live on the mountains in the northwest of Guizhou province and in the surrounding areas of the northeast of Yunnan. Christianity was brought to these people by the Protestant missionary Samuel Pollard. Miao folklore contains images and plots similar to some Old Testament narratives. It cannot be excluded that the presence in the culture of Da Hua Miao some tales similar in content to the biblical stories served as fertile ground for the spreading of Christian teaching and contributed to a more organic inculturation of Christianity among these people. Widespread in modern publications that modern Da Hua Miao are for the most part (up to 80%) Christians is ambiguous. Field research data shows, for example, that of the 250 people living in one of the villages in Funin County, only 30 people regularly attending to the church services, which is about 12%. On the other hand, Christianity is now a typical characteristic of the religious culture of Da Hua Miao. Representatives of this ethnic group in the majority correlate the culture with Christianity, the official authorities of China recognize Christianity as religion of Da Hua Miao.
Keywords: China, Yunnan, miao people, Da Hua Miao, Christianity, Christian missionaries, Samuel Pollard, Edgar Allen Truax
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2019.4.80-90
About the author
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Igor V. Kurlyanov – Master degree student at the Department of Religious Studies and History, The Amur State University; 21 Ignatievskoe Shosse, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, 675000; christ-warrior@mail.ru |