Mythologies of the Bai Tribe
The Bai , or Pai ( Bai : Baipho, /pɛ̰˦˨xo̰˦/ (白和); Chinese : 白族; pinyin : Báizú ; Wade–Giles : Pai-tsu ; endonym pronounced [pɛ̀tsī] ), are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province , Bijie area of Guizhou Province , and Sangzhi area of Hunan Province . They constitute one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China. They numbered 1,933,510 as of 2010. The Bai people hold the colour white in high esteem and call themselves “Baipzix” ( pɛ˦˨ tsi˧ , Baizi, 白子), “Bai’ho” ( pɛ˦˨ xo˦ , Baihuo, 白伙), “Bai yinl” ( pɛ˦˨ ji˨˩ , Baini, 白尼) or “Miep jiax”. Bai literally means “white” in Chinese. In 1956, the Chinese authorities named them the Bai nationality according to their preference. Historically, the Bai had also been called Minjia (民家) by the Chinese from the 14th cen...