Ayi January 22

Chinese people farther to the east. In the eighth SICHUAN • century the Ayi came under Deqen the control of the Nanzhao

•Gongshan Kingdom centered in Dali. Zhongdian • •Weixi During the Yuan and Ming •Fugong Scale dynasties the area was 0 KM 80 • controlled by a Naxi Population in : headman. In 1907 the Ayi 2,000 (1995) joined an uprising in 2,210 (2000) 2,680 (2010) protest against the British Location: Yunnan who had entered China Religion: Christianity from Burma.3 Alcoholism Christians: 1,300 has long been a curse on the Ayi people. Often in Overview of the Ayi villages, all the people, Countries: China including children, were Pronunciation: “Ah-yee” addicted, but since the Other Names: arrival of Christianity the Population Source: problem has subsided. 2,000 (1995 AMO); Out of a total Nu population of Customs: The Ayi live by 27,123 (1990 census) subsistence farming. Their Location: NW Yunnan: Fugong Dwayne Graybill and Gongshan counties major crops are maize, Status: Location: Approximately 2,000 people buckwheat, barley, potatoes, yams, beans, Officially included under Nu speak the Ayi language, out of a total of and corn. They supplement farming by Language: Sino-Tibetan, 27,000 in the Nu nationality. Other Nu hunting with crossbows. Those who live Tibeto-Burman, Unclassified subgroups in China include the Lama and near the rivers fish from two-man flat boats. Dialects: 0 Zauzou. The Ayi live in parts of Fugong and Ayi society has traditionally been Religion: Christianity, Polytheism, Gongshan counties in Nujiang Prefecture.1 monogamous, although some wealthy Animism They inhabit the remote mountains of landlords kept extra wives and concubines. Christians: 1,300 northwest Yunnan near the Myanmar The youngest son among the Ayi inherits Scripture: None border. Although the region is off-limits to the family property. Jesus film: None foreign travelers, it is one of the most Gospel Recordings: None Christianized areas in China. Most of the Religion: It is estimated that more than Christian Broadcasting: None remainder of the Nu minority live farther 50% of the Ayi are professing Christians. A ROPAL code: AYX00 north of the Ayi. The Ayi area is rich in recent report stated, “Fugong County, which mineral deposits. Dense virgin pine trees is in China’s northwestern Yunnan Province, Status of Evangelization and fir forests cover the high mountain has so many Christians that it is known as slopes. ‘Christ County’. Ninety percent of the 59% people there are believers. The Christians 41% Identity: Although the Ayi are included as report that authorities, impressed by the part of the official Nu nationality, they falling crime rate, are actually encouraging possess their own distinct customs and people to believe.”4 speak a language mutually unintelligible 0% with other Nu varieties. The Ayi culture Christianity: The Ayi have received a vibrant A B C shares many similarities with the Lisu. Christian witness from strong evangelistic A = Have never heard the gospel churches among the nearby Lisu and Nu. B = Were evangelized but did not become Christians Language: The exact affiliation of the Ayi Most Ayi attend mixed-nationality churches C = Are adherents to any form of language has yet to be determined, except where Lisu is the language used in worship. Christianity that it is part of the Tibeto-Burman Many Protestant and Catholic missionaries language family. The Ayi language consists lived in this part of China prior to the of four tones and has borrowed words from 1950s which has resulted in strong the Chinese, Tibetan, Lisu, Bai, and churches today among the Lisu, Bai, Nu, Burmese languages.2 and Derung minorities. The New Testament is available in the Nu language based on a History: The Ayi have historically been dialect in Myanmar, but it is not known to viewed by outsiders as more culturally what extent the Ayi can understand it. backward than the Bai, Naxi, or Han

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