Sansu October 26 ➤ Location: The Joshua Tattered, torn, scanty togs; Kuhn — who conducted an •Mile YUNNAN Project listed a 1995 coarse mountain food; dark intensive ethnic survey of population of 12,000 Sansu smoky hovels — these are Yunnan Province in 1945 — •Kaiyuan •Zhenyuan — a poverty-stricken and their daily lot. The Sansu joyfully recounted his •Mojiang •Yuanyang destitute tribe located in the are some of the earth’s meeting with the first Sansu •Yuanjiang 2 •Pu’er highest mountains of poorest.” believer. “At Yuanchiang Scale VIETNAM Yuanjiang County in [Yuanjiang] on the Red River, LAOS 0KM80 southern Yunnan Province’s Customs: The various Hani- my cup ran over! I saw my Population in China: Yuxi Prefecture. Yuanjiang, related peoples, including first Sansu. I had never 12,000 (1995) located on the banks of the the Sansu, have developed heard of that tribe before.… 13,370 (2000) Honghe (Red) River, is a long list of “at least 500 And there, my first Sansu 16,440 (2010) predominantly inhabited by known medicinal plants as sat before me, little of Location: Yunnan Religion: Polytheism members of the Han, Yi, well as medicinal practices stature, shy, quiet, with a Christians: 300 and Hani nationalities. such as bone-setting, soft voice and distant look. massage, and blood His awkwardness bespoke 3 Overview of the Identity: For reasons of circulation techniques.” his inner thought, ‘Why Sansu perceived historical kinship, should the White Man wish the Sansu — along with Religion: The Sansu are to talk to me?’ Simply Countries: China more than a dozen other zealous polytheists. They because the White Man Pronunciation: “Sahn-soo” tribes — have been included worship a multitude of evil wished to size up a Sansu, Other Names: in the Hani nationality by the spirits who rule over them. lowest in the scale of Population Source: 12,000 (1995 Joshua Project); Chinese authorities, who are The Sansu also venerate humanity of those parts, yet Out of a total Hani population of not apt to grant official their ancestors, especially an object of the grace of 1,253,952 (1990 census) status to minorities with the spirits of their in-laws. God, for he had been Location: S Yunnan: Yuanjiang relatively small populations. brought to Christ by a Lolo. County in Yuxi Prefecture Christianity: Of the more Wonderful! Are there any Status: Officially included under Hani Language: Although the than 1,000 Hani Christians more Sansu? Yes, many Language: Sino-Tibetan, Sansu speak their own reportedly living in Yuanjiang more. Then we can expect a Tibeto-Burman, Burmese-Lolo, distinct Tibeto-Burman County,4 approximately 200 grand harvest, for the Lolo, Southern Lolo, Akha language, they do not to 300 are believed to be saving of the first is proof Dialects: 0 possess an orthography. In members of the Sansu tribe. that He can save all.”5 Religion: Polytheism, Animism, 1957 the government tried China Inland Mission’s John Christianity, Ancestor Worship to introduce a Roman script Christians: 300 for the various Hani peoples Scripture: None in Honghe. The authorities’ Jesus film: None unwillingness to recognize Gospel Recordings: None the true linguistic diversity Christian Broadcasting: None among the different groups ROPAL code: SCA00 caused the project to fail. Groups like the Sansu did Status of Evangelization not use words found in the 60% “Hani language” literature. The Sansu were originally a 37% non-Tibeto-Burman-speaking tribe who were taken as slaves and had another 3% language imposed on them.1 A B C History: For generations the A = Have never heard the gospel Sansu were slaves of the B = Were evangelized but did not become Christians ruling Yi people. “They are C = Are adherents to any form of considered very low on the Christianity scale of tribal society, actually being servants to the Lolo [Yi] tribe and given so little recognition by the government that they are even exempt from taxation and military service. Paul Hattaway 478 SANSU.