Miao, Guiyang Northern in China

Joshua Project has identified the Miao, Guiyang Northern only in China





Largest Religion

Main Language


The Miao

Source Asia Harvest


A part of the official Miao nationality in China, Northern Guiyang Miao is one of four distinct Guiyang Miao languages. There are said to be more than 70 tribes of Miao in China, "each one with a distinctive costume." The name Miao comes from the Chinese. The character used in the Chinese Book of History means "tender blades of grass or sprouts." One historian notes, "The various subgroups of Miao have no love for each other, and the Chinese have in the past been able to get some Miao groups to serve as mercenaries against other Miao groups."

The Guiyang Miao language group is divided into five distinct languages: Northern, Northwestern, South Central, Southern, and Southwestern.


In 1924 Father F. M. Savina of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society published his book Histoire des Miao, which caused a sensation in the Western world. Savina claimed the Miao were of Caucasian origin. He wrote, "In appearance [the Miao are] pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or 'corn-silk blond', and a few even have pale blue eyes."


A Miao mother is not allowed to help her daughter during the delivery of a baby. The mother's sister-in-law is not even allowed to enter the delivery room, for if they do, Miao superstition dictates, the new mother will have no milk. When visitors come to see the new baby, often they will remark how ugly or dirty the baby is, so the demons will be tricked into thinking the baby is not worth their trouble and will leave the child alone.


The worldview of some Miao groups states that heaven is a flat land on top of the sky where the deceased souls of their ancestors live. It is a wonderful place, with no sickness or death, no mountains to climb, and no fields to plow. The sun always shines, and although it never rains, there is an abundance of water available.


The Northern Guiyang Miao were first visited by Protestant missionaries in the late 1800s. Several Protestant families lived in the Guiyang-Anshun region, but the Miao were described by the missionaries as "utterly indifferent to things spiritual." The 1900 Boxer Rebellion broke out just as the work was seeing its first fruit, causing the mission to close and the missionaries to flee China. During the years the missionaries were gone, a military official and a noted village headman went throughout the entire district and threatened people with death if they joined the "foreign religion." A small church remains today among the Northern Guiyang Miao.


Prayer Links
Global Prayer Digest: 2011-07-20
People Name General Miao, Guiyang Northern (Meow, Gway-yung)
People Name in Country Miao, Guiyang Northern
Population in China 140,000
World Population 140,000
Countries 1
Progress Scale 1.2
Least-Reached Yes
Indigenous Yes
Alternate Names Hmong, Northern Guiyang, Miao, Guiyang, Northern Guiyang Miao
Affinity Bloc Southeast Asian Peoples
People Cluster Miao / Hmong
Ethnic Code MSY47a
People ID 18580
Country China
Region Northeast Asia
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
Location in Country Eighty-four thousand speakers of the Northern Guiyang Miao language were reported in 1990. They occupy the western part of Guiyang Municipality and are also found in eight counties of Guizhou Province: Pingba, Qianxi, Jinsha, Qingzhen, Kaiyang, Xifeng, Xiumen, and Guiding..   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Miao, Northern Guiyang (140,000)
Miao, Northern Guiyang 140,000

For Main Lanugage: Miao, Northern Guiyang

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible Portions No
New Testament No
Complete Bible No
Format Resource
Text / Printed Matter Bible-in-Your-Language
Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions

Major Religion Percent
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.90 %)
1.00 %
Ethnic Religions
95.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
4.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
0.00 %

Christian Segments Percent
0.0 %
90.0 %
0.0 %
Other Christian
0.0 %
0.0 %
Roman Catholic
10.0 %
Map Source: Bethany World Prayer Center  
Video Source: Asia Harvest
Data Sources: Data is compiled from various sources. Read more
