[ETHNIC GROUPS & MINORITIES OF CHINA / PROPAGANDA] 中国少数民族人物 / Zhôngguô shâo shû mînzû renwû = Glimpses of national minorities in China

1. A.

Beijing Te Yi Hua Ce Chu Ban Zu Zhong Yang Min Zu Xue Yuan Yan Jiu Bu, [Beijing Pictorial Album Publishing Group Z Promote Nationalities College Research Department], Beijing, [ca. 1970s].

In original case that can be opened with tabs from the sides and top. Foolscap 8vo. (19 x 11 cm). In Chinese and English. [1, 55] p., 1 p. text, 55 p. of colour plates with their descriptive texts on verso. A fine and complete copy.

The first and only edition of attractive collection of colour plates and scarce visual ephemera, documenting all minorities and ethnic elements of Socialist China. The album includes 55 men and women who appear happy and healthy, depicted in photos wearing local clothes and hats specific to their regions, all housed in one portfolio.

Published by the “Promote Nationalities College Research Department” in the capital of Socialist China, the album begins with a foreword outlining the theory that all people of various nationalities in the country are more closely united around the Party Central Committee headed by Hua Guofeng (1921-2008). Hua served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China.

These ethnic groups are depicted in 55 color photographic plates, each accompanied by bilingual text in Chinese and English on the versos detailing the locations where each group lives in the country and their populations. The groups include the Olunchun, Tajik, Khalkhas, Uighur, Pumi, Kazakh, Kaoshan, Uzbek, Tulung, Tu, Achang, Lopa, Penglung, Yao, Yi, Chiang, Lisu, Tuchia, Ching, Sala, Hani, Tartar, Li, Tai, Tunghsiang, Lahu, Nu, Russian, Owenke, Mongolian, Mulao, Pulang, Paoan, Kelao, Yuku, Korean, She, Chuang, Hoche, Maonan, Monba, Jinuo, Nahsi, Chingpo, Puyi, Wa, Manchu, Miao, Shui, Hui, Tahur, Tung, Pai, Sino, and Tibetan.

This attractive and very scarce album, with a distinguished provenance, originates from the collection of Swedish diplomat and Turkologist Gunnar Valfrid Jarring (1907-2002).

At the advent of the Republic of China in 1911, the minority issue assumed its real dimension. Founder Sun Yat Sen, aware of the fragility of the new nation-state and disregarding statistical evidence, tried to minimize the influence of the minorities, and emphasized, in his writings and speeches, the demographic supremacy of the Hans. In contrast, the communist regime from its inception in 1949 fully recognized (including religion as a criterion) ethnic minorities. Today, there are 55 minority groups in China, totaling 120 million inhabitants, almost 10% of the population.

“The People’s Republic of China is an integral multi-national socialist country. Apart from the Han nationality, there are more than fifty minority nationalities in China. This album is published in order to give readers a general idea about Chinese minorities.

The population of these minorities amonts [sic. amounts] to six percent of the total China’s population, but the areas they inhabit cover fifty to sixty percent of country. They all respectively have a long history and glorious revolutionary traditions. They all have made important contributions to the creation of the Chinese culture, to the construction of the border areas, and to the defence of our motherland.

After liberation, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we have abolished the system of national oppression, realized equality and unity among the nationalities and instituted autonomy of the minority areas. As a result, five autonomous regions, twenty-five autonomous prefectures and sixty-nine autonomous counties have been established one after another. The contingent of minority cadres has been growing in strength. Great achievements in economic construction and culture development have been brought about in the minority regions.

After the downfall of the “Gang of Four”, the people of various nationalities are more closely united around the Party Central Committee headed by Comrade Hua Kuofeng and are striving to build our motherland into a strong socialist country with modernizing agriculture, industry, national defence and science and technology.” (Foreword).

As of April 2024, only four copies in OCLC worldwide, none in the US libraries (29035619).