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268
Fig. 120. CHINESE or YUNNAK.
EAST ASIA.
are very industrious, and are skilled at weaving, and even at the goldsmith's art. In*
speech, and probably in blood, the Pei are allied to the Laos of Indo-China, while
the Lolo speak various more or less mixed dialects of Burmese, Chinese, or Tibetan .
The Tape, a tribe related to the Pei, are the only survivors of a formerly powerful
nation, which the annals tell us were condemned by the Son of Heaven to send him
a tribute in objects of gold and silver, rhinoceros horns, and tusks of elephants.
The local fauna would therefore seem to have undergone a change within the historic
period, for all these large mammals have long disappeared. Neither the Pei nor
the Pape have any idols, but when they come amongst civilised peoples they freely
enter the temples, make offerings,
and burn incense,
like the ordi-
nary worshippers.
Chinese culture is in other
respects gradually prevailing,
while the original types are
being moditied by intermixture.
Amongst the half-castes sprung of
these alliances are several com-
munities which, while speaking
Chinese exclusively, still betray
the presence of aboriginal blood
in their muscular development,
independent spirit, and rude
habits. " We are not Chinese,"
" we are
they insist haughtily ;
Yunnan people " They have more
than once sided with the Paiithays
or natives against the mandarins. They differ also from the Chinese in their
cheerful spirit and love of music. Nearly all the muleteers or carters accompany
the pace of their animals with their mandolines.
THE PANTHAY INSURRECTION.
The insurrection of 1855, which for a time raised West Yunnan to the rank of
an .independent state, began with a quarrel
Mohammedan miners at Shiyaiig about the source of the lied River. Nowhere else
between some Buddhist and
in China had Islam made so much progress as in Yunnan. Sprung of a few early
Arab immigrants and of .some Bokhariot soldiers brought hither by Kublai Khan
in the thirteenth century, the Hoi-Hoi of Yunnan cannot now be physically
distinguished from the surrounding Chinese. But the different rites, and especially
the clash of interests in the mining districts, fostered mutual hatred and
brought about frightful massacres. At the same time the most varied
elements were found amongst the rebels, collectively known abroad by the Burmese
name of Panthay. In the Mohammedan ranks were Buddhist and Taoist Chinese,