The She people (; She Chinese: ) are an ethnic group native to southern China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.
According to the 2021 China Statistical Yearbook, the total population of the She was 746,385, including 403,516 males and 342,869 females. The She are the largest ethnic minority in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces. They are also present in the provinces of Anhui and Guangdong. Some descendants of the She also exist amongst the Hakka minority in Taiwan.
Today, over 400,000 She people of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces speak She Chinese (), an unclassified Chinese variety that has been heavily influenced by Hakka Chinese.
There are approximately 1,200 She people in Guangdong province who speak a HmongâÂÂMien language called She (), which is also called Ho Ne meaning "mountain people" (). Some say they are descendants of the Dongyi, Nanman, or Yue peoples.
She Chinese should not be confused with She (Ho Ne). She Chinese () and Ho Ne () speakers have separate histories and identities, although both are officially classified by the Chinese government as She people. The Dongjia of Majiang County, Guizhou are also officially classified as She people, but speak a Western Hmongic language closely related to Chong'anjiang Miao ().
Some scholars believe that the birthplace of the She ethnic group may be Phoenix Mountain () in the north of Chao'an District, Chaozhou. The She people are some of the earliest known settlers of Guangdong; they are thought to have originally settled along the shallow shore for easier fishing access during the Neolithic era. Eventually, after an influx of Yue people moved south during the Warring States period, serious competition between the two peoples for resources developed.
From the time of the Qin dynasty on, waves of migrants from northern China have had a serious impact on the She people. Because they possessed superior tools and technology, these migrants were able to displace the She and occupy the better land for farming. As a result of this, some of the She were forced to relocate into the hilly areas of the Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.
Following this relocation, the She people became hillside farmers. Their methods of farming included burning grasses on the slope, casting rice seeds on those embers and then harvesting the produce following the growth season. Some of the She people also participated in the production and trade of salt, obtained from the evaporation of local pools of salt water.
Many conflicts took place between the Han Chinese and She peoples. For example, in one incident, She salt producers on Lantau Island in Hong Kong attacked the city of Canton in a revolt during the Song dynasty.
During the Ming-Qing dynasties they moved into and settled Zhejiang's southern region and mountain districts in the Lower Yangtze region, after they left their homeland in Northern Fujian. It is theorized that the She were pushed out of their land by the Hakka, which caused them to move into Zhejiang.
The roughly 45,000 She living in Guizhou province form a separate subgroup, the Dongjia (), who differ notably in culture from the She in other areas.
In a 2000 census, 709,592 She have been counted in China.
Only values of 0.5% and greater have been considered.