The Qixingmin () are an officially unrecognized ethnic group of western Guizhou province, China. They are officially classified as Bai by the Chinese government. The Qixingmin speak a Yi (Loloish) language known as Luoji. The Guizhou Province Ethnic Gazetteer (2002:692) reports that, in 1982, there were about 700 speakers among the more easterly Qixingmin.
Qixingmin literally means "Seven Surname People" in Chinese. This is because the Qixingmin historically had the seven surnames of Zhang å¼ , Su èÂÂ, Li æÂÂ, Zhao èµµ, Xu 许, Qian é±, and Yang æ¨. In Guizhou, they are also known as:
In Zhaotong Prefecture, northeastern Yunnan, there is also an ethnic group known to the local Han Chinese as Bai'erzi ç½å¿åÂÂ, and to the local Miao as Mudou æ¯ÂæÂÂ.
Traditionally, the Qixingmin have also been considered an Yi subgroup. The Yi of the western extreme of Guizhou province have been divided into five subgroups, namely the Black Yi é»Âå½Â, Red Yi 红å½Â, White Yi ç½å½Â, Green Yi éÂÂå½Â, and Luoju ç½Âè´ (a traditional name for the Qixingmin).
The Qixingmin are distributed in the following villages. According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer, several centuries ago the Qixingmin used to live primarily in Caohai èÂÂæµ· of Weining County.
Also, the Nanjingren Ã¥ÂÂ京人 of Hezhang County are called Awutu é¿æ¦å by the local Yi (Hezhang County Gazetteer 2001).
Qixingmin of the following surnames are distributed in (Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer 2002:690):
The Qixingmin speak the Luoji language. It is closely related to the local Yi language, which is intermediate between the Western and Eastern Yi dialects of Weining County (Weining 1997:328).