World Literature Today
Indigenous-Minority Poets from China: 15 Recordings for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
August 9, 2023
by Ming Di
To celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9, I invited fifteen Indigenous-minority poets from China to record their readings of their own short poems in their Indigenous-minority mother tongues. Most of the languages presented here are endangered. Some may be never heard of, such as Dagur, Yugu, Bonan, Nu, Derung, Lahu, and Mulao, even for people inside China. I have arranged the poets/languages geographically in a counterclockwise order: from Northeast to Northwest, down to Southwest, South, and up to the Southeast-East coast of China. All the authors are bilingual in their native Indigenous-minority languages and Mandarin Chinese. Some are even biliterate. Two of them are singer-lyricist-musicians who speak rare languages and who promote their mother tongues to a larger audience than what poets could ever reach.
Here is a list of the authors by name, year of birth, ethnicity, and province/region:
1. Wu Yingli (b. 1967), Daur from Inner Mongolia
2. Ha Mo (b. 1973), Dongxiang from Gansu
3. A Marjen, Yugu from Gansu
4. Ma Xuewu (b. 1972), Bonan from Gansu
5. Kulaxihan Muhamaitihan (b. 1974), Kazakh from Gansu
6. Abiba Yiminjan (b. 1975), Tajik from Xinjiang
7. Yomqung Sangmo (b. 1998), Tibetan from Ngari, Tibet
8. Pema Yangchen (b. 1974), Tibetan from Shannan, Tibet
9. Danba Wangmo (b. 1991), Rgyalrong Tibetan from Sichuan
10. Liu Wenqing (b. 1984), Nu from Yunnan
11. Gao Qiongxian (b. 1986), Derung from Yunnan
12. Lal Vet (b. 1988), Lahu from Yunnan
13. Gebu (b. 1964), Hani from Yunnan
14. Tong Yu (b. 1978), Mulao from Guangxi
15. Lan Yongxiao (b. 1982), She (Shan Ha) from Zhejiang
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