The Bouyei (also spelled Puyi, Buyei and Buyi; self called: Buxqyaix, or "Puzhong", "Burao", "Puman"; ; ), otherwise known as the Zhongjia, are an ethnic group living in Southern Mainland China. Numbering 2.5 million, they are the 11th largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The Bouyei mostly live in Qianxinan and Qiannan prefectures of Southern Guizhou Province, as well as in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces. Some 3,000 Bouyei also live in Northern Vietnam, where they are one of that nation's 54 officially recognized ethnic groups. In Vietnam, they are located in Mường Khương District of Lào Cai and Quản Bạ District of Hà Giang Province. Names The Bouyei consist of various subgroups. Below are their autonyms written in the International Phonetic Alphabet with numerical Chao tones. , , , , , , , , Some clans within the Bouyei groups include: , , , In Congjiang County, Guizhou, there is a group that refer to themselves as "Buyeyi, 布也益", but are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Zhuang. Distribution In China by county County-level distribution of the Bouyei, from the 2000 Chinese census (Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.1% of China's Bouyei population.) In Vietnam Province-level distribution of the Bố Y, from the 2009 Census Language The Bouyei speak the Bouyei language, which is very close to Standard Zhuang language. There is a dialect continuum between these two. The Bouyei language has its own written form which was created by linguists in the 1950s based on the Latin alphabet and with spelling conventions similar for the Pinyin system that had been devised to romanise Mandarin Chinese. History The Bouyei are the native Tai peoples of the plains of Guizhou. They are one of the oldest peoples of China, living in the area for more than 2,000 years. Prior to the establishment of the Tang dynasty, the Bouyei and Zhuang were linked together; the differences between both ethnic groups grew greater and from year 900 already they were two different groups. The Qing dynasty abolished the system of local heads and commanded in its place to officials of the army which caused a change in the local economy; from then on, the land was in the hands of a few landowners, which caused the population to revolt. During the Nanlong Rebellion(南笼起义) of 1797 led by Wang Nangxian, the Bouyei underwent