My multi-ethnic family

There are four ethnic groups in our family, Bai, Lisu, Han and Tibetan.

I come from Dali Bai autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province. My mother is Lisu and my father is Han. Because my father is a son-in-law, so my family name and ethnicity are with my mother.

Dali Bai autonomous prefecture is a multi-ethnic region dominated by bai ethnic group. There are other ethnic groups such as Han, Lisu , Yi , Naxi , Achang , and the most common ones are Bai  and Han.

With the development of society, the communication between different ethnic groups has become increasingly frequent and close. Nowadays, the customs of the han are the main body of social customs, and the sinicization of many ethnic minorities is more prominent. For example, my family, a lisu family, has long lived in the han and bai majority areas, and gradually merged with the two ethnic groups. Therefore, although our ancestors belong to the lisu ethnic group, with the passage of time, we gradually integrated into the han and bai groups, speaking their language and following their customs, but also gradually forgot the language and culture of our own ethnic group.

When did the language and culture of lisu become lost in my family? The whole family only my grandparents can speak the lisu language and know the lisu culture and customs, my mother's generation knew very little, and my generation knew nothing.

My grandparents (my mother's parents) have three children. My uncle(my mother’s elder brother) is unmarried, and my aunt(my mother’s elder sister) is married to the a Bai family, my mother is the youngest child in the family.

My father is from Shangri-la county, Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. There are four siblings in my father's family. My father is the eldest. There are two younger brothers and one younger sister. My two uncles(my father’s younger brothers)both married Tibetan woman, and my aunt(my father’s younger sister married a Han family in Sichuan province.

Therefore, there are four ethnic groups in our family: Lisu, Han, Bai and Tibetan.

My multi-ethnic family My multi-ethnic family My multi-ethnic family