North Thailand People

The Yao People In Thailand

The Yao number in excess of several million in Southern China and are also located in Vietnam, Laos and Northern Thailand.
In Northern Thailand the Yao can be found at Nan, Lampang, Chiang Rai, Phayao Province, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok and Kamphaeng Phet.
The Yao are mountain people, subsisting by shifting cultivation with a very long history and a rich culture. The Chronicles of the Later Han Dynasty in the 5 th C first documented what the Yao still believe today about their origin myths. The myth tells of Pan Hu, the pet dog of Emporer Gao Xin [ 2435 - 2365 B.C.E. ] who killed his master's enemy, General Wu the Chief of a marauding tribe and who was then rewarded by marrying the young princess. Their descendants became the forefathers of the Yao now known as the race of Pan Hu. The myth remains today.
In the Tang Dynasty the myth was given official sanction by the Imperial Court of China in the King Ping's Charter or Register for Crossing the Mountains.
The Yao ceased to be a marginal tribe and became one with unique privileges such as avoiding taxes and corvee labour from generation to generation and to travel freely to places for shifting cultivation [ swidden slash and burn agriculture ].

The Yao culture or mental structure which governs its society is centered around the family structure and the spirits which protect it.
Children upon reaching 12 for boys and 13 for girls come under the protection of their Star of Destiny for the rest of their lives. Until then from birth they are under the protection of their Flower Spirits handed down by their Grandfather and Grandmother Spirits. In life there are other Spirits, Spirits for seeking one's fortune.
Yao culture is a mixture of ancestor worship, Taoism and spirit beliefs.

The Yao have no written script and use Chinese figures. The Yao language [ a Miao Yao Group language ] has four dialects which follow demographic distribution.