Li (黎; pinyin Lí) or Hlai is a minority Chinese ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 94% of the Li live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan, where they are the largest minority ethnic group.
During the Sui Dynasty they were known by the name Liliao, and presently they refer to themselves as the Hlai or Sai people.
They are held in high esteem by the Beijing government because they fought on the side of the CPC against Chinese nationalist rule, during the Revolutionary Chinese Civil War. 
The Li suffered heavily under the Japanese occupation.
The Li have their own language, known as Hlai, which is classified as one of the Tai-Kadai languages (previously Sino-Tibetan). The Hlai language did not have a writing system prior to the 1950s, when the Latin alphabet was adopted. The Li people can generally understand or speak Mandarin.
Culture
The Li play a traditional wind instrument called kǒuxiāo (口箫),, and another called lìlāluó (利拉罗).
External links
- Ethnic Cultures and Languages of Hainan has links to many sites concerning the Li.
- Ethnologue entry for Hlai language
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Last updated on Friday July 11, 2008 at 06:45:16 PDT (GMT -0700)
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