Zaiwa in Myanmar (Burma)


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Zaiwa are the largest subgroup of the official Jingpo nationality in China. The Zaiwa, who are called Xiaoshan, meaning "small mountain" by the Chinese, have a fearsome reputation. In 1911 James Fraser described the Zaiwa as "the wildest people around here by a long way. Inveterate robbers, their hand is against every man and every man's hand is against them. Dirty, unkempt, ignorant, everybody despises them. They are savages only and not cannibals."
The Zaiwa have forged a reputation for themselves as a local version of the Mafia. Their gumsa system encourages a "belligerent, competitive, authoritarian society whose chiefs are chosen by public consent."


What Are Their Lives Like?

The Zaiwa are enslaved by almost every kind of vice imaginable. Zaiwa young men "do not sleep at home. They usually spend the night flirting with young women at the youth club. Sexual relations are so disorderly as to have rendered them unfit for physical labor. A girl who gets pregnant without a proposal will not easily find another boy to marry her and will be considered a widow because of the heavy bride-price."


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Zaiwa are enslaved by evil spirits. In the past they even bullied Lisu households into paying a tax of three squirrels per year, to be used as an offering to the spirits. One tragic example of the Zaiwa's bondage is retold here: "Elder Dai's daughter-in-law died of fever after having a difficult labor. Before her death, several head of cattle were sacrificed to the demons. During the cremation, the firewood did not burn steadily due to its dampness. The sorcerer thereby proclaimed that the deceased's personal effects be thrown into the fire to annul her parsimony. As the fire still did not burst into a blaze, the sorcerer then attributed the cause to the deceased's reluctance to leave her newborn baby behind, thus resulting in the baby being thrown into the fire."


What Are Their Needs?

Despite living alongside strong Jingpo Christian communities, "the demon-worshiping Zaiwa never showed the slightest inclination to turn to Christianity." Moreover, Zaiwa who became Christians in some of the mixed villages were ostracized by their own tribe, "who would expel them from the village and confiscate their land and livestock, compelling them eventually to abandon their alien belief." Gospel radio broadcasts in Zaiwa started in 1996, and the New Testament is available in Zaiwa.


Prayer Points

Pray for a willingness to seek and find spiritual truth, even when it conflicts with one’s own honor and status.
Pray for a movement to Christ among the Zaiwa people to come soon.
Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers.


Scripture Prayers for the Zaiwa in Myanmar (Burma).


References

Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Zaiwa
People Name in Country Zaiwa
Pronunciation Zay-wah
Alternate Names Aci; Aji; Atshi; Atsi; Atsi-Maru; Atzi; Azi; Szi; Tsaiwa; Xiaoshan; Xiaoshanhua
Population this Country 36,000
Population all Countries 156,000
Total Countries 2
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 4
Unreached No
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 4  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed
People ID 15586
ROP3 Code 110204
ROP25 Code 309077
ROP25 Name Zaiwa
Country Myanmar (Burma)
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 17  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Kachin State, Waimaw township, Sedan area; Shan State, Kentung district.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Myanmar (Burma)
Region Asia, Southeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 17  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Kachin State, Waimaw township, Sedan area; Shan State, Kentung district..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016

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Ethnolinguistic map or other map

Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
20.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 5.00 %)
7.00 %
Ethnic Religions
70.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
3.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Zaiwa (36,000 speakers)
Language Code atb   Ethnologue Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Zaiwa (36,000 speakers)
Language Code atb   Ethnologue Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Zaiwa
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Operation China, Asia Harvest  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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