Do not confuse with the Kejia, also known as the Hakka

The Gejia (Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

: 家人 or 革家人 ; Hanyu pinyin: Géjiā Rén) is an ethnic group

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

 found in Guizhou

Guizhou

' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...

 province, southwestern China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. They are officially classified as a part of the Miao

Miao people

The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...

 ethnicity not all Gejia self-identify as such .

The Gejia live mainly in Qiandongnan Prefecture

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province in the People's Republic of China. The seat of the prefecture is Kaili...

, in the counties of Huangping

Huangping County

Huangping County is a county of Guizhou, China. It is under the administration of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture....

, Kaili

Kaili

Kaili is a city in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou province, China. It is the center of Miao culture, hosting more than 120 festivals every year. Kaili has a population of 50,000 and is a major producer of rice....

, and Guanling

Guanling Buyei and Miao Autonomous County

Guanling Buyei and Miao Autonomous County is an autonomous county in Anshun Prefecture, Guizhou Province of China.Area: 1466 km2.Population: 334,900 in 2008.Postal Code: 561300.Telephone Area Code: 0853...

. The Gejia population is approximately 50,000.

Their dialect is a variety of Miao

Miao language

Miao refers to the various languages of the Miao peoples of China. The Miao languages are part of the Hmong–Mien language family. It is written with Chinese characters or the Latin alphabet...

 (but not the Hmong

Hmong language

Hmong or Mong is the common name for a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong–Mien/Miao–Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos...

 branch) and it is recognised as the Xong's sub-dialect (not to be confused with Chong

Chong language

Chong, or more specifically Western Chong , is an endangered language spoken in Cambodia and southeastern Thailand. It is a Western Pearic language in the Eastern Mon–Khmer language family branch. Chong is currently the focus of a language revitalization project in Thailand.The Chong language is...

).

External links

• http://www.ethnic-china.com/Gejia/gejiaindex.htm
• http://www.sealang.net/archives/mks/pdf/28:152-159.pdf