Lachi in China


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Lati in China are officially counted under the Yi nationality, yet they do not even speak a Sino-Tibetan language and have no kinship with the Yi. The incorrect categorization of the Lati is an example of the hurried approach that the Chinese authorities employed in their classification of China's ethnic peoples.


What Are Their Lives Like?

Most Lati live simple lives. They cultivate rice. Lati women are renowned for their skill in weaving and indigo dyeing. Each family clan owns drums and gongs which are used in ritual ceremonies. At weddings the groom's family must provide a suitable amount of money to the bride's parents to repay the cost of the girl's upbringing. Lati homes are constructed on stilts and consist of three sections. The largest room contains the ancestral altar.


What Are Their Beliefs?

The Lati hold annual ceremonies determined by the lunar calendar. They pray for seeds before they plant them, believing each seed has a soul. They invoke the spirits to watch over the harvest, to ensure plenty of food for the entire village. The New Rice Festival along with the New Year and Seventh Month festivals are the largest, most colorful, and most important festivals of the year.

The Lati are blocked off from Christian witness because the atheistic governments of both China and Vietnam forbid evangelism. There are no known Lati believers on either side of the border, and no missionaries are known to have ever focused on them. The nearest Christian communities to the Lati are among the Hmong Daw and Hmong Leng, but the Lati do not share a common language with the Hmong. The two groups rarely have contact with each other.


What Are Their Needs?

They need to know that all authority belongs to Jesus.

They need to understand that despite harsh realities on this earth, with Jesus, our inheritance is laid up in heaven.


Prayer Points

Pray for Spirit-filled Christian workers to come to the Lachi.
Pray for the hearts of government leaders in the Lachi homeland to soften to Jesus Christ.
Pray for intervention in government decisions and for more church planters to be able to come to this people group without interference.


Scripture Prayers for the Lachi in China.


References

Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission.


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Lachi
People Name in Country Lachi
Pronunciation la-CHEE
Alternate Names Chi; La Chi; La Chí; Lipu; Phu La; Tho Den; Y Pi
Population this Country 2,600
Population all Countries 18,000
Total Countries 2
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 0  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
People ID 18542
ROP3 Code 114159
ROP25 Code 304520
ROP25 Name Lachi
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country The Lati - despite having a relatively small 1990 population of just 1,634 people living in 306 households - have several colorfully named subgroups, each speaking a separate dialect. Approximately half of the Lati call themselves Han Lati. Seventy-two households refer to themselves as Flowery Lati, 37 households as Bag Lati and 27 households as Red Lati. The Lati in China are located in Maguan County, Wenshan Prefecture in the southern part of Yunnan Province. There may also be a few in Hekou County. Across the border in Vietnam are the Long Hair, White, and Black Lati.   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country The Lati - despite having a relatively small 1990 population of just 1,634 people living in 306 households - have several colorfully named subgroups, each speaking a separate dialect. Approximately half of the Lati call themselves Han Lati. Seventy-two households refer to themselves as Flowery Lati, 37 households as Bag Lati and 27 households as Red Lati. The Lati in China are located in Maguan County, Wenshan Prefecture in the southern part of Yunnan Province. There may also be a few in Hekou County. Across the border in Vietnam are the Long Hair, White, and Black Lati..   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.00 %
Ethnic Religions
93.97 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
6.03 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Lachi (2,600 speakers)
Language Code lbt   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Liputiõ
Dialect Code 12656   Global Recordings Listing
Language Written Unknown
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Lachi (2,600 speakers)
Language Code lbt   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Liputiõ
Dialect Code 12656   Global Recordings Listing
Total Languages 1
People Groups Speaking Lachi

Primary Language:  Lachi

Bible Translation Status:  Translation Needed

Resource Type Resource Name Source
None reported  
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Operation China, Asia Harvest  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source Joshua Project / Global Mapping International  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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