Lisu in China


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Lisu live in China, Myanmar, Thailand and India. They are one of China's official minorities. The name Lisu means "come-down people." Their original home was in eastern Tibet, where they had a kingdom in the tenth century before they migrated to their present homes in Southeast Asia.
The Lisu have a long history of being oppressed by greedy landlords and governments. The Lisu revolt of 1801-03 proved devastating. The Qing government mobilized a huge army of more than 10,000 soldiers from three provinces. Chinese writers criticized this campaign as "using a cattle knife to kill chickens." During the 1940s the Lisu had to pay 65 different types of taxes and levies - including one for each airplane flying over their region! This provocation resulted in thousands of Lisu seeking life in a new country. Missionary Lilian Hamer described one scene as the Lisu she had sought to reach left en masse: "I saw little children clinging to their mother's skirts, older folk carrying iron cooking pots, blankets, oil lamps. I stood outside my door and watched this wholesale evacuation of the people I had served and loved, mourned and wept over."


What Are Their Lives Like?

Before they embraced Christianity, the Lisu were described as "utter savages." They were so given over to alcohol that when one newly converted village threw out all their liquor, all the pigs in the village got drunk! A passion for gambling often degraded the Lisu into an abyss of suffering. "When they have gambled away their money, they will often stake their children, their wives, and even themselves as slaves. As a result, in one night a whole family can be gambled away into life-long slavery."


What Are Their Beliefs?

The conversion of the Lisu is one of the greatest stories in mission history. Their mass turning to Christ was due in part to their ancient belief in Wa Sa, a supreme god of Healing and a village guardian. During one interrogation by the communists, a young Lisu man exclaimed, "Christianity has already penetrated into our flesh and blood and it will not be easy to tear it away from us."
Several missionaries labored self-sacrificially among the Lisu prior to 1949, including James Fraser, A. B. Cooke, John and Isobel Kuhn, and the Morse family. In 1916 and 1917 alone, Fraser baptized 60,000 Lisu. Today there are an estimated 300,000 Lisu believers in China. The Lisu church has reached out to many other groups in the area, including the Deqen Tibetans.


What Are Their Needs?

The Lisu people need protection from those who want to exploit them.


Prayer Points

Pray for hundreds of loving Lisu Christ followers to take the name of the only savior to their unsaved neighbors.
Pray for Lisu communities to be blessed both materially and spiritual in such a way that others will see them as a city on a hill.


Scripture Prayers for the Lisu in China.


References

Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

The Naxi, Mosuo, Pumi, and Lisu

Source:  Asia Harvest      Download

People Name General Lisu
People Name in Country Lisu
Pronunciation LEE-soo
Alternate Names Chedi; Chung; Flowery Lisu; Khae; Leisu; Lesuo; Lisaw; Lishu; Lowuu (Northern); Lusu; Lutzu; Southern Lisu; White Lisu; Yao Yen; Yaw Yin; Yeme (Southern); Yobin; लिसू, यॉबीन
Population this Country 922,000
Population all Countries 1,314,000
Total Countries 4
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 5
Unreached No
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 6  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed
PeopleID3 13076
ROP3 Code 105802
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 More than 700,000 Lisu live among the massive mountains and deep valleys of the Nujiang, Salween, and Yangtze river basins in southwest China. The majority of Lisu live in Yunnan Province. An additional 15,000 live in Sichuan, and a small number can also be found in southern Tibet. Thousands of Lisu migrated from their original homeland during the last century. Many now live in faraway Myanmar, Thailand, and northeast India.   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 More than 700,000 Lisu live among the massive mountains and deep valleys of the Nujiang, Salween, and Yangtze river basins in southwest China. The majority of Lisu live in Yunnan Province. An additional 15,000 live in Sichuan, and a small number can also be found in southern Tibet. Thousands of Lisu migrated from their original homeland during the last century. Many now live in faraway Myanmar, Thailand, and northeast India..   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Primary Religion: Christianity
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 45.00 %)
80.00 %
Ethnic Religions
18.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
2.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Lisu
Language Code lis   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect NuJiang
Dialect Code 13006   Global Recordings Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
Anong
Primary Language Lisu
Language Code lis   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect NuJiang
Dialect Code 13006   Global Recordings Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
  Anong
People Groups Speaking Lisu
Photo Source Anonymous 
Map Source Joshua Project / Global Mapping International  
Video Source Asia Harvest
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.


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