The Nu people in Gongshan (Vnung'long) belongs to the Anu branch (Vnung) and use the Anu language (Nujiang dialect of the Derung language).
Etymology
The county is named after the Gaoligong Mountains (Chinese: 高黎贡山; pinyin: Gāolígòng Shān), which run through the county.[3] The country is known historically as Chamutong or Tramutang.
The People's Liberation Army took the county on August 25, 1949, and a provisional government was set up on March 11, 1950.[3] On April 8, the Gongshan County People's Government was established.[3] In October 1956, Gongshan County was changed to Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County.[3]
Geography
Gongshan (labelled as KUNG-SHAN (TA-LA) 貢山 (打拉)) (1954)
Gongshan occupies the northmost part of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, and has a latitude with a range of 27°29’ to 28°23’N, and a longitude with a range of 98°08’ to 98°56’E.[citation needed] The county covers an area of 4,506 km2 (1,740 sq mi), and borders Zayü County in the Tibet Autonomous Region to the north, and Myanmar to the west.[2] The county's boundary with Burma is 172.008 kilometers in length, and the county's boundary with Tibet is 135 kilometers.[citation needed]
The county's population as of the 2010 Chinese Census was 37,894, up from the 34,746 recorded in the 2000 Chinese Census, and the 33,000 people estimated to be living in the county as of 1996.[3]
As of 2003, 34,622 people were living in the county, of which, 83.8% lived in rural areas.[3] The ethnic composition of the county in 2003 was 51.7% Lisu, 18.2% Nu, 14.7% Derung, 4.6% Tibetan, 6.3% other officially recognized ethnic groups, and the remaining 4.5% belonging to unrecognized ethnic groups.[3]
Gongshan is a notoriously remote place, isolated by its mountains and gorges.[citation needed]National Geographic author Joseph F. Rock came to the area during the 1920s and early 1930s, and wrote about the area in several articles for National Geographic Magazine.[citation needed] He described Gongshan as a virgin land where no white man had ever came before, and as a paradise for explorers, photographers and botanists.[citation needed]
The county's Derung and Nu people host numerous ethnic festivals.[2]
Peach flower festival in Gongshan
Water mill in Gongshan
Salween River in Gongshan, Yunnan
Piao Niu Wu
Piao Niu Wu
Piao Niu Wu (Chinese: 剽牛舞, literally "slaughter cattle dance") is a traditional ceremony of the Derung People unique to Gongshan County.[2][8] Traditionally performed during Derung New Year, the ceremony is prepared by tying a cattle to a sacrificial pole with traditional Derung rope, placing bead ornaments on the cattle, and placing other material sacrifices in front of it.[8] The host of the ceremony then leads a prayer, and another man pierces the cattle's heart with a bamboo spear once the prayer is finished.[8] Before preparing the dead cattle for further use, the ceremony host performs a ritual fortune-telling.[8] This follows with traditional song and dance.[8] In modern times, the festival has become less common, and is typically for entertainment purposes, rather than spiritual ones.[8]
