Shui

Unreached People Group

Guizhou Shui

Yunnan Shui

The Shui are one of China’s 55 official minorities. Their name, which means “water” in Chinese, reflects their history. They were originally part of the Luo-yue tribe who lived along China’s southeastern coast. Centuries later they were forced to migrate inland to their present mountainous location.

Approximately 430,000 members of the Shui minority live in Southern Guizhou Province, and over 7,000 diaspora Shui live in Yunnan Province (about 250 miles west of Guizhou). The Yunnan Shui have their own customs and a separate language, unintelligible to the indigenous Shui of Guizhou.

The Guizhou Shui worship their ancestors. This keeps them in bondage to the past and prevents them from receiving Christ, because to do so would be considered an insult to their ancestors. Most Shui in Yunnan are animists, meaning they believe objects, places and creatures are animated by a spiritual presence and worthy of worship. Ancestor worship is not as prominent among the Yunnan Shui.

Several French Catholic missionaries first went to the Shui in 1884. By the early 1900s some 30 Catholic churches and 5,000 Shui Christians existed. However, all the believers were to put to death or fell away during the anti-Christian movement of 1906. In recent years, missionaries have traveled to the villages that formerly contained Catholic churches and have not found a trace of Christianity remaining—neither old buildings nor any knowledge of the gospel among the people.

Today, there are reported to be only “a small number of Christians” among the Shui. Another source adds, “a handful of Catholic believers remain.” A breakthrough came in late 1997 and 1998 when approximately 100 Shui people came to Christ and were being discipled by Chinese believers.

The Yunnan Shui, on the other hand, are an unreached people group without a single known Christian among them. Few have been exposed to the gospel message since they live in one of the most spiritually neglected areas of Yunnan Province. However, most now read and write Chinese, and all but the elderly can speak the Southwestern dialect of Mandarin, opening a pathway for them to hear the gospel.

Content source:
https://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/uploads/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/S/Shui.pdf
Photo credits: Asia Harvest