Li Hpu: Lahu Bible

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The Lahu people (Chinese: 拉祜族; Lahu: Ladhulsi / Kawzhawd; Vietnamese: La Hủ) are an ethnic group of China and Mainland Southeast Asia.

Regions with significant populations
Significant Lahu diaspora populations in:
China (PRC)	720,000[1]
Myanmar	150,000[2]
Thailand	100,000^[2]
Laos	15,000^[1]
United States	10,000^[1]
Vietnam	9,651 (2009)^[3]

Product Details

Hardcover: 1494 pages
Publisher: Thailand Bible Society (1989)
ISBN-10: 9748687422
ISBN-13: 978-9748687421 / 9789748687421
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds

The Lahu are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 720,000 live in Yunnan province, mostly in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County. In Thailand, the Lahu are one of the six main groups categorized as hill tribes.^[5] The Tai often refer to them by the exonym Muso (Thai: มูเซอ), meaning 'hunter'. They are one of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, and mostly live in Lai Châu Province.

A few Lahu, along with the Hmong, Lao, and Mien were recruited by the United States Central Intelligence Agency to help fight against the communist Pathet Lao, known as the secret war, during the Laotian Civil War. In fear of retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, those who had helped the United States fled to neighboring Thailand seeking political asylum.

A couple thousand Lahu have resettled in the United States as refugees, in the states of California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Most Lahu Americans live in Visalia, California, thus making Visalia home to the largest concentration of Lahu people outside of Asia.

The Lahu divide themselves into a number of subgroups, such as the Lahu Na (Black Lahu), Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu), Lahu Hpu (White Lahu), Lahu Shi (Yellow Lahu) and the Lahu Shehleh. Where a subgroup name refers to a color, it refers to the traditional color of their dress. These groups do not function as tribes or clans - there are no kin groups above that of the family. Lahu trace descent bilaterally, and typically practice matrilocal residence.

Bradley (1979) lists the following Lahu ethnic subgroups.

Black Lahu

Lahu Na
- Meuneu (Shan, 'north country')
- Meun Pulon
- Shehvi (Hsenwi)
- Bawfa (Shanised)
- Hkahka: (known only to Bradley's Akha informants)
- Panai (known only to Bradley's Akha informants)
Divergent Lahu Na dialects
- Kaishin: (Chinese 'exchange hearts')
- Hpu: ('white')
  - Hu:paw
  - Kulao
  - Namhpehn (hpeh)
  - Lalaw (na)
- Laba
- Huli
Lahu Nyi ('red')
- Nyi
- Venya ('go to town')
- Kulao: (not the same as Hpu: type Lahu Kulao)
Shehleh (Red Lahu name)
- Laho Na ('black') / Shehleh
- Laho Namoe
- Laho A:leh

Yellow Lahu

'Like Black Lahu'
- A:ga / A:do'aga (Black Lahu name)
- A:hpube:le: (Yellow Lahu 'bent gourd'; own name)
- Shi: Bankeo:
Laho Shi
- Banlan (black name)
- Menhke (yellow name)