A number of international scholars have joined the research team on the Yao Ethnic Group, living in China and some other countries, meaning that a "Yao-ology" is now taking shape.
An international seminar on "Yao-ology" was recently held, discussing a wide variety of topics including the history, society, literature and arts, religions, economic development and traditional culture of the Yao people.
According to the information released from the seminar, since 1980, China has published a number of research findings about the Yao people as well as Yao-language dictionaries.
What's more, China has also published a series of Yao language textbooks and introduced Yao language education into local schools and colleges.
The Yao ethnic group is one of the 18 ethnic groups with over 1 million people in China, who live mainly in China and some 10 countries or regions in Asia, Europe and America, with a total population of 2.9 million.
(People's Daily 11/22/2000)
