Kachin Jingpo in China

People Name:	Kachin Jingpo
Country:	China
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	35,000
World Population:	1,104,000
Primary Language:	Jingpho
Primary Religion:	Christianity
Christian Adherents:	54.00 %
Evangelicals:	27.13 %
Scripture:	Complete Bible
Online Audio NT:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Miri-Kachin
Affinity Bloc:	Tibetan-Himalayan Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The official Chinese classification includes members of the Zaiwa, Maru, Lashi, and Bela people groups, in addition to Jingpo proper. In China the Jingpo are known locally as the Dashan (Big Mountain) people.
The Jingpo claim to have originated on the Tibetan Plateau. The fact that some scholars believe the present-day Deng language in southeast Tibet is related to Jingpo, adds credence to their claims. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties (1271-1644) the Jingpo were known as the Yeren. They had probably arrived at their present location in western Yunnan by the start of the sixteenth century. From there they migrated south into northern Myanmar, where today they are the largest group in Kachin State.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Jingpo and Zaiwa are almost identical in every aspect of their historical and socioeconomic backgrounds, except for their political organization. The highest leader in Jingpo society is called Pumtu in Jingpo and Pumtsau in Zaiwa, meaning "master of the mountains." For centuries the Jingpo have practiced lashi or naji, meaning "snatching cows by military operation." This leads to on-going conflict with other nationalities.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Many Kachin Jingpo today are Christians, having been converted through the ceaseless efforts of missionaries starting in the 1870s. Jingpo legends "tell a story of the passage over a bridge, to the afterlife... these folk-myths came down from a long-gone past, like the far-carried boulders of the glacial ages."
The first missionary working among the Jingpo in Myanmar (formerly Burma) was Josiah N. Cushing in 1876. By 1941, the baptized Jinpo in Burma numbered 47,526. In the same year the Jingpo in China numbered 415 converts. There are probably thousands of Jingpo Christians in China today.

What Are Their Needs?

The Kachin Jingpo need to become Christ’s hands and feet among other groups that are still resistant to the gospel.

Prayer Points

Pray for a powerful move of the Holy Spirit among the Kachin Jingpo people of China.
Pray for them to become Christ’s ambassadors to the peoples around them.