- published: 12 Dec 2012
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Coordinates: 26°50′N 106°50′E / 26.833°N 106.833°E / 26.833; 106.833
Guizhou (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 贵州; traditional Chinese: 貴州; pinyin: Guìzhōu; Wade–Giles: Kuei-chou; Postal map spelling: Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.
During the Chinese Han Dynasty from about the third to the first centuries BCE, Guizhou was home to the powerful and independent Yelang polity, which covered parts of modern day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
During the 8th and 9th centuries in the Tang Dynasty, Chinese soldiers moved into Guizhou (Kweichow) and married native women, their descendants are known as Lao-han-jen (original Chinese), in contrast to new Chinese who colonized Guizhou at later times. They still speak an archaic dialect. Many immigrants to Guizhou were descended from these soldiers in garrisons who married non Chinese women.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty[citation needed]that it came under heavy Chinese settlement and domination during which it was made a province. This prompted mass migration from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou. The Miao revolted several times against Ming during the Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty).