The Naisu of China

The Naisu of China, numbering approximately 82,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Yi people of northern Yunnan whose ancestors were part of the wider Yi migrations across southwest China, maintaining a distinct Naisu identity, language, and Red Yi cultural traditions in isolated mountain communities. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Wuding-Luquan Yi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Naisu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Wuding-Luquan Yi (ywq)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 82,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007322
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Naisu of China

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

92%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wuding-Luquan Yi
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Yi, Wuding-Luquan Speakers

Media Resources in Wuding-Luquan Yi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Wuding-Luquan Yi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Wuding-Luquan Yi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Naisu are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Naisu:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Naisu of China

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Naisu Across Countries (ROP3 - 114238) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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