Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Sani of China

The Sani of China, numbering approximately 177,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Yi people of Yunnan's Stone Forest area in China, present for over 2,000 years and famed for the Ashima legend of a free-spirited maiden turned to stone, first transcribed from oral tradition in 1813 and later adapted into China's first color film. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Sani is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Sani (ysn)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 177,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007381
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Pray for the Sani 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

92%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sani
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Sani Speakers

Media Resources in Sani:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sani:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sani are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Sani:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Sani of China

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
readMatthew 6:10

Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that people will seek His kingdom and righteousness above all else, trusting in His provision.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
readPsalm 51:2

Pray that God will raise up believers to go and share the gospel with those in this people group who need to be washed of their iniquity and cleansed from their sins.

Sani Across Countries (ROP3 - 114304) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
SaniPG007381SaniChina177,000Engaged yet UnreachedSaniChinese Folk Religion

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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