The Buyi, who lived in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau since ancient times, were called "Luoyue, Pu, Puyue, Yi, Yipu, Lao, Pulao, Yilai", etc., in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the name "Zhong", which appeared in the historical book later than "Zhuang" was used to refer to the Buyi. It was originally a variant form of "Zhuang", referring to both the Zhuang and the Buyi in Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou. Later, it referred to the Buyi only, and always appeared in the historical books as "Zhongjia, Zhongmiao," and "Qingzhong", until the early 1950s. Like "Zhuang, Zhong" may also be the short form of "Buzhuang", which "Zhuang" people use to refer to themselves, as the pronunciation of "Zhong" and "Zhuang" is similar, and "Zhong" was once a variant form of "Zhuang" in the Han Chinese historical books. But today, Buyi people never use "Buzhuang or Buzhong" to refer to themselves, therefore, the use of "Zhong" as the name of Buyi may have something to do with the common origin of these two groups of peoples, or the mass migration by Zhuang into Buyi areas (Zhou Guoyan 1996)