Gelao people are related to ancient Guizhou people. In the Tang Dynasty, two brothers and two brothers, collectively called Liao, began to appear in history books. Liao people may be the ancient names of some ethnic minorities in this area, but they have a more direct and close relationship with the Gelao people. The "Gelao people" first appeared in Zhu Za's "Ximang Gongxiao Year" in the Southern Song Dynasty. Since the Ming Dynasty, many historical books have said that "the Gelao people were called Liao in ancient times". In the past 100-200 years, some gelao people still kept some customs of the ancient Liao people, such as women wearing traditional skirts, chiseling teeth, making coffins with slate, etc. All these indicate that the Gelao nationality has a certain relationship with the ancient Liao people. The ancient Liao people were one of the main nationalities in Yelang State in the Western Han Dynasty.
More than 200 years ago, the Liao people in Yelang also lived a life of settlement and farming, with villages and market towns and rulers. Their society is in the late primitive society or the early class society. In BC 130, the Han Dynasty established Qianwei County in Yelang area. In the previous11year, it was divided into several groups. Since then, the relationship between this area and the Central Plains has gradually become close. The mode of production in feudal society of Han nationality influenced Liao society, so the transition to feudal society was slow. In the 7th century, the Tang Dynasty established Jimei County in the northern part of Guizhou Province, where Liao people lived. At this time, the productivity of the current society has developed to a fairly high level. Some of the grains such as rice and wheat produced by farmers have been sold in the market as commodities, and the "Liaobu" woven by them is of good quality and has become a tribute of the feudal dynasty.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the Gelao people suffered oppression and exploitation under the rule of feudal dynasties and local officials. Yuan, Ming and Gelao areas are mostly ruled by local chiefs. Later, military organizations such as Wei, Suo, Tun and Bao were established here. At the end of the Ming dynasty, it began to "change the soil and return to the flow." By the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the "returning home" in the Gelao nationality area was basically completed, and the Gelao nationality was under the rule of officials from then on. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the population of Gelao nationality decreased sharply and the living area shrank rapidly. Most of the inhabited areas of the Gelao people are located in other ethnic groups. In the * * * life of the Gelao nationality and other neighboring nationalities, their living customs, diets and costumes have also changed to varying degrees through mutual influence and learning. However, among the Yi chiefs in Qianxi, Guizhou and Dafang, their political and economic power lasted until the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China.