How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people been in contact overall?

According to historical sources, both Wutun and Bonan communities emerged during the Chinese Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) when China was ruled by the Mongols. At that time, the Upper Yellow River Plateau (the eastern part of Modern Qinghai Province and southern part of Modern Gansu Province) formed a border area between Chinese and Tibetan Empires. The expansion of Mongol rule caused migration of Mongolic and Sinitic speakers to the region. In the Tongren area of Qinghai Province where Wutun and Bonan are spoken, the local Mongolic and Sinitic speakers, the ancestors of Bonan and Wutun communities, were organized into hereditary border guard units whose work was to patrol the borders of Chinese Empire. It is likely that Wutun and Bonan speakers worked together that time. The modern ethnonym Wutun, 'five garrisons' refers to the origin of Wutun villages as military garrisons.

[Response text is a copy from comment in response DLB01]

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group peoples been forming families with each other for?

[Since the beginning of contact, the ming Dynasty period.]

[The theories are that Mongolic and Sinitic speakers married. It is not clear when this intermarraige tendency slowed down, historically. The evidence is indirect, based on either linguistic evidence, or oral histories.]

What’s the time frame of densest contact between Focus Group and Neighbour Group as far as family formation is concerned?

[The past.]

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people been involved in the knowledge domain together for?

[From the early Ming Dynasty Sinitic and Mongolic speakers came to the area.]

What is the time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in the knowledge domain?

[Hard to estimate. Probably in the begining of the contact period, during the ming Dynasty.]

How long have Focus Group people and Neighbour Group people worked together for?

The hereditary border guard unit system continued during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties of China, so the Wutun and Bonan speakers interacted in this domain about five hundred years.

What is the time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in the labour domain?

This is quite difficult to assess on the basis of information we have today, but it is likely that the most intensive contact occurred between the establishment of Ming Dynasty (in early 14th century) and the establishment of Republic of China (in early 20th century).