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|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Uncountable as most of their descendants have assimilated into Vietnamese society and self-identify solely as Vietnamese | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Vietnam | Unreported |
| Languages | |
| Vietnamese, also used variousChinese languages in the past | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyChinese andVietnamese folk religion syncretized withMahayana Buddhism. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kinh people,Hoa people,Khmer people andNgái people | |
Minh Hương (chữ Hán:明鄉 or明香) refers to descendants ofMing dynasty immigrants who settled in southernVietnam during the 16th and 18th centuries. They were among the first wave of ethnicHan who came to southern Vietnam.
Ming refugees of Han ethnicity numbering 3,000 came to Vietnam at the end of the Ming dynasty. They opposed theQing dynasty and were fiercely loyal to the Ming dynasty.Vietnamese women married these Han refugees since most of them were soldiers and single men. Their descendants became known asMinh Hương and they strongly identified as Han despite influence from Vietnamese mothers. They did not wear theManchu hairstyle unlikelater Han migrants to Vietnam during the Qing dynasty.[1]
After the Qingconquest ofChina proper, many Han people who refused to submit themselves to the Qing fled abroad. Ethnic Han leaders such asMạc Cửu,Trần Thượng Xuyên andDương Ngạn Địch arrived in theMekong Delta where they established their own polities inHà Tiên,Biên Hòa andMỹ Tho. They later submitted to theNguyễn lords, who provided them with noble titles and the offer of protection against Khmer and Siam threats. Many Minh Hương such asTrịnh Hoài Đức andNgô Nhân Tịnh became Nguyen ministers and played important roles in the Vietnamese exploration and settlement of Mekong Delta.
Originally, the Chinese characters used to refer to them was明香 ("those who worship Ming dynasty ancestrals"). It was changed to明鄉 ("of Ming dynasty origins") in 1827 as ordered by theMinh Mạng Emperor ofNguyễn dynasty.[2] In official records of Nguyễn dynasty, they were calledMinh nhân (明人) orMinh Hương to distinguish with those ethnic Han (Thanh nhân 清人) from Qing China.
Minh Hương often married with localViet (Kinh) people. Since 1829, theMinh Hương were treated as Vietnamese instead of Han.[3][4]: 272 They were not allowed to go to China, and also not allowed to wearthe Manchu queue.[5]
In the present day, most of the Minh Hương have adopted Vietnamese culture. Unlike later waves of Han Chinese immigration, they are regarded as Kinh people instead of Hoa people by the Vietnamese government.[3]: 3 In addition, they overwhelmingly self-identify solely as Kinh people.[3]: 6