海南人 (Hái-nâm-nâng) | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 6 million+ worldwide | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Hainan,Hong Kong,Southeast Asia (Thailand,Vietnam,Cambodia,Brunei,Singapore,Malaysia andIndonesia),British Isles,Oceania,Americas | |
| Languages | |
| lingua:Hainamese andStandard Chinese others:Hlai languages,Lingao,Kim Mun,Tsat,Danzhou dialect and various other languages of the countries that they inhabit as a part of theOverseas Chinese diaspora | |
| Religion | |
| Atheism,Confucianism,Taoism,Buddhism,Christianity, etc. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Putian people,Cantonese people,Tanka people,Hlai people, etc. |
Hainan people (Chinese:海南人;Hái-nâm nâng), also calledHainam people orHainanese people, are the residents ofHainan, China's southernmost and smallestprovince. The termHainanese can refer to all residents of the island or, more specifically, to theHainanese-speaking (AMin language)Han Chinese subgroup native to the area.Hainan Min speakers often refer to their native language as Qiongwen or Qiongzhou to distinguish themselves from other groups of Hainan such as theCantonese,Tanka,Hlai, andMiao.
Han Hainanese people, who today form the majority population of the island, trace their origins to Han colonists and exiles from Fujian and Guangdong provinces.[1][2] By and large, they were not voluntary colonists, but were acting on government orders to populate the sparsely populated peninsula and island.[3] By contrast, theLingaoese,Hlai, andTanka migrated to the island much earlier and are regarded as part of the Nanyue or Baiyue peoples.[4]
Beginning in the Song dynasty, Han colonists from northeasternFujian started settling on theLeizhou Peninsula and Hainan island. This displaced indigenous Nanyue groups, such as the Hlai, who then moved into mountain areas.
In the main, genetic studies based on Haikou Han samples show that Hainanese Han cluster most closely withChinese Singaporeans andHan Taiwanese. However, other studies suggest that Hainanese genetically cluster most closely with Guangxi and Guangdong Han Chinese.[5]
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LikeFujian and Guangdong provinces, Hainan has been a source for emigration. Towards the turn of the 20th century, many Hainanese migrated to variousSoutheast Asian nations, where they worked as cooks, restaurateurs, coffee shop owners, clothes makers, sailors and hoteliers, filling niches left unoccupied by previous groups of immigrants from China. The Hainanese were particularly successful in Thailand, there are 2 million Hainanese in Thailand.[6] as well as large number of tycoons trace Hainanese origin, and in Cambodia, where they controlled the hotel and restaurant trade. They also formed a substantial proportion of Chinese communities in Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore and Malaysia. The outbreak of war with Japan prompted the departures of 33,000 persons in 1936 and 44,000 in 1937 from Hainan.[7]
Overseas Hainanese have been a significant and particularly active source of remittances to China. This was done through specialized banks called "letter offices" (55 such banks were counted in 1937). The donations of overseas Hainanese helped to build schools, libraries and hospitals not just in their ancestral towns and villages, but also in Haikou, the provincial capital. Overseas Hainanese introduced rubber, pepper, pineapple, cocoa, palm oil and lemon grass to Hainan Island and ensured its commercial production there.[8]
Main cities of Hainan island
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Hainanese assembly halls outside of China
According to an analysis ofautosomal loci using theHuaxia platinum system, the Hainanese Han grouped together with geographically close Taiwan Han, even while showing subtle differentiation from other Han populations.[9] According to an article published in theEuropean Journal of Genetics on 2 March 2020, the Hainanese Han[10] cluster first with the Singapore Chinese and the Minnan Han population, followed by the Cantonese population. The same article states that Han at Haikou city showed a very close genetic relationship with the wider Han population with a pairwise FST of 0.002.[11]
Hainanese Han represent the southernmost branch of the different Han Chinese subgroups. Although there was a Han presence as early as during the Han dynasty, Han settlers began to immigrate to the island in significant numbers only after the fall of the Northern Song dynasty. At this time, the island was considered a remote garrison and a place of exile. More Han colonists migrated throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.[12]
Hainan'sDanzhou was traditionally regarded as amalaria-infested backwater and unfit for human habitation and was therefore used as a place of exile, and not the tropical paradise it is considered to be today. It acquired a reputation as a place of exile for political prisoners, fallen ministers andliterati, the most notable of whom wasSu Dong Po, who made funeral preparations prior to his relocation to Hainan.[13] When he arrived, Su Dong Po expressed dismay at the hardscrabble living conditions and dietary practices of fellow Han Chinese he found stationed on the island and is credited for introducing improvements to the lifestyle of the inhabitants.
Other important figures includedLi Gang, the Chancellor of theSong dynasty, who belonged to a pro-war faction of the Song court. During the political purges that followed the fall ofJingkang in 1127 AD, the factional infighting between ministerial factions came to a head, and it was during this period that Hainan acquired a reputation as a place for exiled literati and political opponents.[14]
It was during this tumultuous period that Han immigration from southern mainland China to Hainan Island intensified and during which the island became known as a place for banished ministers and statesmen.
In characterizing the Hainanese, Benjamin Couch observes: "the early settlers were exiles, banished from their homelands, to which they ever hoped to return. They were not voluntary colonists, nor were they all criminals and outlaws, but the vassals of a despotic government, who obeying the orders of the emperor, left their homes in the more congenial region about Fukien [Fujian], to occupy and develop the sparsely peopled territory south of the sea."[3]
Han Chinese presence on Hainan Island led to friction with indigenousLi peoples (aTai-Kradai group related to the Lao ofSiam andLaos) from the beginning. After its incorporation into China during the Han dynasty in 110 BC, Han colonisation was fairly constant throughout the following two millennia, especially fromPutian city of centralFujian and from Guangdong. The Li resistedSinicization more fiercely than theindigenous Taiwanese and they were ultimately defeated and driven into the mountainous areas of central and southwest Hainan.[15] They subsisted by engaging in barter trade with the Han Chinese, who had settled on Hainan's coastal regions, trading in mountain produce.
The aboriginal Li women were known to practice a form of sorcery that involved keeping specters in subjection. This art was transmitted by their ancestors. It is reported that the art was so secretive that the Li witches would rather be beaten to death by magistrates than to betray one another. These specters would be used to kill enemies and had a great effect among the Li people themselves. According to Han Chinese records, these spells seemed to work only on Li but had no effect on the Han Chinese of the island whatsoever.[16]
Han Chinese colonists and Han Chinese Hakka immigrants on Hainan Island faced regular attacks from Li aboriginal peoples, who resisted Sinicization.[15] In order to protect the Han Chinese population on the island, Chinese kings regularly deported "successive detachments of mountaineers" from Guangxi and Guizhou known as theMiao to protect Han Chinese colonists. The Miao tribesmen were tasked with warding off attacks by Li aborigines on the Han Chinese, and to act as mediators between the Han and Li peoples.[17]
Genealogical studies ofzupu (clan genealogies) indicate that numerous Hainanese descended fromjinshi (metropolitan scholars) and merchants and colonists from Putian city.[18]
Hainanese can often stress their cultural achievements. During the imperial era, the island produced five times the number of elite degree holders in theImperial examinations than the national average.[19] Imperial records such as theRecords of the Qiongzhou Government (Chinese:琼州府志) show that the surnames or clan names producing the greatest number of jinshi holders from Hainan island are Wang (Wong, 王), Chen (Tan, 陈), and Lin (Lim, 林).[20] These same records also pay special attention to a single family, surnamed Zhou (Chew, 周) from Wenshan Village, that managed to produce three jinshi holders[21] during theMing dynasty, likely the largest number from a single family in Chinese history.
Like other Chinese dialect groups outside of mainland China, individuals of Hainanese Han descent have also become prominent politicians, businesspersons and entertainers.
In Thailand, prominent individuals of Hainanese Han ancestry include the Thailand Prime MinisterThanom Kittikachorn and Prime MinisterPote Sarasin, Bank of Bangkok PresidentBoonchu Rojanastien, singerNichkhun of2PM, media mogulSondhi Limthongkul, the politically influentialSarasin family, as well as two of the wealthiest business families, theChirathivats and theYoovidhyas.
In Hong Kong, prominent individuals of Hainanese ancestry include Chan Sing (1936–2019), one of the "villain" movie stars that dotted theHong Kong movie industry andAlex Fong (born Fu Li, 17 March 1963, Macau).[22]
In Laos, former deputy prime ministerSomsavat Lengsavad is also of Hainanese descent.
In Singapore, notable politicians and statesmen include the current Prime MinisterLawrence Wong, as well as former education ministerLee Chiaw Meng,Cedric Foo,Chin Harn Tong andMah Bow Tan. In the area of entertainment, Singapore model-turned-photographer and influencer Tan Chuando, known for his good looks and extremely youthful appearance, is of Hainanese Han descent[23] as was the bartender who invented the world-famousSingapore Sling at the renowned SingaporeRaffles Hotel, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon.
In Malaysia, notable Hainanese Han businesspersons and philanthropists include famous Malaccan-born Chinese entrepreneur, Pang Chin Hin, the founder of popular snack brand Mamee.[24] Former PM Abdullah Badawi is of Hainanese descent, although he comes from the minority Cham-Utsul community, a non-Han ethnic group.
Politicians
Entertainers
Businesspersons
The administration of the island was handled by Guangdong for most of its history, and investment in infrastructure was negligible during the imperial era. Hainanese are conscious of their distance from the mainland and mainstream China, and sensitive to the historical perception of the island as a remote and barbaric backwater, a place of exile for criminals and political malcontents. In reply, the Hainanese like to emphasize their cultural achievements at the highest, most elite level of the notoriously brutal Imperial examinations. There have been 105 successful jinshi degree holders from Hainan during its 1,300 years of imperial history, a rate that is five times higher than the national average.[19]
In Hainan, thelingua franca and language of prestige is referred to asHainanese.[25] Hainanese is asouthern Min language, in the same family of Chinese languages or dialects such asHokkien andTeochew.[26]
Hainanese has developed unique phonological characteristics such as the use ofimplosives. Linguists hypothesize this characteristic resulted from the contact between Han Chinese settlers in garrison towns and their Tai-Kradai tribal neighbours.[27] More recently, the island's location close to SE Asia, and the close ties between local Hainanese and the Hainanese diaspora, have led to the adoption of numerous English and Malay words.[28]
Standard Chinese is also the lingua franca in the island province as in the rest of China.
Numerous signature dishes such as theHainanese chicken rice,Wenchang chicken, Hainanese pork chop, Hainanese mutton soup, Hainanese salted fish soup andbeef noodle soup. Hainanese chicken rice is a recognised dish throughout Southeast Asia due to the Hainanese diaspora in these areas who famed it.
All these signature dishes are served at the various eateries located alongPurvis Street, within the Hainanese enclave; as a result, Purvis Street is often referred to as "Hainan Second Street", whileMiddle Road and Seah Street are referred to as "Hainan First Street" and "Hainan Third Street" respectively.[29] It is often labelled as Singapore'snational dish.[30]
Hainanese architecture follows the same design plan as Han Chinese architecture with buildings aligned around a central courtyard or series of courtyards. The style for public buildings follows essentially that from the southern regions such as Fujian, with upturned eaves and ready use of colour. A well-preserved example of Hainanese architecture can actually be seen in Hoi An, Vietnam in the Hoi An Hainanese Assembly Hall as well as in the Memorial of the Five Lords, Haikou.
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Hainanese opera (Qiong opera) is a passion for many Hainanese, particularly for the older generation. Enriched with local flavours, Hainanese opera is part and parcel of Hainanese culture.
In addition, Hainan has one of China's oldest musical traditions, known as the "Ba Yin" or "Eight Tone" school of music.[31] It derives from the mainland Chinese musical tradition and was brought over by Han settlers. Traditional Chinese instruments such as string, qin, flute, pipe, flute, gong, drum and cymbal are deployed. However, materials such as coconut shells and rosewood are employed in the crafting of instruments. Historically, almost all villages in Hainan each had their own Bayin troupe and performances were ubiquitous at weddings and funerals.[32] About 500 musical scores from over the last 1000 years, dating to the time of the Song dynasty, have been preserved until today.[31] The art is currently being transmitted amongst the overseas diaspora in Malaysia and Singapore.
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History
Language
Ethnic group and subgroups
Overseas diaspora
Cuisine
