Friendly Links
Officially, Hainan's ethnic groups are the Han, Li, Miao, and Hui. Ethnicity in Hainan has been submerged beneath the benign State fiction that the People's Republic of China has put an end to ethnic strife and brought about true equality. In fact, ethnicity is not only alive and well, it is quite complex in its manifestations. For example:
In the North and the East where the Han predominate, the Hlai (Li) tend to be regarded as unruly and uncivilised. Personal anecdote: I met a young Wenchang woman (Hainanese-speaking Han) in February 2004 who was working in Shenzhen but had never been to Sanya -- when she was growing up in Hainan, her parents would not allow her to go to Sanya because there were too many Hlai there.
The Hlai still harbour residual resentment towards the local Han Chinese (the so-called 'Hainanese'). I have met Hlai people who refuse to speak Hainanese but will readily speak Mandarin (putonghua) -- their loyalty to China allows them to speak the standard Han language (putonghua) but reject the dialect of the Han in Hainan.
The people of Lingao regard themselves as Han Chinese. However, the language they speak is not a Chinese dialect but a heavily Sinicised language related to Zhuang.
The Miao ethnic minority in Hainan does not speak Miao; it speaks a language known as Kin Mun. Kin Mun speakers on the Mainland are classed as Yao, not Miao.
Most information on the Internet is about the Li, who I prefer to call the Hlai as that is their own name for themselves. Further down are links to sites about the languages of Hainan (including Hainanese) and How to Count to Ten in Hainan.
General ethnicity issues
The Han, Regionalism, and Chinese Ethnicity Outline of a paper concerning ethnic tension between Hainanese (ethnic Han) and recent Mainland arrivals - slightly dated.
Abstract: Openness, Change and Translocality: New Migrants' Identification with Hainan Brief.
Joe Thoraval on Danzhou Culture (Hainan): 'Nightly visits' and ethnicity These are only notes for a lecture, but they are highly suggestive of ethnicity in Hainan in its many aspects.
The Li and the Miao (Ctrip) Brief comments for the traveller, but somewhat interesting.
Li and Miao flag: This site has somehow dug up a flag for the Li and Miao from a chart called Flags of Aspirant Peoples! The flag shows crossed swords and is described as "Hainan (Li and Miao, 1943-1949) - South China - War flag". (From Flags of Aspirant Peoples,1994, Flag Society of Australia and the Flag Research Center by John Edwards & Ralph Bartlett).
Festivals of Hainan: Describes the Junpo Festival (celebrated by the Han) and the Sanyuesan Festival (celebrated by the Hlai/Li). Although from a tourist site, this gives interesting and relatively detailed information that is not found elsewhere on the Internet.
Han (the 'Hainanese')
The Hainanese (Wikipedia)
Hainan Opera (Qiongju)
Town breathes new life into opera
Hainan Opera (China Today)
The Hlai or Li
First, some general sites about the Hlai.
The Li (CRIENGLISH.com): Recommended! A detailed look at the Hlai, four pages in all, covering their history, their culture, their economy, and their lifestyle. Although adhering to the standard Chinese version of history (Marxist), it is less Sinocentric than most and is the first place to look for a general introduction to the Hlai.
Chinese Nationalities - Li Minority General and useful introduction, following the official Chinese line.
The Li Ethnic Minority General introduction (Chinese government site). An abbreviated version here.
55 Ethnic Groups: Li (From Travel China .com) A very good introduction to the Li, their history, culture, and customs.
The Culture of Hainan (with a focus on the Li) and The Story of the Li (Hainan Travel Window): Although a tourist site, these pages are notable for their attractive illustrations of some of the artifacts of Li culture.
Li Ethnic Village (China Foto Press, 2006): Crowded, small print, one long, long paragraph. But it does have some useful information and perspectives, so it is worth a look.
The Li People (China Source) An introduction to the Hlai (Li) people from the point of view of converting them to Christianity. Similarly for the following.
Prayer Profile: The Li of China From the 'Unreached Peoples Prayer Profiles'.
Tongshi and the Highlands: Li and Miao (City Reference) Very general.
See also the 1911 Encyclopedia entry for Hainan, which has a description of the Hlai 100 years ago.
Li Chinese (Wikipedia) A brief article that is heavily influenced by the Chinese official line.
Hong Kong Archaeological Society note on the ancient Historical Yueh of South China (scroll down to reach section) stating that 'the Kedai-speaking Li tribes of Hainan Island are almost certainly descended from the Yueh'.
Sites about specific aspects of the Hlai (culture and society)
The following sites have information about and photos of the ethnic clothing of the Hlai (Li) people:
Ba-sa-dung Li, Hainan: a small group of photos from an article in the September 1938 edition of The National Georgraphic Magazine "Among the Big Knot Lois of Hainan" by Leonard Clark
Olivier's Li Textiles Photo Gallery Li textiles from Hainan Island, south China from the collection of Olivier Tallec.
Ba-sa-dung Li textiles in the collection of Pamela A Cross
* Ba-sa-dung Li woman's blouse
* Ba-sa-dung Li skirtQi Li textiles in the collection of Pamela A Cross
* Qi Li woman's blouse - Changjiang styleLong thread on Li Textiles
Ethno Echo: Tribal Clothing of the Li
Li Textiles from Hainan Island
Shuinan Village (China Travel Tour Guide) This page on Yacheng Town near Sanya is worth reading for its description of how a Han woman in the 13th century took the textile techniques of the Hlai (Li) to Mainland China, thus indirectly laying the foundation of Shanghai's modern textile industry. See also Yazhou (Web Tourist) from Rough Guides.
News article: Hainan to protect tattoo culture of Li ethnic group
Traditional hunting culture of Hainan: Very brief note on Li and Miao nationality hunting culture, with 3 photos.
Traditional cultivating culture of Hainan: Very brief note with a number of photos.
Excerpt from "The Li Mother Spirit and the Struggle for Hainan's Land and Legend"
Late Imperial China - Volume 22, Number 2, December 2001, pp. 91-123, by Anne Csete (John Hopkins Univ Press) -- Project Muse. "Spirits and the lingering ghosts of historical figures inhabited rocks, mountains, trees, and rivers, and were involved in the centuries-long conflict over land between settlers from the mainland and the state which supported them, and the Li people who are the original inhabitants of Hainan. This conflict over land lies at the heart of Hainan's long history."Traditional housing culture of Hainan: Photos of different types of housing belonging to the Li minority.
Photos of Hlai Houses near Tongzha, by the author of this site. (The final page also shows Hlai pottery and basketware).
Boat-shaped house, photo and some very general commentary on Li Houses in Hainan.
Photos of Hainan: Li Pottery Photos by Saundra Sturdevant (2002) show an old Li potter in action. Hlai pottery is amongst the most ancient in the world in terms of technique.
Li women pounding rice (Sacu): Photo and brief comments. Also Paddy fields near Mt Wuzhi.
Abstracts of the 2000 AAS Annual Meeting (March 9-12, 2000, San Diego, CA) Session on Hainan A number of papers deal with the Hlai (Li) and social changes that are taking place.
An abstract on a study of blood types and ethnicity in Hainan (Sino-Japanese joint study)
Sex Preference for Children in a Meifu Li Community in Western Hainan, China (pdf file). The title is self-explanatory, but what is particularly interesting is the description of Hlai society and attitudes.
Observations by Visitors (including some references to the Miao)
Visit to a Li Village by Judith Farber (US), with photos
Baoding, a Hlai Village in Western Hainan -- brief text and photos (by the author of this site).
Photos taken by a Singaporean tourist in a so-called Li/Miao ethnic village (includes pictures of houses and people, the Market, Li girl, Little business kids, Bamboo Pole Dancing)
Comments on the Maoan Miao Ethnic Village by Gary Friedman, English teacher in Beijing. Not a flattering picture.
Two Festivals: The International Coconut Festival and the 'Third Day of the Third Lunar Month Festival' Gives bare details of dates and places. Only the second is an ethnic festival. The first is a recent creation.
Photos of the '3rd Day of the 3rd Month festival' can be found at Photos of Hainan by Saundra Sturdevant (2002).
Ross McKinnon's photos of a Li Festival in Wuzhishan.
Other
The IEEA Photo Album -- by Eddie Mills, head of the International Education Exchange Association, who is committed to helping the minority ethnic groups of Hainan. Shows photos of Baisha, Qiongzhong Desk Presentation, Li Minority School and Students, Li Minority and IEEA Desk Presentation, Closing Ceremony of the Minority English Work, China Team 2004 (1), China Team 2004 (2), Brookhills Team from USA, Banner presentation, Baisha visit, Baisha English workshop 2003, Baisha English workshop 2004.
Panning for gold Hlai ethnic children pan for gold to get enough money to continue their studies.
The Miao
The Miao ethnic group Chinese government site about the Miao in general, with some reference to the Hainanese Miao.
The Utsul
The Utsul are classified with the Hui (Muslims) by the Chinese government but ethnically they are not the same as the Mainland Chinese Hui. Their language, Tsat (see below) is related to the Cham language of Vietnam.
Utsul (Wikipedia article)
Languages of Hainan
The Ethnologue report is the best source of information.
Ethnologue Report for Minnan (dialect of Chinese) This dialect includes the language known as 'Hainanese'.
Phrases from Hainanese. This page gives a few useful expressions from Hainanese, the dominant language of the local Han Chinese. Hainanese is related to Hokkienese (Minnan).
Comic strip with Hainanese dialogue, from bounce back to life, a blog by a Singaporean Hainanese:
Comic with Hainanese Dialogue: The comic strip is in romanised Hainanese -- mouseover to see the English translation.
Ethnologue Report for Hlai The language of the Li people.
Ethnologue Report for Jiamao The language of the Li people of Lingshui and Baoding area, which is very different from other Hlai dialects.
Ethnologue Report for Cun A language spoken in Western Hainan.
The Li: a generic name for Hainan aborigines (China Viva): Notes on the different groups of Li and their languages. 'Each one of the Li ethnic groups has their own language, considered in China a dialect of an ideal Li language, that in fact it did not exist.' (However, while this may be objectively true, in fact this is precisely how 'standard languages' and 'ethnic identity' come about.)
The Gai branch of the Li (China Viva): The three branches of the Gai and their customs.
Linguist List: Comparative Method: Posting on why Hlai is now generally not assigned to Sino-Tibetan (except by the Chinese government).
Ethnologue Report for Kin Mun The language of the Miao people of central Hainan. Although these people are known as the Hainan Miao and identify themselves as Miao, the language they speak is, according to this entry, the language of the Yao or Mien minority on Mainland China. Miao and Mien are linguistically related, belonging to the Miao-Mien language family.
Ethnologue Report for Lingao The Ongbe or Linggao language spoken in northwestern Hainan. These people regard themselves as 'Han' but speak a language related to Zhuang.
Danzhou Dialect (Wikipedia): Brief note.
Ethnologue Report for Tsat The language spoken by the Utsul near Sanya, originally related to the Cham language of modern day Vietnam.
Tsat A report on the Tsat language and the heavy influence it has received from Chinese.
Tonality in Cham Phan Rang and Tsat (Arizona State University), with interesting observations on the Cham language and the need for further study of Tsat.
Tsat language Wikipedia entry for Tsat.
Language groups
Tai-Kedai group of languages, to which Hlai belongs.
Miao-Yao group of languages, to which Hainanese Miao belongs.
Counting from One to Ten in Hainan (from Zompist, with permission)
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
| CHINESE | ||||||||||
| Mandarin (Putonghua) | yī | èr | sān | sì | wǔ | liù | qī | bā | jiǔ | shí |
| Hainanese (Hailam) | jiá | nó | tâ | tì | ngóu | lako | sít | bóih | kauh | tapo |
| HLAI | ||||||||||
| Northern Li (Hlai) | trau | s'u | s'o | pa | tom | thau | au | fe | fuot | |
| Southern Li | k |
dau | s'u | s'a:u | ma | nom | thu | du | pe | phuot |
| Seao | k |
dow | su | sao | ma | nom | situ | du | fou | p |
| Bupäli | go | łiau | deu | deu | bo | nom | dau | gou | vou | bôd |
| Basadung | thsio | sao | vu | c'u | ba | dom | tu | kxu | fan | fud' |
| Dogang | tsou | dau | fo | tsau | ba | dom | tou | ou | fal | fud |
| Ha | tshey | łau | fu | tshau | pa | tom | thou | gou | fay | fu:t |
| Qi (Gei) | y | łau | tshu | tsho | pa | tom | thou | gou | fay | fu:t |
| White Sand (Baisha) | c'he | hleu | fu | c'ho | pa | tom | thou | xou | fa:l | fut |
| CUN | tsi | tha | fu | ha:u | bo | tsem | thet | ba:t | ko:i | sep |
| LINGAO (BE) | ot | twang | tam | ti | - | lok | - | bit | ko | zop |
| MIAO (Jinmen or Mun) | a: | i | po: | pjei | pja | kjo: | ñij | zjat | `du | zap |
| TSAT (Huihui) | sa2 | thua3 | tie | pa | ma2 | na:t2 | su1 | pa:t2 | thua3pa:t | piu |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
The above were taken from the following pages on the Zompist site:
Sino-Tibetan:
Chinese (Mandarin)
Hainanese ('Hailam').Miao-Yao languages:
Miao (Kim Mun)Tai languages:
Lingao (Be)
Hlai (Li) Northern Li and Southern Li (including Seao, Bupali, Basadung, Dogang, Ha, Qi, and White Sand) are Hlai dialects.
CunAustronesian:
Tsat (Huihui), under 'Achinese-Chamic'.