Li People
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The Hlai, also known as Li or Lizu, are a Kra–Dai-speaking
ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
, one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. The vast majority live off the southern coast of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
on Hainan Island, where they are the largest minority ethnic group. Divided into the five branches of the Qi (Gei), Ha, Run (Zwn), Sai (Tai, Jiamao) and Meifu (Moifau), the Hlai have their own distinctive culture and customs.


Names

黎 (Lí), which was pronounced /lei/ in
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
is the Chinese transcription of their native name, which is Hlai. They are sometimes also known as the "Sai" or "Say". During China's
Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
, their ancestors were known by various names, including ''Lǐliáo'' (), a general term encompassing several non-Han ethnic groups in Southern China. The name Li first is recorded during the Later Tang period (923–937 CE).


History

Liang and Zhang (1996:18–21) believe that the original homeland of the Hlai languages was the Leizhou Peninsula, and estimate that the Hlai had migrated across the Hainan Strait to Hainan island about 4,000 years before present. According to Schafer, the Li people were originally spread out across the continental coastline, covering Northern Vietnam and the area west of Guangzhou, including Hainan. Their names were converted into the Chinese clan name Li. The earliest mention of the term Li as an ethnonym was in the Han dynasty, referring to people of the highlands of Central Vietnam at Jiuzhen (). After the Han dynasty these people were primarily located in
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
and western
Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
. The 3rd century ''Nanzhou Yiwuzhi'' mentioned bandits called ''Lǐ'' (俚) who lived south of
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
in the five commanderies: Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Ningpu and Gaoliang. They lived in villages with no walls and took refuge in the mountains and narrow passes. They did not have commanders or lords. The Liu Song dynasty (420–479) set up a post called "Protector the Western Rivers" specifically to attack the Li and Lao people. After 471, the holder of that post encroached on the territory of the Li and Lao people. An army under the command of Li Sidao, the governor of Jinkang (close to modern Wuzhou), attacked the Li under the Protector's orders. During the 6th century, the Li people were united under the rule of
Lady Xian Lady Xian (or Hsien, ; Vietnamese: Tiển phu nhân; 512–602), also known as Lady of Qiao Guo (or Ch'iao Kuo; ), born as Xian Zhen (冼珍), was a hereditary chieftain of the Li people, born to the chieftain of the Xian tribe in Southern China ...
, a hereditary leader who convinced tribal leaders to obey her. In the early 6th century, the Liang dynasty (502–557) waged war on the Li people, calling it the "pacification of the Li ''dong''". In 503, governor Xun Fei of the Yulin Commandery (east central
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
) was killed in battle while fighting the Li. Between 523 and 545, there was open warfare with the Li and a Li commander named Chen Wenche was defeated. In the Tang dynasty, the Li people of northern Vietnam were assigned a separate administrative status among the populace of the Annan protectorate, only paying half the taxes of ordinary subjects. By the 11th century, records no longer mention the Li on the mainland. State administration of
Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...
's lowlands was indirect until the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
and state control of the inland mountains was indirect until the 1950s. By the 11th century, Chinese records state that Hlai people were living close to Chinese settlements and paid taxes to the central state. However by the end of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
in the mid-17th century, virtually all areas of Hainan capable of intense cultivation had been settled by
Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
, while the Hlai filled the niche of supplying mountain products. By 1700, the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
had re-established administration over Hainan. Migrant merchants started entering Hainan and threatened the economic niche of the Hlai, who broke out in violent protest against these "guest merchants" in 1766. In 1751, He Xiang wrote an essay titled "Arguments against Settling the Li and Establishing Counties." In it he explained that Hainan was dangerous not because the Hlai people were fierce, but because of malaria and poisonous animals. He mocked previous campaigns against the Hlai for conquering hamlets of no value or significance while several thousand troops died of malaria. The highlands inhabited by the Hlai were also not economically valuable, and therefore had not yet been transformed. While many Chinese generals had made a name for themselves by "settling Guangdong", they all left the Hlai alone. During the Japanese occupation of Hainan (1939–1945), the Hlai suffered extremely heavily due to their communist resistance activities especially in western Hainan. Hlai villages were frequently targeted for extermination and rape by
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
and Japanese soldiers. In four towns alone, the Japanese slaughtered more than 10,000 Hlai people. The Hlai were persecuted by the Nationalists partly due to their support of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Nationalist forces massacred over 7,000 Hlai in a village. Nationalist officers had 9,000 Hlai and 3,000 Miao executed after tricking them to the war fronts during a fake conscription campaign. As the Nationalists retreated with over 1.5 million civilians that they evacuated to the hills with, they massacred and stole food from the ethnic Hlai as well as other tribal peoples. The Nationalists executed 2,180 Miao women and children of Baisha and Baoting uprising origin. Because the Hlai sided with the CCP during the Chinese Civil War against the Nationalists, the Hlai are looked upon favorably by the government of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


Language

The Hlai speak the
Hlai languages The Hlai languages ( zh, s=黎语, p=Líyǔ) are a primary branch of the Kra–Dai languages, Kra–Dai language family spoken in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan in China by the Hlai people, not to be confused with the colloquia ...
, a member of the Kra–Dai language family, but most can understand or speak Hainanese and
Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...
. The
Jiamao language Jiamao (; also ''Tái'' or ''Sāi'') is a divergent Kra-Dai languages, Kra-Dai language or possible language isolate spoken in southern Hainan, China. Jiamao speakers' exonym and endonym, autonym is ''1''.See for an explanation of the tone cod ...
spoken natively by the Sai (also known as Tai or Jiamao) subgroup has been noted for its dissimilarity to the dialects or languages spoken by the other subgroups of the Hlai. A Qing dynasty report on the Hlai dated 1756 claimed that they did not have a writing system.


Culture

Women were able to become political leaders in Hlai society. In 1171, a Hlai woman by the name of Wang Erniang was bestowed the title of "Lady of Suitability" by the Song court and given the post of commander-general over 36 ethnic groups in the south. She was the headwoman of the Hlai people and had a husband but nobody knew his name. She was very wealthy and adept at keeping order over her people. The Song dynasty communicated with non-Chinese southerners by relaying their orders through her. In 1181, her daughter inherited her position, and in 1216, another daughter inherited the position. Among the Hlai, the women have a custom of tattooing their arms and backs after a certain age is reached. The Hlai play a traditional wind instrument called ''kǒuxiāo'' ().


Religion

The Hlai were primarily animists. According to Hlai legends, their clans each originated from the marriage of a woman and an animal. The most prominent animal is the snake. Leigong, the God of Thunder, laid a snake on Li Mountain. From the egg hatched a woman named Limu (literally "mother of the Li") who lived off of wild fruits and nested in the trees. Eventually she married and their descendants became the Hlai people. Another version says that the woman arrived on a ship and married a dog, giving birth to the Hlai. The Hlai also worshiped other animals such as the ox, which was represented in each house by a stone that they called the "soul of the ox." The "Oxen's Festival" was celebrated on the eighth day of the third lunar month every year. On that day the oxen were forbidden to be killed or worked. They stayed at home and were fed liquor believed to protect the ox and guarantee plentiful harvest. The "najiaxila" bird of legend was worshiped as a protector god for taking care of an ancestor woman of the Hlai. Dragons and cats were worshiped as well since they are considered to be ancestors.


Genetics

The Hlai are believed to be descendants of the Rau people, who settled on the island thousands of years ago. DNA analysis carried out amongst the modern Hlai population indicate a close relationship with populations in the southern Chinese province of
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
. Most of them have Y-DNA O1a and O1b. A 2019 study states that the Hlai show genetic affinities with Tai-Kadai-speaking groups (i.e. Zhuang and Dong) and Hmong-Mien-speaking groups (i.e. Miao groups). In contrast, Han Chinese in Guangxi show affinities with Tujia, Bai, She and Sinitic-speaking populations. A 2022 study shows that Hlai are enriched with ~85% Baiyue ancestry due to their geographic isolation. But there is evidence of admixture between Hlai and Han Chinese about 2000 years ago, with Hlai having about 56.56% Han ancestry as a result. In addition, there is evidence that the Kinh Vietnamese diverged earlier from the Hlai than the Dai diverged from Hlai. Other studies likewise suggest that the Longli Bouyei and Qiandongnan Dong, whom Kinh Vietnamese cluster with, could be described as a good representative of the 'ancestral Tai-Kadai' population.


Notable people

* Su Yunying, singer


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Ethnic groups officially recognized by China Hainan