Tanka (ethnic group)

Boat people or Tanka,(?? (egg families), corruption: ?? (vermin families); sometimes ?? (lit. boat households) or ??? (Cantonese: seui2 seung5 yan4; pinyin: shu?shàngrén); ??? (lit. people living on water) is the term they used for themselves and prefer to be called is the name they prefer to go by and call themselves) is an ethnic group in China that has traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, and Hainan. Though many now live onshore, some members of the older generations still live on these narrow boats and pursue the tradional livelihood of fishing. Originally the Tanka were a non-Chinese ethnic group and were classified by the Qing government as "mean". The Yongzheng Emperor freed them and several other "mean" groups from this status in a series of edicts from 1723 to 1731. They mostly worked as fishermen and tended to gather at some bays. Some built markets or villages on the shore, while others continued to live on their junks or boats. As Hong Kong developed, some of the fishing grounds in Hong Kong became badly polluted or were reclaimed, and so became land. Those Tanka who only own small boats and cannot fish far out to sea are forced to stay inshore in bays, gathering together like floating villages.

Related Topics:
Cantonese - China - Junks - Guangdong - Guangxi - Hong Kong - Macau - Hainan - Yongzheng Emperor - Fishermen - Bay - Market - Village - Junk - Boat

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A small number of Tanka also live in parts of Vietnam. There they are called Dan and classified as a subgroup of the Ngai ethnicity.

Related Topics:
Vietnam - Ngai

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