Introduction
This article seeks to explore the origin of the Hepu Yue language in Guangxi which is part of the Yue Chinese languages and related to Cantonese.
Homeland
The homeland of the Hepu Yue Chinese people is along the coastal region in south-eastern Guangxi. In ancient times, it was the western part of ancient Hepu (合浦) prefecture.
Hepu is traditionally famous for its production of pearls.
First wave of migration
Hepu port, situated in modern-day Beihai prefecture, became the most important port for China during the Han dynasty before it was surpassed by Guangzhou port after the Han dynasty. The port was situated along the maritime silk road trading in silk, tea, pearls and other artefacts.
Due to its bustling port trading activities, it attracted many people from Guangxin, the capital of ancient Jiaozhou commandery (Guangdong, Guangxi, northern Vietnam), to become the first batch of Han Chinese settling there. The people in Guangxin spoke proto-Western Yue.
Many tombs and relics were found in Hepu county that were built between Han dynasty and before 589 AD.
Second wave of migration
The Trung sisters (Tai people) launched a rebellion in northern Vietnam and also Hepu commandery during 40-43 AD.
After successfully quelling the uprising in 43 AD, his army remained in western Hepu commandery to guard against any future rebellions. This army became the ancestors of today's Hepu Yue speakers.
White horse temples in Vietnam
Besides Hepu, General Ma Yuan also positioned some of his army in nearby Hanoi in Vietnam and their descendants became part of the Vietnamese Kinh today.
In 1870s, Nguyen Thuat, governor of Thanh Hoa province in Vietnam, recorded in his poem 'Quoc Trieu Danh Nhan Mac Ngan' (Ink traces of renowned people of the national dynasties) the existence of several Ma Yuan temples in northern Vietnam.
There are also other evidences of the existence of these temples written in 1750 AD by Adriano di St. Thecla, a catholic missionary to Vietnam. Refer to 'sources' section below.
The Ma Yuan temples were reduced to 'White Horse Temples'/Đền Bạch Mã (白馬殿) with the Ma Yuan/Mã Viện statues destroyed and replaced with just the white horse to sever any ties with China and its real history rewritten to become a 'horse which appeared in a dream of Vietnamese King Ly Thai To'.
Ma Yuan's surname literally means 'horse' and the other historical evidences revealed the true origin of these temples.
It is unknown which year the Ma Yuan statues were destroyed, most probably during the war between Vietnam and China in 1979 AD.
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| White horse temple in Hanoi |
However, the Jing people (subgroup of Kinh people), who migrated from Vietnam to Dongxing of Guangxi still practice this traditional Kinh culture of worshipping General Ma Yuan in China.
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| Jing people worshipping Ma Yuan in Dongxing |
Note that General Ma Yuan is also called General Fuk Po (Cantonese) or Fubo (Mandarin) which literally means 'the general who quelled the rebellion'.
Administrative history
The western part of ancient Hepu prefecture was split into different smaller administrative regions during different times.
During Liu Song dynasty (420-479 AD), western part of ancient Hepu prefecture was split into a smaller Song Shou (宋壽) prefecture. In 598 AD (Sui dynasty), Song Shou was renamed as Qinzhou (欽州).
In 621 AD (Tang dynasty), another western part of ancient Hepu prefecture was split into Yuezhou (越州) which was renamed as Lianzhou (廉州) in 634 AD; which roughly correspond to modern-day Beihai (北海) prefecture.
During 1368 AD (Ming dynasty), Lianzhou superior-prefecture was established which controlled Lianzhou, Qinzhou, Lingshan (靈山) and Fangcheng (防城).
Qin-Lian/Ham-Lim Yue Chinese languages
Present-day Lianzhou city in Beihai prefecture was the political, linguistic and economic center of ancient Hepu commandery during the Han dynasty; where the residents spoke proto-Hepu language.
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| Han dynasty burial sites |
Proto-Hepu spawned several partially intelligible languages collectively called Qin-Lian/Ham-Lim (欽廉) which are Lianzhou/Hepu, Qinzhou and Fangcheng. These languages are currently spoken in three prefectures which are Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang in Guangxi province respectively.
This region roughly corresponds to the ancient western Hepu commandery.
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| Qin-Lian Yue (orange border) |
General Ma Yuan and his army came from Shaanxi province whose Old Chinese language mixed with the proto-western Yue to form the proto-Hepu language.
Comparison with other Yue Chinese languages
1. Like all the other Yue Chinese languages, Qin-Lian/Ham-Lim Yue has long and short vowel distinctions which is a shared innovation among Yue Chinese languages.
|
English |
Chinese |
Lianzhou |
Cantonese |
|
Misery |
慘 |
tshaam |
tshaam |
|
Needle |
針 |
tsam |
tsam |
2. Unique initial consonants
|
English |
Chinese |
Lianzhou |
Cantonese |
|
Day |
人 |
nyan |
yan |
|
Heart |
思 |
ɬi |
si |
it was also present in Cantonese before it was lost.
The 'ɬ' initial consonant is also present in Gao-Yang, Ngau-Lau and Yong-Xun/Nanning Yue branches.
The video below shows the phonology of Qinzhou/Hamchau Yue language.
Conclusion
Hepu Yue language descended from the proto-Hepu language formed in southeastern Guangxi during the Han dynasty.
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| Cultured oyster pearl farm |
Related links
Origin of Nanyue language (Western Yue)http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/10/origin-of-nanyue-language.html
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/05/ethnic-origin-of-kinh-in-vietnam.html
Ethnic origin of Jing
- Hepu language. 何日珠還話合浦
- Opusculum de Sectis apud Sinenses et Tunkinenses: A Small Treatise on the Sects among the Chinese and Tonkinese. By Father Adriano di St. Thecla & Olga Dror.
- https://kknews.cc/history/ka262vq.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/xjkxnx8.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/n28jvg3.html
- https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/history/armpzej.html
- https://kknews.cc/culture/jzz3qkq.html
- https://kknews.cc/culture/b2n8eqj.html
- http://m.niugebbs.com/gh_fd89f216cca1/1079055.html
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Is this language mutually intelligible with Guangzhou Cantonese? My grandma speaks Panyu Cantonese. Are there any differences between Sanyi/Nanpanshun Cantonese and Guangfu Cantonese?
ReplyDeleteThe Ham-Lim Yue Chinese language has some mutual intelligible with Standard Cantonese but not high because it is a different Yue Chinese language.
DeletePanyu dialect is highly (more than 90%) mutual intelligible with Standard Cantonese.
Sanyi/Nanpanshun is the name of an ancient area and contains many dialects, it also includes Shun-Tak dialect which has lower mutual intelligible with Standard Cantonese than Panyu dialect.
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DeleteHi! My maternal grandma spoke Hakka from Heshan located in Jiangmen and my maternal grandpa spoke Hakka from Huadu district located in Guangzhou. How are these varieties of Hakka different and/or similar to the standard "Meizhou" dialect, respectively? Is there a Hakka population in Heshan or Huadu district? I am curious about my Hakka origins
ReplyDeleteHuadu and Heshan should fall under Wuhua Hakka Dialect, as the Ancestors from Wuhua Migrated further to Jiangmen and Guangzhou
DeletePlease watch the 'Origin of Hakka' on the EastAsia Origin Youtube Channel. The Huadu and Jiangmen Hakka migrated there from Meizhou-Heyuan-Huizhou region during the fifth migration and is part of the Yue-Tai subgroup.
DeleteThe dialects in this subgroup are very similar to each other unlike the huge difference between other Hakka languages.