Introduction
This article explores the origin of the ethnic Li aka Hlai who live mostly in Hainan island in China. They are a part of the Kra-Dai people.The Li people were written with different Chinese characters but with the sound 'Lei' or 'Lai' during different dynasties i.e. Western Han dynasty (蠻裡), Eastern Han dynasty (俚), Song dynasty (黎).
Homeland
The homeland of the ethnic Hlai people was recorded along the Jian River (鑑江) basin in modern-day Maoming prefecture in western Guangdong province. They are also the natives in Leizhou peninsular and Hainan island. The approximate region of their homeland is colored yellow on the map below.
After their dead people were buried for 10 years, the Hlai people would rebury their dead a second time in pottery coffins with water marks engraved on it.
These unique pottery coffins which provide strong evidence of the location of their homeland were found along the land route from Jian River basin (Xinyi, Gaozhou, Huazhou prefectures) to Leizhou peninsular and further down to Hainan island.
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| Pottery coffins |
The Hlai people are also skilled in making boats out of single tree trunks which enabled them to cross the Hainan Strait onto Hainan island from the mainland.
Earliest recorded kingdom
The Chinese history books recorded a Dam Er (儋耳) kingdom in the north-western part of Hainan. It was recorded that they had large ears which drooped quite low probably due to wearing of heavy ear-rings.
The migration of Hlai people to Hainan island from the mainland can be grouped into two major waves.
It is not known exactly when and why their ancestors started migrating to Hainan but they migrated before the invasion of Chinese Qin army in Guangdong in 221 BC.
Their folk song said that they originally lived in the plains of eastern Hainan which is closest to Leizhou Peninsular before moving westwards to Limu (黎母) mountain which they consider their ancestral mountain. Li-Mu literally means 'Mother of the Li people'.
From the Qin dynasty onwards, they were gradually pushed to move to the mountains firstly by the ethnic Ong-Be and later by the ethnic Han Chinese settling in the coastal plains of the island in the late 13th century AD.
The maps below shows the location of Limu mountain.
In 534 AD, Lady Sin persuaded the local chieftains in Hainan to submit to her authority. Lady Sin was crucial in maintaining harmony between the ethnic HLai and ethnic Han Chinese in western Guangdong and Hainan.
It is also written that some Hlai people migrated from western Guangdong to Hainan during her rule as the head of the Hlai chieftains. However, the massive second wave of ethnic Hlai migration into northwestern Hainan island really started after a failed rebellion which occurred later.
After the death of the unifying Lady Sin in 602 AD, there was a failed rebellion by the Hlai people in 621-640 AD (Tang dynasty). The causes of the rebellion were due to the increasing Han Chinese migration to their homeland in western Guangdong and also certain discriminatory policies against them.
In 692 AD, the mausoleum statue of Lady Sin was not spared from being beheaded by Empress Wu Zetian as an aftermath of the rebellion.
First wave
The ethnic Hlai are believed to be the earliest natives on Hainan island; however, these neolithic people might be other ethnic group who were assimilated by the incoming Hlai migrants who came via the Leizhou peninsular.It is not known exactly when and why their ancestors started migrating to Hainan but they migrated before the invasion of Chinese Qin army in Guangdong in 221 BC.
Their folk song said that they originally lived in the plains of eastern Hainan which is closest to Leizhou Peninsular before moving westwards to Limu (黎母) mountain which they consider their ancestral mountain. Li-Mu literally means 'Mother of the Li people'.
From the Qin dynasty onwards, they were gradually pushed to move to the mountains firstly by the ethnic Ong-Be and later by the ethnic Han Chinese settling in the coastal plains of the island in the late 13th century AD.
The maps below shows the location of Limu mountain.
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| Migration path in red |
Second wave
The most famous ethnic HLai leader was a woman named Lady Sin (冼夫人 / 冼太) in Cantonese or Lady Xian in Mandarin.In 534 AD, Lady Sin persuaded the local chieftains in Hainan to submit to her authority. Lady Sin was crucial in maintaining harmony between the ethnic HLai and ethnic Han Chinese in western Guangdong and Hainan.
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| Lady Sin |
It is also written that some Hlai people migrated from western Guangdong to Hainan during her rule as the head of the Hlai chieftains. However, the massive second wave of ethnic Hlai migration into northwestern Hainan island really started after a failed rebellion which occurred later.
After the death of the unifying Lady Sin in 602 AD, there was a failed rebellion by the Hlai people in 621-640 AD (Tang dynasty). The causes of the rebellion were due to the increasing Han Chinese migration to their homeland in western Guangdong and also certain discriminatory policies against them.
In 692 AD, the mausoleum statue of Lady Sin was not spared from being beheaded by Empress Wu Zetian as an aftermath of the rebellion.
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| Beheaded statue at mausoleum |
Hlai subgroups
There are four subgroups of Hlai people caused by different migration periods to Hainan from mainland China as depicted in the map below. The Run subgroup is believed to be the earliest Hlai people to migrate to Hainan followed by Ha, Gei and lastly Moifau.- Run (潤) aka Zwn in Baisha (白沙) county
- Moifau (美孚) aka Meifu in Xifang county
- Gei (杞/岐) in Baoting (保亭) county
- Ha (侾) in Heitu (黑土) village
Moifau was first recorded to live in Chang-Hua (昌化) river basin in western Hainan. However, their self-identification that they are actually Han Chinese is a mystery.
Origin of Jiamao
The Sai (賽) aka Jiamao is often mistaken as a subgroup of the Hlai people. However, the Jiamao are actually Austro-Asiatic people who adopted the Hlai language but retained some of their original Austro-Asiatic words.Their ancestors escaped to Hainan when Early Lê dynasty from northern Vietnam invaded central Vietnam during 982-983 AD; they reached Hainan in 986-988 AD.
The Sai don't have the tattoo customs of other Hlai subgroups which also lends evidence that they aren't really Hlai people.
From the Qin dynasty onwards, they were pushed into the mountains in southern Hainan island by the later non-Hlai migrants settling in the coastal plains of the island.
Last updated: 15 Feb 2022
Copyright © eastasiaorigin.blogspot 2017-2022. All rights reserved.
Language
The HLai languages belong to a different Kra-Dai branch than the Tai languages spoken in Guangxi province. The numbers are non-sinitic in origin unlike the Kam-Sui and Tai languages which are sinitic. Refer to the chart below.
Conclusion
The Hlai people are the earliest natives in western Guangdong and Hainan. The HLai in Hainan originally came from western Guangdong via Leizhou Peninsular.From the Qin dynasty onwards, they were pushed into the mountains in southern Hainan island by the later non-Hlai migrants settling in the coastal plains of the island.
Related links
Ethnic origin of Ong-BeSources
- Paternal Genetic Structure of Hainan Aborigines Isolated at the Entrance to East Asia. Dongna Li, Hui Li, Caiying Ou, Yan Lu, Yuantian Sun, Bo Yang, Zhendong Qin et al.
- Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. By Barbara Bennett Peterson
- Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam. By James Chamberlain.
- The Tai Kadai people of Hainan island and their languages. By Theraphan Thongkum.
- A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. By Peter Norquest
- Migration and natives of Hainan.
- The aberrancy of the Jiamao dialect of Hlai: speculation on its origin. By Graham Thurgood.
- https://sites.google.com/site/msealangs/home/blog/jiamao
- The Li ethnic minority
- https://liangdian.cc/d/F4MtIxggAIE
- https://kknews.cc/history/qe4qppo.html
- https://kknews.cc/story/6225elp.html
- http://www.sanyau.edu.cn/newsDetails.asp?did=3088
- https://kknews.cc/news/v5vmevq.html
- https://kknews.cc/zh-my/news/v5vmevq.html (migration of Hlai subgroups)
Copyright © eastasiaorigin.blogspot 2017-2022. All rights reserved.
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