Fuzhou Tanka

Fuzhou Tanka (Chinese: 福州 疍 民, also 连 家 船民, literally translated ship people in Lian Jiang) is an ethnic group that lives predominantly along the middle and lower course of the Min River in the Chinese province of Fujian as well as on the coastline in front of the city of Fuzhou lives. Traditionally, they spend their entire lives on the water and use their ships as living and working places. In the People's Republic of China they are counted among the Han Chinese . Her mother tongue is Min Dong , the Chinese language spoken in Fuzhou . They have developed their own traditions that are different from the local rural population so that they can be viewed as a separate ethnic group. In earlier literatures they were referred to as 游艇 子 (Yóu Tíng Zăi, literal translation: Children of Ships), 白水 郎 (Bái Shủi Láng, white water people) or 蜒 (Tíng, dragonflies). The rural population, on the other hand, denigrates them as 曲 蹄 (Fuzhou dialect: Kuóh-dà̤ ^{? / I} Kuóh-dà̤-giāng , crooked legs ). They have long been severely discriminated against by the rural population, especially the Han Chinese. In the time of the Republic of China , laws were passed prohibiting discrimination against tanka. Since the 1950s, the government slowly began to relocate the Tanka to the countryside. By the 1990s, most of them had given up their aquatic life.

Origin and development

Tanka ships in Fuzhou at the beginning of the 20th century

There are many different theories about the origin of the tanka. Even the Tanka have different opinions about their origins. For example, there is a legend according to which comets fell from the sky in prehistoric times; those who fell to the earth became Han, while those who fell into the water became Tanka. Some tanka believe that they are descendants of the indigenous people whose lands were conquered by the Han Wudi , others believe that they are descendants of the rebels who revolted against the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the 5th century and drove into the sea after the defeat of the uprising were. Some claim they are descendants of the indigenous people who were expelled by Wang Shenzhi in the 9th century . Others believe that their ancestors were Mongols , who fled to the water at the end of the Yuan Dynasty to flee the Han vengeance, or that they were followers of Chen Youliang . Some of the Tanka family books even have an origin in Shanxi Province . In older documents it is mostly assumed that the Tanka are descendants of the inhabitants of the state of Min-Yue, which was destroyed by the Western Han Dynasty , they are also referred to as the "snake race" (蛇 種).

The majority of scientists today are of the opinion that the Tanka are mainly descended from the indigenous people. This opinion is shared by Luo Xianglin and Fu Yiling . Accordingly, the Tanka are descendants of the inhabitants of the former Yue state . That would mean that all tanka in southern China as well as Guangdong and Zhejiang have the same ancestry. Parts of the Fuzhou Tanka have immigrated from Zhejiang. There have been several waves of migration throughout history between Jiangsu , Zhejiang and Fuzhou.

Since the Tanka maintained contact with the rural Han for a long time, they were largely Sinised as early as the Ming Dynasty and began to use Min Dong as their mother tongue. From the 18th century onwards, a few tanka began to settle in the countryside. In the Republic of China, discrimination against tanka was banned by law, and more and more tanka were leaving the water. In the People's Republic, the Tanka were resettled in large numbers in the countryside. At the beginning of the 1950s the Tanka were officially recognized as a minority . However, the government later withdrew this status from them because they had been Sinised for too long and thus lost their own characteristics and popular beliefs.

origin of the name

In ancient literature, the Fuzhou Tanka and all other tanka on the coast were called 游艇 子 (Yóu Tíng Zăi, literal translation: Children of the Ships). This name was used, for example, in the history of the Northern Dynasties (北 史) and in the history of the three mountains (三 山 志) from the time of the Northern Song Dynasty . In the Song era, the tanka were commonly called 白水 郎 (Bái Shǔi Láng, white water people). The name Tanka is related to the character 蜑 (Dàn) and is a name for the locals on the southern edge of the Chinese Empire. This name was first used during the Sui Dynasty . After the end of the Southern Song Dynasty , it was used specifically for the tanka.

The term 曲 蹄 (Fuzhou dialect: Kuóh-dà̤ ^{? / I} , Kuóh-dà̤-giāng , crooked leg ) is a derogatory term in the Min Dong language. In the yearbook of Min County of the Qing Dynasty , this name was explained as follows: "... are referred to by the common people as crooks because they live in ships and often cannot straighten their legs."

Population and language

Distribution area of ​​the Fuzhou Tanka

The statistics about the population from different times differ greatly. During the Republican era, Chen Wentao (陈文涛) expressed the opinion that there were about 100,000 Tanka within the city limits of Fuzhou. In the early days of the People's Republic there were about 10 km along the lower reaches of the Min River, a total of 3731 households with 17,235 people living in it, of which 8,760 men and 8,475 women. The sex ratio was 1: 0.967. In the other seven counties along the Min River, a total of 4219 households with 10,369 people were identified. Those tanka who lived on the coast were not included here. Other sources give the number of tanka on the lower reaches of the Min River as 30,000.

Today the Tanka settled in Fuzhou generally speak the Min Dong language with Fuzhou dialect as their mother tongue. Even the tanka who had migrated north still spoke the Fuzhou dialect. Unique expressions have persisted in some areas. Historically, the Tanka had their own language. Over time, however, they slowly became sinized. By the time of the Ming dynasty, most of the Tanka had already mastered Fuzhou dialect, but often with traces of earlier words and grammatical adaptations from their own language. During the time of the People's Republic, standard Chinese was extensively promoted by the state, so that today many tanka can also speak standard Chinese.

family name

Only a few dozen family names are represented among the Fuzhou Tanka. Most of them originated in the Ming and Qing periods, after most of them had already been Sinized. Most of the names have something to do with "water" or "living on water". Family names like Jiang (江), Tang (唐), Wen (翁), Ou (欧), Bian (卞), Chi (池), Pu (浦) and others are typical. The name Wen, for example, probably comes from the profession of fisherman (渔翁), Ou comes from seagulls (鸥鸟). Chi (pond), Pu (bay), Jiang (river) and Hai (sea) obviously refer to the homes of the Tanka. Some tanka with the surname Chen believe they are descendants of the Chen Youliang.

In Fuzhou, most of them are called Tanka Tang, Lai, Jiang, Wen, Zhan. In Minhou , surnames like Ou, Bian, Chi, Jiang, Guo dominate, while in Changle the names Chen, Jiang, Wen, Lin predominate and on the coast of Luoyuan mostly Ou, Jiang, Zheng, Lian, Chen, Wen and Liu are found .

Habits

Boats under the Wanshou Bridge, 1927

In the past, there was discrimination against the Tanka by the Han Chinese. They were forbidden to live on land, which is why they spent the rest of their lives on the water. The following was documented in a local yearbook from the Qing Dynasty: “They live in the boats, work as fishermen, have no permanent place of residence. They come and go with the tides and the tides, live where the water goes. They share the ports and bays with one another and respect each other's territories. Even if they settle in the country, they do not trade or work. Their habits are down and despised by the citizens. The local population calls them crooked legs because their legs are mostly crooked and consider them slaves because they are inferior. ”During this time they mostly lived from fishing and transport on the water. Most of them lived in dire poverty. They were also more at risk from natural disasters like typhoons . Before the Republican era, the vast majority of Tanka were very poorly educated. Since the middle of the 20th century, a large number of the tanka have been resettled in the countryside, which has continued to reduce the number of tanka living in the traditional way.

dress

During the Qing Dynasty and Republican times, the tanka mostly wore black, dark blue, or brown linen clothes. The trousers usually had wide cut legs. Women's clothes often had a cun- wide black border. Before moving to the countryside, most tankas wore neither shoes nor headgear. Tanka women did not tie their feet like other Chinese women, they wore earrings and their hair in a bun with the tip pointing up. Older women use a serpentine kanzashi to secure their ends. Ethnologists believe this is an indication that they are descendants of the earlier aborigines (the snake race).

Abode

Tanka ships and sheds, around 1907

The tanka traditionally lived on ships. The ships were about 5 to 6 meters in length, the bow and stern were raised and flat in the middle. In the middle part they had a hut made of bamboo as a structure. For the Tanka, the ship was both a place of residence and a place of work. The work was done on the deck, but the hut provided a place to sleep and served as a warehouse. During the transport, the hut was used as a guest room or goods room. The ships had no toilets, the stern of the ship was used for this. To urinate, one sometimes used thick bamboo containers that were simply held under the wide pant leg. Some tanka also kept poultry on the stern of their boat. Tanka, who had previously resettled in the countryside, built stilt houses . To do this, piles were first driven into the ground and the ships simply placed on them as homes. Other pile dwellings were built with simple wooden boards. The houses were very narrow.

Manners

Traditionally, the parents choose the spouse, and some also use marriage brokers. The normal procedure includes giving presents, giving presents in adulthood, making sacrifices to the gods, and marriage. Girls are usually not married before the age of 18. The bride usually comes to the groom's boat at night. Tanka custom requires the bride to cry at the wedding to show that she does not want to leave home. Girls can also be married to rural men, but men prefer not to take a wife from the country. On the day of the marriage, every boat that passes the boat with the bride can moor and celebrate, regardless of whether they know each other or not. The rice wine served is a gift from the bride's family. Compared to the Han Chinese who live in the country, the Tanka pay less attention to chastity. Sex before marriage or marriage after the death of the spouse is common and normal. Wealthy tanka also take concubines . There are other differences in burial between the Tanka and the Han Chinese who live on land. For example, most of the tanka were so poor that they were unable to pay for a monastic service for the deceased. Coastal tanka do not have cemeteries. The deceased are simply wrapped in a straw carpet and buried on a deserted beach. However, this process must not be observed by outsiders. The tanka who were converted to Catholicism were formerly buried in a cemetery on a mountain northwest of Fuzhou. The original grave of the missionary Giulio Alenio was also located there .

public holidays

While in Fuzhou the feast of the hearth (祭灶 节) began for the rich according to the Chinese calendar on December 23, it did not take place for the normal population until December 24, and for the Tanka it was not until December 25. For Chinese New Year's Eve, the Tanka sailed their ships in the middle of the river to avoid believers. From the second to the fourth day after the New Year , Tanka women and children went ashore to beg. They recited auspicious verses at the doors of the Han Chinese in exchange for food. Tankas also like to sing fisherman's songs on public holidays, but these traditional songs are now in danger of extinction.

Taboos

Fuzhou Tanka avoid other people crossing the path right in front of their bow. Water corpses must be pulled out of the water immediately so that they do not haunt them. If someone fell into the water, no rescue operation was initiated until they went back up and down three times to make sure it wasn't a ghost. The Tanka avoid words like "backwards" or "lying across" because they have an ominous meaning for them. They also avoid things that have fallen over, such as overturned bowls or pots. When eating fish, the fish is not turned over if one side has been eaten, and fish eyes are also taboo for the tanka. To do this, they paint fish eyes on their ships to avoid hitting a shoal.

Fishing songs

The Fuzhou Tanka fishing songs are a traditional form of music for this tribe. There are two different forms of fishing songs. The Pan Chang (盘 歌) is a duet between man and woman in the form of a question and answer dialogue. The lyrics are improvised. The tankas sing New Year's songs when they go begging at the beginning of the year. The fishing songs of the Fuzhou Tanka have also adopted stylistic elements from the Min Opera , whereby they in turn have influenced the songs of the local population. Today this cultural asset is critically endangered, which is why it has already been included in the intangible cultural heritage of Fuzhou and Fujian.

religion

The Huang-Sung-Puo St. Dominik Church on the south side of the Min River is one of the most important churches of the Catholic Tanka

Earlier Fuzhou Tanka believed in a mixture of Daoism and folk religion. The gods include ancient kings as well as a snake god, a frog god, a dragon god, but also Mazu and other Daoist gods or historical persons. As a water-based community, Mazu in particular plays a special role. Through their migration, they brought some gods to the Matsu Islands or even to the Ryūkyū Islands . Some tanka are also related to Buddhism .

The Catholic history of the Fuzhou Tanka began in the 17th century. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Catholicism began to take effect in Fuzhou when the Archdiocese of Fuzhou was established. From the middle of the 19th century on, the tanka were increasingly perceived as a mission target. The missionaries even learned the Fuzhou dialect for this. With the help of laws that grant Christians special rights, the Catholic Church tried to protect the tanka, who had been discriminated against until then, and to help them relocate to the country. The Church also opened schools for the Tanka. These measures meant that Catholicism was spreading more and more among the Tanka and that the following increased steadily. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, when Fuzhou was declared a free trade port, the newly arriving evangelical missionaries discovered that a considerable part of the Tanka were already Catholic. Until the establishment of the People's Republic, the ratio of Catholics within the Tanka increased steadily. Even half of those tanka resettled north had now become Catholics. At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, Catholicism continued to spread among the Tanka. Today the Tanka and their descendants make up a large part of the Catholics living in Fuzhou.

Discrimination

Wanshou Bridge around 1910. The Han Chinese walk on the bridge, the Tanka ships sail under the bridge

From the Song dynasty , the Fuzhou Tanka were referred to as "subhumans" (贱民). They were clearly discriminated against by the rural Han Chinese and their way of life was severely restricted. The Tanka were forbidden to live in the country at this time, they were not allowed to wear silk, were excluded from education and were not allowed to take the civil service examination . They were forbidden to use umbrellas or wear shoes in the countryside. They were not allowed to light lanterns during celebrations. They had to go ashore at the side of the road. They were not allowed to wear hats, their pant legs had to be of different lengths to distinguish them from the Han fishermen, and women were not allowed to wear kanzashi . In some places the tanka were generally forbidden to go ashore. The few tanka who had managed to move to the countryside were forbidden to provide their houses with a tiled roof. They were even less allowed to use a curved roof shape. Some wealthy Tanka bribed Han Chinese of the same name with a lot of money in order to obtain a registration for them in the country in order to get the chance to take the official examination.

For example, the writer Guo Baicang, who lived at the time of the end of the Qing Dynasty, wrote about an official who lost his social position because he married a tanka out of financial difficulties.

From the Qing Dynasty , the government tried to fight this discrimination together with the Tanka. In the 18th century, for example, the ban on people moving to the countryside was lifted. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Fujian Province Council was tasked with granting the Tanka the same rights as the rural population. The Council rejected the proposal, citing customary law. After the establishment of the Republic of China, all forms of discrimination were officially banned. The Tanka were resettled in large numbers in the countryside. However, some prejudices are still widespread within the population.

Description of the tanka

In the folk culture of Fuzhou, the Tanka were mostly portrayed as derogatory. In folk songs or proverbs they are described as devious, greedy for money and of bad character. There are seldom positive descriptions of the tanka. Some place names in Fuzhou contain or indirectly refer to elements of the Tanka.

Western missionaries have also left many descriptions of the tanka, which are often far more neutral; these include Isaac William Wiley and Robert Samuel Maclay ( Life Among the Chinese with Characteristic Sketches and Incidents of Missionary Operations and Prospects in China ).

In 1947 Julien Bryan made a 16-minute documentary about the Tanka called the Sampan Family . In 2009 a documentary film about the life of the Tanka today, entitled St. Mary's Fisher , was made

Todays situation

Tanka building in Fuzhou Luoyuan when they were relocated to the countryside in the mid-20th century.

Since the 1950s, the government began to relocate the Tanka to the countryside. Many Tanka villages arose along the Min River and compulsory schooling was introduced for the Tanka children. Many tanka became fishermen. Since the 1990s, the Tankas have increasingly built their own houses from bricks and wood. In the 1990s, the Fuzhou city government stepped up efforts to relocate the water nomads. Contracts were signed with the Tanka in which they were guaranteed housing and land as compensation for the resettlement. Today there are hardly any tanka boathouses left in the urban area of ​​Fuzhou, but a large number of tanka live in the countryside around the city. The standard of living and the level of education of the Tanka have risen sharply, so that today there are hardly any illiterates among the Tanka.

Most of the Fuzhou Tanka now work in fishing, waterborne transport, sand digging, and other aquatic professions. The government also supports the Tanka financially. Many tanka have meanwhile exchanged their small boats for large ships. According to newspaper reports, the problem of water pollution from tanka litter was one of the reasons that led the government to relocate the Tanka to the country. Today, some tanka are working as government environmental officers to protect inland water from further pollution.

On the other hand, the traditional Tanka culture is one of the most endangered cultures in China. The spread of tanka fishing songs and traditional theater are declining and threatened with extinction. Fuzhou City and Fujian Province have therefore included the fishing songs in the list of intangible cultural goods .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} 刘 传 标 (Liu Chuanbiao), Culture and Customs of the Tanka on Min River  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Fujian Provincial Academy of Social Sciences  
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 吴高梓 (Wu Gaoxin): 福州 疍 民 调查 (Investigation among the Fujian Tanka), 社会 学界 （第四 卷) (Social Science, Volume 4), 19300
3. ↑ 冯爱珍 (Feng Aizheng): Dictionary of Fuzhou Dialect, Jiangsu Educational Publishers, 1998
4. ↑ ^{a b c} 罗源 县志 (book of the Luoyuan district), 方志 Ort (local book publisher), 1998.11, ISBN 7-80122-390-X
5. ↑ ^{a b} 陆 次 云 (Lu Ciyun), 峒 溪 纤 志, “疍 为 蛇 种 ， 盖 即 无 诸国 之 遗民 也.” (The tanka belong to the snake race, descendants of the state of Wuzhu.)
6. ↑ 傅 衣 凌 (Fu Yiling): «福建 畲 姓 考»
7. ↑ ^{a b} 李健民 (Li Jianming), 闽东 疍 民 的 由来 与 变迁 (Origin and migration of the Tanka from eastern Fujian), 寧德 師專 學報 （哲學 社會 科學 版 (Newspaper of the Ningde Teachers' Seminar, Philosophical Scientific Publishing House), 2009.2
8. ↑ 黄向春 (Huang Xiangchun), 从 疍 民 研究 看 中国 民族 史 与 族群 研究 的 百年 探索 (From Exploring the Tanka to Exploring the History of Chinese Peoples and Ethnic Groups over the Last Hundred Years), 广西 民族 研究 (Guangxi Folk Studies ), 2008.4
9. ↑ «隋 书 • 南蛮 传» (History of the Sui, southern fringe peoples)
10. ↑ 林蔚 文 (Lin Weiwen), 福建 蛋 民 名称 和 分布 考 (Names and Distribution of the Fujian Tanka), 东南 文化 (Southeast Culture), 1990.3
11. ↑ 陈文涛 (Chen Wentao), «闽 话» • 卷三 ( Min hua , Volume 3)
12. ↑ 徐心希 (Xu Xingxi), About the culture of the Fuzhou Tanka  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , «中国 民俗» (Chinese folk customs)  
13. ↑ 范正义 (Fan Zhengyi), 近代 福建 船民 信仰 探析 (Analysis of the Beliefs of Modern Fujian Tanka), 莆田 学院 学报 (Putian Academy Newspaper)
14. ↑ ^{a b} 李健民 (Li Jianmin), 闽东 疍 民 的 生活 习俗 (Customs of the Min Dong Tanka)
15. ↑ 郭志 超 (Guo Zhichao), “闽台 民族 史 辨” (History of the Peoples of Taiwan and Fujian), 黄山 书社 (Huangshan Publishing House), 2006
16. ↑ ^{a b} 陈 支 平 (Chen Zhiping), Aug 2000, 福建 六大 民 系 (The six great ethnic groups in Fujian). 福建 人民出版社 (Fujian Volksverlag). ISBN 7-211-03677-X
17. ↑ 侯 官 县 乡土 志: "其 人 以 舟 为 居 ， 以 渔 为 业 ， 浮 家 泛 宅 ， 遂 遂 潮 往来 ， 江干 海 澨 ， ， 随处 栖 泊。 各 分 港澳 ， 不 相 凌 躐。 间 有 结庐岸上 者 ， 盖 亦不 业 商贾 ， 不 事 工作 ， 习 于 卑贱 ， 不齿 平民。 闽 人皆 呼 之 为 曲 蹄 蹄 ， 肖 其 形 也 也。 以其 脚 多 弯曲 故 也 ， 俗 亦 谓之为 乞 黎云云。 视 之 如 奴隶 ， 贱 其 品 也. "
18. ↑ 李健民 (Li Jianmin), 闽东 疍 民 的 婚丧 生育 (marriage, death and birth of Mindong Tanka)
19. ↑ «村民 与 疍 民» (villagers and tankas), 闽侯 乡音 报 (local newspaper from Fujian)
20. ↑ 福建省 地 方志 编纂 委员会, «福建省 志 • 民俗 志», 方志 出版社, 1997 年 9 月, ISBN 7-80122-199-0 / K • 44
21. ↑ 邱泉盛, 福州市 18 个 非 物质 文化遗产 入选 第二 批 市级 名录 ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 福州 晚报 (Fuzhou Evening Newspaper), Jan. 2009 
22. ↑ 福建省 第三批 省级 非 物质 文化遗产 名录 ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 海峡 都市报, 2009 年 6 月 
23. ↑ 卢公明 (Lu Gongmin), Social life of the Chinese  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1865  
24. ↑ 郭柏 苍 (Guo Baicang), 竹 间 十 日 话 (Ten Days Between Bamboo), Book 5
25. ↑ Sampan Family (1947) ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
26. ^ A Catalog of Selected 16mm. Educational Motion Pictures . (PDF; 9.3 MB) Film Library
27. ↑ St. Mary's Fisher ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
28. ↑ 關 志杰 (Guan Zhijie), 雷立清 (Lei Liqing), “連 家 船 的 變遷” ( memento of the original from November 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Change of Tanka Ships), Fuzhou Evening Newspaper 
29. ↑ 何佳媛 (He Jiayuan), «福建 福州 城 水源 水质 达标 率 100%»  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Fuzhou City Water Quality), Fuzhou Evening Newspaper.  

Web links

Commons : Fuzhou Tanka  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files