User:Kou Dou/Minh Hương people
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The Minh Hương people (Vietnamese: người Minh Hương; Hán Nôm: 𠊛明鄉; simplified Chinese: 明乡人; traditional Chinese: 明鄉人; pinyin: Míng Xiāng rén; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇ丨ㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄤ ㄖㄣˊ), also shortened as the Minh Huong (Vietnamese: Minh Hương; Hán Nôm: 明鄉; simplified Chinese: 明乡; traditional Chinese: 明鄉; pinyin: míng xiāng; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇ丨ㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄤ; formerly written as 𠊛明香 or 明香 in Hán Nôm and 明香人 or 明香 in Chinese), narrowly refers to an ethnic group of Han Chinese descendants among the modern Vietnamese people (the Kinh people). Mainly consisted of males, the ancestors of this group left China and settled in Vietnam on account of business or chaos caused by wars during the 17th and 18th century, when the Ming dynasty declined and the Qing dynasty rose.
Người Minh Hương/𠊛明鄉 明鄉人 | |
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Total population | |
~1000[1]: 8 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Vietnam | ~1000[1]: 8 |
Languages | |
Vietnamese | |
Religion | |
Unspecified | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Kinh (directly) Hoa, Ngái and Sán Dìu (indirectly) |
Minh Hương people | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 明鄉人 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 明乡人 | ||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | người Minh Hương | ||||||||
Hán-Nôm | 𠊛明鄉 | ||||||||
Harboring the abhorrence for the Manchu who conquered the Empire of Ming, these new immigrants started to exploit new territories and engaged in trade or agriculture for Vietnam after requesting the Vietnamese emperors for asylum and resettlement. In the end, the Minh Huong put down roots in Vietnam, married with Vietnamese women and bred their mixed-blood descendants. In view of Minh Huong's outstanding contributions to the state, the imperial court of Vietnam approved them to establish some village community-like, autonomous organizations called Minh Huong Society (Vietnamese: Minh Hương xã; Hán Nôm and Chinese: 明香社; pinyin: Míng Xiāng shè; later renamed as 明鄉社, but the written script in the Vietnamese alphabet and pronunciation in Chinese remained the same).
Having experienced various feudal dynasties, the French domination and the conflicts between North and South Vietnam through the recent centuries, the Minh Huong people left many cultural heritages in their country and was once the focus of ethnic strives involved with the governments of China, France and Vietnam itself. However, the population of the Minh Huong people decreased and their Chinese citizenship, recognition of one's identity as "Chinese" people and ability to communicate in Chinese language were all lost due to constant miscegenation, localization and forced assimilation. Modern Minh Huong people who speak Vietnamese language and follow Kinh's customs were integrated into the culture of Vietnam and became a part of the majority ethnic group in the country. They are no longer considered as Hoa people (ethnic Chinese in Vietnam) anymore.