ENG-1956 — Page 52

POPULATION

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The Hoklo have frequented the area since time unknown. They are traditionally boat-people, but in some places they have been settled ashore for several generations. There are influential land communities of them on Cheung Chau and Ping Chau. Their name suggests that they originated from Fukien Province (Hokkien), but this is probably a misnomer, Fukien being only one of their places of origin. Their lan- guage belongs to the Min group, found all along the South China coast from Fukien to Hainan Island. The more primi- tive types of Hoklo dwelling are distinguishable by the use of thatch and mud bricks, instead of tiles and stone.

The Tanka (egg families) are boat-people who very seldom settle ashore. They themselves will not use this name, which they consider derogatory, but call themselves 'Nam Hoi yan' or 'Shui Sheung yan'. They are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. Their entire families live afloat. Until the Chinese Revolution of 1911 they were outcasts, not permitted to live ashore, engage in trade, or send their children to school. Like the Hoklo, whom they resemble in many respects, they have been in the area since time un- known. Chinese records suggest that they originally spoke a non-Chinese language. At present they speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese, which they appear to have adopted early in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan dynasty. At Tai O, on Lantao Island, there is the rare instance of a fairly large group of Tanka living ashore, or rather half-ashore, in huts built on stakes over a muddy inlet.

Certain parts of the New Territories mainland have been affected by the great numbers of refugees who, since 1937, have come to the Colony from all parts of China. In general where they have settled in the country, it has been in assimil- able numbers; but certain groups of Tungkwun and Chiu- chow cultivators, and of miners from North China, have resisted assimilation and preserved a refugee mentality.