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The Cantonese people (; ; gwong2 dung1 jan4; Gwóngd?ng Yàhn, also ; ; jyut6 jan4; Yuht Yàhn) are an ethnic group native to and/or originating from the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang), in southern mainland China. Although more accurately, "Cantonese" refers only to the people from Guangzhou and its satellite cities and towns and/or native speakers of Standard Cantonese, rather than simply and generally referring to the people of the Liangguang region. The Cantonese people share a common native culture, history, ancestry and language. They are also referred to as "Hoa" in Vietnam like other Han Chinese sub-groups. In Indonesia they are referred to as "Konghu".[2]
Historically centered on and predominating the Pearl River Basin shared between Guangdong and Guangxi, the Cantonese people are also responsible for establishing their native language's usage in Hong Kong and Macau during their migrations within the times of the British and Portuguese colonial eras respectively. Today, Hong Kong and Macau are the only regions in the world where Cantonese is the official spoken language, with the mixed influences of English and Portuguese respectively. Cantonese remains today as a majority language in Guangdong and Guangxi, despite the increasing influence of Mandarin.
Taishanese people may also be considered Cantonese but speak a distinct variety of Yue Chinese Taishanese.
"Cantonese" has been generally used to describe all Chinese people from Guangdong since "Cantonese" is commonly treated as a synonym with "Guangdong" and the Cantonese language is treated as the sole language of the region. This is inaccurate as "Canton" itself technically only refers to Guangdong's capital Guangzhou and the Cantonese language specifically refers to only the Guangzhou dialect of the Yue Chinese languages.
The English name "Canton" derived from PortugueseCantão[3] or Cidade de Cantão,[4] a muddling of dialectical pronunciations of "Guangdong"[5][6] (e.g., HakkaKóng-tûng). Although it originally and chiefly applied to the walled city of Guangzhou, it was occasionally conflated with Guangdong by some authors.[7][9]
Within Guangdong and Guangxi, Cantonese is considered the prestige dialect and is called baahk wá[pà:k w?:] () which means "vernacular". In historical times, it was known as "Guangzhou speech" or Guangzhounese (; ; Gwóngj?u wá) but due to Guangzhou's prosperity it has led people to conflate it with all Yue languages and many now refer to "Guangzhou speech" as simply "Guangdong speech" (; ; Gwóngd?ng wá). Similar cases where entire Chinese language families are thought to be a single language occur with non-specialists, conflating all Wu Chinese languages as just Shanghainese and its different forms, as it is the prestige dialect (although historically Suzhounese was), or that Mandarin only refers to the Beijing-based Standard Chinese and that it is a single language rather than a large group of related varieties.
There are many other Chinese languages spoken by the Han Chinese in these areas. In Guangxi, Southwestern Mandarin is spoken as are other Yue Chinese languages apart from Cantonese. In Guangdong, aside from other Yue Chinese languages, these non-Cantonese languages include Hakka, Chaoshan, Leizhou Min, and Tuhua. Non-Cantonese speaking Yue peoples are sometimes labelled as "Cantonese" such as the Taishanese people (?; sei y?p yuht yàhn), even though Taishanese () has low intelligibility to Standard Cantonese. The Taishanese see themselves as people of Guangdong, but not Cantonese. Some literature uses neutral terminology such as Guangdongese and Guangxiese to refer to people from these provinces without the cultural or linguistic affiliations to Cantonese.
History
Pre-19th century: History of Liangguang
Nanyue (Nàhm Yuht) Kingdom.
Until the 19th century, Cantonese history was largely the history of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. What is now Guangdong, and later Guangxi, was first brought under Qin influence by a general named Zhao Tuo, who later founded the kingdom of Nanyue in 204 BC.[10][11][12][13][14] The Nanyue kingdom went on to become the strongest Baiyue state in China, with many neighboring kingdoms declaring their allegiance to Nanyue rule. Zhao Tuo took the Han territory of Hunan and defeated the Han dynasty's first attack on Nanyue, later annexing the kingdom of Minyue in the East and conquering Âu L?c, Northern Vietnam, in the West in 179 BC.[15]
The greatly expanded Nanyue kingdom included the territories of modern-day Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam (Annam), with the capital situated at modern-day Guangzhou. The native peoples of Liangguang remained under Baiyue control until the Han dynasty in 111 BC, following the Han-Nanyue War. However, it was not until subsequent dynasties such as the Jin Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty that major waves of Han Chinese began to migrate south into Guangdong and Guangxi. Waves of migration and subsequent intermarriage meant that existing populations of both provinces were displaced, but some native groups like the Zhuangs still remained. The Cantonese often call themselves "people of Tang" (; tòhng yàhn). This is because of the inter-mixture between native and Han immigrants in Guangdong and Guangxi reached a critical mass of acculturation during the Tang dynasty, creating a new local identity among the Liangguang peoples.[16]
During the 4th-12th centuries, Han Chinese people from North China's Yellow River delta migrated and settled in the South of China. This gave rise to peoples including the Cantonese themselves, Hakkas and Hoklos, whose ancestors migrated from Henan and Shandong, to areas of southeastern coastal China such as Chaozhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou and other parts of Guangdong during the Tang dynasty.[17] There have been multiple migrations of Han people into Southeastern and Southern China throughout history.[18]
The origin of the Cantonese people is thus said to be Northern Chinese peoples that migrated to Guangdong and Guangxi while it was still inhabited by Baiyue peoples.[19] During Wang Mang's reign in the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD), there were influxes of Han Chinese migrants into Guangdong and Guangxi, western coast of Hainan, Annam (now Northern Vietnam) and eastern Yunnan.[20]
19th-20th century: Turmoil and migration
Cantonese bazaar during Chinese New Year at the Grant Avenue, San Francisco, circa 1914. Names of shops are in Cantonese and there are four daily newspapers printed in the Cantonese language at that time, as there is already significant number of Cantonese people who have been there for generations.
During the early 1800s, conflict occurred between Cantonese and Portuguese pirates in the form of the Ningpo massacre after the defeat of Portuguese pirates.[21] The First (1839-1842) and Second Opium Wars (1856-1860) led to the loss of China's control over Hong Kong and Kowloon, which were ceded to the British Empire. Macau also became a Portuguese settlement. Between 1855 and 1867, the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars caused further discord in Guangdong and Guangxi. The third plague pandemic of 1855 broke out in Yunnan and spread to the Liangguang region via Guangxi, killing thousands and spreading via water traffic to nearby Hong Kong and Macau.
The turmoil of the 19th century, followed by the political upheaval of the early 20th century, compelled many residents of Guangdong to migrate overseas in search of a better future. Up until the second half of the 20th century, the majority of overseas Chinese emigrated from two provinces of China; Guangdong and Fujian. As a result, there are today many Cantonese communities throughout the world, including in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Americas, the Caribbean and Western Europe, with Chinatowns commonly being established by Cantonese communities. There have been a large number of interracial marriages and other forms of Miscegenation between Cantonese men and women from other nations (especially from Cuba, Peru, Mexico ), as most of the Cantonese migrants were men. As a result, there are many Black Caribbeans and South American people who of Cantonese descent including many Eurasians and people Cantonese ancestry,[22] for example Nancy Kwan, born to a Cantonese father and Scottish mother, is a well-known Hollywood actress in the 1960s; and influential martial artist Bruce Lee, who was born to a Cantonese father and a half-Chinese, half-Caucasian mother.
Unlike the migrants from Fujian, who mostly settled in Southeast Asia, many Cantonese emigrants also migrated to the Western Hemisphere, particularly the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many Cantonese immigrants into the United States became railroad labourers, while many in South America were brought in as coolies. Cantonese immigrants in the United States and Australia participated in the California Gold Rush and the Australian gold rushes of 1854 onwards, while those in Hawaii found employment in sugarcane plantations as contract labourers. These early immigrants variously faced hostility and a variety of discriminatory laws, including the prohibition of Chinese female immigrants. The relaxation of immigration laws after World War II allowed for subsequent waves of migration to the Western world from southeastern mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. As a result, Cantonese continues to be widely used by Chinese communities of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau regional origin in the Western hemisphere, and has not been supplanted by the Mandarin-based Standard Chinese. A large proportion of the early migrants also came from the Siyi region of Guangdong and spoke Taishanese. The Taishanese variant is still spoken in American-Chinese communities, by the older population as well as by more recent immigrants from Taishan, in Jiangmen, Guangdong.
Cantonese influence on the Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 was a revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing dynasty, and established the Republic of China. Guangdong's uprising against the Qing dynasty in 1895 let to its naming as the "cradle of the Xinhai Revolution".[23][24][25] Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen was born in Zhongshan, Guangdong.[26][27] Hong Kong was where he developed his thoughts of revolution and was the base of subsequent uprisings, as well as the first revolutionary newspaper.[28][29] Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary army was largely made up of Cantonese, and many of the early revolutionary leaders were also Cantonese.[30]
Cultural hub
A Cantonese gentleman in Qing-era traditional attire, circa 1873-1874.
Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton), the capital city of Guangdong, has been one of China's international trading ports since the Tang dynasty. During the 18th century, it became an important centre of the emerging trade between China and the Western world, as part of the Canton System. The privilege during this period made Guangzhou one of the top three cities in the world.[31] Operating from the Thirteen Factories located on the banks of the Pearl River outside Canton, merchants traded goods such as silk, porcelain ("fine china"), and tea, allowing Guangzhou to become a prosperous city. Links to overseas contacts and beneficial tax reforms in the 1990s have also contributed to the city's ongoing growth. Guangzhou was named a global city in 2008. The migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40 percent of the city's total population in 2008. Most of them are rural migrants and they speak only Mandarin.[32]
Hong Kong and Macau are two of the richest cities in the world in terms of GDP per capita and are autonomous SARs (Special Administrative Regions) that are under independent governance from China. Historically governed by the British and Portuguese empires respectively, colonial Hong Kong and Macau were increasingly populated by migrant influxes from mainland China, particularly the nearby Guangdong Province. For that reason, the culture of Hong Kong and Macau became a mixture of Cantonese and Western influences, sometimes described as "East meets West".
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Island was first colonised by the British Empire in 1842 with a population of only 7,450; however, it was in 1898 that Hong Kong truly became a British colony, when the British also colonised the New Territories (which constitute 86.2% of Hong Kong's modern territory). It was during this period that migrants from China entered, mainly speaking Cantonese (the prestige variety of Yue Chinese) as a common language. During the following century of British rule, Hong Kong grew into a hub of Cantonese culture, and has remained as such since the handover in 1997.
Today Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial centres, and the Hong Kong dollar is the thirteenth most-traded currency in the world.
Macau
Macau native people are known as the Tanka. A dialect similar to Shiqi (), originating from Zhongshan () in Guangdong, is also spoken in the region.
Parts of Macau were first loaned to the Portuguese by China as a trading centre in the 16th century, with the Portuguese required to administrate the city under Chinese authority. In 1851 and 1864, the Portuguese Empire occupied the two nearest offshore islands Taipa and Coloane respectively, and Macau officially became a colony of the Portuguese Empire in 1887. Macau was returned to China in 1999.
By 2002, Macau had become one of the world's richest cities,[33] and by 2006, it had surpassed Las Vegas to become the world's biggest gambling centre.[34] Macau is also a world cultural heritage site due to its Portuguese colonial architecture.
Culture
The term "Cantonese" is used to refer to the native culture, language and people of Guangdong and Guangxi.[35]
There are cultural, economic, political, generational and geographical differences in making "Cantonese-ness" in and beyond Guangdong and Guangxi, with the interacting dynamics of migration, education, social developments and cultural representations.[36]
Language
The term "Cantonese language" is sometimes used to refer to the broader group of Yue Chinese languages and dialects spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi, although it is used more specifically to describe Gwóngj?u wah (), the prestige variant of Cantonese spoken in the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton). Gwóngj?u wah is the main language used for education, literature and media in Hong Kong and Macau. It is still widely used in Guangzhou, despite the fact that a large proportion of the city's population is made up by migrant workers from elsewhere in China that speak non-Cantonese variants of Chinese and Standard Mandarin.[37] Though in recent years it is slowly falling out of favour with the younger generation [38] prompting fears in Cantonese people that the language may die out. Cantonese language's erosion in Guangzhou is due to a mix of suppression of the language and the mass migration of non-Cantonese speaking people in to the area.
Because of its tradition of usage in music, cinema, literature and newspapers, this form of Cantonese is a cultural mark of identity that distinguishes Cantonese people from the Mainland Chinese. The pronunciation and vocabulary of Cantonese has preserved many features of the official language of the Tang dynasty with elements of the ancient Yue language.[39]Written Cantonese is very common in manhua, books, articles, magazines, newspapers, online chat, instant messaging, internet blogs and social networking websites. Anime, cartoons and foreign films are also dubbed in Cantonese. Some videogames such as Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 4, Grand Theft Auto III and Resident Evil 6 have substantial Cantonese dialogues.
Arts
A statue on the Avenue of Stars, a tribute to Hong Kong Cantonese cinema.
Cantonese cuisine has become one of the most renowned types of cuisine around the world, characterised by its variety of cooking methods and use of fresh ingredients, particularly seafood.[40] One of the most famous examples of Cantonese cuisine is dim sum, a variety of small and light dishes such as har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), siu mai (steamed pork dumplings), and cha siu bao (barbecued pork buns).
Genetics
According to research, Cantonese peoples' paternal lineage is mostly Han, while their maternal lineage is mostly Nanyueaboriginals.[41][42] Speakers of Pinghua and Tanka, however, lack Han ancestry and are "truly, mostly pureblood Baiyue".[43][44] These genetic differences have contributed to Cantonese differing from other Han Chinese groups in terms of physical appearance[45] and proneness to certain diseases.[46] The genetic admixture of the Cantonese people clusters somewhere between the Zhuang people (Tai) and the Northern Plain Han Chinese people.
Notable figures
This is a incomplete list of notable Cantonese people.
Historical
Liu Yan, king of Nanhai and first emperor of the Yue/Han kingdom between 917-971
Yuan Chonghuan, Ming dynasty general and patriot famed for defeating Qing dynasty rulers and founder Nurchaci and Hong Taiji
Liang Daoming, king of Palembang during the Ming dynasty.
Chow Ah Chi, a Toisan Cantonese was Sir Raffles ship's carpenter who landed first and led the way in posting the East India Company's flag on Singapore Island.
Ching Shih, worlds successful pirate and one of the world's most powerful pirates; she challenged the British empire, Portuguese empire, and Qing dynasty and was undefeated.
Deng Shichang, admiral and one of the first modern naval officers in China in the late Qing dynasty
Tse Tsan-tai, early Chinese revolutionary of the late Qing Dynasty
Kang Youwei was a Chinese scholar, noted calligrapher and prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing dynasty.
Liang Qichao was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher, and reformist who lived during the Qing dynasty and Republic of China.
Henry Lee Hau Shik, first Finance Minister of the Federation of Malaya and the only major leader of the independence movement not born in Malaya.[36]
Jiang Guangnai, general and statesman in the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China who successfully defended Shanghai City from the Japanese invasion in the January 28 Incident of 1932
Stephen Chow, His grandfather is from Ningbo but his mother is Cantonese. He is actor and film director known for the comedy blockbusters Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle
Lao Lishi, gold medal in women's 10 meter synchronized platform along with Li Ting.
Su Bingtian, sprinter. He is the reigning Asian champion over 100 metres, was a semi-finalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a finalist at the 2015 World Championships.
Liang Wen-Chong, highest ranked golfer from the People's Republic of China, the only Chinese golfer to have reached the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Zeng Qiliang, the first medal of Chinese male swimmer in world championships.
Brian Ah Yat, a former American football quarterback who played three seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
Harland Ah You, is a former gridiron football defensive lineman who played 10 games with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1998.
Junior Ah You, former college and professional Canadian and American football player who played primarily at the defensive end position
^The lexicographer only accepted Canton as a proper noun referring to the city, and considered usages with reference to the province as an "ellipsis", see Yule & al.[3]
^A. Hamilton (1727) used Canton to refer to both the city and the province. But he used Canton for the city more frequently in the same work, especially when he wrote Canton without reference to "Quangtung". See see Hamilton (1727; pp.224-238) [8]
^Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, section 112.
^Zhidong Hao (2011). Macau History and Society (illustrated ed.). Hong Kong University Press. p. 67. ISBN978-988-8028-54-2. Retrieved 2011. There was indeed a group of Portuguese who became pirates, called "Macau ruffians," or policemen who turned bad, along with "Manila-men" from the Philippines and escaped African slaves. Their fleet attacked "the Cantonese ships when they could get them at an advantage, and murdered their crews with circumstances of great atrocity."55 They were destroyed in Ningbo by a fleet of Chinese pirates with the support of the local Chinese government and other Europeans.
^Unity and diversity: local cultures and identities in China By David Faure [5]
^Xiao, Y. (2017). "Who needs Cantonese, who speaks? Whispers across mountains, delta, and waterfronts". Cultural Studies. 31 (4): 489-522. doi:10.1080/09502386.2016.1236394.
^Xue, Fuzhong; Wang, Yi; Xu, Shuhua; Zhang, Feng; Wen, Bo; Wu, Xuesen; Lu, Ming; Deka, Ranjan; Qian, Ji; ?. A spatial analysis of genetic structure of human populations in China reveals distinct difference between maternal and paternal lineages. European Journal of Human Genetics. 2008, 16 (6): 705-17.
^Gan, R. J., Pan, S. L., Mustavich, L. F., Qin, Z. D., Cai, X. Y., Qian, J., ... & Jin, L. (2008). Pinghua population as an exception of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure. Journal of human genetics, 53(4), 303-313.
^McFadzean, A. J. S., & Todd, D. (1971). Cooley's anaemia among the tanka of South China. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 65(1), 59-62.
^Li, Y.-L & Lu, S.-H & Chen, C & Gao, G.-S & Cao, Y & Guo, H & Zheng, L.-B. (2012). Physical characteristics of cantonese han people in Guangdong. Acta Anatomica Sinica. 43. 837-845. 10.3969/j.issn.0529-1356.2012.06.023.
^Wee, J. T., Ha, T. C., Loong, S. L., & Qian, C. N. (2010). Is nasopharyngeal cancer really a" Cantonese cancer"?. Chinese journal of cancer, 29(5), 517-526.
^Maher, Tod; Gill, Bob (2013). The Canadian Pro Football Encyclopedia: Every Player, Coach and Game, 1946-2012. Maher Sports Media. p. 141. ISBN978-0983513667.