Che people
Che people (輋民 or 輋族) is a branch of Yao people in Guangdong and Jiangxi of China. It is also known as she people outside these area.
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History
Che people are the earliest known settler in Guangdong. They originally settled along the shallow shore for easy of fishing during Neolithic. With influx of Yuet people moving south during Warring States Period in northern China, there are serious competition for resources between two people. Yuet people had their advantages with their bronze tools. On the other hand, assimilation had been taken place between two people.
Stating from Qin dynasty, waves of migrations from northern China has serious impact on Che people. With superior tools and technology, the migrants were able to occupy better land for farming. Some Che people were forced to move into hills for their living. Some moved outside Guangdong to the hilly area in Jiangxi and Fujian.
While moving to hills, Che people had their farming by burning grasses on a hilly slope, casting rice seeds on the burnt grasses, letting the rice grow themselves and collecting rice when plants rape. Some Che people had participated in salt production and trade. They got salts by drying pools of salt water.
There were many conflicts between Han Chinese and Che people. Che salt producers on Lantau Island in Hong Kong had attacked the city of Canton in a revolt during Song dynasty.
Language
Che people speaks a tongue of Hmong-Mien. With assimilation other ethnic groups, they lost their mother tongue gradually and speak other languages like Hakka language.
Place names
With thousand years of conflicts and assimilation with Han Chinese and Yuet people, the identity of Che people along the coastal Guangdong is virtually disappeared. But evidences can be found on the place names.
- 峒 (Tung in Cantonese language) are inhabitats of Che people on hills. For example, Kwun Yam Tung (觀音峒) and Tai Tung (大峒) near Plover Cove in Hong Kong.
- 輋 (Che) are inhabitats of Che people on hills. Some referres it as the method of farming Che people using. For example, Wo Che (禾輋) in Sha Tin and Ping Che (坪輋) near Ta Kwu Ling in Hong Kong.
Categories
Ethnic groups in China | History of Hong Kong