Proper name: Hanhi Gia.
Other names: U Ni, Xa U Ni.

Local groups: Hanhi Co Cho, Hanhi La Mi, Hanhi Den.

Population: 12,489 people.(1999 census).

Language: The Hanhi speak a language that belongs to the Tibeto – Burmese language group (Sino – Tibetan language family), but closer to Burmese language.

History: Hanhi people have been living for a long time in South China and Vietnam. Ancient books, since the 8th century, had mentioned of their presence in Northwest Vietnam. However, the majority of the ancestors of the present Hanhi migrated to Vietnam within the last three hundred years.

Production activities: Since very early in their history, the Hanhi have cultivated rice, planted on steep terraces. They are very skilled at turning mountain slopes and hill sides into terrace fields and to employ a complex irrigation system. They use manure and ashes as fertilizers for wet rice cultivation. They use dry fields to plant corn, beans, pumpkins, cotton, and indigo. Cattle are raised in free-range style. Especially there are water buffalo herds, which is as big as several hundreds, freely raised in the forest. Cotton growing and textile weaving provide their needs for traditional clothing. However, in places where it is too cold to grow cotton, then it has to be exchanged for indigo, knitted items, or livestock. Women weave on a little loom, about 20 centimeters wide. They enjoy quality textiles, thanks to good looming and dyeing technique. Growing and dyeing indigo are distinctive activities of the Hanhi. Fruit picking still plays an important role in their everyday life.

Diet: The Hanhi eat both sticky and regular rice in their daily meals. Hunting, fishing, and the gathering of fruit supplement the diet. On holidays, they make many kind of cakes. They are fond of grilled or stir-fried meat, and they especially like to eat rice soup cooked with chicken or pork.

Housing: The Hanhi live mainly on the Vietnamese- Chinese and Vietnamese-Lao borders, in Bat Xat district (Lao Cai province), and in Muong Te district (Lai Chau Province). Those who work on step-terraces have been living permanently in one place for quite some time. Many villages are over a hundred years old, and have around 50 to 60 families. With those who practice slash and burn cultivation, their villages are spread among their fields. The majority of Hanhi live in adobe type of house, with very solid walls, about 30 to 40 centimeter thick, which makes it suitable for the cold mountainous areas. Depending on location, there are verandas either in front of or inside the house to prevent wind. They use a wok to cook on an oven that is built on the earthen floor.

Transportation: Baskets, which are carried around the forehead, are popularly used to carry things. In some places, horses are used to transport people and goods.

Social organization: Strong community ties are evident not only in production activities, but also in cultural, spiritual, and religious life. Small patriarchal families are common; however, the women are still highly respected in Hanhi society. There are many different family surnames, and each is divided to small branches. These branches are named after their ancestors. The Hanhi do not have the custom to hold religious rituals within a kin line. Rather, they worship in small family groups only. The eldest son of the eldest branch in the kin line takes care of all the ritual activity. If there is no eldest son, then this work is passed down to the youngest son. Even for those who have moved away, it is common practice for the corpse of the deceased to be brought in front of the parent’s altar in the village. Only after doing this, can the spirit of the deceased be worshipped together with the rest of the family ancestors.

Every year, on New Year’s eve, there is a very important ceremony in each family called “the re-calling ancestors ceremony.” Each ancestor’s name is read and repeated out loud by every family member. The names are called in father-and- son order, which makes it easier to say and remember. There are cases in which more than 70 names are called; in some places, this ceremony is also done when putting the deceased into the coffin.

Marriage: This custom is different in each region. However, it is common that young people find a partner by themselves. In Bat Xat district (Lao Cai province), a marriage has to go through many steps. After the groom’s family proposes three times, then the first wedding is held to bring the bride to her husband’s family. The second wedding is a feast at the bride’s house. This one only happens when the couple prospers, often when they already have children, even grandchildren. Some .couples, after 50 or 60 years, or even until they die, still could not afford this wedding feast. In Tay Bac, after the engagements, the groom has to live with the bride’s family. However, if they have enough money to pay for the wedding, they won’t have to do so, and the wedding will be arranged immediately. Once the wedding is held, the bride will bear her husband’s name.

Birth: The Hanhi women give birth in a standing position. To ensure a safe and easy delivery, the Hanhi have a custom of breaking a large piece of bamboo full of water on the earth, or letting it fall from the top of the house, so that the release of water is likened the water breaking prior to a successful delivery.
In some places, the pregnant woman drinks water with ash of burned elephant intestines, which implies the wish to be as strong as an elephant. The placenta is buried immediately behind the door, or next to the column of the oven. The house of the newborn is marked with a conical hat that is hung on a stick and placed at the gate. If the stick is on the right, the child is a girl, on the left, the child is a boy.

Funerals: The coffin is made of an empty tree trunk, with a tight top. The burial place is chosen by throwing eggs; wherever the eggs break, a grave is dug. The Hanhi don’t bury people in rainy season. If someone dies during that time, his/her coffin will be placed in the grave, but not buried. Then a catafalque or grave canopy covers the grave. Once the rainy season ends, then the coffin may be buried.

Beliefs: The Hanhi believe in spirit. They worship ancestors, and the village’s God. There are agricultural rituals.
Festivals: The Hanhi have their New Year on the 10th of the first month of the lunar calendar. Within the year, there is New Rice festival, the 5th of May festival, and full moon of July festival.

Education: The Hanhi do not have their own writing system. In addition to formal schooling, knowledge is mainly passed from generation to generation.

Artistic activities: The Hanhi have a rich folk literature, such as fairy tales, legends, long poems, ballads, etc. Folk songs and folk dances are beloved forms of entertainment for all ages. The Hanhi have instruments such as drums, gongs, and several kinds of flutes.

Entertainment: Hanhi children like to play games that need skill, courage and bravery, such as wresting, hide-and-seek, pegging, and humming-top

 

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Introduction / History
The Hani of Vietnam are related to the Hani of China. Their exact origins are not known, but legends say their ancestors migrated south from a far away plain in northern China. Others think they originated in Tibet.

Vietnam is a country with a troubled history. Conquered by China during the Han dynasty, it was under foreign rule for 1,000 years. In the nineteenth century, Vietnam was again conquered, this time by French Indochina. After World War II, Communist-led guerrillas battled to gain Vietnam’s independence. In 1954, the country was divided into Communist North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam. For the next twenty years, both territories fought in the Vietnam War. After the war, the government tried unsuccessfully to lead the country to socialism. However, economic difficulties, foreign policy problems, and tensions with China created severe hardships. Today, its leaders are attempting to transition into a market economy.

What are their lives like?

Most Hani live in simple plaster houses. Their small, crowded villages consist of 50 to 60 households. Most are rice farmers who skillfully build their terraces on mountain and hill slopes, using irrigation canals and dams. They use different kinds of pick axes, hoes, spades, water buffalo drawn plows, and tillers for farming. Fertilizers, especially cattle dung, are used for cultivation. Cattle breeding is also slowly developing among the Hani.

A few Hani still practice slash and burn agriculture. These farmers generally live in separate groups, each with a few families, far away from each other.

Most Hani families are patrilineal, meaning that the line of descent is through the father. The father or eldest brother is the head of the family and makes all the decisions. Two to four family branches make up a clan. The members of each clan have a patronymic (name that is derived from a common father or ancestor).

Young Hani men and women are allowed to choose their marriage partner, but with parental consent. Wedding rituals vary from district to district. However, it is customary for the husband to live in the wife’s home for three to four years.

The Hani like handicrafts such as wickerwork, cotton weaving, and dyeing. Their folk arts and literature are also fairly well developed. Many stories of literary and historic value, as well as folk tales, have been passed down. A number of Hani poems are about marriage and other customs.

What are their beliefs?

The Hani, like many other minority groups in Vietnam, practice ethnic religions. Most of their villages have temples where a multitude of gods are worshipped. These gods are associated with the earth, water, fire, and famous ancestors. It is also common for brothers in the same family to worship their dead parents at the eldest brother’s house. On the lunar new year’s eve, children are told about their deceased ancestors and their family branch.

Besides worshiping ancestors, the Hani also venerate the spirits of their parents-in-law. Each year in the second lunar month, they hold a grand offering service in the village. There they pray to the spirits for health, prosperity in farming, and success in cattle breeding.

In rice-growing areas, the “Thunder god” and the “Wind Ghost” are worshipped. Many rituals and ceremonies are held to honor these gods during the farming season.