LEAF-go-VSO   

Hani

The Hani (Akha) Nationality People (including the Aini Ethnic People)

The Hani nationality in Yunnan has a population of about 1,248,000. They predominantly live in southern Yunnan, in compact communities mainly in the Ailaoshan region between the Honghe and Lancang Rivers, which includes Honghe Prefecture (Yuanyang), Mojiang, Pu'er and Jiangcheng of Simao Prefecture and Yuanjiang County of Yuxi Prefecture. They can also be found in Xishuangbanna. The Hani nationality has a long history. According to historical records they share the same ancestors, the ancient Qiang people, as the Yi, the Naxi and the Lahu nationalities. Folklore, however, records that they are descended from frogs’ eyes!

               
L to R: Hani woman at Xinjie market; Yuanyang terraces; mother and child

The Hani people mostly inhabit hilly areas, cultivating rice, corn and occasionally opium. They are highly skilled at making terraced fields on steep hillsides such as those in the Yuanyang area. The Hani are a modest people and are rarely seen outside their home villages. They live in two- or three-storey thatched wooden houses built of bamboo or hardwoods, sometimes on stilts.

Rice is their staple diet. Sticky rice cakes are a favourite at the Hani New Year celebrations; other Hani specialities are pickled bamboo shoots, salted beans, and vinegar meat. The Hani cherish the colour black, but their day-to-day clothing is often blue. The men like to wear short loose coats, long trousers and black or white turbans. Hani women wear head-dresses of beads, dyed feathers, silver coins (early 20^th century French Vietnamese) and silver rings. They often wear hand-embroidered tunics, silverware breastplates, short skirts and knee-length leggings. Young girls often have silver bulbs, silver coins and silver chains as chest ornaments.  

The rice field terraces at Yuanyang - carved from the hillsides by Hani farmers

Their language belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman Language Group. However, the Hani don't have their own writing system and they used to keep records by carving notches on sticks. In 1957 a script system based on the Roman alphabet was created, but failed to achieve popular use.

The Hani practise a multi-god religion (polytheism) and ancestor worship. The principal festivals are the Kuzhazha Festival and the Tenth Month Festival - the Hani New Year (they have their own lunar calander). The Hani New Year (or Angmatu) falls on the first day of the tenth lunar month and lasts for 6 days. On this occasion the Hani people get together to worship water, the dragon and heaven in the hope of a bumber rice crop and favourable weather for the coming year. They hold long street banquets, drink wine and give best wishes to each other.

Aini Ethnic People of the Hani Nationality
The Aini are a branch of the Hani nation, inhabiting the Aini Shan area of Xishuangbanna. They wear especially decorative, mostly black, clothes. They take rice as their main meal three times a day, and they like to drink tea and smoke tobacco. The Aini are particularly skilled at traditional medicine treatments and the various techniques of massage.

               
L to R: Hani breastplate detail; waitress at our local Aini Restaurant in Simao!; detail of Hani clothing