Gan Chinese-speaking people

{{Short description|Han Chinese ethnic subgroup}} {{Infobox Ethnic group| | group = Jiangxi/Jiangyou people {{lang|zh|江西老表/江右人}} | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = The Millions 1898 (1898) (14779673754).jpg | image_upright = 1.3 | image_alt = A sepia-toned photograph showing about 20 adults and children dressed in traditional Chinese clothing | image_caption = A group of Christians from Jiangxi, 1898. | total = 48 million (2004) | region1 = '''Total population''' | region2 = {{Flagicon|China}} People's Republic of China | pop2 = Jiangxi eastern Hunan parts of Shaanxi parts of Fujian parts of Anhui Northern Guangdong | region3 = {{Flagicon|Taiwan}} Republic of China (on Taiwan) | pop3 = As part of Waishengren population | languages = Gan (primarily), Hakka, Jianghuai Mandarin Chinese, Hui, Chuqu Wu dialects, Xiang | religions = Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religion | related = Hakka, Chuanqing, and other Han Chinese }}

The '''Gan people''', also known as '''Gann''', '''Kan''', '''Jiangxi''', '''Jiangyou''' or '''Kiang-Si''' people, are a Han Chinese ethnolinguistic subgroup originating from Jiangxi province in China, who speak Gan Chinese. Gan-speaking populations are also found in Fujian, southern Anhui and Hubei provinces, and linguistic enclaves are found on Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian and non-Gan speaking southern and western Jiangxi.

==History== [[File:The Millions 1898 (1898) (14595536557).jpg|thumb|left|A household in Yushan County, Jiangxi, 1898.]] The historic homeland of Gan speakers, Jiangxi, was outside the sphere of influence of early Chinese civilization during the Shang dynasty (16th to 11th centuries BCE). Information about this era is scarce, but it is likely that peoples collectively known as the Yue inhabited the region.

The unification of China by the Qin dynasty saw the incorporation of Jiangxi into the Qin empire. The First Emperor of Qin established seven counties in Jiangxi, all of them administered from the commandery seat of Jiujiang, located north of the Yangzi in modern Anhui. All of the commandery seats were located along the Gan River system. Military settlements were known to have existed at least two of the counties. The Qin colonisation formed the earliest settlement structure in Jiangxi and which for the most part, has survived to the present day.

During the early Ming dynasty, there was a forced massive population transfer of Gan speakers living in Jiangxi to depopulated northern and eastern parts of both Hunan and Hubei provinces.<ref>{{cite book|title=Exhausting the Earth: State and Peasant in Hunan, 1500–1850|first=Peter C.|last=Perdue|author-link1=Peter C. Perdue|publisher=Harvard University|page=96}}</ref> This large-scale resettlement caused the formation of the New Xiang dialect in Hunan. Gan speakers were again forcefully resettled into parts of Hunan and Hubei due to war caused depopulation during the early period of the Qing dynasty known as "江西填湖广" in Chinese.

==Culture== [[File:Chu Ta 003.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Painting by Gan speaker Bada Shanren (1626—1705).]] {{main|Culture of Jiangxi}}

===Language=== Jiangxi is the main area of concentration of the Gan varieties of Chinese, spoken over most of the northern two-thirds of the province. Examples include the Nanchang dialect,<ref>{{cite book|author=Youguang Zhou|title=The historical evolution of Chinese languages and scripts|year=2003|publisher=National East Asian Languages Resource Center, Ohio State University|isbn=08-741-5349-2|page=166}}</ref> Yichun dialect<ref>{{cite book|author=Brian Nolan, Gudrun Rawoens & Elke Diedrichsen|title=Causation, Permission, and Transfer: Argument realisation in GET, TAKE, PUT, GIVE and LET verbs|year=2015|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=978-90-272-6897-6|page=178}}</ref> and Ji'an dialect. The southern one-third of the province speaks Hakka. There are also Mandarin, Huizhou, and Wu dialects spoken along the northern border.

===Cuisine=== Although little known outside of the province, Jiangxi cuisine or Gan cuisine is rich and distinctive in its own style. Jiangxi flavors are some of the strongest in China,{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} with heavy use of chile peppers and especially pickled and fermented products.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chinatour.com/jiangxi.htm |title=Jiangxi |publisher=Chinatour.com International, Inc |year=2014 |accessdate=2017-06-09 |archive-date=2016-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322025740/http://www.chinatour.com/jiangxi.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Others=== Jingdezhen is widely regarded as the producer of the best porcelain in China.

Jiangxi also was a historical center of Chan Buddhism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jiang Wu|title=Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-01-998-9556-4|page=96}}</ref>

Ganju, or Jiangxi opera, is the type of Chinese opera performed in Jiangxi.<ref>{{cite book|author=Tan Ye|title=Historical Dictionary of Chinese Theater|year=2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-14-616-5921-1|page=148}}</ref>

==Areas of significant population== Gan-speaking people are found primarily in Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei provinces.

===Enclaves within Shaanxi=== Jiangxi Gan-speaking enclaves are found in villages scattered across Shangnan, Danfeng, Shanyang, Zhashui, Zhen'an, Hanbin, and Shiquan counties in Shaanxi province.<ref>張盛裕、張成材《陝甘寧青四省區漢語方言的分區</ref> The Mandarin-speaking population of Shaanxi refers to the Gan language as spoken in Shaanxi as ''Manzihua'' ({{lang|zh-Hant|蠻子話}}), or 'Barbarian speech'.<ref>孟萬春、姜國棟《商南蠻子話語音研究》 2006年</ref>

===Enclaves in Hubei=== There are roughly 5.3 million Gan Chinese Speakers living in Hubei, mostly concentrated in its eastern region.

===Enclaves within Guangdong=== There are about 20,000 Gan speakers living in Guangdong province, primarily in Nanxiong county and other districts. Hakka-speaking locals refer to the Gan language spoken in Northeastern Guangdong as ''Jiangxihua'' ({{lang|zh-Hant|江西話}}).<ref>梁猷剛《廣東省北部漢語方言的分佈</ref>

===Enclaves within Sichuan=== Jiangxi people are also found in Daqiao district in Huidong county in Sichuan province.<ref>崔榮昌《四川省西南官話以外的漢語方言》</ref>

===Enclaves within Fujian=== There are 270,000 Gan speakers mainly living in North-western Fujian.

===Enclaves within Guizhou=== Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture also has a Gan-speaking minority.<ref>蔣希文《黔東南漢語方言》</ref>

===Enclaves within Hainan=== In Danzhou, Changjiang, and Sanya, some villages speak a "Hakka-Gan dialect".<ref>Ting, Pang-hsin (丁邦新) 《海南島方言調查報告》</ref>

===Enclaves within Taiwan=== According to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the number of Jiangxi people living in Taiwan is 124,670. Thus the number of Gan speakers is around 100 to 200 thousand.<ref>《自由時報》1992年11月28日報導內政部戶政司資料。</ref>

==Notable Gan speaker descendants== *Ouyang Xiu, Jinshi scholar *Yuan Longping (Chinese: 袁隆平; born September 7, 1930) is a Chinese agronomist and educator, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties. *Xie Jin, Chief Grand Secretary of the Ming Empire. *Liu Shaoqi, Chairman of the People's Republic of China *Ang Lee, Taiwanese movie director *Ouyang Nana, Taiwanese actress

==References== {{reflist|2}}

Category:Subgroups of the Han Chinese People from Jiangxi Category:Gan Chinese