| Tanka people | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 1. 蜑家/疍家 2. 艇家 3. 水上人 4. 曲蹄 5. 蜑民 6. 曲蹄囝 |
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| Literal meaning | 1. Dàn (egg/vermin/..., used only as proper noun in Modern Chinese) families 2. boat households 3. people on water 4. crooked hoof, bowlegged 5. Dàn people 6. crooked hoof children; bowlegged children |
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The Tankas (蜑家/疍家, pinyin: Dànjiā, jyutpin: Daan6gaa1) or boat people is a special group of people in Southern China that has traditionally lived on junks in coastal parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang provinces, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Though many now live onshore, some members of the older generations still live on their narrow boats and pursue their traditional livelihood of fishing. Historically, Tanka were considered to be outcasts. Since they were a boat people who lived by the sea, they were sometimes referred to as "sea gypsies" by Chinese and British. It has been concluded that the Tanka origin traces back with the native ethnic minorities of southern China who may have taken refuge on the sea and gradually assimilated into Han culture, but Tanka still preserved many of their native cultures that are not found in Han Chinese culture.
A small number of Tankas also live in parts of Vietnam. There they are called Dan (Đàn) and are classified as a subgroup of the Ngái ethnicity.
Read more about Tanka People: Note On The Term, Surnames, DNA Tests and Disease
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