Hokkien people

• Hoklo
• Banlam
• Minnan

閩南泉漳民族
A Hokkien family in Southern Fujian, 1920
Total population
60,000,000 (est.)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Mainland China	Fujian
Taiwan	22,277,000 (est.)
Malaysia	Largest group of Malaysian Chinese[quantify]
Singapore	Largest group of Chinese Singaporeans[quantify]
Philippines	Largest group of Chinese Filipinos[quantify][2]
Indonesia	Largest group of Chinese Indonesians[quantify][3]
Brunei	Largest group of Bruneian Chinese[quantify]
Myanmar	One of the four largest groups of Burmese Chinese[quantify][4]
United States	70,000+[5]
Vietnam	45,000 (est.)
Hong Kong	Minority population[quantify]
Macau	Minority population[quantify]
Languages
Hokkien Standard Chinese English Malay Filipino
Religion
Chinese folk religion Taoism Confucianism ancestor veneration Mahayana Buddhism Christianity

This article contains Hokkien text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hàn-jī, Pe̍h-ōe-jī and Tâi-lô.

The Hoklo people (Chinese: 福佬人; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ho̍h-ló-lâng) are a Han Chinese subgroup^[6] who speak Hokkien,^[7] a Southern Min language,^[8] or trace their ancestry to southeastern Fujian in China,^[9] and known by various related terms such as Banlam people (閩南人; Bân-lâm-lâng), Minnan people, or more commonly in Southeast Asia as the Hokkien people (福建人; Hok-kiàn-lâng).^[a] The Hokkien people are found in significant numbers in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Myanmar, the United States, Hong Kong, and Macau. The Hokkien people have a distinct culture and architecture, including Hokkien shrines and temples with tilted sharp eaves, high and slanted top roofs, and finely detailed decorative inlays of wood and porcelain. The Hokkien language, which includes Taiwanese Hokkien, is the mainstream Southern Min, which is partially mutually intelligible to the Teochew language, Hainanese, Leizhou Min, and Haklau Min.

Etymology

In Southern Fujian, the Hokkien speakers refer to themselves as Banlam people (閩南人; Bân-lâm-lâng) or generally speaking, Hokkien people (福建人; Hok-kiàn-lâng). In Mandarin, they also call themselves Minnan people (閩南人; 闽南人; Mǐnnán rén).

In Taiwan, the term "Hoklo" is usually used for the people. The term Holo^[10] (Ho̍h-ló)^[11] is also used to refer to Taiwanese Hokkien and those people who speak it. The term is likely an exonym originating from Hakka or Cantonese that some Hokkien and Teochew speakers, particularly in Taiwan and mainland China, borrowed from, since the term is not recognized by Hokkien speakers in Southeast Asia. There are three common ways to write Hoklo in Chinese characters, although their etymological correctness is often disputed:

• Fujian – an exonym emphasizing the people's native connection to Fujian. It is not a phonologically accurate transliteration in terms of Hokkien itself, although it may correspond to and originate from an actual usage in Hakka.
• 河洛 / 河老; 'Yellow River and Luo River' – an exonym emphasizing the people's purported long history originating from the area south of the Yellow River.^[12] Although used in Mandarin, this term does not exist in the Hokkien language itself. The transliteration is a phonologically inaccurate folk etymology, though the Mandarin pronunciation Héluò has gained currency through the propagation of the inaccurate transliteration.
• 鶴佬; 'crane folk' – a variant exonym emphasizing the modern pronunciation of the characters (without regard to the meaning of the Chinese characters); more phonologically accurate in Hokkien.

In Hakka, Teochew, and Cantonese, Hoklo may be written as Hoglo (學老; 'learned aged') and 學佬 ('learned folk').

In the Philippines, Chinese Filipinos, where most are usually of ethnic Hokkien descent, usually generally refer to themselves as Lannang (咱儂; Lán-lâng / Lán-nâng / Nán-nâng) or sometimes more specifically Hokkien people (福建儂; Hok-kiàn-lâng).

In Malaysia and Singapore, Hokkien Malaysians and Singaporeans generally refer to themselves as Tng Lang (Tang People)(Chinese: 唐儂; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tn̂g-lâng), where those of Hokkien-speaking descent are more specifically known as Hokkien people (福建儂; Hok-kiàn-lâng).

In Indonesia, Hokkien Indonesians generally refer to themselves as Tionghoa (中華; Tiong-hôa), where those of ethnic Hokkien descent are more specifically known as Hokkien people (福建人; Hok-kiàn-lâng).

Culture

Architecture

Hoklo architecture is, for the most part, similar to any other traditional Chinese architectural styles. Hoklo shrines and temples have tilted sharp eaves just like the architecture of Han Chinese due to traditional beliefs. However, Hoklo shrines and temples do have special differences from the styles in other regions of China: the top roofs are high and slanted with exaggerated, finely-detailed decorative inlays of wood and porcelain.

The main halls of Hoklo temples are also a little different in that they are usually decorated with two dragons on the rooftop at the furthest left and right corners and with a miniature figure of a pagoda at the center of the rooftop. One such example of this is the Kaiyuan Temple in Fujian.

Language

The Hokkien people speak Hokkien, which is mutually intelligible to the Teochew language but to a small degree. Hokkien can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty, and it also has roots from earlier periods such as the Northern and Southern Dynasties and also a little influence from other sinitic languages as well.

Hokkien has one of the most diverse phoneme inventories among sinitic varieties, with more consonants than Standard Mandarin or Standard Yue. Vowels are more-or-less similar to that of Standard Mandarin. Hokkien varieties retain many pronunciations that are no longer found in other Sinitic varieties. These include the pronunciation of the /ʈ/ initial as /t/, which is now /tʂ/ (Pinyin 'zh') in Mandarin (e.g. 'bamboo' 竹 is tik, but zhú in Mandarin), having disappeared before the 6th century in other Sinitic varieties.^[13] Hokkien has 5 to 7 tones, or 7 to 9 tones according to traditional sense, depending on the variety. The Amoy dialect for example, has 7-8 tones.

Distribution

Speakers of proper Hokkien language live in the areas of Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in southern Fujian. Most Min Nan-speaking groups in southern Fujian refer to themselves by the area where they live, for example: Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Teochew people or Hailufeng people.

Diaspora

Taiwan

About 70% of the Taiwanese people descend from Hoklo immigrants who arrived to the island prior to the start of Japanese rule in 1895. They could be categorized as originating from Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou based on their dialects and districts of origin.^{[14][better source needed]} People from the former two areas (Quanzhou-speaking) were dominant in the north of the island and along the west coast, whereas people from the latter two areas (Zhangzhou-speaking) were dominant in the south and perhaps the central plains as well.

Hong Kong

Southeast Asia

The Hoklo or Hokkien-lang (as they are known in Southeast Asia) are the largest ethnic group among Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the southern part of Thailand. These communities contain the highest concentrations of Hokkien-lang in the region. The various Hokkien language are still widely spoken in these countries, but the daily use of them is slowly decreasing in favor of Mandarin Chinese, English, and local languages.

The Hokkien-lang also make up the largest ethnic group among Chinese Indonesians.

In the Philippines, the Hoklo or Hokkien-lang call themselves Lannang and form the majority of the Sinitic people in the country known as Chinese Filipinos. The native Hokkien language is still spoken there.

United States

After the 1960s, many Taiwanese people (大員民族/大員族） from Taiwan) began immigrating to the United States and Canada.

Notable Hoklo people