The Nanai people () are a Tungusic people of East Asia who have traditionally lived along the Amur (Heilongjiang), Songhua (Sunggari) and Ussuri (Wusuli) rivers on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanai were the Wild Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria, which is now the region of Outer Manchuria in Russia's Far Eastern Federal District.
The Nanai language belongs to the Manchu-Tungusic family. According to the 2010 census there were 12,003 Nanai in Russia.
Name
200x200px|thumbnail|left|Nanai family, Amur region
Common names for these people include Nanai (Nanai: , , , ) and Hezhen (, ; ). Other names that have formerly been used to describe the Nanai people include Goldi, Golds, means 'land, earth, ground, country' or, in this context, 'native, local'; , , or means 'people' in different dialects.
The Russian linguist L. I. Sem gives the name Hezhe nai () or Hezheni (, ) and explains it as the self-name of the Nanai of the lower Amur, meaning 'people who live along the lower course of the river'. It is the source of the Chinese name for the Nanai, (), formerly () and ().
Traditional lifestyle and culture
thumb|left|Hezhe people (), [[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769]]
thumb|left|Qilang people (), [[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769]]
thumb|Goldi tribesmen acting out folk drama, "The repulse of the kidnapper" 1895
thumb|A 1734 French map shows the Yupi people () on both sides of the Ussuri and the Amur south of the mouth of the [[Anyuy (Amur)|Dondon (Tondon), and the Ketching people further down the Amur (where Nanai, Ulch, and Nivkh people live now)]]
Some of the earliest first-hand accounts of the Nanai people in the European languages belong to the French Jesuit geographers travelling on the Ussuri and the Amur in 1709. According to them, the native people living on the Ussuri and on the Amur above the mouth of the Dondon River (which falls into the Amur between today's Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur) were known as Yupi Tartars, while the name of the people living on the Dondon and on the Amur below Dondon was transcribed by the Jesuits into French as Ketching.
The latter name may be the French transcription of the reported self-name of the Nanai of the lower Amur, , which was also applied to the closely related Ulch people.
According to the Jesuits, the language of the Yupi people seemed to occupy an intermediate position between the Manchu language and that of the "Ketching" people (); some level of communication between the Yupi and the Ketching was possible.
Some Han Chinese are said to have founded clan subdivisions among the Nanai, and the Nanai have absorbed Manchu and Jurchens. Nanai culture is influenced by Han Chinese and Manchu culture, and the Nanai share a myth in common with southern Chinese.
The Nanais at first fought against the Nurhaci and the Manchus, led by their own Nanai Hurka chief Sosoku before surrendering to Hongtaiji in 1631. Mandatory shaving of the front of all male heads was imposed on Amur peoples conquered by the Qing including the Nanai people. The Amur peoples already wore the queue on the back of their heads but did not shave the front until the Qing subjected them and ordered them to shave. The term "shaved-head people" was used to describe the Nanai by Ulch people.
Economy
thumb|Goldes hunter on skis on ice floe, with spear and rifle, 1895
As described by early visitors (e.g., Jesuit cartographers on the Ussuri River in 1709), the economy of the people living there (who would be classified as Nanai, or possible Udege people, today) was based on fishing.
thumb|left|A 1682 published Italian map showing the "Kingdom of the Niuche" (i.e., [[Jurchen people) or the "Kin (Jin) Tartars", as well as the lands of the "Yupy Tartars" (Nanai and related tribes) further east.]]
The traditional clothing was made out of fish skins. These skins were left to dry, struck repeatedly with a mallet to leave them completely smooth, and sewn together.
In the past centuries, this distinct practice earned the Nanai the name "Fish-skin Tartars" (). This name has also been applied, more generically, to other aboriginal groups of the lower Sungari and lower Amur basins.
Agriculture entered the Nanai lands only slowly. Practically the only crop grown by the Yupi villagers on the Ussuri River shores in 1709 was some tobacco.
The Nanai believe that each person has both a soul and a spirit. On death, the soul and spirit will go different ways. A person’s spirit becomes malevolent and begins to harm their living relatives. With time, these amban may be tamed and can later be worshipped; otherwise, a special ritual must be performed to chase the evil spirit away.
After death, a person's soul is put into a temporary shelter made of cloth, called a lachako. The souls of the deceased will remain in the lachako for seven days before being moved to a wooden sort of doll called a panyo, where it will remain until the final funerary ritual.
The panyo is taken care of as if it is a living person; for example, it is given a bed to sleep in each night, with a pillow and blanket to match its miniature size. The closest family member is in charge of taking care of the deceased’s panyo. Each night this family member puts the panyo to bed and then wakes it in the morning. The panyo has a small hole carved where the mouth of a person would be, so that a pipe may occasionally be placed there and allow the deceased to smoke. If the family member travels they will bring the panyo with them. The dialect does not have a written system in China and Nanai usually write in Chinese. (Second language literacy is 84%.) However, as of 2005 teachers have recently finished compiling what is probably the first Hezhe language textbook.
Distribution
By province
The 2000 Chinese census recorded 4640 Nanai in China.
;Provincial Distribution of the Nanai:
{| class="wikitable"
|-----
! Province !! Nanai Population !!% of total
|-----
| Heilongjiang || 3910 || 84.27%
|-----
| Jilin || 190 || 4.09%
|-----
| Beijing || 84 || 1.81%
|-----
| Liaoning || 82 || 1.77%
|-----
| Inner Mongolia || 54 || 1.16%
|-----
| Hebei || 46 || 0.99%
|-----
| Others || 274 || 5.91%
|-----
|}
By county
;County-level distribution of the Nanai
(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >0.45% of China's Nanai population.)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Province
! Prefecture
! County
! Nanai Population
!% of China's Nanai Population
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Tongjiang City
| 1060
| 22.84%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Jiao District
| 657
| 14.16%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Shuangyashan
| Raohe County
| 529
| 11.40%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Fuyuan County
| 468
| 10.09%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Xiangyang District
| 131
| 2.82%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Qianjin District
| 97
| 2.09%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Harbin
| Nangang District
| 88
| 1.90%
|-
| Jilin
| Jilin
| Changyi District
| 71
| 1.53%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Huachuan County
| 67
| 1.44%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Fujin City
| 65
| 1.40%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Hegang
| Suibin County
| 52
| 1.12%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Dongfeng District
| 51
| 1.10%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Harbin
| Yilan County
| 45
| 0.97%
|-
| Beijing
|
| Haidian District
| 43
| 0.93%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Heihe
| Xunke County
| 43
| 0.93%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Huanan County
| 42
| 0.91%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Jiamusi
| Tangyuan County
| 30
| 0.65%
|-
| Jilin
| Jilin City
| Yongji County
| 29
| 0.63%
|-
| Jilin
| Changchun
| Chaoyang District
| 27
| 0.58%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Qiqihar
| Jianhua District
| 26
| 0.56%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Qiqihar
| Longjiang County
| 26
| 0.56%
|-
| Inner Mongolia
| Hulun Buir
| Evenk Autonomous Banner
| 22
| 0.47%
|-
| Heilongjiang
| Shuangyashan
| Baoqing County
| 21
| 0.45%
|-
| Other
|
|
| 950
| 20.47%
|}
Notable Nanai
thumb|[[Dersu Uzala, a Goldi hunter, and guide to Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev on multiple topographic expeditions in the early 20th century]]
- Dersu Uzala, a Nanai guide and friend of Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev, who wrote about Dersu in two books, later adapted by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa in the 1975 film Dersu Uzala
- Nanai female shaman Tchotghtguerele Chalchin performed an incantation recorded in Siberia for the song "The Lighthouse" (an adaptation of the poem "Flannan Isle" by English poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson) on French producer Hector Zazou's 1994 album Chansons des mers froides (Songs from the Cold Seas). Lead vocals were performed by Siouxsie Sioux and background music included performances by the Sakharine Percussion Group and the Sissimut Dance Drummers.
- Kola Beldy () (1929–1993) was a popular singer in the Soviet Union and Russia, particularly known for his rendition of "Увезу тебя я в тундру" (I will take you to the tundra).
- Han Geng, a Chinese pop singer, actor, former member of Korean boy band Super Junior and former leader of subgroup Super Junior-M.
- Kiliii Yuyan, an American photographer whose award-winning work spotlights the Arctic, indigenous communities and conservation through photography, filmmaking and public speaking. Kiliii is a feature contributor to National Geographic Magazine and other major publications.
- Maksim Passar, A sniper serving in the Red Army during World War II, credited with killing 237 enemy soldiers.
Autonomous areas
{|class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;width:90%;"
|-
!Province <br>(or equivalent)
!Prefecture level
!County level
!Township level
|-
| rowspan="3"|Heilongjiang
|Shuangyashan
|Raohe County
|Sipai Hezhe Autonomous Township<br/>
|-
| rowspan="2"|Jiamusi
| rowspan="2"|Tongjiang
|Jiejinkou Hezhe Autonomous Township<br/>
|-
|Bacha Hezhe Autonomous Township<br/>
|-
|Khabarovsk Krai
|
|Nanaysky District <br>
|
|}
Gallery
<gallery class="center">
File:Goldi family group, north of Khabarovsk LCCN2004707513.jpg|Goldi family group, north of Khabarovsk 1895
File:Goldi chiefs in best clothes north of Khabarovsk LCCN2004707510.jpg|Goldi chiefs north of Khabarovsk, 1895
File:Goldes shaman priest in his regalia LCCN2004707515.jpg|Goldes shaman priest in his regalia, 1895
File:Goldi village chieftan LCCN2004708035.jpg|Goldi village chieftain 1895
File:Goldi village on the Amur, north of Khabarovsk LCCN2004707512.jpg|Goldi village on the Amur, north of Khabarovsk 1895
File:Goldi village along the Amur River, north of Khabarovsk LCCN2004708126.jpg|Goldi village along the Amur River, north of Khabarovsk 1895. Note the dried sturgeon leaning against the home and atop its thatched roof.
</gallery>
References
;General
- Ethnolog on Nanai
- Notes on the Nanai
- The Nanais
- Dominic Ziegler, Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China. NY: Penguin Books, 2015.
External links
- The Nanai National Mentality and World Model by Tatyana Sem
- Dersu Uzala on IMDb, a film by Akira Kurosawa about a Goldi (Nanai) and a Russian Army Officer.