Who are the Ha Nhi, and what is special about their name?
The Ha Nhi call themselves Ha Nhi gia and belong to Vietnam's community of 54 ethnic groups. In ethnographic literature they are also known as U Ni and Xa U Ni. For local subgroups, documented sources list the Ha Nhi, Co Cho, Ha Nhi La Mi, and Black Ha Nhi.
According to the Survey of 53 Ethnic Minority Groups dated 1 April 2019, the Ha Nhi population is 25,539. Earlier, the 2009 Population and Housing Census recorded 21,725. The gap between the two figures reflects both natural population growth and differences in methodology and survey scope between the two censuses.
Historically, Ha Nhi communities have long lived in southern China and Vietnam. From the eighth century, old records mentioned their presence in northwestern Vietnam. However, most ancestors of today's Ha Nhi are part of a population layer that migrated into Vietnam roughly 300 years ago.
Where do the Ha Nhi live?
The Ha Nhi live mainly along the Vietnam-China and Vietnam-Laos borders, in Bat Xat district (Lao Cai) and Muong Te district (Lai Chau). These are high mountain areas with strongly divided terrain. Those who have long practiced terraced rice farming and fixed swidden have settled permanently. Many villages are over 100 years old, with 50 to 60 households. Where people practice swidden farming, villages tend to be scattered across the fields.
The table below summarizes basic identifying information about the Ha Nhi from the cited sources:
| Criterion | Information |
|---|---|
| Self-name | Ha Nhi gia |
| Other names | U Ni, Xa U Ni |
| Local subgroups | Ha Nhi, Co Cho, Ha Nhi La Mi, Black Ha Nhi |
| Population | 25,539 (Survey of 53 Ethnic Minority Groups, 1 April 2019); 21,725 (2009 Census) |
| Language | Tibeto-Burman group, Sino-Tibetan family, closer to Burmese |
| Area of residence | Bat Xat (Lao Cai), Muong Te (Lai Chau) |
| New Year | First ten days of the tenth lunar month |
| Writing system | No separate script |
Which language group does the Ha Nhi language belong to?
The Ha Nhi language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan family, and is recorded as being closer to Burmese. This point matters because it places Ha Nhi within a language group with a wide distribution, not limited to Vietnamese territory.
The Ha Nhi have no separate script. Education relied mainly on traditional experience passed from generation to generation. Today, Ha Nhi children attend school to learn the national script, and a young generation of ethnic intellectuals is emerging.
How do Ha Nhi worship customs differ from those of many other peoples?
The most notable point in Ha Nhi worship customs is that they have no shared clan-wide worship; they worship only by household. Worship is led by the eldest son of the senior line. If the senior line has no heir, worship passes to the youngest son.
One important rule concerns worship: family members, even after moving out, must, if they die, have their body laid before the parents' altar so that the deceased may be worshipped together with the ancestors.
In social relations, community spirit in the village is fairly concentrated, not only in production but also in cultural, spiritual, and religious life. The nuclear family is patriarchal, yet women are still respected in society. There are many surnames, each divided into branches, and branch names follow the name of the founding ancestor.
How is the clan ancestor remembrance ceremony held?
Each year on the evening of the 30th day of Tet, a very important family ritual takes place. It is the clan ancestor remembrance ceremony, in which the names of ancestors are read out and everyone repeats them. Each name is called in a father-son linked form, the father's name joined to the son's, giving it a rhythm that is easy to remember. Some clans recite 71 names in this ceremony. In some places this ritual is also performed at the encoffining of the dead.
What do the Ha Nhi worship besides ancestors?
According to the cited sources, the Ha Nhi believe in souls, worship ancestors, make village offerings, and perform agricultural rituals. These practices should be understood as cultural practice, not as a claim about spiritual efficacy.
Which are the main Ha Nhi festivals?
The Ha Nhi celebrate their New Year in the first ten days of the tenth lunar month. This is notable because it differs from the Lunar New Year of many other peoples. During the year there are also the New Rice Festival, the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month Festival, and the Full Moon of the Seventh Month.
The cited sources list these festivals but do not describe the rituals of each in detail. Note that customs may vary by region, and existing sources do not agree on a full description of the sequence and offerings of each festival. This article follows the presentation of the cited sources, recording names and timing as above.
Marriage, childbirth, and funerals according to Ha Nhi custom
Marriage
Marriage customs vary by region, but the most common point is that marriages are based on young people finding their own partners. In Bat Xat (Lao Cai), marriage proceeds through several stages. After three matchmaking visits, the first wedding is held to bring the bride to the groom's house. The second wedding is a large feast at the bride's house. This ceremony only takes place once the couple is reasonably well off, by which time they already have children and grandchildren. Some people have not held this wedding even 50 to 60 years later, or until death.
In the northwest, after the engagement ceremony, the groom comes to live with the bride's family. If the bride price is paid immediately, there is no uxorilocal residence, the wedding is held right away, and from then on the bride takes her husband's surname.
Childbirth
Ha Nhi women give birth standing. To ease delivery, they have a custom of smashing a bamboo water tube so the water spills out, or dropping a water tube containing a chisel from the roof ridge, so the chisel shoots out like a child being born. In some places the mother drinks water mixed with ash of elephant intestine, hoping she will have the strength of an elephant. The afterbirth is buried right behind the door or at a post beside the hearth.
A house with a newborn is signaled by a conical hat placed upside down on a stake in front of the door. If the stake is on the right side, a girl was born; on the left, a boy.
Funerals
The coffin is a hollowed-out tree trunk with a tightly fitting lid. The grave site is chosen by throwing an egg; wherever the egg breaks, that is where the grave is dug. The Ha Nhi avoid burial in the rainy season. At that time, the coffin of the deceased is lowered into the grave but not covered, with a funeral house above or placed on a rack. Only after the rainy season is the coffin with the deceased buried.
Production activities and material life
The Ha Nhi learned early to grow rice on terraced fields. They are skilled at clearing land to create fields on steep mountain slopes, with cleverly built irrigation channels. They are used to using manure and ash fertilizer in wet rice farming, and also work plowed or hoed swiddens to grow maize or vegetables, beans, gourds, pumpkins, cotton, and indigo.
The Ha Nhi raise livestock and poultry by natural grazing. Herds of buffalo roam freely in the forest, sometimes numbering in the hundreds. Cotton growing and weaving meet the need for traditional clothing fabric. In some places, the cold climate prevents cotton growing, so products such as indigo, woven items, and poultry are traded for cotton. Women weave on small looms, 20 cm wide. The fabric is durable because the weaving technique is measured and dyed with indigo several times. Growing indigo and dyeing with indigo is a very distinctive activity among the Ha Nhi. Gathering still holds a significant place in daily life. Ha Nhi women are also skilled at basketry, and the giang conical hat is a familiar symbol of this craft.
In food, the Ha Nhi are used to eating both sticky and plain rice in daily meals. Food comes mainly from hunting, fishing, and gathering. On festivals, they often make many kinds of cakes, prefer grilled and stir-fried meat, and especially like am porridge cooked with chicken or pork.
In housing, most people live in earthen houses with solid walls up to 30 to 40 cm thick, suited to the cold climate of the high mountains. Depending on the place, the house has a front veranda or a veranda inside the house to avoid cold wind. They are used to cooking rice in a pan on a hearth built on the earthen floor. The common means of transport is a back basket carried with a strap across the forehead; in some places horses are used for travel and transport.
Although they live in high mountain areas with strongly divided terrain, the Ha Nhi are very skilled at clearing land and making terraced fields. To have a regular natural water source, they pay attention to protecting headwater forests, especially near where they live or farm wet rice.
Folk arts and games
The Ha Nhi have a folk literature with many genres such as mythical tales, fairy tales, epics, folk songs, and proverbs. Folk songs and folk dances are art forms loved by all ages. Musical instruments include drums, gongs, the tinh lute, the jaw harp, and flutes.
Ha Nhi children enjoy games that require courage and skill, such as wrestling, chasing, hide and seek, spinning tops, and swings.
The place of the Ha Nhi among Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups
According to the List of Ethnic Groups of Vietnam, the Ha Nhi are placed 32nd, with other names U Ni, Xa U Ni, Ha Nhi Gia, and small groups including Ha Nhi Co Cho, Ha Nhi La Mi, and Black Ha Nhi, residing in Lai Chau and Lao Cai.
In the overall picture, ethnic minorities in Vietnam live across all regions of the country but mainly in high mountain, border, remote, and far-flung areas. These are also socio-economic areas with a low starting point, where material and spiritual life still lags behind the national average. This is the general context to consider when learning about any ethnic group, including the Ha Nhi, rather than assigning each community classifying traits.
