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[Karakhan]

Thought I'd start a topic about the Nanai of Russia and China, where they are called 赫哲族 in the latter country. However in terms of linguistical relations and cultural affinities, the Nanai, Hezhe, Orochs, Ulchi, etc are virtually the same people and they all call themselves as "Nani" and primarily inhabit the lower Amur/Heilongjiang.

While the Xibe (锡伯族) are undeniably the closest relative to the Manchus (their language is merely a dialectal difference).. the next "closest" relative would be the Nanai.

It is important to note that these tribes are NOT nomadic and are mostly hunting and fishing peoples.

According to Tikhvinsky (Manzhou Rule in China, 1983, USSR Academy of Sciences), the Nanai are directly descended from the Woji tribes.

on page.84

"Tribes of another group, the Woji, settled west of the Wula, and east up to the Ussuri, with the Huifa and two Changboshan tribes (the Neyin and the Zhusheli) as their immediate neighbors in the south. In the south-east some of their lands extended to the basin of Suifenhe."

This clan, like many others in the region, are descendants of the Jurchen, but during the 1640's, were independent from Nurhaqi and Abahai. Some of the Woji joined the Niurhus of the Manchu banner forces, but in general, because of their distance and isolation, were largely left alone until the Russians came, as Nurhaqi and Abahai were busy focusing on the Solons and Huerha.

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From Owen Lattimore's "The Gold Tribe, "Fishskin Tatars" of the Lower Sungari" (gold/fishskin tatars are the old name for this group) published in "memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, 1933)

He emphasizes the physical differences between the Nanai and the "Chinese", noting that the Nanai generally had longer shaped faces and commonly had men over 5 feet 8. with high cheekbones, not higher than Mongols, but common with other people in Northern China. (p.353). In his opinion, he believes the Nanai closely resemble the purest "tungusic" type, whose features are still seen among the Manchus of Jilin.

In his book he states that because of the Manchu Banner Organization, many Nanai left their areas and quickly joined public service and other military/civil careers which eventually led towards their assimilation. Often, because they were tri-lingual in Manchu, Chinese and Russian, they held important border positions.

Relations with the Chinese, according to Lattimore, is generally good, although there were hostile feelings towards large migrations into their habitats. Nanai men were allowed to marry Chinese wives, but were not alowed to give their daughters in marriage to the Chinese. (p. 352-53)



Culturally it seems that they've adopted much less Chinese influence than their southern cousins that inhabit modern day Liaoning, although influences are still there such as the dress and some of the language which I will show examples in a bit.

Modern Day Nanai kids


Nanai robe, similar to the Manchu robes, yet lacks a "slash" or belt. Sometimes it is made out of fish skin


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Language comparison (from "The Minorities of Northeastern China: A Survey" by Henry G. Schwarz, 1984)

River
Bira - Manchu
Bira - Xibe
Bira - Nanai
Bira - Evenki

Mountain
alin - Manchu
elin - Xibe
urkan - Nanai
ura- Evenki

Iron
sele - Manchu
sal - Xibe
sala - Nanai
sala - Evenki

-- other vocabulary-- (from Studies in Frontier History, p.396) perhaps someone with better Manchu knowledge can make a more detailed comparison between the two languages..
(moved below)
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currently about 12,000 Nanai live in Russia, and about 2500 are in China.


--more pics--

older picture



will post more later, particularly pics of their weapons.

[Karakhan]

For those interested in Tungus Linguistics.. i've managed to grab
-"A Study Of the Jurchen Language and Script" by Gisaburo N. Kiyose (1977)
and
-"Manchu: A textbook for Reading Documents" by Gertraude Roth Li (2000)

in addition to the Nanai words above, Now i can make a better comparison..

Index (N = Nanai) (J = Jurchen) (M = Manchu)

elder brother- aga (N) ahun (J) agu (M, although its used for elder men) ahun (M)
spirit - aimi (N) eringe (J) eduringge (M)
gold - aishin (N) ancun (J) aisin (M)
mouth - amnga (N) amga (J) angga (M)
heaven/sky - ba (N) abka (J) abka (M)
bowl - cheremi (N) moro (J)
father - baba (N)
father (formal) - ama (N) amin (J) ama (M)
sea - lamu (N) meterin (J)
cow - ihan (N) ihan (ox)(J)
turtle (Chinese based word) - hailung (N)
dragon - muduri (N) mudur (J)
water - muk (N) mu (J) muke (M)
Sahalin - their name for the Amur
horse - morin (N) morin (J) morin (M)
cart - sejen (N) seje (J) sejen (M)
dog - yinda (N) indahun (J)

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Numerals
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1- emke (N) emu (J) emu/emke (M)
2 - juru (N) juwe (J) juwe (M)
3- ilan (N) ilan (J) (ilan (M)
4-duyin (N) duwin (J) duin (M)
5-sunja (N) s/shunja (J) sunja (M)
6-ninggu (N) ningu (J) ninggun (M)
7-nadan (N) nadan (J) nadan (M)
8-jakung (N) jakun (J) jakun (M)
9-uyun (N) uyun (J) uyun (M)
10-juan (N) juwa (J) juwan (M)
11-juanke (N) amso (J) juwan emu (M)
15-topkun (N) tobohon (J) tofohon (M)
100-eme tangwu (N) tangu (J) tanggu (M)

in addition, I found this interesting passage about Soviet propoganda to the Nanai
(p.81 of "The Aborigines of the Soviet Far East")

The most important nationality which the Soviet regime has claimed to have rescued from the Chinese are the Nanai.  They are the largest single group of aborigines in the southern part of the Soviet Far East.  In the Soviet Union there are between 5,000 and 6,000 Nanai, or Goldy, as they used to be called, while 1,800 of them live in Manchuria, at the confluence of the Ussuri and Sungari rivers.  (since then, there are now 11-12,000 Nanai in Russia, and 2-4,000 in China).  In the inter-war period, this partition of the Nanai between Russia and Manchukuo had a certain political importance.  Russia conducted propoganda among the Nanai tribesmen in Manchukuo, and tried to induce them to emigrate and join their brothers on the other side of the border.  The Manchukuo Government also did a great deal to obtain the goodwill of the Nanai by associating them with the local administration.

In June 1931, the Soviet regime organized the Nanai National District and the Evenko-Nanai National District.  A third National District was founded for the Ulchi or Olchi, a small Far Eastern tribe which is very closely related to the Nanai,a nd whose number does not exceed 1,000.  At the time of their foundation, the three National Districts covered over 60,000 square miles.  However by the end of the First Five-Year Plan, the 'natives' of the three districts found themselves reduced to small minorities.  Between 1926 and 1933 alone, the total population in the Nanai and Ulchi Districts was nearly doubled through European colonization, and it increased three times in the Evenko-Nanai National District.

Far from having a sheltered existence in the National Districts, the Nanai hunters and fishermen were thrown into the melting pot of industrialization.  In fact, one of the largest industrial centres of the Soviet Far East, the city of Komsomolsk, was built in the midst of former Nanai territory.  Komsomolsk has become a magnet attracting the Nanai and regulating their lives.  They either work in its industrial undertakings, or have moved to one of the numerous collective farms which supply the 'City of Youth' with vegetables, fruit, and dairy products.  Many Nanai now have a better command of Russian than of their own language.  Their complete absorption by the Russian environment is merely a question of time.

The small Nanai people were greatly exploited for Russia's military effort in the Second World War.  As many as 248 Nanai of the Nanai National District and of the Komsomolsk District were awarded military decorations for service on the German front.  Some Nanai, including the Nanai poet, Akim Samer, even participated and perished in the Stalingrad battle.