Hong Kong people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
         |
||||||||||||||||||
| List of notable Hong Kong people: Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-fat John Woo, Maggie Cheung Jackie Chan, Marco Fu Ka-chun, Wong Kar-wai Sir Donald Tsang, Eric Tsang |
||||||||||||||||||
| Total population | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| circa 8,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Languages | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Predominantly: |
||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and others |
||||||||||||||||||
| Related ethnic groups | ||||||||||||||||||
The people of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港人), known as Hongkongers or Hongers[citation needed], usually refers to people who originate from Hong Kong. The term is legally defined by the Government of Hong Kong in either English or Chinese, but may mean Hong Kong permanent residents with identity cards, or those who have spent an extensive period of time in Hong Kong (which is open to personal interpretation). The term conveys a civic identity, and doesn't simply mean an individual of Han Chinese ancestry having permanent residence in the territory.
Contents |
[edit] Terminology
| Hong Kong people | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 香港人 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 香港人 | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Han Chinese residents of Hong Kong generally refer to themselves as Hèung Góng Yàhn (traditional Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn; literally "Hong Kong people").
Most Hong Kong Chinese have ancestral roots from Guangdong Province and the Yangtze River Delta, as these two main Chinese groups inter-mingled. As Hong Kong continues to remain as a separate, sub-national territorial entity, under the Basic Law, many long-term residents of the SAR continue to distinguish themselves from mainland residents. A comparison can be made to the Taiwanese people. However with the hand-over, gradual improvements in relations with the mainland and government initiated cultural schemes caused a resurgence in the number of people in the territory referring themselves solely as Chinese. But yet, the issue regarding identity in the former British colony is very complex. After all, the SAR had experienced a great exodus of people in the years leading up to the handover, and yet migration from mainland China in recent years have brought about migrants who would prefer to refer themselves as Chinese.
It's interesting to note that despite the anti-racism legislation implemented in Hong Kong, there has been considerable condemnation in regards to its decision to assimilate recent Chinese residents and local (or overseas) Hong Kong Chinese residents into the same category. The long overdue legislation ignores for numerous reasons, which could be speculated, the discrimination faced by mainland Chinese residents.
[edit] Variation
The terms Hongkonger (or Hong Konger), Hong Kong People, Hongkongese, are all translated into the Chinese term Hèung Góng Yàhn (traditional Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn). As a result, the above terms are different only as far as English language usage is concerned. People from Hong Kong in Western countries are also referred to colloquially as Honkers, Hongers or Honkies (sometimes spelt Hongkies). The terms embodies a civic identity as opposed to one based upon race or ethnicity.
Hongkonger is used more often by native speakers of English,[citation needed] while Hong Kong People, a more direct translation of the term Hèung Góng Yàhn, is used to a greater extent by Chinese native speakers in Hong Kong when writing or speaking in English.[citation needed] Hongkongese is a relatively recent term coined by the North American press.[2]
The term Hong Kong Chinese was used more often in the 19th to early 20th century in Hong Kong[citation needed], where the British population residing in Hong Kong made up a higher percentage than what it comprises now. One used to refer to an individual as Hong Kong Chinese in order to differentiate the person from a Hong Kong Briton. Most of the Hong Kong natives still discriminate the Chinese new immigrated due to their poor manner and etiquette.
[edit] Ethnic groups in Hong Kong
[edit] Han Chinese
Han Chinese make up the majority of Hong Kongers, most being from Guangdong from the 1930s to the 1980s. There are also the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories.
The majority of the new addition to the population are people from the mainland China[citation needed]. Ever since Hong Kong was a British colony, many mainland Chinese have immigrated to Hong Kong, and there is now a daily quota of 150 for those wishing to reside in Hong Kong[citation needed].
Cantonese people represent the largest group in Hong Kong. Beside the Cantonese, people of other Han Chinese groups also reside in Hong Kong. However, the Cantonese remains the largest group even amongst other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong. As such, Hong Kong culture is highly Cantonese-influenced. Together with the fact that Cantonese is most commonly used as the language of both everyday and formal conversations, as well as its use in the media and education[citation needed], other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong, such as the Hakka, the Hoklo (Hokkien), the Shanghainese, or the Teochew, in particular those who are Hong Kong born or raised, often assimilate into the mainstream Cantonese identity of Hong Kong.
[edit] Ethnic minorities
|
|
|---|
| Demographics and Culture of Hong Kong |
| Demographics |
|
Census · Healthcare · Hong Kong People · Hong Kong Resident · Hong Kong Identity Card · Languages · Religion · Right to abode |
| Culture |
|
Cinema · Cuisine · Holidays · Shopping · Manhua · Music · Opera · Sport |
|
|
|
|
[edit] Southeast Asians
[edit] South Asians
[edit] White Europeans, Americans, Canadians and Australians
[edit] Japanese
[edit] See also
- Chinese Britons
- Hong Kong people in Shanghai
- Hong Kong people in the United Kingdom
- Colonial Hong Kong
- Culture of Hong Kong
- Demographics of Hong Kong
- Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong
- Linguistics
[edit] References
- ^ "HK Census and Statistics Department". Censtatd.gov.hk. http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_statistics/statistics_by_subject/index.jsp?subjectID=1&charsetID=1&displayMode=T. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
- ^ "Hong Kong Handover". University of Michigan University Library Journal of the International Institution. 1997 fall. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4750978.0005.107. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
|
|||||||||||
