The H're people () are an ethnic group of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
that speak a language in the
Mon–Khmer family. Most H're live in
Quảng Ngãi
Quảng Ngãi () is a city in central Vietnam. It serves as the capital city of Quảng Ngãi Province. Quảng Ngãi City borders Tư Nghĩa District to the South and West, Sơn Tịnh District to the Northwest and Bình Sơn District to the ...
, though a minority live in the
Bình Định and
Kon Tum provinces of
Central Vietnam.
In 2015, the population of H're in Quảng Ngãi province was 132,745 people consists of
*
Ba Tơ District : 48,852 people
*
Sơn Hà District
''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnamese or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted else ...
: 65,823 people
*
Minh Long District : 13,478 people
*
Quảng Ngãi city and other districts : 4.592 people
A third of the population of
An Lão District in Bình Định Province were Hre in 1996 (around 5,800 people).
[General Statistics Office (1996): Population Data of Sparsely Populated Areas in Vietnam. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi]
History
In the old ages, the H're used to call themselves following the river name of their residence. During the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
, the H're were recognized by some other names such as Chăm Rê, Chăm Quảng Ngãi, Thượng Ba Tơ, Man Thạch Bích, Mọi Ðá Vách.
Economic Activities
The H're are mainly residents of
wet rice cultivation, just a small part of them cultivate
slash-and-burn
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a Field (agriculture), field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody p ...
agriculture.
Their popular livestock are buffalos, pigs, dogs and chickens. The only handicrafts are wickerwork and weaving, but less developed now, especially weaving is only left in a few areas.
Culture
In their traditional festivals, H're people widely use their special kind of
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...
named chiêng Ba - a trio of a father, a mother and a child gong - to play performance based on four basic melodies Chinh Năng, Chinh K’oa, Chinh H’lay và Chinh Tuguốc.
References
*Nguyễn Thế Truyền. 2011. ''Nhạc khí của tộc người H'rê ở Quảng Ngãi''. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
External links
Forces Hre Libres''Minority groups in the Republic of Vietnam'', by American University (Washington, D.C.). Washington: Headquarters, Dept. of the Army, 1966
Hre
Quảng Ngãi province
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