Total population | |
---|---|
(Above 5,000,000) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Languages | |
Puxian Min, Mandarin, and Min Nan | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Traditional Chinese religion or Atheism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Fuzhou people, Hoklo people, Leizhou Min speakers and other Han Chinese |
The Putian people, (Chinese: 莆田人, pinyin: Pútiánrén; Puxian Min: 莆仙儂, Hinghwa Romanized: Pó-sing-náng) also known as Henghua or Hinghwa are Han Chinese people from Putian, part of Fujian Province, China. They speak Puxian Min, a Min language. Min is one of the Sinitic languages.
They may also be referred to as Xinghua. Hing Hua district was carved out from Quanzhou district during the Song dynasty and was given the name HingHua. Putianese people originated from Xinyang in what is now Henan province and migrated to the present day area of Putian many centuries ago. Putianese people were said to be mostly in charge of religious affair during that era, and migrated to Fujian after the civil war.
They are referred to as Henghua in Malaysia.
Today, there are significantly large Henghua diaspora communities throughout Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia where they can be found in cities such as Kuala Terengganu and Kuching. In Indonesia, most Henghua live in Java and since long have been known for their businesses that mainly related with bicycle and transportation vehicles.