Most people may not be very familiar with the Tanka people, also known as ‘boat dwellers’. Yes, they are a community that dwells on boats! They are an indigenous people who lived in coastal communities along the coastline of modern day China. According to one source, they could be categorized into three groups based on the way they survived, whether they were good at getting fish, oysters or wood. Living their entire lives on the sea (with some trips to land), the boat dwellers have a very unique relationship with the environment, which they depend greatly on. For example, they would be adept at noticing even minor changes in the weather. Due to increased pollution and reclamation alongside government policies in housing and education that encouraged the boat dwelling population to ‘move inland’. Today, there are much fewer boat dwelling people who still live on boats, but they may have a ‘double life’, where they would have a place on land, and occasionally return to their boat out of a sense of belonging. What can we learn from the boat dwellers when it comes to this interdependence with nature?
多數人或許對蜑家人並不熟悉。他們也稱作為“水上人”。是的，他們是一群住在船上的水上人家！他們是住在現代中國沿海地區，靠海生活的原居民。根據一份資料，他們能夠再以他們生活的方式細分為三個不同的群體：以他們善於捕捉魚類還是蠔、或是善於獲取木材，這三類為分類。在海上過上一輩子（也有幾次上岸），這些水上人和他們十分仰賴的環境有著非常特殊的關係。例如，他們擅長注意到天氣的變化，就連細微的也能注意得到。水上人之所以會搬遷至陸地上是因為水污問題以及填海工程。除此之外，政府的住房及教育政策也鼓勵他們的搬遷。現在越來越少這些蜑家人還住在船上了，不過，他們有些還會有“雙重身份”：除了住在一間在陸地上的房子之外，也因為出於一種歸屬感而偶爾回到船上。我們能夠從水上人的身上學到些什麼呢——尤其是與大自然相互依存這一方面？
References:
- R. A. Donkin, Beyond Price: Pearls and Pearl-fishing : Origins to the Age of Discoveries, p.200
- https://www.localiiz.com/post/culture-history-hong-kong-fishing-heritage
- 一個水上人家庭的故事 -從水上人空間運用的生活文化尋找被遺忘的歴史,https://www.urbandiarist.com/tc/stories/041/Yue-Kwong-Chuen-Home-of-People-on-the-water-on-land