Haifang

The Haifang are an ethnic and cultural group in Zhongao. The name literally means "Sea People" or "People of the Sea", and comes from their mostly sea or water-based dwelling. Although they know populate various parts of the Empire, they are still predominately found as water nomads.

Since the discovery of the Archipelago many have begun migrating to the new lands to become free people and or pirates.

A Nomadic People
The Haifang are Nomadic, often either moving from island to island or just outright living on boats or moveable houses.



Traditionally, small groups or family units would travel on smaller outrigger vessels that moved fast and could be used for quickly migrating from place to place, and also could be used as a rig when diving or fishing.

However, more recently larger junk ships have been integrated from Zhongao, which allow for much larger communities to travel together and defend themselves. The ships themselves are almost as floating villages.

Zhongao Influences


The cultural exchange between mainland Zhongao and the Haifang has built up over the years, and is most evident in ship design. The Haifang brought their extensive maritime experience while the Zhongao brought resources and raw manpower. Thus ship design has developed in parallel, with larger Zhongao Junk ships being used by the Haifang.

Animals


The Haifang have a close relationship with animals, but do practice traditional animal husbandry. They will often befriend or tame animals to aid in their voyages, but as they are mostly hunter-gatherers this often restricted to animals to aid in their hunting. Birds of prey such as hawks and eagles are commonly trained by at least one person in each family unit, while whales and dolphins are often befriended or supported by Haifang communities.

A common practice is for large nets to be set up between boats, which Dolphins lure them into. The catch is then shared amongst the people and dolphins.