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Hainan (China)

海南

by Ivan Sache

See also:

China
China: Index of Pages
Chinese municipal flags
Bibliography on Chinese Flags for works cited on this page

The chart Flags of Aspirant Peoples shows the following: 136. "Hainan (Li and Miao, 1943-1949) - South China - War flag)." Horizontal green -red, with two crossed "swords".
Li and Miao are the two most important ethnic minorities in the island of Hainan. Li (ca 1,000,000 of people) belong to the Thai linguistic group. Miao belong to the Miao-Yao linguistic group and are also scattered throughout Laos, Viet-Nam and Thailand. Hainan was known as the "tropical Siberia", because it has been a place of exile since the Tang dynasty.
Ivan Sache, 16 September 1999

The flags of Kachin Independence Organization and that of Hainan bear striking resemblance, but obviously are not identical. The difference lies in the handles of the swords (machetes ?) and the size of the device being displayed on the respective flags. I have no doubts about the Kachin flag as I have a photographic evidence of it, but am eager to hear the opinion of my peers on the subject of Hainan flag.
Besides the source quoted by Ivan, there is also an image of it shown at: http://blog.pcpop.com/picture/0002481982-1.html where it is identified as a flag of the Qiong Ya Autonomous Government of 1940s.
"Qiong Ya" being "Hainan" leaves no doubt what that flag is supposed to represent, but IMVHO, it represents only the Li (Hlai) people, who inhabit the southern half of the island, and has not much (if anything) to do with the Miao people of the northern Hainan.
The pro-communist Li formed the clandestine Qiongya Autonomous Government even before the Japanese invasion and after it, their military arm, Qiongya Workers-Peasant Revolutionary Army fought the invaders (Li suffered enormous loses - 1/3 of the male population was killed by the Japanese) and later facilitated, to a large degree, the Communist takeover of the island in 1950 from the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek.
The leader of Qiongya Autonomous Government and Qiongya Workers -Peasant Revolutionary Army (known also as Qiongya Column) was Feng Baiju: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_Baiju>
Chrystian Kretowicz, 24 July 2009