About the clan name ‘Hre’

It is not clear where the clan name ‘Hre’ (Hré, H’re) came from. Based on some current village names, it is often associated with a place name, event, phenomenon or character that can have an influence on social life in the community.
For example, the name play wi Hteang, ie Lang Teng village, belongs to Ba Thanh commune (Ba To). According to the old people, in the past, there were many durian trees in this land, so they named the village after the tree, which is called lang hteang in the Hre language. Loan/loong means tree, hteang/hteng means durian tree. Or the name Plei wi Goi Hre, ie Go/Goi Re village, in Ba Xa (Ba To) commune, taken from the name of the headland of the Hre river. Goi means the source, Hre/Re is the name of the Hre river… So, the clan name “Hre” was the ancient Hre named after the Hre river (?) (Re river, Rhe river).

The Hre have lived for a long time, mainly in the districts of Ba To, Son Ha, Minh Long, a few in the districts of Tu Nghia, Nghia Hanh, Tra Bong, Son Tay and Mo Duc district (Quang Ngai); An Lao district (Binh Dinh); Kon Plong district (Kon Tum). Currently, there are a very few working, living and living in most districts, towns and cities in Quang Ngai province and some provinces and cities such as: Thua Thien – Hue province, Ho Chi Minh City. Da Nang, Quang Nam province, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City… The Hre river is a tributary river of Tra Khuc river, flowing through Ba To and Son Ha districts, upstream from Ba Xa commune through Ba Vi, Ba Tieu and Ba Ngac communes (Ba To). , through the territory of the communes of Son Ba, Son Ky, Son Thuy, Son Hai, Son Cao, Son Linh, Son Giang, Son Thanh, Son Ha, Son Nham (Son Ha). The section from Son Cao commune to Son Nham commune (Son Ha) is called “Cai” river (Cai river), in Hre it is called krong dieu Kreq. Kroang/krong means stream (river, stream). Dheac/dhia means water. Kreq River is the name of the river Kreq. The Hre River is the largest river in the four tributary rivers of the Tra Khuc River, which are: Re/Rhe (dheac Hre), Rinh (Hjinh), Xa Lo (hlo), and Tang (Htong). ) and other small streams… The downstream section of Tu Nghia and Son Tinh districts to Cua Dai Co Luy (Quang Ngai city) is called Tra Khuc river. In the past, the Hre people were named after different regions. For example, the communes of Ba To district and Son Ba, Son Ky, Son Thuy, Son Hai (Son Ha) are called “Hre” (probably named after the Hre river). The remaining communes of Son Ha district are called “Krêq” (probably named after the river Krêq, ie Cai river). Minh Long district called it “Hre Ravăh” (probably named after the Ravăh river, ie Phuoc Giang river). An Lao district (Binh Dinh province) is called “Hre Hdinh” (the people of Dinh). Kon Plong district (Kon Tum province) is called “Hre Wi Hlac – Vah E” (ie Vi Olak – Bo E). In which, “Hre” accounts for the largest proportion, followed by “Kreq”, “Hre Ravăh”, “Hre Hdinh”, “Hre Wi Hlac – Văh E”. However, nowadays, people no longer call the names according to the region as in the past, but unified as mangai Hre or contamoi Hre. Mangai means person. Contamoi or gong/gung means ethnic minority. The sound of reading (saying) the word “Hre” (Hre river, Hre people) is the correct and standard pronunciation, the vast majority of Hre people in the past still speak. However, nowadays, some Hre people are still used to calling their clan name Re, or Hre. As for the Hre River, if you speak Kinh (Vietnamese), it is the Re river. But when they speak the Hre ethnic language, it is dheac/dhie Hre (ie the word Hre, not the word Re).