 Overseas Chinese who are ethnically Han Chinese, such as Cantonese, Hoochew, Hokkien, Hakka or Teochew refer to themselves as (Tángrén), pronounced "tòhng yàn" in Cantonese, "toung ning" in Hoochew, "Tn̂g-lâng" in Hokkien and "tong nyin" in Hakka.Literally, it means "Tang people", a reference to Tang dynasty China when it was ruling China proper.This term is commonly used by the Cantonese, Hoochew, Hakka and Hokkien as a colloquial reference to the Chinese people and has little relevance to the ancient dynasty.