Hezhe Ethnic Minority has a long history. Ancestors of Hezhe people settled in the drainage areas of Songhua River, Heilongjiang River, and Wusuli River in Northeast China. They used to be a branch of Nuzhen in Ming Dynasty. Hezhe Ethnic Minority is considered as the core of ancient Hezhe Clan.

It comprised of people from Oroqen, Ewenki, Manchu, Han, and Mongol nationalities, and developed to be a relatively steady body in early Qing Dynasty. Hezhe people have their own spoken language but without written characters. In early times they recorded something through chopping timbers, splitting leather, or inserting grass. Hezhe language belongs to Altai branch of Tungus system, a kind of language with adhering characters.

Generally speaking, it can be divided into two categories: Qileng and Hezhen. But it changed a lot in the process of communication and interaction with neighboring nationalities. In fact, Hezhe language is a lingua franca. Based on the original linguistic structure, many other compositions, such as Manchu language, Mongol language, ancient Asian language, and a little part of Chinese, were combined with Hezhe language. With a smaller population living separately, Hezhe people started communication with Han people much earlier than other ethnic minorities. Therefore, most Hezhe people understand the spoken and written forms of Chinese.