Comparing Asian Nationalities | Asian American Poll

COMPARING ASIAN NATIONALITIES
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:20:55 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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You guys keep on saying SE asians are in no way related to southern chinese. However it is VERY possible there is a connection. The yuehs made copper bronze from a very long time. In Vietnam there is Dong Son or Ngoc Lu copper drums. The truth is very similar types of copper drums also exist in other SE Asia countries. (i’m not sure about cambodia).

There are one hundred yueh tribes and vietnamese is only one, or several among them. The vietnamese yueh live in Yangtze river delta while the other yuehzs like thai, lao,etc. in fukien and chekkien. Those tribes live in a very vast areas, from Yangtxe river streching to Fukien, guangdong to as far south as mekong river delta.

When the han invade these areas, the yuehs move South.
The physical difference you see today is a result of intermingling btw those people with indian or polynesian, plus living in tropical countries contribue a little bit to the darkness of the skin.

interesting fact Thursday, May 23, 2002 at 00:55:50 (PDT)

I am not an expert on languages, but of the Altaic languages, I have heard Korean and Mongol. They both sound very alike if you cannot differentiate the two. I have never heard Manchu or Tungus, but I am sure it is even closer sounding to Korean.

The Turkic languages have adopted some Indo-Iranian features, but to one's ears, it still sounds very eastern.

Does any of these Turkish phrases sound close to Korean and Japanese?

Hosh Galdanez-you are welcome.

Saha Donun-turn left
Sola Donun-turn right

Chok minet tarum-I am grateful.

Nasilsenez?-How are you?
Ben chok iyim-I am fine.

Merjan evdeme?-Is Merjan in the house?

Gorushuruz mekelzereh sevginlar bizim miz?

Numbers:
bir-one
iki-two
uch-three
dart-four
besh-five
alti-six
yedi-seven
sekiz-eight
dokuz-nine
on-ten

Amazingly, even the Uigurs of China count their numbers in the same pronunciation as they do in Istanbul.

But, there are some Turkish words that have similarites or borrowings from distant China.

gan-sword
tanri-heaven
su-water
ak-white
sagun-military general

The only commonality I notice between Korean and Turkish is that like in Korean, there are many Turkish words that end in "uk" "un" and "ul." But, unlike Korean and Japanese; Turkish has many words that end in "R" and begin with "L".

Can these commonalities be simply borrowings from the distant past?
no expert on language Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 23:39:01 (PDT)

Asian Marco Polo,

Just like there were white and Middle Eastern Marco Polos who travelled east to China during Mongol rule, there were also Chinese Marco Polos who travelled west to Europe and the Middle East during Mongol rule.

Many governors of Persia during the Mongol Ilkhan rule were of Han Chinese and Uigur (a highly Sinicized Turkic group) descent. I can name one (Bulad Ching Sang). He introduced paper currency (chao) into the Muslim world. Even in many postal offices of Iran today, the word for printing (chap in Farsi, chapli in Azerbaijan)came from this term.

In Russia, the Tatar terms for noodles (lagman, from the Chinese "lamian") and glass noodles (fentior, from the Chinese "fentiao") came also from the Chinese. During the Mongol Golden Horde rule in Russia, there were Chinese merchant communities and quarters found in all over Russia.

Yes, those Chinese who settled in Russia and Iran during Mongol rule, like their Mongol overlords themselves later assimilated, converted to Islam and adopted the local Turkish dialects and intermarried with the local Indo-European races.

In a sense, the Mongol and Turkic domination of Eurasia in the past did foster the interchange of Eastern and Western ideas and cultures (something the Chinese and Romans never did successfully).
from east to west Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 23:23:11 (PDT)

You say that the chinese are pale (or some ethnic are the palest in asia), that's ok. You can be as pale as you want.

The vietnamese are lighter and brighter in skin tone. Lighter as in not so dark, brighter as in a slight pink hue. But this only applies to the northern and central parts of vietnam where the population is more pure viet or yueh (in chinese i think). The viets are described in chinese annals to have been funny toed (too long to explain, but longer second toes, more room between the toes), and to have a more heart shaped with bigger eyes. Also a more prominant nose and a leaner, smaller body compared to their Han neighbors who wrote this down.
The southern brothers are as described by many to have a wider nose, still bigger eyes though, and darker skin. This is believed to have been pasted down by potential malay ancestors.

But the central and north stayed free of malay and khmer influences (too far to mix in anyway) and free of Han mixing (hatred is EXTREME in the north, they were the ones fighting with the chinese the most, very few accepted the chinese in the north, why do you think they migrated even more south to where south vietnam is?) for historical reasons. It is considered by the northern people that marrying a chinese person would bring great misfortune within the family and is a big disgrace to the family name (VERY superstitious people, they even dug up neighboring villages graves because it was considered to have brought bad luck!).

The south is alot more accepting of the chinese, even though still seeing them as outsiders they are accepted as close equals.

Here's what i see in the features of the vietnamese by region.

North and Central regions of vietnam: Lighter skinned and brighter skinned. By lighter i mean by not dark, and by bright i mean by having a pinkish hue that makes them look lucky. Also bigger eyes and more double eyelids then some other ethnics of asia. These people are considered to be the purest of the viet descendents, as after being invaded by china they resisted chinese mixing and even made it bad luck to have. It was considered bad luck since the invasion of 300 b.c. A bit of a longer forehead (vertical). Full lips (a trait i see in both the south and north).

The south: Darker, possibly because of hte malay and khmer influences and such from historical contact. Khmers are treated extremely fair in the vietnamese, most other ethnics are called, "*enter ethnic example like chinese* living in vietnam" but the khmers are called, "vietnamese with khmer background" but they're still not considered viet though in the sence of hte ethnic, as vietnamese is nationality, your born their so that's your nationality and nation. Big eyes with double eyelids is common. Wider forehead with a big of a longer length as well compared to other asians. Wider noses and nostrils. Sometimes bigger hands (SOMETIMES, like bigger then the usual viets). Lost (yes lost as in no more) of that pink hue. Full lips.

The type of vietnamese you'll see in north america as a whole is the southern region one. The darker ones. Why? Because that's the region where the people who lost the war lived, that's where the supporters live. Like 95% of the refugees were from the south, hence the darker look.

But if anyone goes to vietnam it is evident that the south is dark while the north is lighter and brighter.

Just if anyone is curious, i'm half vietnamese and chinese. My mom is vietnamese (southern) and my dad is chinese (shandong). VERY demanding family, vietnamese women has incredible power in the household, they voice their ideas, and get it across. They fight till the end. Chinese men are EXTREMELY disciplined plans alot. So in my family there is NO room for mistakes.

I wrote these ideas in another forum as well.
Hafti Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 18:12:01 (PDT)

kumustá kayó
filipinos are like chameleons they can blend in with other races easily maybe except for the white people. Maybe thats not such a good thing. Most filipinos dont want to be white and try desperately to be just like any other asian. The case is, filipino identity crisis is still pretty horrible right now because it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINE FILIPINO. Other asian peoples have it much easier. They know who they are, they have an identity.
rizaliana Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 14:39:41 (PDT)

gk,

"Actually only 30 % of Vietnamese are part Chinese. Ethnic Chinese occupies only 3% of Vietnamese population."

30% of Vietnamese are part Chinese is WAY too much for the rest of South East Asians. Are there only 3% ethnic Chinese of Vietnam population? I don't think so. Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam make up about at least 10% of the population. Not like other ethnic Chinese in other countries, many Chinese assimilated to Vietnamese and became Vietnamese. That why many Vietnamese have Chinese ancestry. Most came to Vietnam when Ming dynasty in China collapsed. In recent history, after the civil war between Mao and Chiang that ended in 1949 in China, more than 300,000 thousands Chinese nationalists fled to Vietnam.

There are several reasons why Chinese migrated to Vietnam more than other countries in the last several centuries are:

1. Culture. Chinese immigrants were more comfortable with Vietnamese culture which is similar to Chinese
2. Language. Kingdom of Vietnam used Chinese characters for its official language. Many Chinese scholars were well treated in kingdom of Vietnam for their contributions to Vietnamese culture, literature, arts etc…
3. Religions. China and Vietnam shared the same religions: Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
4. Geography. Vietnam has long border with China and long coastline to South China Sea.

If you were Chinese immigrant several hundred years ago, would you move to farther south by boat powered by wind and human energy, and face the unknown? I would rather land in Vietnam.

An Nam Guy Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 11:03:38 (PDT)

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