Comparing Asian Nationalities | Asian American Poll

COMPARING ASIAN NATIONALITIES
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 04:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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It ain't funny,

What do you meant by saying " If you meant to be anti chinese". Me? anti chinese? how could I, against my own race and ancestor.

Yes. Some Japanese and Korean also got attacked for being mistaken as chinese.
My Guardian Angelo is Korean man who got shot to death, when he tried to saved me.
Feby Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 09:15:34 (PDT)

To all of you that are concerned about Indonesian story,

I'm Indo-chinese who was living in Jakarta. I almost got raped and killed. I felt sorry to my Guardian Angelo. He's Korean man who got shot to death, when he tried to helping me. I still keep his Korean passport. I can never forget him. Now I live safely in Canada. I got Political asylum. I've a long horrible tragedy true story that I wroted in church (Canada). which is be my 2nd home, beside my real home now. But I think its to violence to post in this poll. Which is involved of raping, killing, and bloody war. I want you to know & feel, my horrible traumatic experience. The tragedy that still fresh in my mind,like just was happening yesterday.That if you guys ready to hear/read it. Well, let me know.

Freda And Malaysian-eurasia gal 18,

Yes. That's right. Since 1965, they banned all the chinese cultures. No chinese language allowed in public. Don't be surprised if most of Indo-chinese can't understand & speak chinese. Like my self. Well my parents still can speak chinese but they never spoke to their Children at home. About the surname. Yes. Back to 1965. All chinese surname had changed to Indonesian name. So I was born with Indonesian name. I 've chinese name also but never used even not written in birth certificate. The chinese cultures in Indonesia start to intruduce again in year 2000 when Abdul Rahman Wahid become temporary President. Untill now Chinese language start open in public.
Feby Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 03:36:47 (PDT)

1)Regarding Kaya(Karak) kingdom/Southern Mongoloids/Korean and Japanese genetics/Japanese Imperial Family:

Even though what you said about Kaya(Karak) kingdom, e.g., seafaring people/their love for sushi/its close diplomatic relationship with ancient Japan, etc., is correct, the very last argument should be taken with great caution/apprehension.

By grossly exaggerating/distorting a friendly relationship between Kaya and Japan and shamelessly fabricating many vague/invalid historical references, ultra-nationalistic Japanese historians are now teaching Japanese school children that Japan actually colonized Kaya. How idiotic and wrong that claim is. (Due to lack of time, I won't list the legitimate/logical reasons/historical facts to refute such a flat-out distortion.) This is a pitiful attempt to legitimize Japan's colonization of Korea in early part of 20th century from Japanese historical point of view. BTW, you can find raw-fish eating people just about anywhere in Northeast Asia, particularly in Siberia or Russian Far East/Northern Japan. It was not just limited to Kaya kingdom on Korean Peninsula.

Relatively-speaking, Kaya was rather a weak and much smaller state than its neighboring rivals. In order to compete/survive against other Korean states, Kaya thought it necessary to go overseas, and develop a close diplomatic, commericial or cultural/etc. ties with Japan, not necessarily because they had a far superior maritime technology than its Korean rivals, you know. Necessity dictates/produces invention in many situations.

Anyway, I don't totally condemn/refute your reasoning/stating that Kaya people probably were of Malay racial type. (They might have been.) I call it "speculative" as I did in my previous post. Because of its profound obscurity in Korean history and lack of convincing/quality archeological or other supplementary evidences, nobody knows for sure what type of racial stock Kaya was.

Remember the King Kim Suro and his Indian princess wife thread I wrote sometime back? The story about Queen Huh originating from India seems to be almost indisputable now. Although not overwhelming in number, the few evidences found hitherto all indicate/confirm her Indian ancestry. However, the route she traveled to reach Kaya is interesting. She first left Ayodha, India, on foot and went to China accompanied by her older brother(a very accomplished Buddhist scholar/monk as the legend has it) and their followers/servants. Of course, later on they set sail forth towards Korean Peninsula and successfully reached Kaya kingdom bringing many gifts. Obviously, this indirect route was much more sensible/practical way to navigate from India to Korea 2000 years ago...

Anyway, scholars are having some difficulty on agreeing what kind of Indian she was. Was she of Aryan racial stock or of Dravidian racial stock? Or somewhere in-between like majority of Hindus/Pakistanis of today? Or does it matter? Even King Kim Suro himself might have been of Indian racial type, particulary of Aryan strain as some of sculpturesque momuments of his tomb site suggest.

Linguistical findings at least/on the other hand seem to suggest a strong Tamil(Dravidian) influence on Kaya kingdom. Among pure native Korean words, there are some(I just don't know how many) words that bear striking similarities to those in Tamil language. The Tamil-sounding words are not that many in number, but their potential significance can't be overlooked/underestimated from what I read. It's not due to some highly-improbable coincidence, you know.

(Isn't it ironic that those Japanese linguists who staunchly dispute the relationship between Korean and Japanese languages often suggest Tamil origin of Japanese language! Tamil is an agglutinative language just like Ural-Altaic language sub-family. Well, Sumerian too for that matter..)

Armed with the Tamil vocabulary in Korean language and Queen Huh's Indian origin, etc., a few Korean scholars claim Kaya Kingdom was founded by Ayodha tribe from India. It was a Tamil state...

Okay, then let's just consider this fact;

It's been shown through recent Korean DNA tests (I don't know all the details) that if we really break down the Korean genes -- I mean, if we really really have to break down -- there exist 35 different/distinct genetic strains!
Roughly over 70% of these strains does belong to so-called Altaic group/Northern Asian(Mongoloid) type according to the geneticists/scientists.
The remaining minority, they like to call it non-Altaic group/Southern Asian(Mongoloid) type as you can imagine.
The on-going Human Genome Project also confirmed that indeed Mongoloid/Asian people could be broadly classified into two such groups. Duh...
The early prehistoric migratory routes these two people took were obviously entirely different. I think many posters know about this...

As little as we know about all the various types of early Altaic group who settled in prehistoric Manchuria/Northeastern China/Siberia/Korean Peninsula, migrating from Central Asia, we virtually know nothing -- relatively-speaking that is -- concerning the non-Altaic Mongoloid people who principally settled in southern part of Korean peninsula originating from Southern parts of China, Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia,(and sure, Indian Subcontinent) etc. Of course, we also had some Ainus and probably even a few Aryan people to further "dilute" the bloodline. Modern Koreans are a result of amalgamation taken place primarily between the Northern and Southern type Mongoloids, and some other interesting minorities. (Homogeneity is a relative term, not an absolute one, if you know what I mean. That's why Koreans overall are still purer than say, the Han Chinese...No nation on the earth is 100% "pure")

History is basically all about the people who conquered/ruled -- often passing on their language to the subsequent generations along with their customs/culture/etc. -- particularly in ancient times. It's not about the unfortunate people who were subjugated/assimilated or in some cases ruthlessly killed off/driven out. Since Altaic group of people was the dominant race throughout all Korean history, who also happened to pass
on their language as one of their legacies, vast majority of Koreans like to think/view ourselves along in that particular heritage. I don't really blame them since I happen to be one of 'em for all the right reasons. Nevertheless I hope many of us can see the whole picture, you know...

Bottom line = yes, more than likely/rather surely we did have some Malay type people in prehistoric Korea along with some other "foreign" racial strains, but since we don't know enough about them, let's not rush to any "definitive"/dangerous conclusion based on loosely gathered/speculative/insufficient historical references/evidences/data/etc. Of course, unless you know better. Feel free to enlighten me any time. As I stated on numerous occasions, I'm no expert on history, language, ethnoglogy, etc...

Well, it seems as though at least one Japanese scientist conceded that a vast majortiy of Japanese people did originate from Korean Peninsula. This Japanese scholar in his late 60s, visited South Korea in March of this year in a sort of goodwill tour(cohosting the World Cup). He's a retired university professor(Kyoto University to be exact, I think) with expertise in human genetics/anthropology who's in charge of Japan Genome Project commissioned by Japanese ministry of education. He oversees/supervises about 100 scientists employed in effort to unravel the "mystery" surrounding Japanese racial origin. Through several years of exchange of DNA data with several Korean university professors and others, the Japan genome project has concluded that 80% of Japanese people did come from Korean Peninsula, etc. What's etc.? Mainly China and Southeast Asia. However, he said the majority of 80% did come from Korean Peninsula alone. He didn't specify the exact percentage orginating from Korea alone.

He said, in many cases, Korean DNA and Japanese DNA are impossible to differentiate. They are identical.

According to him, the population of native Japanese people, Okinawans/Ainus, did shrink considerably due to volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters befell on the Japanese islands over centuries. And when people from Korea/etc., migrated to Japan, there were relatively small number of native Japanese people living in Japan. That's why it made it easier for the late newcomers to assimilate or sometimes drive out/kill off the native people. He also mentioned about several other convincing archeological evidences all indicating Korean origin. Etc., Etc...

Well, this is old news to us Koreans, you know. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Korean scholars had been speculating for years -- w/o the benefit of DNA tests -- that 70-80% of Japanese people originated from Korea. I didn't wanna throw out any numbers in the past, but I'll do so now. It's been speculated that over several millions of people did migrate from Korea to Japan in the ancient times, and over 200,000 people alone during 5th/6th centuries from Paekje kingom when it started to decline/eventually fell...

Anyway, it's a well-known fact that some Japanese people (of well-educated elite class) who are in the know, also privately concedes their Korean origin, and often mentions about Japanese Imperial family of being Packje origin. Of course, publicly it's a taboo topic to discuss...

The first-ever-emperor of Japan wearing Korean garment/crown/bracelet/ pottery/sword/etc., don't mean anything, I guess?!

Unfortunately, as far as I know, all the artifacts uncovered regarding royal or any Goguryo/Paekje/Shilla tombs/archeological sites/wall paintings/etc., all indicate of their Altaic/Scythian(Siberian) origin. No Chinese-related artifacts, I'm afraid...

I read somewhere that current Japanese emperor did acknowledge that he has some Packje blood in him by citing one Paekje woman (of royal ancestry) marrying a Japanese emperor in 7th century. That's the ultimate extent the Japanese will go to. You know, saying one Packje woman married a Japanese emperor (who's also of Paekje descent) is much easier than vs. the unthinkable...

Anyway, I'm getting really tired of talking about this topic regarding Japan...
In the end, you're absolutely right. We are all different and have different identities...

I'm afraid I'll have to stop now and continue on with my monologue/ramblings tomorrow/over the next several days. I ran out of time today...

I know some of you don't like my style of writing at all. But I prefer this longwinded style of my posting over short/brief summarized type, because I like to talk on this forum, discuss/give out my 4 cents worth of humble opinions.
Anyway, I don't represent my people/nation. I repeat, I don't represent Koreans/Korea at all. I'm One Korean Man and such only as my alias indiates...

One Korean Man Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 03:30:23 (PDT)

head shapes,

this is right: an ancient Chinese text describes the (northern) Chinese as fat.
The terracotta figures of Chin Shi Huang Ti represent different minorities,even soldiers from Sichuan,of course they include different types of people.
Eskimos are short-legged, but tend to be dolichocephalic,unlike many other long-headed populations.
rare stuff Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 01:11:48 (PDT)

rare stuff,

I am saying that the Oguz were a descendant branch of the Tu-chueh (Turk) empire during the 600 ADs. When both the Tang and Uigur got rid of Tu-chueh, they moved westward and the Oguz should be one of their descendant tribes.

It is well known that the Tu-chueh had been subjected to many decades of Tang rule. The whole nation of tribes were deported to China proper after Tang Li Shimin emperor defeated them and took from them their title: "heavenly khan." Later, they moved back to the Ordos region in Mongolia under Bilga Khagan and Alptegin minister. They complained that Chinese mistreated them and their women. Even the Bilga Khagan invited many Chinese and Sogdian (Persian) immigrants to help him build a capital city (Balasagun in modern Mongolia). The Tu-chueh were already a mixed race and it would not be surprising to find both Han and Iranian traits among modern Central Asians.

The DNA and genetic research already proved it. Central Asians have genetic markers found also among Iranian and Han Chinese populations.

Being a Turk (like Chinese) is a not race. It is simply a cultural identity. Many have joined it.

Turks of Turkey and Azeri-Turkic people of Iran are really Indo-Aryan people who lost their language upon conversion to Islam and submission to their Turkmen (ie Seljuk and Ottoman) overlords (ie beylar, pasha, efendi, sultan). They are not true "Turks." Even, so, many people in Central Asia are not true "Turks" for that matter also. Probably, it is only the Kazakhs, Kirgyz, Tuvans, Yakut, Bashkir and Altai people who are the true "Turks." (racially speaking)

As for Iranian/Han mixes: It is known that many Chinese had settled in Iran as merchants during the Arsacid (Ashkani) and Sassanian dynasties. Ekbatan (modern Hamadan) was a well known city in Chinese historical geography. It was a caravanserai (travel stop) for many of the Chinese caracan merchants. There are not enough records (on the part of the Iranian sources) to make mention of this because all their history books and records were burned by the Arabs who deemed it "non-Islamic."

And, the Mongols under the Ilkhanid Hulagu Khan had brought many Chinese officials (Bolad Ching Sang being one of them), troops (General Guo Kan being one of them), scientists, doctors, tax collectors, merchants and artists to Iran during the Ilkhan period. Persian art is a known derivative of Chinese ones, and the influences are still noticeable in modern Persian and Turkish art. This is courtesy of the Chinese artists at the Ilkhanid court in Iran during Mongol rule. The Chinese (under Hulagu's right hand minister, Bolad Ching Sang) introduced Chinese paper currency (chao) to the entire Middle East as an easier means for taxation. Even today, in Iran, the word for printing is still "chap."

Later, those Chinese and Mongols in Iran converted to Islam, adopted the Oguz Turkish language and intermarried with local Iranian women. They melted into the Persian populace.

It was perhaps the same thing happened in Russia.

But, still, people in the past had mixed freely.
tri Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 00:30:00 (PDT)

The settlement of Sogdian people in China, mainly for trade, has been recorded since the Han period (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Subsequently, the number of Sogdians in the Heavenly Empire increased remarkably. They took Chinese surnames (in the dynastic records they are also known as "the nine families") and they started to fill important positions in the army.

They also held public offices to control the immigrants and the Zoroastrian, Manichean and Nestorian temples in China. Such duties interested also Persian immigrants (especially nobles), who, after the destruction of the Sasanid Empire (224-651 A.D.) by the Arabs, were exiled at the Tang court.

According to a Chinese source on the Sui period (581-618 A.D.), the control of some weaving centres of Sichuan, specializing in the production of silks embellished with "western motifs", was given by Imperial decree in 605 to a Sogdian called He Chou. He was also an expert in the production of tiles for the surface architectural decoration. Click image

The Central Asian weaving techniques, in fact, were superior to the Chinese and in great demand because of the lust for exoticism at the Tang court. The Sogdian taste influenced every Chinese artistic field in this period. Painters from Central Asia are especially celebrated in the sources but foreign elements are traceable also in sculpture and metalwork.

The positions of the Sogdians at court was aggravated by the rebellion of An Lushan (755-56 A.D.), a general of Sogdian origin (his name is refers to the word "rokhsh=light -- the same as Alexander's wife, Roxane) who almost broke up the Tang Empire. But the Chinese, already threatened by the Tibetans, asked the Uighur Turks (744-840) for help.

The Sogdians were able to maintain their privileges in China because of the protection granted by the Uighurs, and increase their power at the latter's court. The Sogdians and the Persians, then, enjoyed the funds of the Tang court, at least until the arrival of Minister Li Mi (722-789) who refused them such privileges in 787. This was one of the measures adopted by the Chinese minister in order to oppose the power of Iranians at the court, and remove their control over the production of goods competing with the Chinese.

In 840 the Kirghiz destroyed the Uighur Empire and obliged the population to migrate to China. One group settled in today's Xinjiang region where most of the people are still Uighur, but another group was directed to the Central Plains of China, and then blocked by the Tang army who took advantage of the situation to slaughter a great number of Uighurs and Sogdians.

Another strike against the Iranian community in China was the religious persecutions of 843-45 against Buddhism, in particular, and foreign faiths in general, including Zoroastrianism, Manicheism and Nestorianism.

The activity of Sogdians in China inevitably decreased. They resisted along the southern maritime trade routes for some time but they eventually disappeared completely with the arrival of the Mongols in the 13th century. But they left an indelible sign in the art and culture of the Chinese, of the Uighurs and (indirectly) of the Mongols. The Chinese, in fact, adopted the division of the week in seven days, it seems, just because of the Sogdians. Many fruits and vegetables were introduced from the west, thanks to the Sogdians who are described in Chinese sources as being fond of music and wine.

The importance of Sogdian music and dance particularly in Central Asia, and later at the Tang court, should not be underestimated. The Uighurs, who nowadays have an adaptation of the Arabic alphabet, in the beginning adopted the Sogdian script (derived by the Syriac alphabet but written in vertical lines). The Uighurs handed down such an alphabet to the Mongols and it is still used in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Chinese Province. Later, even the Manchu founders of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) adopted the same alphabet with some modifications.

Traces of the activity of the Sogdians can be observed among the recent archaeological discoveries in Korea and Japan, especially regarding sumptuary arts. In the imperial repository of the Shoso-in at Nara (Japan) large amounts of precious objects (silks, metalwork, glass and musical instruments) were discovered which at first were considered the result of the encounter between Persian and Chinese art. But most probably they were produced in Chinese workshops managed by Sogdians, or where the influence of Sogdian art was massive.

The Persian influences on China Monday, June 10, 2002 at 23:36:38 (PDT)

Blacks tend to be curly haired. or frizzy.

Most asians have straight hair. Some korean, chinese, viets i've seen have wavy hair (they are light-skinned). i think wavy hair in asians might be a result of mixing with ainu, scythian...but more probably, it's natural wavy hair.

Do southeat asians or east asians have straighter hair? it seems to me southeast asians actually do but i never really notice that much.
gk Monday, June 10, 2002 at 22:57:45 (PDT)

It depends. Some Vietnamese are very quiet and shy. i think Koreans are very funny to be around with. So are chinese. What's attractive about Vietnamese is their wry wit, earthy attitude. Chinese guys are nice, intelligent and gentlemanly.
g Monday, June 10, 2002 at 20:54:04 (PDT)

there's no such thing as most beautiful races,

They have dug up various graveyards in Shanxi and these cemetaries belonged to aristocrats of the Tang. Among some of them were the daughters of Tang generals. They were written in both Chinese and Pahlavi (Old Persian) scripts. They detailed that these daughters of the Tang generals belonged to old Sassanian (Persian) noble families who fled to China from Iran after the Islamic invasions.

Back then, races did mixed.

Chinese back then were not as ethnocentric. They did not even have a national identity yet.

As to the reference that Persian and Sogdian dancing girls were favored at the harems: this book was written by an American. And, he alludes to the works of Li Bai as one example.

One can go to northwest China today and see that there is an Middle Eastern in many of the inhabitants. Even the genetic tests prove it.
China's Silk Routes in the past merged races Monday, June 10, 2002 at 20:02:58 (PDT)

Who is asian?
I think that in the list you made, the only group that should be considered "asian" is Indo-Pakistani, this is because of the location of the subcontinent [close to SOutheast Asia, and in turn closer to the majority of Asia, than the other grups on your list] and because of the contribution of it to "asian" culture in general [Buddhism, influence on S.E Asia] i just find it sort of stupid to be even posing such a question.
smartie Monday, June 10, 2002 at 19:10:24 (PDT)

Vietnam and Tang Domination
Reigner : Chinese Governors
Period : 618 - 905 (287 years)
Reign's Titles : -
Country's Name : -
Capital : -
Contemporary Chinese Dynasty:
History :
In 671, the Tang re-established Chiaozhou (Vietnam) into 12 zhou (small provinces),59 districts under Department of Annam Domination (DAD) . The Chinese rulers kept the administration of zhou and districts up. The DAD headquarter was in Tong Binh (Hanoi) with a big garrison. Beside the annual tributes, people had to pay many kinds of tax on capitation, family,production etc. Taxes were very high. However, agriculture and handicraft achieved certain developments for importing new technologies from China, India.The highly developed Tang culture also influenced strongly Vietnamese, the Tang opened many schools teaching Chinese scripts and culture. Buddhism took a very important role in society, the monks were also teachers, doctors, advisers, etc.
...

HistoryBrief Monday, June 10, 2002 at 14:26:44 (PDT)

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