Comparing Asian Nationalities | Asian American Poll

COMPARING ASIAN NATIONALITIES
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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Elisa ,

Yes Elisa, this is the mind of Cantonese. They love everything... from Taiwan, to Korea, to Japan. Things they are not. There popsingers and actors/actresses are composed of Shanghai and Northern beauties that come to HongKong in the past. People like Joey Yung, is cantonese however...muahah cause she aint that pretty! And you can tell! The thing thats dumb about cantonese is that, they like these singers and stuff from other lands, but they dont even respect their country! They would always say japanese are short, koreans have big faces, north chinese are hookers, etc etc.... blah!!!
BLAH!! Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 13:10:42 (PDT)

To, the traveller;

Nice having a conversation with you there, but well, the beach is more fun then this. So i probably won't reply to any posts, either because i'm too lazy or by the end of the beach vacation i'll forget all the websites i visit...

BTW, what over websites do you visit to debate and such?
Looking Away Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 11:21:31 (PDT)

I feel that the Chinese...Southern Chinese in particular...are very similar to the Vietnamese...

There are only political boundries...but no racial boundries...
To me...the Vietnamese look alot like Cantonese Chinese...
Culturally though...I feel that Chinese and Vietnamese are really different...but then again...I am a Northern Chinese and I bet that some Cantonese Chinese would feel a lot more closer to Vietnamese than they would to me...
Honestly...I do not comprehend the Southern Chinese mentality as much as I can relate to the Koreans...even though we are all Chinese...

I want to learn Cantonese though...ha..
Yo ...Chinese...... Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 11:04:29 (PDT)

Dutch Advised to Watch Out for `Korean Imposters'

By Lee Chi-dong

Dutch people will have to learn how to tell Koreans from Chinese.

Some Chinese visitors to the Netherlands are reportedly trying to exploit South Korea's increased post-World Cup recognition by pretending to be Koreans.

South Korea and Holland have become closer since Dutch coach Guus Hiddink piloted the Korean national team to the semifinals of the football tournament.

A growing number of South Koreans are visiting the homeland of their newfound national hero, and are warmly welcomed by the locals.

Many Dutch people greet Asian visitors on the streets, shouting ``Guus! Guus!'' or ``Tae~han-min-kuk!'' (Republic of Korea). Some pubs and restaurants offer Koreans beer and food on the house.

``I felt very proud of being Korean throughout a recent trip to the Netherlands, but I was ashamed of disgraceful behavior by some Chinese tourists,'' read an Internet message posted on the homepage of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, which was immediately erased for unknown reasons.

``I saw a group of more than 20 Chinese tourists ask loudly and rudely for a 50-percent discount at a restaurant, claiming they were Koreans.''

An uncouth Chinese man even harassed a Dutch woman, saying ``Hey, I am Korean, tonight together OK?'' the message charged.

``In general, the Dutch think Koreans are nice and polite. It is feared that such a good image will be tainted by a handful of inconsiderate Chinese tourists,'' said Kim Jong-sook, who stayed in Amsterdam for the past half a year.

An angry netizen said in another Internet message, titled ``Shame on the Chinese,'' that ``your media downplayed Korea's feat in the World Cup by taking issue with referees' decisions. Now, you are trying to jump on the bandwagon of Korea's surging popularity.''
World Cup Korea/Japan Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 22:24:39 (PDT)

To, the traveller;

"It's so funny but this link also agreed with me that Quang Trung even tried to get the permission from the emperor of China to get the title "Vuong/Wang" of Annam."

Actually the site does not support you on that. It only said that Quang Trung wanted the Qing to officially recognize him as emperor to stop the chinese furthur attacks on vietnam from there after. Quang Trung didn't seek permission, but looked for peace due to fear of furthur chinese invasion in helping the Le as requested by the Le themselves. The thing that you fail to prove is that your little fact on why the chinese got involved in the war. You said that they got involved because Quang Trung wasn't of royal creed (i went back to read your posts). What i am saying is that is not true, another unproven idea you past around. The reason why they came in was to support the Le as the Le asked for chinese help from the Qing courts themselves. The Trinh vs. Nguyen war was not threatening to the throne, the Nguyen started the war thinking that the Trinh had a yoke over the Le and started it to take that abuse off of the emperor in trying to liberate the emperor (from that site, read it), while the Trinh tried to keep that control. The moment the Le asked for the chinese help, Quang Trung declared himself emperor as he saw it as an act of betrayal to vietnam to ask for foreign help. It's there in the site, read it.
It's all in that article. Good luck on reading! The passage is somewhere in the middle of the article, just try to skim through to the part where he crowns himself, all the info is there.
Hafti Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 19:53:09 (PDT)

To, An Nam Guy ;

Phuc and Dung? Yeah, they do sound funny when pronounced in english i guess...

I saw this korean guy who's name is telephone... lol, it's true too, he works at this restaurant i go to sometimes. It's just the funniest name i ever heard...
Hafti Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 13:09:13 (PDT)

To K and Hafti(or whatever):

K,
You posted, "Traveller:

Thank you very much for the links you've provided.

However, i couldn't find any part in which the roots of Vietnamese surnames was mentioned or any proof that Vietnamese surnames are the same as chinese.

For example, do you think SPike Lee is chinese origin because he has surname Lee?"

There's no website to what you want. You just have to know how to read Chinese to know where your surname originated from. The Chinese character is the most distintive and specific for you to find your backgroud. All these romanizations are incorect, to my knowledge. For example, many Vietnamese thought that the "Vo" and the "Vu" surnames are from a different family. In fact they are the same last name, you just have to know how to read Han's writing. I don't have that much of the knowledge on this area. However, most of the popular or ruling house surnames of Vietnam were once held high position or leadership in China before the indenpendent in 940 A.D.

Based on my opinion, the Vietnamese after 940 A.D. were mostly the Han's descendant. Therefore, they carried the Chinese surname. Later, during the chaos in China, the people of Giao Chi(later Dai Viet) broke away from the mother land, like many revolution happened in China, and made an independent territory for themselves. It's no doubt there were other ethnics in the region, but I tend to believe they were not the ruling class.

According to Dai Viet Su Ky written by Le Van Huu, the first person mentioned in the myth was De Minh, he is a legendary father of Chinese agriculture. De Minh was also the grandfather of Lac Long Quan whom married the Chinese princess which later given 100 children. Therefore, I would interpret that all the surnames came from China instead of Vietnam. Based on my opinion, Le Van Huu could have been a Chinese, or else he would enforce a local person to be the first ancestor.

From the excavating sites, the archealogists tried to tide a knot between the myth written in 13th century and the Dong Son population. In which, they gave a possibility that the Hung Vuong was the Dong Son era. This is uncertain, at best. Therefore, the Dong Son could have been either perished, decreased in size or, as what Hafti would believe, mixed in with the Yueh and the Han(including those of the Qin dynasty d/t a period of Trieu Da ruling) after the northern invaders seized their territory.

Here my question, was the Dong Son really the Hung Vuong era thought by the archaelogists? The Dong Son were not Chinese, they were an ethnic of Malay Polynesian, and they had no Chinese blood at the time of their existence. According to archaelogist, their culture didn't have any knowledge of a dragon as some sort of symbol. On the other hand, the Hung Vuong's worshipped the dragon, since their ancestor was the lord of the sea Dragon, and they had Chinese blood. From what I can say, the "Dong son" might not be the Vang Lang empire that Le Van Huu wrote about, or he had little to no knowledge about the Dong Son population. It could be a coincident also. Everything is possible, but the tide between the Dong Son and the Van Lang empire is slender and a guess, at best.

If you read this link, "http://www.viettouch.com/hist/", it stated:

"The "Hung Era" is rightly termed "legendary" by most historians inasmuch as no eighteen kings or generations could have spanned the nearly two millennia of prehistoric development in the Tonkin delta. POSSIBLY, the Dong Son period was related to HUNG VUONG dynasty because the displacement of the economic and social leadership of primitive agricultural practices by a monarchial apparatus responsible for the building and maintenance of an irrigation system of dykes and canals, providing against nature's vagaries of drought as well as floods caused by excessive rise in the water level of the rivers."

Let's not jump up to conclusion and state that the Dong Son contributed the largest portion of the modern Vietnamese, in which I have a big doubt. So the main question, what happened to the Dong Son after the northern invaders?

From this website, http://www.hawaii.edu/cseas/pubs/vietnam/vietnam.html, it stated:

"The people of the Red River civilizations, also known as Lac society, began to feel the effects of these newcomers who gradually moved into their homelands. Many historians believe that it was not difficult for the Yueh to be incorporated into Lac society. However, the Lac lords began to fight with the Ch'in princes. While they were involved in this fighting, another group from the northwest, the Thuc (who had once been the Shu of the Yangtze River) took advantage of weakness in the area and asserted their authority. The legendary king of the Thuc family, An Duong led attacks in 214 BC, created a capital in the city of Co Loa, and built a famous citadel, the remains of which can still be seen today."

So we have a mass of northerners migration to the area, that included a large portion of the Yueh(including the Thuc, since the Thuc came from the Yangtze river) and some Qin(Ch'in) colonies.

The Dong Son people fought two wars one with the Qin/Chin colonies and one with the Shu/Thuc, who later captured their territory. Thus, I would tend to believe a war could lead to a decrease of population. However, this was two wars that they experienced; hence, a large portion of their population could have been decreased. After the Thuc captured their territory, the Dong Son might have lesser or equal amount of population as the Thuc. Then later, as Trieu Da (or Zuo To) united the "Yueh" and captured the original Dong Son territory, which might had led to more destructive in the Thuc/Dong Son population. And Finally, the Han conquered the the territory. With all these fightings, how could the Dong Son be the major contributory of the modern Vietnamese?

In genetic, Mendel theory, after several generations of mixing, there's a possibility that the original trait ceased to exist in the offspring. With these to say, after countless waves of northerners migrated to the area, the Dong Son lost their empire long ago could not have been the main gene contributor to the modern day Vietnamese. Thus, from this genetic prospective, the Dong Son was a small contributor to possibly be none.

One evidence could vividly be seen through today's southern province of Vietnam. The Cham people were once the main genetic house of the area. After the Nguyen family and the Ming loyalist poured to the region and invaded the Cham territory. The Cham people were decrease in size, and this only happened 400 years ago. Whereas, the Dong Son had lost their territory more than 2000 years ago. Hafti, you claimed that the Dong Son thrived, how is that? The Cham people didn't thrive after they lost their territory. Why suddenly there is a double standard?

Possibly, during the 13th century, Le Van Huu probably saw more Chinese descendants in the area, which it led him to write De Minh, a Chinese person, as the first character in the myth. Or was he a Chinese descendant? But there's no doubt that there were other ethnics in the area. Or was it an influence from the Chinese culture that brought Le Van Huu to write such myth to be as equal as the Chinese empire, like what Nguyen The Anh at the Sorbone University stated?
The TraveLLer Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 00:27:40 (PDT)

To, the traveller;

"It's so funny but this link also agreed with me that Quang Trung even tried to get the permission from the emperor of China to get the title "Vuong/Wang" of Annam. http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/ealc/faculty/dutton/TSHome.html

Tell me where did I when wrong? You're too funny Hafti (or whatever)..."

The wrong part was not where he asked to be emperor, but the part where you said that the chinese interfered and fought against Quang Trung wasn't of their kin. BUT in fact, the chinese only set foot in vietnam to fight, AFTER the vietnamese emperor asked for help. They didn't come in because of one man who wasn't of their kin, but came in because the emperor asked for their help, so they did. THAT was the wrong part...

"One of my good friend, who hated the Chinese to no extreme, didn't know that his grandparents were born in China. His father and mother were raised in the countryside in Vietnam, so they knew little to none Chinese language or tradition. His father became an officer in the Vietnam armed force and also married another person with the same background. His parents who could only speak Vietnamese are proud of being a Vietnamese, which they raised him to no knowledge of knowing any Chinese culture. To this, my friend, for some reasons, hated the Chinese. Just 3 years ago, he went back to Vietnam with his parent and finally realized that his grandparents of both side were Chinese. I've never heard him curse at any Chinese since."

What i find funny is the entire story. How can it be a coincident that TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE who both hated chinese marry eachother and then BOTH of are chinese. C'mon, especially when your raised in vietnam! People in vietnam are ALWAYS loyal to the vietnamese nation, but never did i heard a person deprived to know of their past atleast up to their great grandparents. If your born in china, you would know how to speak in chinese. Being raised in a vietnamese countryside wouldn't change that fact at all, your parents would atleast say a few words in chinese. That's a weird and close to unbelievable story if you tell me. Plus the fact that the guys parents were from vietnam, they should have been raised by their chinese parents who all four (both sides) shoule have known chinese. Chinese people when talking has an accent because they grew up speaking chinese, i doubt that the guys parents can overpass that. Also that story is REALLY FUNNY if it's true. Lol, that guy should have visited vietnam sooner...

" I would tend to look at the Vietnamese of more an ingnorance, since he/she cannot read or write his/her ancestor language."

That's a pathetic argument for placing ignorance over another. The word ignorance can be placed upon all ethnics if found a good example, and all ethnics have an example. All races... The ancient Yueh or even the dong son i don't believe had a hand in the development of the chinese character. They simply used it by adjusting some of the words to fit the language then adopted it. Why can't they adopt another writing style? What's wrong with that? Is there some stupid rule saying that if you adopt something else then your ignorant? That's not the definition of ignorant. No one is ignoring the fact that they used to write in chinese.
Hafti Friday, July 19, 2002 at 23:32:28 (PDT)

You guys have your own religion, that is fine. Don't make fun of mine, please...

Daoism is more than just a religion. It is beyond that.

There is an African-American buddy of mines who abandoned Christianity and Islam and finally found his path to Dao. He is very well versed in all 3 religions and ultimately found his answer in life and inner peace through the Dao.
Dao Je Jing Friday, July 19, 2002 at 22:30:53 (PDT)

Hafti,

You posted, "Actually, the real 'viets' are the people of vietnam today. The viet ancestors are unknown, or guesses passed down by historians. But through conclusion, it is logical that the Yueh and Dong Son mixed to make the modern viets today."

Given that could be a possibility, after 1000 years of Han domination and with many waves of Chinese migrating to Vietnam, the Han was one of the Vietnamese ancestor also. What I disagree with the vietnamese historians/patriots was that they always consider the Han as the outsider, when in fact they could be a Han descendant themselves. This is like selling your ancestor for your independence, that could bring a curse to the descendants if you practice Buddhism or Confucius. I tend to believe the Vietnamese have a higher percentage of Chinese bloodline than the Dong Son, since there were countless waves of migration from the north throughout history.
The TraveLLer Friday, July 19, 2002 at 16:57:28 (PDT)

To, the traveller;

">>>I don't deny I am Vietnamese. However, in technical speaking, my last name "Trinh" is original from China. It could be written as "Zheng" in mainland China, "Chang" in Cantonese, and "Cheng" in Taiwanese when romanization. What I disagree with most Vietnamese is their arrogant and sometimes prejudice over the Chinese people who lived in Vietnam. Sometimes, they are ignorant calling the Chinese as "Ba Tau", not knowing that they came from the same ancestor or that they are Chinese who fled away from China earlier. If you look at this prospective, who do you think is more of an ignorance? I would tend to look at the Vietnamese of more an ingnorance, since he/she cannot read or write his/her ancestor language."

Like is said, ok. Why would the vietnamese be ignorant? The vietnamese didn't have a hand in developing the chinese characters, or did but whatever. Ignorance doesn't fit the meaning you are using for it. And can you trace the farthest existance to your last name? It may have belonged to a Yueh or other group. The chinese may have it more, but they can't claim it as a chinese name, because that name didn't originate from them, and they don't hold it solely. The name probably originated from an empire before the chinese, like the 7 states or something, which is also before the creation of the chinese. The chinese may call it chinese history.

Think of the Yueh and Han ancestors like this. Think of jesus and christianity. Think of jesus in comparison to Han. Think of china as christianity. Although jesus created christianity, the equivalent to the Han creating china, it doesn't mean that jesus was a christian or the han as being chinese at that time. But the christians came from jesus, and the chinese came from the han. Jesus was a jew to let you know. He didn't know what christianity was about, and was a jew not a christian. Same with the han, the han created the chinese, but the han weren't chinese at that time. So if your name came from china at a time before china existed it can be considered more universal then it is chinese, as there are more descendents to that name then just the chinese. Hmmm, hope that helps, hmmm, more rambling... (but let's hope it helps to let you see what i'm trying to say)

The thing is the wording that makes a difference. The chinese has always went through history to word things to make it like they are always superior or something always came from them, instead of sharing something with them, they consider it stealing. Like the vietnamese, chinese and yueh thing. We both have equal claiming to the yueh ancestry, but the chinese call the yueh chinese people not vietnamese. At that time the territory belong to vietnam, not china. And we created our identity at that time.

To, TSJ;

The separations like Han and Yueh is the earliest we know, so let's stick to what we know. The theory of everyone coming from africa and sharing the same ancestor is widely believed. But if someone tells you like it's true don't believe them because they can't prove it, only conclude it through welly structured evidence, of which can't even prove it as a fact. It's still a theory and that proves that it's still not a fact.
Hafti Friday, July 19, 2002 at 16:22:19 (PDT)

To, the traveller;

"Tell me where did I when wrong? You're too funny Hafti (or whatever)..."

The part that was wrong, was the part where you said that the chinese came in because Quang Trung wasn't of royal chinese kinship. But in fact, the reason why the chinese came in was because Le emperors asked them too. The Nguyen and Trinh were fighting to have an upperhand over the other, none of which fought to get the throne, thus no threat against the Le emperor.

"In fact, if the Vietnamese "Nguyen" surname were descendants of Ruan Cho, then it's simple logic to conclude that they were Chinese."

Lol, the problem with that logic now, is that i never claimed to be not partly chinese. I am already for sure 50% chinese. I WOULDN'T CARE, but the fact is that the name Ruan ISN'T a chinese name but of the empire Ruan that was destroyed by the Shang. The Shang knew nothing of the name chinese. We could be related but the vietnamese aren't chinese or even vice verca. But through probably a common ancestor. Being from the shang doesn't mean your chinese, the word chinese is connected to chinese history (history of the ancestors of the chinese, which is infinite) but the chinese as we know it today is shaped by the Han dynasty, of which the ethnic word han came from. And the earlier empire of which china was named after. How can my ancestors (during the Ruan empire) be chinese when in their time even the chinese weren't around?

So and the views on the site seems to be good. Ok then, let's not use it from now on. Plus i wasn't using it in the first place anyways, i was using that one you gave me.

"located on the northern provinces. So the "Nguyen" surname may have been the descendant of the northern Chinese."

The problem is not if we are relatives, but if the vietnamese came from the chinese or not. And obviously not. Both the vietnamese and chinese have an equal claim to the Yueh civilization, BUT the chinese keep on calling the Yueh chinese, how come we can't call it vietnamese? That's the problem, the vietnamese aren't chinese and the chinese aren't viet. BUT they are related and of which. It's like having the same father, you name yourself chinese and become one of the most powerful nations on earth, your younger brother names himself viet. Just because they both came from the same father DOES NOT mean that they both share the same first name. The little brother may be overshadowed, but it doesn't mean the little brother is also chinese. Using the northern chinese is a BAD term to use, because there was no such thing as such at that time. The northern chinese is a brother who shared the same father (shang or whatever) but it doesn't mean we come form the brother, but instead the father. Man i keep on rambling on...

Like i said, the vietnamese aren't northern chinese descendents, but if it's true, then Shang or Ruan empire descendents. It may be the same blood anyways but by saying that the vietnamese are the sons to the chinese is giving the status of the chinese a higher rise, when infact they are of equal and same rank due to the fact that they are more like brothers then father and son relationship.

I think that is what troubles ALL the vietnamese scholars, no scholar has denied the brother relationship in the relations to blood, only opposed the idea that we have more of a father and son relationship, which is degrading.

Hmmm, YEAH NO INSULTS THIS TIME, maybe now we can continue on the originally mature subject.

Hmmm, i believe that that is G.V.'s argument, but you seem to have misunderstood him. I know G.V. in REAL LIFE, so i can better interpret his views then anyone else here. Including the people you claim to be him trying to trick you, like Yup. I don't know who Yup is, but sometimes he steps over the line like when he posted as G.V.

To, TSJ;

Hmmm, that's what i notice, but i thought it was more of an asian thing. Oh well. I noticed that asian muscles are more dense and lean, making it stronger without all the size.

Also weather CAN be an argument, BUT only if they went WILLINGLY. If you can go willingly to hawaii which is like your homeland and of which you are accustomed to would you rather go there or alaska? BUT the vietnamese as a fact just had a war, and going ANYWHERE to hide would be good. Like you said, people who were SENT to the cold places had it bad. I live in Canada, my dad actually stayed in Malaysia as a refugee waiting for the USA or Australia to accept, but he was accepted by Canada first, so he left in eager. If you get to choose that is a different matter though.

To, An Nam Guy;

No actually G.V.'s aunt just died, he was about to go next year and lay it off this year but he had to go to her funeral or something. BUT he said he's gonna get me a wife! :P hehehe j/k

Yeah i hope him the best on his 5th or 4th or whatever it was trip to vietnam. Hafti Friday, July 19, 2002 at 16:05:24 (PDT)

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