Chinese Nùng

For the Tibeto-Burman people Nung, see Nungish languages. For Nung (Tai), see Nùng people.

The Chinese Nùng (Vietnamese: Người Hoa Nùng or Người Tàu Nùng; Hán-Nôm: 𠊛華農 or 𠊛艚農; Chinese: 華裔儂族) are a group of ethnic Han Chinese living in Vietnam. The Chinese Nùng composed 72%^[1] to 78%^[2] of the population of the Nung Autonomous Territory of Hai Ninh (1947–1954) located in the Vietnamese Northeast, covering parts of the present-day Quảng Ninh and Lạng Sơn provinces.

The flag of the Nùng Autonomous Territory.

All Tai ethnic groups in Vietnam originate from Yunnan (China).^{[citation needed]} The Chinese Nùng's name originated from the fact that almost all of them were farmers (nong nhan (農人) in Cantonese).^[3] After the Treaty of Tientsin, the French refused to recognize this group as Chinese due to political and territorial issues on Vietnam's northern frontier border, therefore the French classified them as Nùng based on their main occupation. The most widely used languages of the Chinese Nùng are Cantonese and Hakka Chinese^[4] since they descended from people speaking these languages.

After 1954, more than 50,000 Chinese Nùng led by Colonel Vong A Sang (黃亞生, or Swong A Sang) fled as refugees, joining the 1 million northern Vietnamese who fled south and resettled in South Vietnam, mostly in the Đồng Nai and Bình Thuận provinces. During the Vietnam War, Chinese Nùng soldiers were known for their loyalty to the US Special Forces.^[5] They often served as bodyguards to the Special Forces and were regarded as a good source of security for green berets who were recruiting and training locals.^[6]

Diaspora

 

A flag used by the Chinese Nùng diaspora to represent their people. Notice the usage of the coat of arms of the Nùng Autonomous Territory in its centre.

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, many of the Chinese Nùng fled Vietnam as boat people political refugees to Hong Kong and Malaysia's refugee camps. Most were resettled in the US, Canada, France, Australia, and Singapore, among other countries.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Ngái people

Notes

1. Trần Đức Lai 2013, p. 42.
2. Xiaorong Han 2009, p. 1–36.
3. Trần Đức Lai 2013, p. 3.
4. Trần Đức Lai 2013, p. 7.
5. William H. Mott IV; Jae Chang Kim (2 April 2006). The Philosophy of Chinese Military Culture: Shih Vs. Li. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 275–. ISBN 978-1-4039-8313-8.
6. Onion, Rebecca (2013-11-27). "A Forgotten Chapter of Vietnam: How an Indigenous Tribe Won the Admiration of the Green Berets—and Lost Everything Else". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-21.

References

• Trần Đức Lai, ed. (2013) [2008]. The Nung Ethic and Autonomous Territory of Hai Ninh-Vietnam. Translated by Ngô Thanh Tùng. Hai Ninh veterans and Public Administration Alumni Association-Vietnam. ISBN 978-0-578-12004-1.

• Xiaorong Han (2009). "Spoiled Guests or Dedicated Patriots? The Chinese in North Vietnam, 1954–1978". International Journal of Asian Studies. 6 (1). Cambridge University Press: 1–36. doi:10.1017/S1479591409000011. S2CID 145394772.