Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [364]
Vietnam’s ethnic minorities |
Minorities in the northern highlands
The mountains of northern Vietnam are home to a large number of ethnic groups, all of them originating from southern China. The dominant minorities are the Tay and Thai, both feudal societies who once held sway over their weaker neighbours. These powerful, well-established groups farm the fertile, valley-bottom land, while Hmong and Dao people, who only arrived in Vietnam at the end of the eighteenth century, occupy the least hospitable land at the highest altitudes. These isolated groups have been better able to lead an independent life and to preserve their traditional customs, though most exist at near-subsistence levels. Local markets, usually held at weekly intervals, fulfil an important role in social and economic life in the highlands; the best known are at Sa Pa and Bac Ha, though there are others throughout the area (see "The far north" for details). Most groups maintain a tradition of call-and-response singing, which is performed at ceremonies and festivals.
Vietnam’s ethnic minorities | Minorities in the northern highlands |
Tay
The Tay are Vietnam’s largest minority group living in the highlands, with an estimated population of 1.5 million, concentrated in the northeast, from the Red River Valley east to the coastal plain, where they settled over 2000 years ago. Through centuries of close contact with lowlanders, Tay society has been strongly influenced by Viet culture, sharing many common rituals and Confucian practices.
Many Tay have now adopted Viet architecture and dress, but it’s still possible to find villages of thatched stilthouses, characterized by a railed balcony around the building. Nowadays it’s largely the women who still wear the Tay’s traditional long, belted dress of indigo-dyed cloth, with a similarly plain, knotted headscarf peaked at the front and set off with lots of silver jewellery. Tay farmers are famous for their animal husbandry, and they also specialize in fish-farming and growing high-value crops, such as anise, tobacco, soya and cinnamon.
The Tay have developed advanced irrigation systems for wet-rice cultivation, including the huge waterwheels found beside rivers in the northeast. They have had a written language – based on Chinese ideograms – since the fifteenth century, fostering a strong literary tradition; call-and-response singing is also popular, as are theatrical performances, kite-flying and a whole variety of other games. Some Tay groups in the more remote regions occasionally erect a funeral house, decorated with fluttering slips of white paper, over a new grave.
Vietnam’s ethnic minorities | Minorities in the northern highlands |
Thai
The Thai minority numbers around 1.3 million, and is the dominant group in the northwest mountains from the Red River south to Nghe An, though most live in Lai Chau and Son La provinces. They are distantly related to the Thai of Thailand and to groups in southern China, their ancestral homeland. However, Thai people have been living in Vietnam for at least 2000 years and show similarities with both Viet and Tay cultures. Traditional Thai society was strongly hierarchical, ruled over by feudal lords who controlled vast land-holdings worked by the villagers. Their written language, which is based on Sanskrit, has furnished a literary legacy dating back five centuries, including epic poems, histories and a wealth of folklore. The Thai are also famous for their unique dance repertoire and finely woven brocades decorated with