The Nùng are a Central Tai speaking group whose language belongs to the Kra-Dai language family. Relentless Chinese expansion in the ancient times drove the early Tai tribes south from the states of Chu, Wu, Yue into Guangxi and northern Vietnam. Around 900 CE, Chinese warlords in northern Vietnam separated from China, declared themselves independent and distinct from their Chinese masters. These Chinese warlords succeeded in building up a sovereign state that is now known as Annam (or Vietnam). The Nung found themselves separated by the newly established Sino-Annamese border, however, the movement of Tai speaking people across this border had continued constantly until the modern history. The Chinese and Vietnamese attempts to bring the Nung under direct government control generated conflicts and serious rebellions. The most famous is the eleven-century rebel of Nong Chih Kao in which he attacked the Vietnamese, then swept across the South China coast and besieged Guangzhou for 2 months and declared himself the Emperor of Nanyue. He was defeated by the Song army and led his army back to the south of Yunnan where Nong Chih Kao finally lived along Yuan river (Yuanjiang, 元江) according to He Z. (2003). Vietnamese ethnographic texts report that there are fifteen different subgroups among the Nùng, many corresponding to the Zhuang ethnicity of South Guangxi, China. The Nùng Châu (Nùng of Lóngzhou Guangxi originally extended into China territory just east of their current Vietnamese areas in Lang Son Province), Nùng Lòi (Nùng of Xiàléizhou, stemmed from the territory abutting on Vietnam just about half way between Jìngxi and Dàxìn Counties), Nùng Inh (Nùng Longying, were once located north of Lóngzhou and to the west of Tàipíng Fu), Nùng Phàn Slình (Nùng of Wancheng); other types Nùng Dín (Nong Zhuang of Guangnan), Nùng An, Nùng Quý Rìn, Nùng Suồng (Nùng Zhuang), and Nùng Giang (Nùng Yang) are either named after their original location or their dress.
In the sixteenth century the descendants of Nong Chih Kao’s original followers sought relief through immigration into Vietnam. The exodus continued to a lesser extent up to the twentieth century. Once in Vietnamese territory, the Nùng encountered the Tày, already entrenched on the best lands. Nevertheless, the two groups were said to have made contracts that allowed the Nùng title to the hills around the Tày and to paddies of lesser value near the pre-existing Tày settlements. The industrious Nùng, however, had soon turned this formerly less valuable land into bountiful and productive paddies.
The purpose of this blog is twofold: (1) to assess new findings in history of Central Tai communities along Sino-Vietnamese border, Kra-Dai historical linguistics, migration pattern and history, Austro-Tai hypothesis, Nung tradition and religion; (2) to translate English texts related to these aforementioned topics into Vietnamese.
Posts on this blog are not expected to release on a daily basis since its owner is often away from internet connection.
