THE ORIGIN OF THE SEK: IMPLICATIONS FOR TAl AND VIETNAMESE IDSTORY 1
James R. Chamberlain•
Abstract Given the distribution of Sek and other Northern Tai type languages south of the Red River Delta, the hypothesis that Tai speakers originally occupied a north to south continuum which included the delta seems irrefutable. The homeland of Proto-Vietic lies far south of the Hdng plain in the interior regions of what is now Nghe An, Viet Nam, and Borikhamxay and Khammouane Provinces in Laos. Historical evidence supports the linguistic geography. In the year 535 AD two provinces, Ly (Tri) and Minh, were named in the obscure valley of the Ngan Sau, a southern tributary of the Song Ca, no doubt related to Chinese economic interest in gold. (Both the Sek and the Mene are associated with gold.) A southern extension of the same valley, along the upper portions ofthe Song Giang, is home to a Vietic group known as Sach, the Vietic pronunciation of Sek. As would be anticipated, historical events that culminated in the replacement of Tai speakers in the Delta with a Sinicized Vietic people were of a distinct south-to-north character.
Dedication No doubt this is due to the mixing of disciplines necessary to approach the relevant information. In a 1958 communication to the Journal I would therefore like to dedicate this paper to Asiatique, having pointed out that the Sek spoken the memory and departed spirit of Andre-G. in Khammouane Province was not related to the Haudricourt, a great multidisciplinarian, whom Sach of Cadiere and not related closely to Lao, it was my honor to have known. but rather resembled the Tai languages spoken in Guangxi and Guangdong such as Man-Cao Introduction Lan, Ts'un Lao, Nung-an, or Dioi, Andre Haudricourt remarked: First noted by Haudricourt in the 1950s, the importance ofSek2 to comparative and historical The Sek are experts in irrigated agriculture; they Tai studies became known to the Tai studies could not have come from China across the community primarily through the efforts of mountains since there are no traces elsewhere in Professor William J. Gedney in a series ofpapers Laos; rather they are found near the ancient and publications dating from 1965 through 1982, Cham frontier of the Chinese empire before the culminating in the publication of his extensive independence of Vietnam. One might ask glossary and texts, a large volume of989 pages whether it is a question of an old Chinese edited by Thomas Hudak in 1993. This deportation to the frontiers of people from impressive volume is the result of intensive field Guangdong carried out more than a millennium studies carried out by Gedney in the northeastern ago; and it would be worthwhile to see if in the Thai province ofNakhon Phanom, a location to annals the historians have spoken of them. which many Sek speakers had been transported
Unfortunately, since this issue was raised • P.O. Box 439, Vientinane, Lao PDR 40 years ago, no one has attempted a response. email: jimchamberlain@ hotrnail.com
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 27 James R. Chamberlain by the Thai military approximately between the Tai or to an earlier (pre-Proto Tai) broader years of 1828 and 1860. A few of the texts grouping. The latter was the view of Gedney, incorporated into the volume, and Gedney's one to which I subscribe and have illustrated in a notes taken from older Sek speakers in Ban dendrogram (Figure 1) first prepared in 1991(b). Atsamat, refer to original locations of Sek Also in 199l{c), I proposed that the Mene villages, but without much geographical language ofNghe An Province in Vietnam, now precision since these are oral traditions, not based also spoken in Borikhamxay Province in Laos, upon direct experience. Because the Sek contains a substratum of Sek-like features, language is particularly archaic in its preservation evidenced in vocabulary and in the tone system, of consonant clusters, and since the languages which leads us to conclude that there was a most closely related to Sek are spoken primarily Northern Tai (or closely related) group of in Southern China, the origins of the Sek people languages located to the south of the Red River are of great historical interest to the mainland of (HBng) delta which must have originally formed Southeast Asia, to the protohistory of the Tais, a continuum from Guangxi to Thanh Hoa. and to the ethnohistory of Vietnam. Therefore, In support of the continuum theory, in this paper I would like pursue further the additional evidence has surfaced in the form of issue of the origins of the Sek. the etymology of Tai ethnonyms and from Old The Sek language has been described Chinese historical sources to bring us to a point variously as belonging to the Northern Branch of where the interpretation of other more northerly,
TAI-KADAI
KADAI
KAM-TAI
Be-tai
Tai Sek Be Kam~ui Lakkia Hlai Ge-Chi Yang- (Li) Biao I Northern Central Southwestern
Figure 1 The main branchings of the Tai-Kadai ethnolinguistic family3
28 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history
~·'...... ~ ...... , ~,..,,.,...... -... .. ·~-- .. -- ...... ,... ,... ····-.. t• .. ) ..~ .... ~--1 '~ 1~-r·--.... -:, 1..,
...... -'l:... l '\,......
, .. \ ....,, ..... - ....·-· lit .. Houa Phanh .....,
ng bang Xieng • Khwang
Map 1 Annam in the Seventeenth Century
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 29 James R. Chamberlain
~1 B Song Lot> ~ B Nokong B Thopoibo
0 B Noton O B He
0 10 20 30 40
30 Journal of the s·zam Society, Vol. 86 ' Part s 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history
V ETNAM
NAKAI NAM THEUN CONSERVATION AREA
so 3 Map 2 Locations of Sek Villages in Nakai and Kbamkeut
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 31 James R. Chamberlain
in particular Chu, Chinese history is possible, at in their present location for 286 years. [see least from an ethnolinguistic perspective. Map2] Hopefully this will provide an ethno-historical The Brou at Koune (the last village on the frame into which additional data may be placed Nam Pheo and the closest one to Vietnam) relate as it becomes available. that names of former villages there were Ban Kiin and Ban Tong Haak and that the original Current locations of Sek and the Sach inhabitants were Sek. (interview with Xieng Souan, age 63, at Ban Koune, 15 Feb. 1996). The Sek The Sek village of /thruu3/ mentioned in The locations of the Sek in Thailand have been Gedney Text V in a doublet with /trn"I]/, is no amply recorded by Gedney and others so that it doubt the place name known as Ban ThO, just is not necessary to repeat that information here. across the border, next to the confluence of the In Laos, however, despite the efforts of Morev Houay ThO and the Nam Amang. The adjacent (1988), the most important and oldest locations mountain to the south is called 'Phu Kun Tho' have not been identified until recently in on some maps (probably /phuu khuun thoo/ Chamberlain's ( 1996 and 1997) technical reports 'Mountain+ source+ ThO'). There is so far no for development projects that have not been positive identification of a city called /s:XJI]4/ as widely publicized. mentioned in Text IV. The Brou center known Furthermore, it is now clear that there are as Meuang Bam(= /baan tab:>/= Ban Amang) two distinct dialects of Sek, one in the district is possibly located at the junction of the Nam of Khamkeut in Borikhamxay Province, and Amang and the Houay Taco. one in the Province ofKhammouane. The dialect In Gnommarath District, the villages of Pha of Khamkeut emanates from the village of Na Thoung and Phon Khene are Sek, said to have Kadok in the Subdistrict ofNam Veo who trace migrated originally from Ban Toeng. their origins to the village of Phu Quan (/fuu Other Sek villages, such as those mentioned kwang/) located on a small western tributary of by Morev (1988), are found in Thakhek and the Ngan Sau in the Dac Tho administrative Hinboun Districts. Many of these appear to be unit ofHa Tinh, Nghe An Province in Vietnam composed of Sek who after having been taken Gust to the south ofVinh). According to villagers to Thailand, escaped back to Laos. in Na Kadok, several families of Sek speakers The Sek ofNa Kadok live adjacent to Phou still reside at this location. Speakers of this Thay, Tai Theng and Tai Moey villages to the dialect are also found in Lak Xao Subdistrict, north, and to two small villages of Makang the villages of Ban Som Sanouk, Ban Nam (Vietic) to the south and west. They are active Phao, and Ban Houay Toun; and in gold miners. Khammouane4 Subdistrict, Ban Na Tham Kwang The Sek of Ban Toeng8 live near to villages (or Ban Nam Hoy) [see Map 2]. ofBrou (Katuic ), the Kri (Vietic) and the Ph6ng The second Sek dialect, the one which is (Vietic), while the Nam Pheo villages are found in Thailand, comes originally from Nakai bounded to the east by the aforementioned Ban District in Khammouane Province, and is still Koune (Brou), and to the west by the Ph6ng. spoken in four villages there: Ban Toeng (/ In both cases, culturally, the Sek are wet trn"IJ1 I in Gedney Text V), the subdistrict seat rice agriculturists who have established elaborate on the Nam Noy; Ban Na Meo; Ban Na Moey irrigation systems and terraced paddies. (/sin4 naa4 m....-ry"/ in Text IV), and Ban Beuk (/ Evidence of these paddies may also be seen at bwk4 naa4 trr3/ in Text IV5). The last three are the village ofNa Vang in Nakai District. Located all located on the Nam Pheo, a tributary of the on the Nam Mone, this village was originally Nam Noy.6 During the time of the Siamese established by the Sek from Na Kadok when occupation, most of the Sek went to hide in they were hiding from the Thai soldiers. After Ban K wat Cheo, between Ban Yang and Ban the soldiers departed, the Sek returned to their Lorn across the border in Vietnam. 7 The ones original village and were replaced in Na Vang who didn't were taken to Nakhon Phanom. The by more recent Brou settlers who have villagers at Na Meo say they have been living maintained the terraces.
32 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history
Ethnic-Specific Vocationality Cadiere makes essentially the same claim, and The Sek and the Mene are famous in their adds that the Ngu6n seem to have originated respective areas for their associations with gold. further north in the Ha Tinh area. Cuisinier also The Sek at Na Kadok have extensive gold mines notes a May village just 2.5 km south of Bai along the stream bed of the Nam Houay, and Dinh called Ca ay. (Bai Dinh is in fact only have been engaged in this occupation for as about 20 km from the current Sek settlements long as they can remember. Likewise, the Sek on the Nam Pheo ). Thus it is reasonable to in Nakai, although not now currently involved assume that the name, at least, whether Sach or with gold mining, have identified areas where Sek, was common to a specific area. Culturally, they believe gold is located, and talk about the the Sach are considered as more sedentary than subject with great enthusiasm. the other 'Cheut' groups, followed by the May. The others remain nomadic, at least in spirit, The Slich since many of them were 'sedentized' in 1954 As the pronunciation of the ethnonym /thre:e:k6 at Cu Nhai, only a half day's walk from Gia 6c DLll is rendered in Thai as Saek or in Lao as Sach (Nguy6n P.P. 1988:9). At the present time, Sek, the Vietnamese pronunciation is transcribed according to Nguyen V.M. (1996:142), there as 'Sach.' The term in Vietnam, however, is are 1,426 Sach speakers spread out among 7 applied to a group ofVietic speakers who inhabit communes in Minh Hoa District of Quang Binh the area of Vietnam that is immediately adjacent Province. to the Tai Sek speaking area of Nakai in Laos. These locations are close to the old Sek This cannot be accidental. settlements on the Nam Pheo and the Nam Noy. The Sach are considered by many The Nam Noy was in fact part of an old trail Vietnamese scholars to belong to the Cheut linking Laos and Vietnam called the Quy Hc;tp (Chili) branch ofViet-Muong. Others, however, road. And since the Sek say they came from consider that the so-called Cheut dialects, Vietnam originally, it must have been from this including Sach, belong to the Southeastern area. Whether they entered Laos first via the branch of Vietic (Diffloth p.c. cited in Quy Hqp road or via the Nam Pheo is Chamberlain 1997) [see Figure 2]. Unlike the problematical. Both appear to have been well other members of this branch, the Sach are established routes. primarily lowland paddy rice cultivators. The name Sach in Vietnamese has been Mene and related languages translated as 'division administrative equivalente au village' which according to N go, f). T. ( 1977) The Mene language is found spoken in many was a name 'recorded from the 15th c. in villages in Khamkeut District9 of Borikhamxay historical documents.' Cadiere (1905:349) Province, and in several other villages in the translates Sach as 'liste, registre, role d'impot,' District ofVieng Thong. perhaps indicating villages newly registered, or The Mene in Laos all relate that they came subject to tribute. The latter would seem originally from the area denoted by the doublet reasonable given the apparent Chinese interest Xieng Mene-Xieng My, in Vietnam, which, due in the area since early times. to the diligence of Dr. Frank Proschan of Indiana According to Cadiere (1905) the Sach are University (p.c.) who visited the area in 1993, mainly located on the upper Song Giang (Ngu6n we now know to be the old names for towns Nay), at the southern end of the Ngan Sau valley which appear on maps of Ngh~ An Province as and the beginning of the Song Giang valley in Xietng Lip and Ba@n Pott respectively. The the upper Nan and adjacent Son (Tr6c) valleys, former is located at the confluence of the Nam near the sources of each watershed. But Cuisinier Lip and the Nam Chou (Houay Cha Ha), near (1948:44) reports at least five families living on where the Cha Ha and the Nam Ngoen (Ngan) the outskirts of the Ngu6n village of Bai Dinh, converge to form the Nam Souang (Houay along Route 15 (the extension of Route 12 in Nguy~n), while the latter is located further east Laos) and claims that they have been replaced on the Nam Ngan. 10 From this geographical extensively by Ngu6n settlers in Quang Binh. location the proximity of the Mene to Quy ...
Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 33 James R. Chamberlain
Chiiu becomes apparent and is noteworthy atteignant 4 a 5 grammes, mais combien rares'). because Finot's sample (1917) of the Quy ... II y a deux sortes d'or: Kham Ke (ou vieux) de Chiiu alphabet is a Mene type language, marked couleur rougeatre et le Kham One (ou jeune) de by such lexical items as /k:YYt DL2JI 1 'to hurt; couleur claire. Le premier vaut 4 a 5 piastres le be ill.' Furthermore, the users of this same Bac (4 grammes) et le second 3 piastres. La alphabet in Thanh Hoa are called 'Yo' by production locale annuelle n'atteint certe pas un Robequain (1929) and Robert (1941). The kilo. Ce precieux metal est repute et des characters are archaic, and of unknown origin, 12 comen;:ants vienne de tres loin (Luang-Prabang) and written with brushes from top to bottom, pour en acheter. II est conserve dans les tubes right to left, like Chinese. Thus Mene and Yo pris dans l'extremite d'une plume de paon et represent a population of Tai speakers with a bouches a Ia eire vierge. (71-2) substratum of Northern Branch features, who at some point in their history were subjected to (After consideration, Luppe decided that heavy Chinese influence. exploitation was not commercially viable, at It must also be remembered that the least by the French colonialists of that era.) ethnonyms associated with the Northern Branch of Tai in Guangxi and Guizhou, and which are The homeland ofProto-Vieticl5 ultimately related to ethnonyms in Chinese histories of the area, are also found in this area Given this ethnolinguistic distribution, the fact south of the HBng plain, in what is now Thanh that Tai speakers originally occupied a north to Hoa, Nghe An, Borikhamxay, Khammouane, south continuum which included the delta seems Nakhon Phanom, and Sakon Nakhon. Indeed undeniable. So we should be able to at least 'Viet' falls into this category as well as may be offer a hypothesis for the homeland of the seen in the table below: Vietnamese prior to their arrival in the delta. In the first two cases the names apply to Therefore, in this section it is necessary to digress ostensibly southwestern ethnolinguistic temporarily into the realm of Vietic. groups that emanate from Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. Indeed, Yo/Nyo is used by two Vietic linguistically different subgroups groups in 'Vietic' is the name given by La Vaughn H. Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom. Yooy, Hayes ( 1982, 1992) to that branch of spoken in Sakon Nakhon in Thailand and in Austroasiatic which includes Vietnamese, Gnommarath in Khammouane, is known only Meuang, and many languages spoken in Ha as an ethnonym in Thanh Hoa applied to a Tinh and Quang Binh (in Vietnam), and group formerly inhabiting this province Borikhamxay and Khammouane in Laos. All of (Robequain 1929). the non-Vietnamese languages of this branch Like the Sek, the Mene are associated with have been referred to collectively by such authors gold and the gold of Xieng Lip was famous. as Maspero (1912) and Cuisinier (1948) as Luppe (1934) writes: 'Mttdng' (Meuang), an old Tai word meaning 'city' or 'settlement.' Cuisinier points out, Quelques centigrammes a chaque battee, de however, that this term is used for these peoples temps a autre, Ia chance d'une pepite (on en a vu primarily in Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa, whereas
China Vietnam Laoffhai M.C. Character I, Yi Yay, Dioi, Dudi Yooy *ngji!},c ? Ou, Ngo, Ngeou Au Nyo, Yo *nguoA K. 1284
Yue, Yueh Vi~ *ji"'iit( Table 1 Ancient ethnonyms 13 and 14 34 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history in Nghe An 'Mttdng' refers to Tai speakers,.and Conservation Area and proposed extensions the term Nha Lang is used for the Vietic peoples. in Borikhamxay and Khammouane. Within South ofNghe An, in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, the limited radius of Khamkeut, Nakai and Ngu6n is used to designate the main group to the northern tip of Boualapha, 17 languages which the other smaller groups are considered have been identified. Their considerable related. Since the groups referred to as Nha Lang linguistic variety indicates a time depth for and Ngu6n are less well known, the branch has this branch of Vietic of at least 2000-2500 for some years been known as 'Viet-Meuang'. years. Until recently most of these groups Although linguistic analysis sufficient to lived in small bands as foraging nomads whose provide a definitive classification is lacking, cultural traits became more specialized, their some lexical comparison is possible based on relationships with each other and their available information. Some of this is set forth relationships with the forest transforming and in Chamberlain ( 1997) but caution is advised in diversifying to fill the eco-cultural niches that the primary data is essentially postulated in Table 2 below. ethnozoo1ogical in nature, which may or may The groups classed as Culture Type I, the not be reliable as a lexical domain for true forest people, represent a cultural type that classificatory purposes. is practically extinct in Southeast Asia, and that The lexical evidence generally supports is found nowhere else on the planet. Diffloth's subgrouping (p.c.). This evidence, Beginning in 1976, the forest peoples were however, would suggest that the Kri-Ph6ng rounded up and brought out of their spiritual subgroup of Southwest Vietic be considered a territories in the forest to live in villages, a way separate sub-branch since many of the forms oflife to which they were not capable ofadjusting here differ radically from the other subgroups. with the tragic result that the majority of them Thus the following configuration (Figure 2) perished from the physical and psychological might be considered. trauma of being relocated. The few remaining The status ofThemarou is still problematical, survivors live in three principle areas, the Ate/ and in many cases seems to fall midway between at Tha Meuang on the Nam Sot; the Themarou Atel and Kri. And frequently, Mlengbrou shows at Yang Chang on the Nam Theun and Ban Soek forms completely at variance with the rest of near the Nam Noy; and the Mlengbrou near the Kri-Ph6ng and Vietic. Additional information Nam One (but now living on the Gnommarath on such groups as 'Arem', Mali eng, and Kata side of the Ak mountain). Other Vietic groups, would, of course, be helpful as well. located in the Noy and Sot river systems, have fared somewhat better as a result of their closer Vietic groups in Laos contacts with sedentary livelihoods, although In Laos, Vietic ethnic diversity is especially they still face many difficulties resulting from manifest in and around the Nakai-Nam Theun the abrupt transition that was brought upon them. VIE TIC I I I I I I I NORTH NORTHWEST SOUTHEAST WEST SOUTHWEST SOUTH I I I I Vietnamese Town Cheut Ahoe Atel Themarou Kri Mu<1ng Liha R1,1c Ahao Arao Ph6ng Ngu6n Phong Sach Ahlao Makang Mlengbrou May Malang Maleng To'e Figure 2 Suggested modifications to Vietic subgrouping Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 35 James R. Chamberlain No. Eco-spacial Type Vietic Group I small group foraging nomads Atel, Themarou, Mlengbrou, (Cheut?) II originally collectors and traders who Arao, Maleng, Malang, Makang, have become emergent swidden seden- To'e, Ahoe, Ph6ng tists m swidden cultivators who move every 2-3 Kri years between pre-existin_g villue sites IV combined swidden and paddy sedentists Ahao, Ahlao, Liha, Phong (Cham), Toum Table 2 Cultural Typology ofVietic Groups in Laos An identical policy was implemented in Khamkeut border area, but have lived in Vietnam beginning in 1954 where according to Khamkeut for some time. Vo (1987) [cited inPhong 1988] the Vietic forest The proposed relationships of these groups peoples were resettled at Cu Nhai, apparently within the larger frame of the Vietic branch of one of the relocation centers, either in the west Mon-Khmer have been provided in Figure 2. of Quang Binh or southwest of the prefecture of Only the 'Arem', Rvc, Malieng, May (Cudi), Hudng K.he in Ha Tinh (it is not clear which). and the more sedentary Sach, groups are not Arem, Rvc, Malieng, and May were placed in known to occur in Laos. 16 According to these new sites. Regarding the Rvc, at least, he information kindly provided by the Lao Front reports that at least one third of them returned to for National Construction in Thakhek, at least the forest after suffering from malaria, liver and one Nguiin village is known to exist in Laos, gastro-intestinal problems, and were reported Ban Pak Phanang in Boualapha District of living in caves. Khammouane. Many of the Ahoe who inhabited the territory Within the Vietic group, considerable between what is now Na Tane Sub-district of cultural differentiation has emerged and the Nakai and the village of Ban Na Va (now in groups have tentatively been classified into Khamkeut District), were taken as refugees to categories with ethnic consociations dependent Hinboun District during the war, and were later upon (1) history, ethnolinguistic variation; and resettled in Nakai Tay and in Sop Hia on the patterns of interethnic contacts; (2) modes of Nakai plateau. The main population consists of environmental utilization and arrogation and 39 households in Nakai Tay and 20 households modes of production; (3) epistemological and in SopHia. ontological premises manifest in cultural Several groups of 'Cheut' in Boualapha traditions. 17 were resettled in village situations. Those in This division into cultural types should not Ban Na Phao have been there for be construed as evolutionary in nature. Indeed, approximately 10 years, and those in Tha to the extent that we have been able to observe Xang for only two or three years. Other the Vietic peoples, their modes of existence 'Cheut' people are said to be in Pha Song, represent something more akin to an ecological Vang Nyao, and Takaa. An unidentified group niching which is manifest in conscious of' Salang' live at Ban Xe N eua further south, preferences. Thus Atel people who have been also in Boualapha District. residing in the village of Tha Meuang for over To the north, the Thaveung (consisting of 20 years have still not adopted the village way two subgroups, Ahao and Ahlao) are now of life, even though they are perfectly capable, located in several villages near Lak Xao, intellectually and technically, of practicing although they appear to have originated in the agriculture. A return to their previous way of vicinity of Na Heuang. The Liha and the life is still their preference. As noted above, Phong (Cham) and the Toum seem to have similar views are held by Vietic peoples who come originally from the northern Nghe An- were relocated in Vietnam. 36 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history The Vietic homeland Kaung-nam), including the modem provinces Based upon degree of diversity, linguistic ofKiangsi, Zhejiang Fujian and Hunan (we will evidence therefore places the homeland ofProto see that this is an over simplification); and Nam Vietic in the interior regions of what is now Viet (MC Nam-Ywat), roughly Guizhou, Borikhamxay and Khammouane Provinces, with Guangxi, and the northern portions ofVietnam. 18 some overflow to the opposite side of the Sai Nam-Viet was further divided into Lingnan (MC Phou Louang (Annamite) chain, to the north in Lyeng-nam) 'south of the mountain passes,' Nghe An and to the east in Quang Binh, that is, Guizhou and Guangxi, and, Annam 'the secured far south of the H6ng plain. Slightly further to south,' modem Tongking and adjacent southern the southeast, the greatest diversity ofVietnamese areas along the coast. However, in ancient times, dialects occurs in central Vietnam, presumably Lingnan was frequently used as a synonym for the area that gave birth to the Vietnamese Nam-Viet. language. Some of the history that led to the I have proposed elsewhere ( 1991) that the peopling of the Red River Delta with Vietic ethnonym 'Lao' is the oldest surviving term for speakers is treated in the following section. 'Tai-Kadai.' It is used throughout Chinese The diversity of subsistence type is history to refer to Tai-Kadai speaking peoples, interesting as well, since in Vietic, which we a conclusion inferred from the fact that the term estimate has approximately the same time depth survives variously (but only) in the modem as Tai, the entire range of livelihoods is found: names for languages spoken in the three main hunting and gathering, swiddening, and irrigated sub-families ofTai-Kadai: Kadai, Kam-Sui, and paddy cultivation. For Tai, however, all groups Tai. Eberhard (1968) in his pioneering work on are lowland wet rice farmers. In fact it seems southern Chinese folklore, classifies Lao (Liao) fair to conclude that Vietic paddy cultivation is as the oldest of the chains of cultural motifs, a comparatively recent development, and that predating his Thai, Pa, and Y ao cultures. He the Tai term Meuang being applied to a branch even goes so far as to propose the original of Vietic can only indicate a sedentized group location of the Lao culture at Chang-an, the in the eyes of the Tai. Thus we may reconstruct center of the Zhou Kingdom (453). that while the Proto-Vietics were hunter What follows below in this section is a brief gatherers, the Proto-Tais were sedentary wet synopsis of some aspects of the early history of rice agriculturists. Vietnam and Southern China which serve to demonstrate especially south to north movement Chinese historical records ofNam-Viet and other information that supports the general ethnolinguistic situation. It is not a coherent With the preceding Tai and Vietic overviews in narrative of events or a complete picture of mind, it remains now to examine the historical what is known of the history of this area. record for evidence that supports the ethnolinguistic picture. Of particular interest are The earliest evidence those events which take place in or lead to the I have discussed these points elsewhere territory south of the Delta. (1991a,b), so I will summarize here the main The geographical terminology applied to the aspects, especially as they relate to the territory of what came to be known as the nation classification of Kam-Sui-Tai languages. state ofVietnam is varied and complex, changing 1. The Kingdom of Chu appears between frequently throughout history according to the twelfth and eleventh centuries BC in policies of one dynastic tradition or another. To the two Hu, but especially Hunan in simplify this situation somewhat, the usage of the Tong-Ting Lake region of the Edward Schafer ( 1967) has been adopted, Middle Y angzi. This I suggest was a supplemented by relevant detailed information Proto-Tai-Kam-Sui Kingdom. 19 from Taylor (1983). 2. One king of Chu breaks away to Schafer (5ff) writes that the oldest Chinese Zhejiang in the ninth century BC and records divide the territory south of the Yangtze founds the independent kingdom of the River into two provinces: Chiang-Nan (MC Yue (not chronicled until the fourth Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 37 James R. Chamberlain century BC). This is the first split the historian's preoccupation with the nation between Kam-Sui and Be-Tai. state. However, once this species of political 3. In 333 BC Chou attacks Yue stimulating correctness within the discipline is understood, the exodus of ruling classes (Lo) to the the virtue of the work as a compendium of south. meticulous historical research drawn from 4. The 'Hundred Yue' emerge as primary Chinese sources, as well as a critical independent principalities throughout subsumation ofthe previous French scholarship the region which we know today as ofMaspero, Aurousseau, Madrolle, Gaspardone, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, and et. al., is unequaled. Tongking. Taylor divides the early history of Vietnam, 5. Eastern Ou inS. Zhejiang and in Fujian from the very beginnings to the establishment (Min Yue), which were absorbed by of national independence into six phases, a very the Chinese at the end of the second useful periodization which is adhered to in the century BC. brief synopsis below. It must be remembered, 6. Nan-Yue is established at Northern however, that Taylor's analysis is long and Guangxi and Guangdong. prolix, and I have attempted to extract only that 7. Western Ou (or Lo-Yue) from Southern information which has bearing on the topic of Guangxi and Tongking to the Col des this paper. Nuages (Aurousseau 1923: 260). 8. Chu was destroyed by Qin in 223 BC. Lo-Yue [From early times to 206 Bq20 Traditional Vietnamese early history, much of Sources of ancient Vietnamese history it based upon the fifteenth century Linh-nam Virtually all historical records relating to chich qwii, describes the territory of the Red Vietnam, from the earliest period to the tenth River Delta as being governed by Hung Kings century (the fall of Tang) and beyond were and L~c Lords. The Hung Kings are said to written in Chinese by Chinese historians. The have ruled the Kingdom of Van-lang in the earliest extant writing by Vietnamese historians region known as Me-linh (Mi Ling) situated on does not appear until the 14th century and even the northwest comer of the H6ng plain at the this history is written in Chinese demotic script. confluence of the Red the Clear and the Black Furthermore, it is clear from the ethnolinguistic rivers (Taylor 1983: 3). Vietnamese authors of evidence summarized above that the modem the Vi~t sti Ju(/c identify the earliest Hung King Vietnamese were recent arrivals in the Delta, as a contemporary of King Chuang ofChu (692- and that the movement ofViet-Meuang peoples 682 BC), the first of a line of eighteen generally has been from south to north, not the generations, also claimed for the Hilng line. reverse as most histories would have us believe. Thus Vietnamese history mimics the Chinese This historical bias has its origins, no doubt, in on this point. However archeologically, the area the Chinese historiographic point of view, which of Me-linh, has been shown to be the locus of was indeed one of movements from north to the late Bronze Age culture ofDong-Sdn which south, the direction of the expanding empire. began in the seventh century BC (Taylor: 4). At this point in time, I regard the work of But given the lateness of the Vietnamese sources Keith Taylor, especially his The Birth of many questions remain on the issue of the Hung Vietnam ( 1983) to be the most valuable resource Kings (also cfTaylor: 306ft). for early Vietnamese history. The book's main The earliest historical mention of Van-Lang weakness lies in its romantic nationalist endeavor is in Tang (618-907 AD), while the earliest to present Vietnamese history as a long struggle mention ofHilng as a line of kings is said to be by Vietnamese indigenes against Chinese from the Tsin (265-317 AD) but even this is no oppression culminating in the kingdom of D~i longer extant and is taken from a fifth century C6 Vi~t, or national independence, at the end of source (Gaspardone 1955 cited in Taylor). Thus Tang. Unfortunately, this viewpoint is only Hung, as a line of kings in the Chinese sources maintained at the expense of ethnic identity, the is also problematical, but Jao Tsung-i's (1969) true indigenous view having been sacrificed to [cited in Taylor: 306] association of the written 38 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history Chinese character with hsiung, the clan names thousand were captured and beheaded of kings in the ancient kingdom of Chu, would (Taylor:41 ). seem reasonable. The first mention ofL~c Lords is by Chinese Han-Yue [206 BC-220 AD] sources in the Han dynasty, a description that During the Han, Nam Yue was divided into focuses on them between the periods of 111 BC seven prefectures. In addition to Giao-ch'F 2 and (the year Chinese suzerainty was imposed) and Ctru-chan, a third province called Nh~t-nam was 42--43 BC (when the L~c Lords were defeated). added beginning south of the Hoanh Sdn The Hung kings were said to have been massive, that is south ofCtru-chan (Taylor: 30). defeated by King An Dudng (Ngan-yang), Han settlements began to emerge. Evidence of mentioned for the first time in the Kuang chou Han-style tombs have been discovered in Giao chi text of the Chin (Tsin) dynasty (Aurousseau: ch'i, Ctru-chan, and northern NMt-nam along 212). There he is described as the 'son of the the Giang River, but nowhere else in Vietnam king of Shu'. These texts describe only the defeat (Taylor: 54). of the L~c chiefs and do not mention the Hung The second century was beset by no less kings. Here also, in these Tsin dynasty texts, the that five major rebellions against Han authority first mention of Giao-ch'i and Ctru-chan is made in Nh~t-nam and in Ctru-chan. This locus of in the Chiao chou wai yu chi, a Tsin recension discontent in the south continued into the tenth of a first century Han work. According to century, and marks two significant aspects of Aurousseau (p. 21 0) the dates of their founding Vietnamese arrival in the Delta: south to north as Chinese commanderies would have been movement and a composition of Sinicized sometime between 207 and 111 BC. Vietics. More and more frequently throughout In the legend it is said that King An Dudng this period, attacks against Giao-ch'i were led founded the kingdom of Au-L~c after invading by disenchanted Chinese expatriates with strong Van-lang with an army of thirty thousand at the indigenous followings. end of the third century BC, presumably following the invasion of Western Ou (Au) by Giao-Yue [AD 220-589] the Qin, which forced the rulers of that kingdom The Cham state of Lin-i was established in AD to flee south. He constructed the citadel of C6- 192 by means of a rebellion in Tudng-lam by loa in Tay-vu, an object of much myth, rich in Ou Lien. Lin-i invaded Nh~t-nam in 248 which emblems of power such as the golden turtle and it annexed up to the Ctru-chan border (Taylor: the white chicken. 89). This inspired the people of Ctru-chan and At the same time, to the east, a Qin even Giao-ch'i to rebel as well (p. 90). Thus the commissioner named Chao To with greater pattern of unrest emanating from the south sympathies for the south, proclaimed himself continued in this period. King ofNan-Yue (Canton), in opposition to the During the early Chin, Giao Province added empire. Shortly after relations with Han were several new prefectures, among them Ctru-duc restored in 179 BC, Chao To attacked and which was formed of the southern portion of conquered Au L~c. Han regained control of Ctru-chan, in the plain of the Song Ca. This is Nan Yue in 111 BC, but in Giao-ch'i, the L~c likewise part of a pattern of increased specificity ruling class remained in power until their defeat in administration of the south by the Chinese. by Ma Yuan in 43 AD. Following this, history In AD 34 7 under the command of the usurper is silent as to the fate of the L~c. 21 Wen (said to have been ethnic Chinese and a It is of some interest to note that a number former slave), the army of Lin-i marched north of the L~c ruling families at this time fled through Nh~t-nam to Hoanh Sdn, and then on south into Cl:tu-cban. This population was to Ctru-duc and Cttu-chan (Taylor: 107). These important enough that at the end of the year hostilities continued until the 370s (p. 109). 43 AD Ma Yuan took his two thousand ships With the demise of Tsin, the £>6 family rose to into Cl:tu-cban, to the Ma basin and south power in Giao, beginning with £>6 Vi~n who into what is now Nghe An. Here it is written had served as prefect in Nh~t-nam and Ctru-duc in the Shui ching chu that from three to five before being assigned to Giao-ch'i (p. 11 0). This Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 39 James R. Chamberlain pattern of official assignment was repeated often, Chao To in the third century BC), and two another example of south to north influence in additional provinces, Ly and Minh were named Vietnam. in the obscure valley of the Ngan Sau, a southern Around 424 Lin-i reinitiated its aggression, tributary of the Song Ca skirting the lush seizing Nh~t-nam and raiding Ciru-dttc, the king rainforests of the Annamite Chain. It is likely established the fortress ofKhu-tUc at the mouth that the sudden appearance of these two hitherto of the Giang. From this position he was able to unmentioned provinces in the hinterlands is raid Ciru-dttc (Taylor: 115-6). The aggression related to Chinese economic interest in gold, of Lin-i was finally ended by a decisive Sung and perhaps secondarily, rhinoceros horn and military campaign that began in 446 and kingfisher feathers, products that were plentiful devastated Lin-i. However, Nh~t-nam soon fell in the area until recently. Although the records under Lin-i authority once again by virtue of its are not precise, I will speculate that Ly was in geographical location. Following the defeat, the valley of the Ngan Sau, while Minh was in however, the capital was moved from the its old the adjacent upper valley of the Song Giang location near modem Hu€ further south to Tnl where a major town by that name is located. kieu, near modem Da-ning (Taylor: 118). The successful rebellion of Ly Bi in 541 In summing up this period Taylor writes: likewise began in the south in Dttc, and, again following the pattern of the disenchanted It was at this time [the fifth century] that Giao's Chinese commander turned rebel, attacked north northern border was adjusted to the modern through Chu-dien and Ai (Taylor: 135ft). Like border between China and Vietnam in the others, who came before and after, the culture recognition of the natural frontier dividing the and system of government they espoused was indigenous Vietnamese political system from still that of imperial China. Interestingly, in the imperial administration. The Vietnamese were struggle that followed between Liang and Ly no longer a part of an amorphous frontier Bi, the followers of the latter are described in jurisdiction as they had been under Han and the sources as 'Lao Chieftains'. When Ly Bi Wu, a jurisdiction based on concepts of empire was finally defeated, his elder brotherLy Thien rather than on the indigenous culture. By Bao raised yet another army in Dttc to attack detaching Ho-p'u and establishing Ytieh the Liang forces to the north. He was defeated Province late in the fifth century, the Chinese in Ai but escaped into the mountains with the realized that the Vietnamese lands were too far 'Lao' (p. 143). This was in 547. Finally, away and too un-Chinese to rule in the usual according to later Vietnamese sources, a relative way. Thereafter, the Vietnamese were recognized of Ly Thien Bao named Ly Ph~t Tit gained administratively in a province of their own (p. possession of western Giao in 557, ostensibly 131). supported by the Lao of Ai, while Tri~u Quang Phvc retained the east. In 569/571 Ly Ph~t Tit Taylor goes on to note the fixing of the defeated Quang Phvc and took control entirely southern border at Hoanh Sdn, and the imperial (p. 153ft). The historians of Sui maintained that policy of not 'tampering with the cultural Ly Ph~t Tit was an ethnic Li. frontier.' Thus the 'Vietnamese,' who at this point in time in Giao-clii we must still regard as Sixth Century [Sui: AD 589-618] ethnically Tai, are described as belonging to the In the Sui Dynasty, in the year 598, Ling-hu northern empire while descending from a Hsi, military commander of Kuei and Giao, southern culture, a characterization that is indeed renamed several important areas. Tan-xudng well-suited to both the Tais in the north ofNam (and points west) became Phong, Dttc became Viet as well as to the ethnic Vietnamese in the Hoan, and Hoang (on the northern coast) became south. Lvc (Lu). Then, in 604, Sui reorganized the In the year 535, Dttc Province was formed administration once again, dividing all of around the mouth of the Song Ca, out of what Vietnam into three prefectures (as opposed to had been Ciru-chan Prefecture (or southern Ciru provinces): Giao-clii included the entire H6ng chan as it had been known since the time of plain, Ai was converted back to Ciru-chan, and 40 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 ) The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history Roan (formerly Due) became Nh~t-nam. (Taylor that in many Tang sources the terms Dudng 158ft) lam and Phuc-lqc were for the most part synonymous. But in the ninth century Phuc-lqc Tang-Yue [AD 618-907] disappears entirely and is replaced by Dudng lam. Tang began by reorganizing Vietnam yet again, Now these same three topnyms, in this time into a number of small provinces under Vietnamese sources referring to the period two 'central authorities' [see Map !-locations following the fall of Tang in the tenth century, adapted from Taylor: 169]. The first are relocated. And this is of vital interest to us administration included all of the provinces in here, because: (1) it represents a very specific the plains of the H6ng and the Ma, with Ai as movement from a location very near to the Vietic the most important province in the basin of the homeland in the south to the Delta of the H6ng Ma. The second administration was at Roan in River in the north; (2) Because the two most the plain of the Song Ca. important Vietnamese independence leaders, The reorganization was fixed in 679 with Ph1lng Hung (8th c.) and Ngo Quy~n (lOth c.) the formal establishment of the 'Protectorate of are said to have been born in Dudng-lam and Annam' (Annam = 'the pacified south'). In PhUc-lqc respectively. Although perplexing on addition to the main provinces, 'halter provinces' the surface, from a historical linguistic point of were established in order to pacify the many view the answer is obvious: Ph1lng Hung and ethnarchs in the hinterlands. Kinh and Lam (Lin), Ngo Quy~n were born in the south and led the at the southern border near Hoanh-sdn were Vietnamese rebellions to their conclusions in named in 628 and 635 respectively. the north. 24 Later, in 669, the southern border was more Returning to Tang reorganization, it is formally acknowledged with the setting up of likewise of interest here that the inland provinces PhUc-lqc also in the vicinity of the Hoanh-sdn of Ly and Minh, instated during the Liang massif. It is described as having been dynasty, were retained (only Ly had been 'appropriated by migrating "uncivilized Lao" renamed Tri in 598). According to Taylor's in the sixth century. The details of this are more map (p. 170), Tri lay north of Minh. As crucial because at some point in Vietnamese mentioned above, I would like to suggest that in history, between the Tang Chinese sources and fact Tri (Ly) encompassed the valley of the the later 14th century Sino-Vietnamese works, Ngan Sau, while Minh was located in the upper PhUc-lqc (Fu-lu) was relocated from the south valley of the Giang where the toponym may to the north, to the northwest comer of the still be found at Minh Hoa (or Quang Minh ?). H6ng plain, a fate likewise shared by An-vien Little is recorded from this area except for an (An-yiian) and Dudng-lam (T'ang-lin). (Taylor: uprising by 'refractory Lao tribesmen' in the 172,327ft) province of Minh. And 'Lao' in this case could This topic was important enough that Taylor be none other than the Sek who must have been {p. 327ft) devotes an entire appendix to its established there prior to the fifth or sixth explication. He relates that according Chinese centuries when Lyand Minh were created. Given sources23 An-vien was originally a district first the Sek ethnic-specific association with gold, noted in the Sui dynasty in Nh~t-nam Prefecture and assuming there would have been little reason (formerly Cuu-duc). In 622 An-vien was a for the Chinese to proclaim these two inland district in Due Province which became Roan in provinces without economic motivation, I 627. Between 639 and 669 this district was believe this hypothesis to be reasonably accurate. joined with Dudng-liim to become Dudng-lam Also, as mentioned above, Lao and Li were Province. Finally, in 669 a district of PhUc-lqc consistently applied as ethnonyms for Tai-Kadai was appended to Dudng-lam resulting in PhUc speakers.25 lqc Province. It location appears to have been Another small inland province in the area of approximately at the Hoanh Sdn massif on the the upper Ca was established in 635 under the border with Champa. Because they were name of Sdn. Located near Xieng Khwang changed so frequently, it is Taylor's opinion Province in Laos, this is approximately the Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 41 James R. Chamberlain location of the Mene gold mining area discussed elements should unite to mount such an attack, above. the answer seems obvious, that the core of this Di~n province was originally located just to movement were not aliens, they were the true the north of Hoan. It was incorporated into ancestors of the modem Vietnamese, Sinicized Hian about 650, but was reinstated as a province Vietic coastal frontiersmen, in large numbers, again in 764. Sdn was then made a part of moving north. The Chinese army sent to put Di~n. down the Black Emperor is said to have Ai and seven other provinces were numbered one hundred thousand. Taylor (p. 216) established in the basin of the Ma. Taylor regards speculates that many of these soldiers remained, this territory as a backwater in the center of the and that many were surely sent to Hoan where protectorate that was least affected by Chinese the rebellion began. rule, and therefore 'emerged in the tenth century Vietnamese traditions have not highlighted as the original and most persistent center of the this event, although Taylor notes (p. 191) that politics of independence' (p. 173). In the tombs ofhis parents and the citadel he erected ethnolinguistic terms, I would rephrase this to are to be found near the Black Emperor's say that Ai, especially the hinterlands, was a birthplace, and a temple inscription in this area vacuum filled eventually by Muimg speakers, reads: the language closest to Vietnamese, whose language and culture exhibit Tai influence as The Tang Empire waxed and waned; opposed to Chinese. The adjacent province of The mountains and rivers of Hoan and Dien Tntdng separated Giao from Ai on the coast. stand firm through the ages. On the northern coast of Giao, Lvc (Lu) province (formerly Hoang) served both as a Given the Chinese historiographic highway and a buffer in Giao relations with underpinnings ofVietnamese history generally, Kuangtung. Taylor (p. 175) notes that in this the Black Emperor's lack of prominence is not role as interface between protectorate and surprising. We have already noted the previous empire, it was more often under the control of pattern of south to north rebellions led by powers to the north. dissatisfied Chinese expatriate officials. Finally, Phong (Feng) was strategically Following a brief mention of an uprising by located at the junction of the Red, the Black, a military commander of Dien, the next major and the Clear. It held control over 28 'halter local hero to appear in Taylor's treatment is provinces' to the west and northwest to Yunnan, PhUng Hung. Since I have dealt in detail and provided protection for Giao from attacks elsewhere (Chamberlain: 1991) with the close initiated by the peoples living in these areas. similarities between this story and that of the Lao epic of Thao Hung Thao Cheuang I will not Vietnamese movements north repeat this here. But Taylor's interpretation of Taylor (p. 191ft) reports that following a period some of the names bears further scrutiny. After of relative security until 705-6, Tang authority the death of Hung, it is written in the Vietnamese in Hoan weakened. In 722 a man named Mai sources26 that B6 Pha L~c fought against Hung's Thuc Loan from a salt-producing village on the brother Hai chasing him into the mountains Hoan coast southeast ofHa Tinh (southern Nghe foreverP The Vietnamese word for 'father' An) brought together people from thirty-two which Taylor cites in his subsequent discussion provinces, including Lin-i, Chen-la, and a of the posthumous title accorded to Hung is Bo: hitherto unknown kingdom called Chin-lin a conspicuous borrowing from Tai, not ('gold neighbor'), altogether totaling four indigenous to Vietnamese as assumed by Taylor. hundred thousand, and styling himself'the Black It also needs to be reiterated at this point that Emperor' he marched northward and 'seized all the birthplace ofPhimg Hung was f>udng-lam, of Annam.' His success was short-lived and he an old southern toponym moved north to Phong was immediately attacked and killed by imperial in the later Vietnamese histories, no doubt a forces from Kuang. While Taylor is perplexed factor of its being moved along with the ethnic by the nature of this event, why so many foreign Vietnamese rebels during the Tang. 42 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history Taylor (p. 215) writes: 'All of the major dependent upon Tang, and (2) the anti-Tang rebel figures of the ninth century came from elements, many of whom had sided with Nan Hoan, Ai or Phong'. In 802 the Chams (Huan chao and fled into the mountains with the attack wang), with collusion ofHoan and Ai, annexed ofKao P'ien.28 these provinces for seven years until in 809 they were retaken by the Tang protector general Tenth Century: establishment ofthe Vietnamese of Giao named Chou. Chou captured the son of State in AD 965 the Cham king along with the rebel governors ofHoan and Ai, and rebuilt the citadels there as A number of southern leaders lead the way to a demonstration of the authority ofTang (Taylor: complete independence for Vietnam in the tenth 226). century, including the following: Dudng Thanh was the first major rebel leader Dltdng f)inh Ngh~. A general from Ai who of the early ninth century. He was apparently rebelled and ruled in Giao from 931, and was from a Chinese family who served as governors killed in 937. (Taylor: 265) ofHoan since the early eighth century following Ng6 Quy&l. From Budng-lam (one of the the defeat of the Black Emperor and Dudng southern toponyms relocated north discussed Thanh's family may have been members of that above), the son-in-law of Budng f)inh Ngh~ force. All of the major ingredients are found who was given a military command in Ai. He here: Vietic territory, Sinicizing influences, and took control of Giao after the assassination of south to north movement (Taylor: 227ft). his father-in-law, defeated the Chinese from Also in ninth century, B6 T6n Thanh and Canton in 938, and died in 944. His court is his son B6 Thii Tn1ng were anti-Tang Chinese described as very traditionally Chinese (Taylor: immigrants from Ai. B6 T6n Thanh was the 267ft). governor and military commander of Ai who f)inh B(} Linh. Succeeded his father who was killed by the protector general Li Cho for served as governor of Hoan under Budng Binh siding with Lao leaders. The B6 family dated Ngh~ and Ngo Quy~n, and, following the death from the Ch'i and Liang dynasties (479-556) of the king in 963, established the independent (Taylor: 240). kingdom off)ai Co Vi~t in 965. To accomplish As another indication of unrest in the south, this he relied primarily on support from his own in 835 Protector General T'ien Tsao sent a army from Ai and an army of thirty thousand general named Tang Ch'eng-ho pacify Hoan, from Hoan led by his son. In good Chinese and in the following year yet another military tradition he took the title of Emperor in 966 governor was sent there to assist him (Taylor: (Taylor: 275ft). 235-6). At the end of 862, Nan-chao which had Conclusions been threatening Annam for some time, invaded with a force of fifty thousand men and Giao fell 1. Sek is a small language with far at the beginning of 863. Records state that one reaching implications. In the field of hundred and fifty thousand Tang soldiers were comparative and historical Tai it is the killed or captured by Nan-chao and an unknown key to the reconstruction of Proto-Tail number fled to the north. Probably the highest Be-Tai initial consonants. For Tai and portion were local recruits and it may be assumed Vietnamese history, accounting for the that the victory of Nan-chao led to a severe location of Sek provokes a complete reduction in population in the Delta. Nan-chao rethinking of the basic premises upon was driven out by Kao P'ien in 866 (Taylor: which that history has stood for many 239ft). hundreds of years. The re-working of Of interest, in the wake of the Nan-chao war this history will entail the and the weakened condition ofGiao, are Taylor's reinterpretation of Chinese historical remarks (p. 248) to the effect that the existence records in the light of linguistic of 'two cultural currents' became clear: ( 1) the evidence from both Tai-Kadai and Tang-Viet Buddhist culture of Giao, militarily Austroasiatic. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 43 James R. Chamberlain 2. Many questions remain unanswered. The and Hoa Binh, is used as an ethnonym precise dates when the ethnic Vie1namese for Tai speakers in Nghe An, indicating actually replaced the Tai in the Delta are that the Vietic Mudng must have uncertain, but this must have occurred dispersed northward from this area, after sometime between the seventh and the adopting a sedentary livelihood under ninth centuries. 29 From an ethnolinguistic Thay Muc1ng influence. What was the perspective the Vietics were originally nature of this influence and what are non-sedentary inhabitants of the interior the linguistic and cultural traces? (as evidenced by their lack of an ludic Finally, what is the ethnolinguistic based writing system), one branch of history ofPhong? Situated between the which became heavily Sinicized (the Da and the HcSng (known as the Te and Vietnamese) and another of which the Tao to Tai speakers), it is also on became heavily Tai infulenced (the the northern edge of Mudng-speaking Mudng---cf. Condominas 1980). territory. Phong was usually a willing Was Northern Tai split into two participant of uprisings originating in branches Ou and Yi, both of which Roan and Ai. It is furthermore the were represented in the continuum south ethnonym of several old Khmuic groups of the Delta? If so, as the evidence now located in Houa Phanh; an suggests, then to which group did Sek ethnonym for Vietic groups in Nghe belong? And this leads to another An and Khamkeut; an administrative interesting possibility that results from term in Black Tai and Lao; the personal our suspicion that Sek is not the original name of important historical figures in ethnonym. That is, the example of Sek Nghe An, Xieng Khwang, Louang also gives us an example of entry from Prabang, and Sip Song Chu Tai; and it Vietnam into Laos that may also apply appears in the province names ofPhong to Yooy, who are found only on the ThO and Phongsaly. The true origins of Nakai plateau and in adjacent areas of this word so far remain a mystery. Gnommarath District along the foot of 3. To return to Haudricourt's original the lower Ak escarpment. question, linguistic, historical, and Geographically they are the next-door cultural evidence indicates that Sek is neighbors of Sek. And the closest and the southernmost extension ofwhat was oldest mention of this ethnonym appears at one time a continuum of Northern in Robequain's monograph (1929) on Branch Tai or Be-Sek speaking peoples Thanh Hoa (formerly Ciru-chiin and extending from the Sino-Vietnamese later Ai) where the 'Yoi' are described frontier through the HcSng delta to the as the oldest, but now extinct, modem provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nhge population. Thus one hypothesis might An, Quimg Binh, and eventually to their be that the Y ooy in Gnommarath are present locations in Laos, in Khamkeut the Sek who became Southwestemized, District (adjacent to the·Ngan Siiu valley whereas the Sek proper, were in fact in the former Chinese Province of Ly the Y oi who remained on the east of or Tri) and in Nakai District (adjacent the Cordillera, not arriving in Laos until to the upper Giang valley, the former approximately 300 years ago. To some Chinese Province of Minh). That is to extent this parallels the relationship of say, it did not result from the abrupt Mene and Nyo, the Nyo likewise having displacement of an original population become Southwestemized, probably from Guangdong. through contact with Phou Thay beginning in Nghe An. Notes Note also that 'Mudng,' a Tai word applied to the non-Sinicized 1 A version of this paper was presented as a keynote relatives of Vietnamese in Thanh Hoa address at the International Conference on Tai Studies 44 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history held by Mahidol University, July 29-31, 1998. Nam Pao, or Nam Noen depending on the portion of 2 I have retained the original spelling of Sek, ( 1) the river, the country, or the ethnicity of the people because it is consistant with the romanization used in who use the name. Laos, and (2) because phonetically the vowel is really 11 This lexeme, incidentally, appears to have a lei rather than I rei which is true for the Lao language cognate in Kam-Sui, as well as a contact form in as well. Cham (Austronesian). 3 This scheme is somewhat outdated on the Kadai 12 A recent article by Houmphanh Rattanavong side where data has been sparse. Jerold Edmondson ( 1996) suggests that the Quy Chiiu script is descended (p.c.) now believes that Laha, Buyang, Ain and Qabiao directly from an Indic Pallava source transported to are closer to Kam-Tai, while Hlai, Gelao, Cunhua northern Vietnam in the first century AD. Since this and Lachi are independent groups descending directly and the following century was the beginning of a from the parent language. period which saw the introduction of considerable 4 Originally, the modern province ofBorikhamxay Buddhist influence from India into Giao-clii this was part of a larger Khammouane Province, the name hypothesis is plausible although the details have yet of which was taken from the town of Khammouane. to be explicated. The presence of a large population This same Khammouane town, formerly a provincial of Indians and Central Asians in Giao-clii was well capital, is now a subdistrict in Khamkeuth District in recorded by Chinese historians, and was especially Borikhamxay Province. notable during the governorship of Shih Hsieh in the 5 lnaa ml 'southern paddy' was actually a separate latter part of the 2nd century AD, where the rise of village, now abandoned, about 2 km from Ban Beuk. Buddhism flourished in the waning years of the Han 6 Note that all of these villages are located in Laos, (cf. Taylor 80ft). The ethnic identity of the main not in Vietnam as implied in the Gedney materials. population of Giao-clii, however, was most probably 7 From unpublished fieldnotes of Khammanh Tai or Be-Tai, rather than 'Vietnamese' in the modern Siphanxay, Institute of Cultural Research, Lao PDR. sense of the term (Chamberlain 1992). 8 Ban Toeng is actually composed of two villages, 13 MC = Middle Chinese. This is the Chinese the larger Ban Toeng which is located on the Nam reconstructed by Karlgren (1923) and called by him Noy, and a smaller village called Ban Soek further Ancient Chinese spoken in the 6th c. AD as distinct away from the Nam Noy which contains a mixture of from his Archaic Chinese. The character references Sek and Brou households. Recently several families are to the 1923 work. Unfortunately Karlgren's ofThemarou have been resettled here as well. reconstruction of Archaic Chinese published in 1957 9 From Cham subdistrict in the northern portion of under the title Grammatica Serica Recensa at the district bodering the Vietnamese province ofNghe Goteborg, is not available to me at the time of this An, including the subdistricts of Lak Xao (Ban Phon writing. I will leave it to those more knowlegeable in Hong, Ban Houay Keo ); Khamkeut (Ban Phon Sa-at, the field of Chinese linguistics to offer more definitive Ban Phon Meuang Noy); Na Heuang (Lak 10, Lak reconstructions. But for the time being, these may 12, Na Khi); Nam Sak (Ban Phon Ngam, Ban Sop serve as illustrative. Khi); Sop Chat (Ban Sop Chat, Ban Sop Mong, Ban 14 Jerold Edmondson (p.c.) pointed out to me the 3- Phon Keo, Ban Sene Sy, Ban Tham Bing, Ban Phiang way distinction in the romanized syllable Yi, between Pone); Ka'ane (Ban Thene Kwang, Ban Pha Poun, Yi (Tibeto-Burrnan); Yi (Kadai); and Yi (Tai). Tai Ban Phiang Pho, Ban Sane, Ban Kok Feuang); Phon languages invariably show the C tone for this word. Thoen (Keng Kwang, Ban Kato', Ban Kane Nha, 15 Phong et. al. ( 1988), however, claim that the Ban Keng Bit, Ban Sop Gnouang, Ban Yang Xao, languages in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh are collectively Ban Tha Bak, Ban Kapap); Sop Pone (Ban Sot, Ban known as Chr.it, a word they say means 'mountain' in Tha Sala, Ban Boung Kham); and Tha Veng (Ban the Rife language of the area, that is, 'mountain people,' Phon Xay, Ban Kong Phat, Ban Xam Toey, Ban Na referring to their preferred habitat in higher altitudes Khwan, Ban Phou Viang). near river sources. This appellation, they imply, 10 The difficulties oflocating toponyms in Vietnam includes Arem, Rpc, Malieng, May (Czrdi), and perhaps is complicated by the fact that so many places have the more sedentary Sach, but presumably excludes the more than one name as in the case of Xieng Mene sedentary Ngu6n. Therefore, Chlrt, Nguo'n, and Nha and Xieng My mentioned here. For example, the Lang, although they are more general terms, are not Song Ca River is also known variously as Nam Lam, widely recognized. Muimg on the other hand, aside Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 45 James R. Chamberlain from its being a term for a specific group of dialects Ancient Chinese. Following this, it was used only in quite distant from the Vietic speakers to the south, is poetry until the sixth century, and then ceased to be too easily confused with the Tai ethnonym in Nghe used at all. There would seem to be no recorded trace An. As we have seen, even the term V i?t is a Chinese of the first syllable in the local languages ofthe area, word, but in lieu of any better proposals at the present, whether Tai-Kadai or Austroasiatic. 'Vietic' will be used here to refer to this branch, as has 21 For a hypothesis regarding the L11-c I Lo cf been the common practice in recent years in most Chamberlain (1991 a,b,c). academic literature published in English. 22 Aurousseau (p. 260) writes: 'The first mention of 16 These cultures are of a similar type to those kiao-chi as a vague designation of the southern found in Laos as described by Phong et. al. (1988), countries is found in the Li-ki (trans. Couvert, I, pp. focusing on the Rgc. He writes: 295-296), and in the Lu-che Tch 'ouen-ts'ieou. It is not until AD 207, the date of the creation of the first . . . les Rvc vivent dans Ia fon!lt profonde, commandery ofKiao-chi by Tchao-T'o, that it may cherchant refuge dans les cavernes ou sous des be established that the name Kiao-chi designates the abris de fortune faits de branchages. Refusant le Tonkinese territories. In my opinion this term in the contact avec les etrangers, difficilement beginning was essentially geographic; it designated abordables, ils menent une veritable existence de territories and not a people. The fact that this toponym nomades chasseurs-cuilleurs dans Ia Cordillere was a Chinese name of a commandery is conclusive annamitique. Comme vetements, ces hommes in this regard. I do not know of another ancient portent des pagnes en ecorce d'arbre sechee. Ils commandery name, under the Ts'in or under the vivent trois mois par an de cultures sur bn1lis Han, which has had an ethnonymic value. It was only pratiquees pendant Ia saison seche, de janvier a later that the name Kiao-chi, applied to the inhabitants avril. of the commandery, became more widespread, first to the Tonkinese, and then to all the inhabitants of This is the only mention of cave-dwelling, although the Annamite countries'. other Vietnamese sorces may address this subject. 23 Specifically the Chiu T'ang shu, Hsin T'ang shu, No mention was made of this practice during our and Sui shu, [all in the Pai na pen erh shih ssu shih fieldwork in Laos. edition (Shanghai 1930-37)], and the T'ai P'ing huan yu chi [Taipei 1963], and T'ung tien [Shanghai 1902]. 17 This system is based upon a modification of sets (Taylor 373-4) of phenomena suggested by Benjamin (!985) as 24 I have discussed the similarities of Phimg Hung applicable to the differentiation of Semang, Senoi, and the epic hero Thao Hung Thao Cheuang at some and Malay groups in peninsular Malasia. length elsewhere (Chamberlain: 1991). Given this 18 I will use Yue to indicate the ethnonym used in evidence and the difficulties surrounding the ethnicity the historical records, and Viet or Vietnamese to of Cheuang, one possibility that might be entertained refer to the modern ethnic group and national is that Cheuang was a Vietic leader struggling against language. It is indicative of the identity crisis faced a Tai speaking Giao. This would fit with the use of by the Vietnamese that the two terms used to describe the terms Mene and Keo in the text, as well as with the main languages of the country, Vi~t and Mu<1ng the defeat of Cheuang at the hands of Khoun Lo both referred originally to speakers of Tai-Kadai (L11-c), a distinctively Tai figure. languages. A similar situation occurs in France where 25 Schafer, who is a better source on Tang the ethnonym Frank refers to a Germanic group. ethnolinguistics, notes the following: 'A tentative 19 Placzek (!998:6-7) notes that the middle and mapping would show the field burning Mak in the lower Y angzi is the oldest wet rice producing area, north on the border ofKweichow, speaking a 'Kam with dates of 5000 BC and older being common, Sui' language; the wet-rice growing Huang [Ghwang], lending credance to this region as a Proto-Kam-Tai Ning [Nung?], and others, speaking Thai languages, homeland, since wet rice production appears would appear throughout the west ofLingnan. Beyond reconstructable at this time-depth. these would be the Wu-hu [Western Ou], possibly of 20 According to Aurousseau (!923), until the third Vietnamese speech. Scattered about in remote places, century AD, the full name ofYue in Chinese historical but heavily concentrated on the coast and on Hainan, texts was Yu-Yue, that is, /*jiu-jwiit/ in reconstructed are the Li . . . Also on the shore south and west from 46 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts I & 2 The origin of the Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history Canton appear the Tan, whose ancient speech is quite Khamhaeng Controversy: Collected Papers. ed. unknown.' J.R.Chamberlain, The Siam Society. 26 The extant Chinese sources are not detailed. 1991 b. Tai-Kadai Considerations in Southern Chinese Taylor notes (p. 331ft) that the hero's name in the and Southeast Asian Prehistory. The High Bronze Chinese sources is Dfi Anh Han, the last syllable of Age of Southeast Asia and South China. Hua which fits with one of Cheuang's names, Cheuang Hin, January 14-19, 1991. Han. The Vietnamese Vi~t fJi~n u linh tQ.p, a 1991c. Mene: A Tai dialect originally spoken in Nghe fourteenth century text, cites a non-extant Chinese An (Nghe Tinh), Vietnam-Preliminary linguistic work, Chiao chou chi, by the protector general Chao observations and historical implications. Journal Ch' ang (AD 791 ). Taylor also notes that the toponyms ofthe Siam Society79: 103-123. and titles used in the account are peculiar to 1992. The Black Tai Chronicle of Muang Mouay, Vietnamese historiography of the post independence Part I: Mythology. Journal of Mon-Khmer period, not to Chinese history, so much may have Studies. XXI.I9-55. been added or changed for political purposes. 1997. Nature and Culture in the Nakai-Nam Theun 27 This is perhaps in Tai /phoo84 faac4 boAIB4' Conservation Area. (forthcoming) 'father+sky+Lo' or Khun Lo, who descended from Chamberlain, James R., Charles Alton, Latsamay heaven to defeat Cheuang in the epic, although 'father' Silavong, and Bounleung Philavong. 1996. Socio has the wrong tone. economic and Cultural Survey: Nam Theun 2 28 Taylor relates these two groups to Vietnamese Hydroelectric Project Area. (2 vols) CARE and Mudng based on an article by NguySn Linh and International/Laos. Hoang Xuan Chinh-f>dt nude va con nguc1i thc1i Chamberlain, James R., Charles Alton, Latsamay Hl:mg Vudng, in Hi'mg Vudng dl/llg nucic, edited by Silavong, Panh Phamsombath, Khammanh Uy ban khoa hQC xa hQi 3:91-112. Hanoi, 1973. Siphanxay. 1997. Social Action Plan: Cultural Hayes (1992) however, having carried out a detailed Diversity and Socio-economic Development in glottochronological analysis, dates the separation of the Context of Conservation. (Vol II of the Vietnamese and Mudng at 1255 ± 165 years, that is Environmental and Social Action Plan for Nakai the twelth century at the earliest. Nam Theun Catchment and Corridor Areas). 29 The majority of Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese IUCN, Vientiane. are of Tang (MC) origin (Vudng 1975). Condominas, Georges. 1980. L 'Espace Sociale: A Propos de l'Asie du Sud-Est. Flammarion, Paris. References Cuisinier, Jeanne. 1948. Les Mu 'o 'ng: geographique humaine et sociologie. Paris, Institute [For references to specific editions of primary d'Ethnologie. sources in Chinese and Vietnamese see Eberhard, W. 1968. The Local Cultures ofSouth and Aurousseau: 1923; Gaspardone: 1955; Schafer East China. Leiden: E. J. Brill. 1967; and Taylor 1983 below.] Finot, Louis. 1917. Recherches sur Ia Litterature Laotienne. Bulletin de I' Ecole fran9aise d' Aurousseau, Leonard. 1923. Le premiere conquete Extreme-Orient 17.5. chinoise des pays annamites. Bulletin de I' Ecole Gaspardone, Emile. 1955. Champs Lo et Champs :fran9aise d' Extreme-Orient XXIII. 137-264. Hiong. Journal Asiatique 243: 461-77. Benjamin, Geoffrey. 1985. In the long term: three Gedney, William J. 1993. The Saek Language: themes in Malayan Cultural Ecology. in Cultural Glossary, Texts, and Translations. ed. Thomas J. Values and Human Ecology in Southeast Asia. Hudak. Michigan Papers on South and Southeast eds. K. Hutterer, T. Rambo, and G. Lovelace. Asia No. 41, Center for South and Southeast Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asian Asian Studies, The University of Michigan, Ann Studies. The University of Michigan. Number 27. Arbor. Cadiere, M.L. 1905. Les Haute Vallees du Song Haudricourt, Andre-G. 1958. Les Sek de Ia province Gianh. Bulletin de I' Ecole fran9aise d' Extreme du Cammon (Laos), migration thai ou deportation OrientV: 349-367. chinoise? Journal Asiatique 246:107-08. Chamberlain, James R. 1991a. The efficacy of the P/ Hayes, La Vaughn H. 1982. The mutation of R in PH distinction in Tai languages. in The Ram pre-Thavung. Mon-Khmer Studies 12: 91-122. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts I & 2 47 James R. Chamberlain __. 1992. Vietic and Viet-Muong: a new Vltdng dl/llg nucic, edited by Uy ban khoa hQc subgrouping. Mon-Khmer Studies 21: 211-28. xa h9i 3:91-112. Hanoi. Houmphanh Rattanavong. 1996. Quy Chau's Script. NguyBn PhU-Phong, Trfut Tri-Doi, and M. Ferlus. ** Lanxang Heritage Journal! (2): 1-40. (no date) Lexique Vietnamien-Rqc-Francais. Jao Tsung-1. 1969. Wu Yueh wen-hua. BIHP Universite de Paris VIII, Sudestasie. Academica Sinica 41 (4): 609-36. Placzek, James A. 1998. Southeast Asia as the cradle Karlgren, Bernhard. 1923. Analytic Dictionary of of Asian culture-and the place of Tai within it. Chinese and Sino-Japanese. Reprinted 1974. First International Conference on Tai Studies, Dover, New York. Bangkok, July 29-31. Mahidol University. Luppe, Albert. 1934. Muongs de Cua-Rao: Etude Robequain, Charles. 1929. Le Thanh Hoa. Ecole Monographique. Imp. d'Extreme-Orient, Hanoi. fran9aise d' Extreme-Orient, Paris et Bruxelles. Macey, Paul. 1907. Etude ethnographique et Robert, R. 1941. Notes sur les Tay Deng de Lang linguistique sue les K'Katiam-Pong-Houk, dits: Chlinh (Thanh Hoa-Annam). Institute Thai Pong (Province du Cammon-Laos). Revue Indochinois pour I'Etude de l'Homme, Memoire Indochinoise 5: 1411-24. No.1. Imp. d'Extreme-Orient, Hanoi. Maspero, Henri. 1912. Etude sur Ia phonetique Schafer, Edward H. 1967. The Vermillion Bird. historique de Ia langue annamite: les initiates. University of California Press, Berkely. Bulletin de 1' Ecole fran9aise d' Extreme-Orient Taylor, Keith W. 1983. The Birth of Vietnam. 12 (1): 1-127. University of California Press, Berkeley. Morev, L. N. 1988. The Sek Language. Moscow: Vo Xuan Trang. 1987. Situation preoccupante des Nauka. Rue de Binh Tri Thien. Song Huong 28, Hue. Ngo E>uc Thjnh. 1977. (Sur Ia repartition et Vuong, LQc. 1975. Glimpses of the evolution of the !'appellation administative des villages a Quang Vietnamese language. Linguistic Essays Binh avant Ia revolution d'Aout.) La campagne (Vietnamese Studies 40). vietnamienne atra.vers l'histoire. Hanoi: Nha x.b. Khoa hQC xa hOi, pp 40 1-416. KEYWORDS-HISTORICAL LINGUIS NguyBn Linh and Hoang Xuan Chinh. 1973. E>~t TICS, SOUTHEAST ASIA, LAOS, VIET nude va con nguCii thCii Himg Vuong. in Hrmg NAM, SEK, SACH, TAl 48 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2