Vietnam Social Sciences, No. 4(168) - 2015 Ethnic Groups of Viet – Muong Languages and Dong Son Culture Bui Xuan Dinh * Abstract: The archaeological data have convincingly proved that the Dong Son (Đông Sơn) culture resulted from the indigenous development of the previous pre-Đông Sơn cultural systems in the basins of the Hồng, Mã and Cả rivers, closely associating people and ancient Vietnamese culture. The ethnological and linguistic data demonstrate the close relationship of language and culture between the Việt and Mường peoples, and other ethnic groups of Viet – Muong (Việt – Mường) language. There are a lot of convincing data to confirm that the Việt and Mường peoples once shared an origin and they themselves were the owners of the pre-Đông Sơn and Đông Sơn cultures, closely connected with the ancient Vietnamese civilization. Key words: Ethnic, Việt – Mường languages, Đông Sơn culture. 1. Nativeness and continuity of the - The owners of Phùng Nguyên Culture cultures during the period from Phùng were direct ancestors of Mường people in Nguyên to Đông Sơn culture Vietnam. They inherently were Mon, Man It has been 90 years, since Đông Sơn and Mân Việt people, whose ancient ancestors culture was discovered. Many aspects of were the very ancient Đản people – one of this culture have been decoded, providing the Mongoloid groups that spoke South important materials to elucidate significant Asian languages; they were the very owner issues in the history of Vietnam at the time of the Neolithic culture in Tanshishan, Fujian of national foundation. There are, however, due northeast of Guangdong (China). They still controversies surrounding some issues, came to Vietnam and Thailand by the sea. including the owner of Đông Sơn culture. At first, they earned a living by doing As there were not many archaeological harvesting and hunting in coastal and evidences available in Vietnam, in the surrounding areas of estuaries. And then, 1960s some scholars tried to find out the they started to grow rice and do gardening, origin of Đông Sơn culture on the basis of setting up step-by-step cultures such as overseas materials, such as those from the Phùng Nguyên, Đồng Đậu, Gò Mun in the Eurasian steppe (Janse, 1947), the Huai Red River Delta. They had an originally close River culture (Kargren, 1942), and Black and direct relationship with the Neolithic Sea Costal culture (Geldern, 1951). cultures, of which the date is earlier than Recently, in the book titled “The origin that of the cultures in Fujian, Guangdong, of Việt and Mường people” published in Taiwan, and Sichuan (4,000 BP).(*) 2013, Tạ Đức – the author – developed the ideas that Đào Duy Anh and Bình Nguyên Lộc used to raise in the past, as below: (*) Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Institute of Anthropology. 82 Ethnic Groups of Viet – Muong Languages... - The true owners of Đông Sơn culture advocated by archaeological as well as were La Va people, or Lạc Việt people, who other materials. In the Late Neolithic and came from Zhejiang to Vietnam after Mường the Early Iron Era, Hạ Long culture was people (more or less 3,000 years ago). Basically, already formed in the Northeast coastal area the foundation and development of Đông of Vietnam. This culture originated from Sơn culture are closely attached with migration Cái Bèo culture (in the Mid-Neolithic Era, of Baiyue people from the North. as demonstrated by artifacts found in the According to this explanation, there was layers of this vestige). In Cái Bèo vestige, not a common Việt – Mường ethnic group, ones found small quadrangular handaxes, which would be then split into Việt people Phùng Nguyên-like ceramic tripods, and and Mường people as seen at present. some ceramic pieces pressed smoothly and Moreover, the both groups of people were caved with decorative designs that are similar not native people in Northern Vietnam, but to those of Phùng Nguyên Culture (Nguyễn they were just “a general combination of Khắc Sử: 127-136). groups that migrated from the North” (Tạ During the following period, Nguyễn Đức, 2013: 104). Việt outlined some connections between For the past over fifty years, however, historical events in the time of Thục Phán – hundreds of archaeological vestiges dating King An Dương Vương (including Cổ Loa back to the Iron Age have been discovered Citadel, the Kingdom of Âu Lạc, and the in North Vietnam. They are genealogized as failure of Thục Phán) and relics of Kele below: Phùng Nguyên - Đồng Đậu - Gò Culture in Guizhou, China (Nguyễn Việt, Mun - Đông Sơn in the Red River Delta. It 2010). Tạ Đức argues that Thục Phán-An is viewed as the main process of foundation Dương Vương was a prince of the Chinese and development of Đông Sơn culture - the state of Shu; he was a member of the Qishi ancient Viet civilization. The native origin Royal family of La/Lạc Việt descents; “Vac of Đông Sơn culture has been, therefore, Village was the very destination of migration gradually elucidated. Most of all researchers of the noble family Dian” (Tạ Đức, 2013). have come to a common conclusion that According to the above-mentioned arguments, owners of the genealogy of Phùng Nguyên Thục Phán - An Dương Vương, who ruled – Đồng Đậu – Gò Mun – Đông Sơn were Lạc over the Kingdom of Âu Lạc at the most Việt people; i.e. ancient Việt people – the prosperous time of Đông Sơn culture, had ancestor of modern-day Việt and Mường people Chinese origin. However, Trình Năng Chung (Institute of Archaeology, 1994). Phùng Nguyên showed fundamental differences between Culture originated from North Vietnam and Đông Sơn and Kele cultures, which were it is viewed as “the beginning” of the pre- clearly demonstrated by artifacts, burial customs, Đông Sơn cultures, which then developed and economic mode. Although those cultures continuously through periods to become had a certain connection, basically they Đông Sơn culture in the Red River Delta. were different from each other. It is very The arguments of Tạ Đức were not difficult to find out any traces of Đông Sơn 83 Vietnam Social Sciences, No. 4(168) - 2015 cultural quintessence in the relics of Kele rule of voiceless pronunciation, the rule of culture; and vice versa, the influence of monosyllabic words, and the rule of nasal Kele culture on Đông Sơn is also very little pronunciation (studied by Nguyễn Tài Cẩn, (Trình Năng Chung, 2014). M. Ferlus, and Trần Tri Dõi), linguistic All the research findings obtained in scholars have affirmed that Việt language is archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics one of the languages in the Việt-Mường demonstrate that Việt people and Mường category (some scholars have further classified people have a very close relationship and it as a language in the sub-category of Việt- they share a common origin. Of all the Chứt languages). In the South-asiatic language disciplines, the linguistics plays a very family and the entire Continental Southeast important role in this matter. It is not only Asia as well, Indochina is viewed as the one of the first signs as well as one important major center for formation of the South- criterion to identify ethnic groups, but it is asiatic languages (Nguyễn Hữu Hoành also a basis to determine the origin and the (chief author), 2013: 92). Languages in the relationship among ethnic groups. The history sub-category of Việt-Chứt still maintain of languages is the very history of ethnic some common features of the South-asiatic groups and their relationships. Language is language family and some common features relatively “conservative”, compared with of the Môn-Khmer branch. There are different other cultural factors. According to the opinions about the initial location of Việt- Swadesh method (glottochronology) that Chứt language though, all scholars have identifies two languages that were split from agreed that those, who spoke this language, the same original language, the proportion migrated to many places, of which one of original vocabularies that remain after significant group moved to plain areas in 1,000 years and 2,000 years is 74% and the lower valley of North Vietnam, where 54% relatively (Nguyễn Tài Cẩn, 1995). they did wet rice cultivation and the cradle Based on comparisons of historical languages, of Viet people was formed afterwards. Vietnamese as well as international linguistic Recently, the Institute of Linguistics has scholars have found a lot of similarities in identified Việt language and Mường pronunciation, tone, and fundamental language as two among 11 languages of the vocabularies between Việt, Mường, Thổ, Vietic sub-branch in the Môn-Khmer branch, and Chứt languages. Especially, the similarity South Asiatic language family (Nguyễn between Việt language and Mường language Hữu Hoành (chief author), 2013: 51). is so great that many linguistic scholars The above-mentioned similarities between hesitantly consider them as two languages Việt language and Mường language make it or two dialects of the same language. By favorable for communication between people showing phonetic rules that illustrate Viet of the two ethnic groups. After moving and Mường languages were split from a from home (a place in the plain) to an area common language, including: the rule of of Mường people and staying there for a tone (established by Haudricort A.G), the couple of weeks, a Việt person can understand 84 Ethnic Groups of Viet – Muong Languages... and even speak Mường language. The similarity describes similarities between patterns on in pronunciation and basic vocabularies is the upper hem of Mường women’s skirts the most typical for language similarities and designs on the bronze Đông Sơn between the two ethnic groups. It is completely kettledrums – the symbolic product of the different from language similarities between ancient Việt civilization.