The “Minh Hương” of Vietnam: A Perspective of the Change in Ethnic Identity of the Chinese Diaspora in Vietnam

The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Research Fellow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), Vietnam.

1 The ethnic Chinese of Vietnam are known locally as the Hoa. In this study, we use the term Chinese diaspora to reflect the entire history of the Chinese people in Vietnam.

2 Đào Duy Anh, Đất nước Việt Nam qua các đời [Vietnam in Various Dylasties], parts I-VII (Huế: Thuận hoá, 1994).

3 Lu Shih-p’eng, ed., 呂士朋 著, 北屬時期的越南: 中越關係史之一 [Vietnam During the Period of Chinese Rule IIIrd Century B.C. to Xth Century A.D.-History of Sino-Vietnamese Relations, I.-] (Taibei: Huah Shyn Press, 1977), 47.

4 Jennifer Holmgren, Chinese Colonisation of North Vietnam: Administrative Geography and Political Development in the Tongking Delta, first to sixth centuries A.D (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1980), 6–7.

5 Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn [The Complete Book of the Historical Records of Đại Việt] (complete edition) (Hà Nội: Thời đại, 2011), 573.

6 It might seem confusing as the Vietnamese name for “Minh Hương” never actually changed, but the way to refer to them in Chinese did. Instead of using “明香” (Míng-xiāng) they became known as “明鄉” (Míng-xiāng), which is actually pronounced almost exactly the same but has a separate meaning as “鄉” refers to the notion of a community.

7 See Alain G. Marsot, The Chinese Community in Vietnam under the French (San Francisco: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1993); Châu Hải, Các nhóm cộng đồng người Hoa ở Việt Nam [Ethnic Chinese Communities in Vietnam] (Hà Nội: Khoa học Xã hội, 1992); Chen Da-zhe 陳大哲, 越南華僑概況 [Overview of Vietnam’s Overseas Chinese] (Taibei: Zhengzhong Shuju, 1989); C. P. FitzGerald, The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People (New Work – Washington: Praeger Publishers, 1972); Đào Trinh Nhất, Thế lực Khách trú và vấn đề di dân vào Nam Kỳ [The Position of the Overseas Chinese and Problems of Emigration into Nam Ky] (Hà Nội, 1924); Nguyễn Văn Huy, Người Hoa tại Việt Nam [The Hoa in Vietnam] (Paris, 1993); Trần Khánh, “Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Their Identity,” in Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians, edited by Leo Suryadinata (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1997); Chen Ching-ho, “Mấy điều nhận xét về Minh-hương-xã và các cổ tích tại Hội An” [Some Observations about the Village of Minh Huong and Monuments at Faifo (Hoi An), Central Vietnam], Việt Nam khảo cổ tập san, số 1, 1960, Sài Gòn; Chen Jinghe (Chen Ching-ho) 陳荊和, 清初鄭成功殘部之移殖南圻(上) [The migration of the Zheng partisans to southern Vietnam (Part 1)], 新亞學報 [New Asia Journal] 1, no. 5 (1960): 413–85; Chen Jinghe (Chen Ching-ho) 陳荊和, 清初鄭成功殘部之移殖南圻(下) [The Migration of the Zheng Partisans to Southern Vietnam (Part 2)], 新亞學報 [New Asia Journal] 2, no. 8 (1968): 443–59; Chen Jinghe (Chen Ching-ho) 陳荊和,  承天明鄉社陳氏正譜 [A Brief Study of the Family Register of the Trans, a Ming Refugee Family in Minh-Huong-Xa, Thua-Thien (Central Vietnam)] (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1964); Tsai Maw Kuey, Les Chinois au Sud – Vietnam [The Chinese in the South – Vietnam] (Paris: Biblothque National, 1968).

8 See Ruchiro Fujiwara, “Chính sách đối với dân Trung Hoa di cư của các triều đại Việt Nam” [Policies of the Vietnamese dynasties towards Chinese immigrats], Việt Nam khảo cổ tập san 8 (1974): 143–74; Luong Nhi Ky, “The Chinese in Vietnam: A Study of Vietnamese-Chinese Relations with Special Attention to the Period 1862–1961” (PhD dissertation, University of Michigan, 1968); Ly Singko, Hanoi, Peking and the Overseas Chinese (Singapore: Asian Writers Publishing House, 1978); Ramses Amer, The Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Sino-Vietnamese Relations (Kuala Lumpur: Forum, 1991); Ramses Amer, “The Sino-Vietnamese Conflict in 1978-79 and the Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam” (paper presented at conference on Conflict Resolution in the Asia-Pacific Region: Culture, Problem-Solving and Peacemaking, the Asia Foundation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association, Penang (Malaysia) 22-26 May 1994).

9 See: Ramses Amer, “The Sino-Vietnamese Conflict in 1978-79 and the Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam” (paper presented at conference on Conflict Resolution in the Asia-Pacific Region: Culture, Problem-Solving and Peacemaking, the Asia Foundation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association, Penang (Malaysia) 22-26 May 1994); Chen Jinghe (Chen Ching-ho) 陳荊和, 承天明鄉社陳氏正譜 [A Brief Study of the Family Register of the Trans, a Ming Refugee Family in Minh-Huong-Xa, Thua-Thien (Central Vietnam)] (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1964); Chen Chengho A., Historical Notes on Hoi An (Faifo) (Southern Illinois University, 1974); Trần Kinh Hoà, “Làng Minh Hương và phố Thanh Hà thuộc tỉnh Thừa Thiên” [Minh Huong Village and Thanh Ha Street in Thua Thien province]. Đại học 3 (1981): 96–118; Nguyen Thieu Lau, La Formation et L’évolution du Village de Minh Huong (Faifo) [The Formation and Evolution of Minh Huong Village (Faifo)], (BAVH, 4.1994).

10 See Charles Wheeler, “Identity and Function in Sino-Vietnamese Piracy: Where Are the Minh Hương?” Journal of Early Modern History 16 (2012): 503–21; Charles Wheeler, “Interests, Institutions, and Identity: Strategic Adaptation and the Ethno-evolution of Minh Hương (Central Vietnam), 16th–19th Centuries,” Itinerario 01, no. 39 (2015): 141–66; Li Qingxin 李庆新, 越南明香与明乡社. 中国社会历史评论 [Chinese Social History Review] 10 (2009): 205–25; Liu Juntao刘俊涛, 越南政权华侨政策的演变 (1600–1840 年) [The Evolution of Vietnam Regime’s Overseas Chinese Policy (1600–1840)]. Shijie Minzu 世界民族, 4 (2018): 79–87; Taiffao Wi-Vun Chiung 蔣為文, 越南的明鄉人與華人移民的族群認同與本土化差異 [Differences between the Ethnic Identity and Localization of Mingxiang People and Chinese Immigrants in Vietnam], Taiwan International Studies Quarterly 台灣國際研究季刊 4, no. 9 (Winter 2013): 1–26.

11 Wang Gungwu, “The Study of Chinese Identities in Southeast Asia,” in Changing Identities of the Southeast Asian Chinese Since World War II, edited by Jennifer Cushman and Wang Gungwu (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1988), 1–22; Wang Gungwu, China and the Chinese Overseas (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1991 and Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2003), 198–221.

12 Chandra Kanchan, “What is Ethnic Identity and Does It Matter?” Annual Review of Political Science 9 (2006): 397–424, doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.9.062404.170715

13 Susan Emley Keefe, “Ethnic Identity: The Domain of Perceptions of and Attachment to Ethnic Groups and Cultures,” Human Organization 1, no. 51 (Spring 1992): 35–43.

14 Jean S. Phinney, “The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A New Scale for Use with Diverse Groups,” Journal of Adolescent Research 2, no. 7 (first published April 1, 1992): 156–76.

15 Charles Hirschmann, “Chinese Identities in Southeast Asia: Alternative Perspective,” in Changing Identities of the Southeast Asian Chinese Since World War II, edited by Jennifer Cushman and Wang Gungwu (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1988), 23–31.

16 Choi Byung Wook, Southern Vietnam under the Reign of Minh Mang (1820 – 1841): Central Policies and Local Response, Southeast Asia Program Publications; Illustrated edition (July 30, 2004): 232 pages.

17 Trịnh Hoài Đức, Gia Định thành thông chí [Gia Dinh Gazetteer], translated by Viện Sử học (TP. HCM: Giáo dục, 1998), 9.

18 Wook, Southern Vietnam under the Reign of Minh Mang (1820–1841), 39–40.

19 Chen Ching-ho, “Mấy điều nhận xét về Minh-hương-xã và các cổ tích tại Hội An” [Some Observations about the Village of Minh Huong and Monuments at Faifo (Hoi An), Central Vietnam], Việt Nam khảo cổ tập san, số 1 (1960): 6.

20 According to Tuỵ tiên đường bi 萃先堂碑 (formed in July, in the second year of Duy Tan, that is 1908), the original paragraph as follows: “明舊臣也明祚既遷心不肯貳遂隱其官銜字避地而至會唐人南者冠以明字存國號也卅六省皆有所立而南始焉”; see also “Tư liệu chữ Hán của Minh Hương” [Minh Hương xã’s Chinese Materials], No. KH: A18-MH, kept in The Hội An Relics Restoration and Management Board, Hội An. (unpublished): Hereinafter: Tư liệu Minh Hương.

21 Chen Ching-ho, “Mấy điều nhận xét về Minh-hương-xã và các cổ tích tại Hội An,” 13.

22 Gustave Hué, Dictionnaire annamite-chinois-français [Annamese-Chinese-French dictionary] (Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient). Année 37 (1937): 502–4; Nguyễn Cẩm Thuý, Định cư của người Hoa trên đật Nam Bộ: Từ thế kỷ XVII đến năm 1945 [Chinese settlement in Southern Vietnam from the 17th century to 1945] (Hà Nội: Khoa học xã hội, 2000): 13.

23 Marsot, The Chinese Community in Vietnam under the French, 66; Chen Ching-ho, “Mấy điều nhận xét về Minh-hương-xã và các cổ tích tại Hội An”: 13

24 Marsot, The Chinese Community in Vietnam under the French, 88–89.

25 Phan Thúc Trực, Quốc sử Di biên 國史遺編 [Remaining Records of National History], translated by Nguyễn Thị Oanh- Nguyễn Thị Hường-Nguyễn Tô Lan (Han-Nom Institite) (Hà Nội: Khoa học Xã hội, 2010), 186.

26 Trực, Quốc sử Di biên, 220.

27 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 2, translated by Việt Sử học (Hà Nội: Giáo dục, 2007), 649.

28 Trực, Quốc sử Di biên, 239.

29 Tsuboi Yoshiharu, Nước Đại Nam đối diện với Pháp và Trung 1847–1885 [Greater Vietnam copes with France and China for 1847–1885] (Hà Nội: Tri thức, 2011), 176.

30 Nhất, Thế lực Khách trú và vấn đề di dân vào Nam Kỳ, 16.

31 Ibid.

32 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 2, 906–7.

33 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Khâm Định Đại Nam hội điển sự lệ [Official Compendium of Institutions and Usage of Imperial Vietnam], translated by Việt Sử học (Huế: Thuận Hoá, 2009), 8; Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 6, 496.

34 See Hà Tiên trấn hiệp trấn Mạc thị gia phả, Hà Tiên, Kiên Giang 河仙鎮叶鎮鄚氏家譜 [Genealogy of the Mạc Lineage of the Governor of Hà Tiên], translated Nguyễn Văn Nguyên (Hà Nội: Thế giới, 2006).

35 See also Phan Khoang, Việt sử: xứ Đàng Trong 1558-1777 [Vietnamese History: Southern Vietnam, 1558–1777] (Sài Gòn: Khai Trí, 1969); Nguyễn Thế Anh, Kinh tế và Xã hội Việt Nam dưới các vua triều Nguyễn [Vietnam’s Economy and Society under Kings of Nguyen Dynasty] (Saigon: Lửa Thiêng, 1971).

36 See also Trịnh Hoài Đức, Lê Quang Định, Ngô Nhân Tịnh: Gia Định tam gia [Trịnh Hoài Đức, Lê Quang Định, Ngô Nhân Tịnh: Three poets of Gia Định], translated by Hoài Anh (Đồng Nai: Tổng hợp Đồng Nai, 2003); Minh Hương Gia Thạnh, “Khoá ước và tiểu sử các vị tiền bối” [Convention and Biography of Predecessors] (Saigon, 1951).

37 See also Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam liệt truyện 大南列傳 [Collection of the Primary compilation of Biographies of Imperial Vietnam], 4 vols., translated by Việt Sử học (Huế: Thuận Hoá 2014).

38 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 1, 495–6.

39 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 7, 95.

40 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 7, 96.

41 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 1, 900.

42 Quốc Sử quán triều Nguyễn [National History Institute of the Nguyễn Dynasty], Đại Nam thực lục [Veritable Records of Đại Nam], vol. 7, 132.

43 Nhất, Thế lực Khách trú và vấn đề di dân vào Nam Kỳ, 26.

44 Tsai Maw Kuey, Les Chinois au Sud – Vietnam [The Chinese in the South – Vietnam] (Paris: Biblothque National, 1968), 53–4.

45 Kuey, Les Chinois au Sud-Vietnam, 55.

46 The author has checked the identity cards (ID) of some Minh Hươngng people now in Vietnam, such as the Minh Hương people in Hoi An.

47 Han Xiaorong, “Spoiled Guests or Dedicated Patriots? The Chinese in North Vietnam, 1954–1978,” International Journal of Asian Studies 1, no. 6 (2009): 9–10.

48 The Ethnic Chinese, at that time, in North Vietnam not including the Minh Hương. The Minh Hương were recognized as Vietnamese.

49 Tran Khanh, “Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Their Identity,” in Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians, edited by Leo Suryadinata (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1997), 274; see also Trần Khánh, Người Hoa trong xã hội Việt Nam (Thời pháp thuộc và dưới chế độ Sài Gòn) [Ethnic Chinese in the Vietnam’s Society (Under French Domination and Saigon Regime)] (Hà Nội: Khoa học xã hội, 2002).

50 Purcell Victor, The Chinese in Southeast Asia (Kuala Lumpur: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1980), 216

51 Decree No. 62 was adopted on November 8, 1995, and stated that those ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as Ngái and Sán Dìu are not considered to be the Hoa (that is, ethnic Chinese).

52 Fujiwara, “Chính sách đối với dân Trung Hoa di cư của các triều đại Việt Nam,” 174.