WITH CHRIST IN INDOCHINA - IndoChina1911

CHAPTER III
THE PEOPLE
THE Annamese are by far the largest racial group
in French Indo-China. They number about
15,765,000, and include the inhabitants of Tonkin
and Cochtn-China as well as those of the State of
Annam. The proximity of Tonkin to China has in¬
fluenced the people of that northern state in their
customs and habits until a superficial observer might
think them more akin to the Chinese than to their
fellow countrymen farther south. They are more
rugged and less docile than the people of Annam
and Cochin-China; they have more initiative and
make better tradesmen and artisans.
The legendary history of the Annamese people
dates back to 2537 B. C.
called the Giao-CM.
At that time they were
This means "Big Toe" tribe,
an appellation given them by the Chinese because of
a physical peculiarity that is still noticeable among
them.
The great toe is unusually large and sepa¬
rated from the other toes, somewhat like the thumb
is separated from the other fingers of the hand.
The
native Annamese costume does not include shoes,
and their thumb-like toes make the people very agile
in using their feet to pick up things and to grasp and
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