Vegetation of Southeast Asia Studies of Forest Types 1963-1965

An ethnographical map of Vietnam shows clearly the great diversity
of its people. The area inhabited by the Vietnamese ia limited
mostly to the Mekong Delta, the Red River Delta,.and a very narrow
coastal atrip. A distinctly larger area ir* the interior is crisscrossed
by a Kultittulti of ethnic groups, remnants of human migrations
which, in prehistoric periods, succeeded one another on the soil of
vhat is now Vietnam. According to their origin, the ethnic minorities
nay be classified into six main groups: the Khtaers in the
South; the Chams in the area of Phaurang and Phanri and who are related
to the Malays; the Mois of Indo-Malayan origin who inhabit
the entire hinterland of the center and the plateaux north of
Saigon; and the Thai, the Man and the Meo who inhabit the high mountains
of the North. Each of these groups is divided into an infinity
of tribes, many of them quite distinct from the others.
This is so, for example, in the case of the Man, and is even more so
evident with the ciour.tain people of the South, whm ethnologists
group under the convenient name of 'Femsiens 1 . This term is derived
from the initials PMSI - 'Populations Montagnardes du Sud de 1'Indochine
1 . These varied elements are numerically only a small proportion
of the population, contributing only 3 to k percent of the
total.
As for the Vietnamese, styled a 'pure race 1 for convenience of
language, their origin is still uncertain.- It is generally held
that they came from the southern provinces of China. If the principle
of a permanence as national heredity is admit'cd, one is obliged
to put aside the theory that they are distant ancestors of
the mountain peoples who came down from the high summits to cultivate
the delta of the Red River, in view of the fact that they
congregated solely in the coastal regions and in the swampy plains
of the north and south. Whatever the truth may be, it is certain
that the Vietnamese race, as it is today with its own peculiar characteristics,
forms a homogeneous whole, the product of long-past
mingling of peoples. It may not be possible to make a precise
scientific analysis of each constituent element - Mongol, Indonesian,
Indo-Maley, Melanesian and others - but it is undeniable that the
ire of these elements through the course of centuries has rec-'d
in a product which has ethnic originality. On that basis
it has .Just claims to authentic nationalism.
. La Cultxire du Tabac. Gouvermnaent Ge*ne*rale de 1'Indo chine
SeVie Saigon. Bulletin No. 6. 11 pp. Saigon. 1918.
Discusses the cultivation of tobacco in Indochina.
. Pi'uis khasya Royle. Garaatereo sylvicoles et me'thodes de plantation.
Bois et Forets des Tropiques. No, 69: 27-32. Jan.-Feb.
I960.
A description is given of the morphology of this tree, occurring
in the mountainous areas of tropical Asia, vhere it grows spontaneously.
Tnere is also a treatment of its botanical arwi anatonical
characters; mechanical properties and utilization of the wood; its
ecology; and plantation methods.
One diagram and 3 photograpns are included, in addition to 13.
references.
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