I should have done History instead of Engineering in university! I did not quite realise my passion until much later in life; so, there is no room for regrets.
Commonsense tells me this, though:
The Koreans are certainly Han Chinese in origin. Old Korea was founded by a Shang nobleman箕子(Ji-zi) circa 11th century BCE. Of course, there was much inter-tribal or -racial cross-fertilisation later on, particularly during the Yuan period, when the Mongol empire was preparing to conquer Japan from the Korean peninsula. And we know the Mongols by then were already a mixed bag of northern and central Asians.
As for Japan, legend has it that Xú Fú (徐福) was dispatched by Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) to the “eastern” sea to look for the elixir of life. His two journeys occurred between 219 BCE and 210 BCE. It was said that his fleets included 60 barques with soldiers, ship crewmen, and 3,000 boys and 3,000 girls, and craftsmen of different fields. He came back empty handed and had to cook up some excuses. Xu then set sail again in 201 BCE. And according to the Shiji (史记) – the Records of the Grand Historian (Sima Qian (司马迁) – says he came to a place with "flat plains and wide swamps" and proclaimed himself king, never to return. The place is believed to be Japan.
But I think many Koreans had already established their roots in Japan by then. The aborigines in Japan had largely been displaced to the north.
My conclusion: the bloodline of Koreans and non-aboriginal Japanese is Han Chinese through and through.
As for Vietnam, their ethnic majority is Kinh. Its ethnography is similar to several of the minority tribes in southern China. Of course, the nation is too proud to say that they had been largely Sinicized until the French came in.
As Chinese ethnically, I naturally like to know China better. However, I don’t say I am totally proud of China’s history, for I have concluded that many of our past leaders had shot their own feet and resulted in the country being ruled by ethnic minorities like the Mongols in the Yuan dynasty and the Manchus in the Qing dynasty. (Pockets here and there have also variously come under non-Han lordships in China’s earlier history.) I am not being racist, but the policies or decisions of these non-Han rulers during their reigns did set back China’s progress many a time. Fortunately, despite of these disruptions, China’s unique culture has survived to this day, thanks to the philosophy that our sages have handed down to us, particularly the Ru (儒) teachings, which have helped to raise the bar of ethos in East and Southeast Asia.
Ru practices (in ethics, governance and social harmony) began during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), well before Confucius (551- 479 BCE) advocated and documented them. Besides Ru, there were also competing schools like Legalism, Daoism, Mohism and even Buddhism, that helped to shape Chineseness or East Asian-ness.
And the means of this wide dissemination has been Chinese writing. (Unfortunately, I failed to use much Chinese after I started work. As a result, I can hardly write Chinese today!)
The earliest form of written Chinese was found during the Shang Dynasty (14th-11th centuries BCE) – inscribed on bones and turtle shells. But for it to exist in that form then, it must have been around for at least a couple of centuries already. Evolvement takes time. (Again, I do not mean to be racist, for the written language to be conceived and structured as such, the brains of Chinese must be something.!)
Written Chinese is unique; it carries certain retention power that few can match. Once you know a character, it will stay in your mind virtually for good. Because of the feudalistic tradition of her time, my late mother was not given the opportunity to attend school, yet she could read the name of every shop in town. But she could not write them out. (Her mother, or my maternal grandmother, ironically, was well tutored in classical Chinese).
Ever wonder why Chinese are generally so good in Mathematics? This is again another chauvinistic opinion of mine: The numbers one to ten are each expressed with a single sound. This largely facilities counting, especially in multiplications. (However, it is not without shortcomings – in expressing chemical formulas and in computer commands.)
Another strength in Chinese writing is its expandability to accommodate newly found or developed things. There are specific root (or radical or indexing) components for them to build on, examples of which are: 金 jin for metals, 氵(三点水 (sān-diǎn shuǐ) for liquid-related materials, 木, mù for wooden matters, 土, tǔr for soil- or earth-related stuffs, and 虫, chóng for insect- or worm-related creatures.
Other examples are:
- 刀 (dāo, knife) in 分 (fēn, to divide), 召 (zhào, shào, to summon), 切 (qiē, to cut),
- 人 (rén, man) in 囚 (qiú, prisoner), 坐 (zuò, to sit), 他 (tā, other or he), 从 (Trad. 從 cóng, from or since),
- 心 (heart) in 杺, 您, and 恭(when written at the foot of a character),
- 手 (hand) in 杽, 拏, 掱 扡, 拜,
- 火 (fire) in 伙, 秋, 灱, 災,
- 犬 (dog) in 伏, 状 ~ 狙,
- Etc.
(These are meant as illustrations and I have therefore not bothered to read out every line for readers. They can be easily deciphered from any search engine.)
A
component of my given name is 木 (mù,
single tree or wood in this instance). It can give rise to 林 (lín) which means a light forest. When three 木’s are
used, it becomes 森 (sēn),
which stands for thick forest or jungle. This is a feature of the language that
none other possesses.
Chinese writing has no equals in these arts: Poetry, idioms, ceremonial messages, and even expressions of subtleties, good or bad.
When China began to simplify many of the Chinese characters, local papers began to adopt the practice and that also frustrated me a great deal. I had much difficulty in trying to figure some of them out. I thought the simplification had somewhat damaged the very fabric of its strength. Thankfully, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are still sticking to the old forms.
Written Chinese was also the source of Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese writings. I was quite ignorant of this until a old JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation) expert Rohei Nonaka became a colleague of mine when I was serving in the Federal Industrial Development Authority (FIDA, now Malaysian Industrial Development Authority MIDA) in the 1970s. Despite our age gap and the anti-Japanese sentiment generally harboured by colleagues then, we became friends. From him, I came to know a great deal about the fineness of Japanese culture and practices, and he would take pain to tell me that these were learned from China in the first place.
The late Geh Sim Hong had also helped enlighten my understanding of the Japanese language. (Geh was already the second in command in FIDA when I was just a junior officer there. We got to know each other well after we were no longer in FIDA – he retired, and I quit for greener pasture.) He told me that there are many terms in Japanese which are Hokkien in pronunciation. He reckoned this was so because of Buddhism. He was definitely right; but maybe I should add that it is not Hokkien but the Ming-nan dialect (閩南語) that he was actually referring to.
More of this later.
Japan: Selective use of Chinese characters
It
is said that the waves of migration from China and the Korean peninsula started
during Yayoi Period (300 BCE to 300 CE) and this had shaped the foundation of
the Japanese writing. Chinese characters Kanji (汉字Hàn-zì), alongside Buddhism, began to be adopted in the 5th
or 6th century. But Chinese as a spoken language did not quite fit
the Japanese speech sounds and the language began to develop a distinct
grammar, phonology and vocabulary in the 8th century – in the form
of katakana (partial Chinese characters – such asカタカナ) and hiragana (simple characters
derived from the more complex Chinese characters おとこ). Modern Japanese, however, began only
in the Edo (Tokyo) period (1603-1867) – with many loanwords from other
languages.
Nonetheless, Chinese characters continue to anchor in the language, with many definitive terms written in this form.
Korea: Abandonment of Chinese writing
My
wife loves Korean drama. I do join in to watch from time to time. I must say
they are now a cut above most others in cinematics. It is also from watching
these dramas that I came to conclude that Korean is laden with many Ming-nan
terms.
South Koreans call their country 韩国 Hanguk (pinyin Hánguó) and North Koreans call theirs Chosŏn, which when written in Chinese is朝鮮 (pinyin Cháoxiǎn). Korea, however, comes from the term高丽 (Trad. 高麗, Gāolí).
If not for the North-South divide, we would have identified modern Korea as a whole Hán (韩). I do not know the origin of the term save for this from my googling: The historicity of Hán in premodern Korea is disputed. The contemporary concept of Hán, as a national characteristic of the Korean people, originated only during the Japanese occupation of the peninsula, characterising the Korean art and culture as "sorrowful". However, this Chinese-origin character had actually been used in the names of the states in the peninsula in ancient times (Ma-hán, Jin-hán) and as a Korean surname. (Some Chinese also go by this surname.)
Ancient Korea traces its beginning to China’s Shang dynasty some three thousand years ago. It is identified as Gojoseon (古朝鮮 Gǔ Zhāo-Xiān; Go or Gǔ means “Ancient”). The first written historical record on Gojoseon was found in Guan-zi’s (管子) political and philosophical text compiled in the early Han dynasty (202 BCE – 9 AD). (Earlier versions had it dated back to the late Warring States period circa 7th century BCE.)
In 108 BCE, Gojoseon eventually fell to the Han rule of China. Many civil wars followed. (Koreans also had their own, not one but two “Three Kingdoms” periods.)
Tang ruled China from 618 to 907 CE; it was during this period that Buddhism flowed from Korea to Japan.
In 918 the country achieved national unification as Goryeo 高丽. The name Goryeo developed into the modern exonym "Korea".
During the 13th century, Goryeo became a vassal state of the Yuan (Mongol) Empire. It was from the peninsula that the Mongols tried to invade Japan. Thanks to two typhoons which sank and scattered Mongol fleets, Japan was spared. (Japan called them the divine winds.) Ever wonder why many Koreans have Mongol or Central Asian features? Apparently, the blood “infusion” happened during this era – when many Mongol warriors were garrisoned in the peninsula.
Ming kicked out the Mongols in 1368 and General Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon (朝鮮) dynasty in 1392 and ruled under the Ming umbrella.
From the above, we can see that the nationhood of Koreans was much intertwined with China’s.
Be that as it may, Sejong (世宗 - 李祹Yi To;1418–1450) boldly introduced numerous administrative, social, scientific, and economic reforms, established royal authority in the early years of the dynasty, and personally created Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
After enjoying a period of peace for about two centuries, situations turned tumultuous again for the Koreans – Japanese invasions and unequal treaties by foreign powers.
In 1897 Korean Empire came into existence, heralding a brief but rapid period of social reform and modernization. But in 1905, it was again forced to sign a protectorate treaty and in 1910, effectively annexed by Japan. Korean resistance manifested.
After the end of World War II, the Allies partitioned the country into two. In 1950 Kim Il Sung launched the Korean War in an attempt to reunify the country. The war ended with a ceasefire in 1953. In 1991, both states were accepted into the United Nations.
Before Ji-zi (箕子), Korean was only a spoken language. Its linguistic homeland is believed to be somewhere in Manchuria. The Chinese characters were used in their written form; however, the characters were read with Sino-Xenic pronunciations (the extensive borrowing of Chinese words into languages that are not genetically related to Chinese) since the 1st century BCE (the Han Dynasty) and remained the medium of formal writing and government until the late 19th century.
Korean society was steep in Ru traditions and scholarship. (To this day, many Koreans still contend that Confucius was Korean.) However, the society was feudalistic and only the privileged could have access to formal learning of classic Chinese writing. The poor were largely illiterate. The Confucian examinations were finally abolished in the late 19th century – in the wake of growing Korean nationalism. (However, Ru etiquette continues until today.)
Hangul did not become the primary script until the 20th century. Nonetheless, the more intellectual Koreans are aware of the strength of written Chinese and are preserving it as a form of roots to their culture, especially in keeping genealogical records. (Different surnames can be written with one Korean word – Park (박) can mean 朴 (which is a common Korean surname), and it can also mean 博. Similarly, Jeong (정) can also apply to 鄭 or 丁 or 靜. And if expressions of Chinese origin are read in Korean, they sound very Ming-nan indeed! (Amongst them: missing – si-chong, skill – ki-soot, complicated – fok-chap, heart – sim-cheong, princess – kong-ju, bridegroom – sin-nang, poisonous snake – tok-se, student – hup-seng, take part – cham-kar, pig’s foot – chu-kar, sincere – chin-sim, divorce – li-hoon, success – seng-kong, democratic – ming-chu, etc. I picked these up from the Korean dramas and stand corrected!)
Vietnam: A total switch to western form
Extensive
contacts with Chinese began
from the Han dynasty. At this time, Vietic groups began
to expand south from the Red River Delta and into the adjacent uplands.
After expelling the Chinese at the beginning of the 10th century, the Ngô dynasty adopted Classical Chinese as the formal medium of government, scholarship and literature. With the dominance of Chinese came wholesale importation of Chinese vocabulary. The resulting Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary makes up about a third of the Vietnamese lexicon in all realms, and may account for as much as 60% of the vocabulary used in formal texts.
Vietic languages were confined to the northern third of modern Vietnam until the "southward advance" (Nam tiến) from the late 15th century. The conquest of the ancient nation of Champa and the conquest of the Mekong Delta led to an expansion of the Vietnamese people and language, with distinctive local variations emerging.
But they were written in Chinese characters.
After France invaded Vietnam in the late 19th century, French gradually replaced Literary Chinese as the official language in education and government. Vietnamese adopted many French terms, resulting in a language that was Austroasiatic with both Sino and French influences. (The former sounds quite Hainanese to me!)
Officially adopted in the early 20th century, the Vietnamese alphabet today is based on the Latin script but with digraphs and diacritics to mark tones and some phonemes.
The Vietnamese have chosen to abandon the source of their language. This will in due course likely to deprive their people of the understanding of the roots of their history and culture. Good or bad, only time can tell.
Drawing some conclusions…
Phonetically,
written Chinese is certainly difficult to express in other languages and vice
versa. You can therefore understand why the Japanese and the Koreans had long
decided to choose different paths to develop their own. But Chinese characters are
unique; they have been so logically developed and constructed that many remain
the backbone of Japan’s definitive words and expressions. Korea chose to
abandon the system and go for a totally new form – when China was transiting
from Yuan into Ming. The wise Sejong thought it was time to transform Koreans.
As for the Vietnamese, I see the westernisation of their language as something regressive. Spoken Vietnamese can easily be definitively written in Chinese. The system that the French had imparted on them, though can express their mother tongue well, is also a baggage to knowing their past and learning their roots better.
Written Chinese has been around for more than three millennia and with China’s reemergence today, it is going to be even more widely used.
These are just personal opinions, though. Feel free to disagree!
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