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ANNAM, or ANAM
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See also:ANNAM, or ANAM , a See also:country of See also:south-eastern See also:Asia, now forming a See also:French See also:protectorate, See also:part of the See also:peninsula of Indo-See also:China. (See INDO-CHINA, FRENCH). It is bounded N. by Tong-See also: Ethnography.—The Annamese, or, to use the native See also:term, the Giao-chi, are the predominant See also:people not only in Annam but in the See also:lowland and cultivated parts of See also:Tongking and in Cochin-China and See also:southern Cambodia. According to their own See also:annals and traditions they once inhabited southern China, a theory which is confirmed by many of their habits and See also:physical characteristics; the See also:race has, however, been modified by crossings with the Chams and other of the previous inhabitants of Indo-China. The Annamese is the worst-built and. ugliest of all the Indo-See also:Chinese who belong to the Mongolian race. He is scarcely of See also:middle height and is shorter and less vigorous than his neighbours. His complexion is tawny, darker than that of the Chinese, but clearer than that of the Cambodian; his See also:hair is See also:black, coarse and See also:long; his skin is thick; his forehead See also:low; his See also:skull slightly depressed at the See also:top, but well See also:developed at the sides. His See also:face is See also:flat, with highly protruding cheek-bones, and is See also:lozenge-shaped or eurygnathous to a degree that is nowhere exceeded. His See also:nose is not only the flattest, but also the smallest among the Indo-Chinese; his eyes are rarely oblique; his mouth is large and his lips thick; his See also:teeth are blackened and his gums destroyed by the See also:constant use of the betel-See also:nut, the areca-nut and See also:lime. His See also:neck is short, his shoulders slope greatly, his See also:body is thick-set and wanting in suppleness. Another peculiarity is a separation of the big toe from the See also:rest, greater than is found in any other people, and sufficiently See also:general and well marked to serve as an ethnographic test. The Annamese of Cochin-China are weaker and smaller than those of Tongking, probably as a result of living amid marshy See also:rice-See also:fields. The Annamese of both sexes See also:wear wide See also:trousers, a long, usually black See also:tunic with narrow sleeves and a dark-coloured See also:turban, or in the See also:case of the lower classes, a wide See also:straw See also:hat; they either go See also:bare-See also:foot or wear sandals or Chinese boots. The typical Annamese dwelling is open to the gaze of the passer-by during the day; at See also:night a sort of See also:partition of See also:bamboo is let down. The roof is supported on wooden pillars and walls are provided only at the sides. The See also:house consists principally of one large See also:room opening on the front See also:verandah and containing the See also:altar of the See also:family's ancestors, a table in the centre and couches placed against the See also:wall. The chief elements of the native See also:diet are rice, See also:fish and poultry; vegetables and pork are also eaten. The family is the See also:base of the social See also:system in Annam and is ruled by its See also:head, who is also See also:priest and See also:judge. See also:Polygamy is permitted but rarely practised, and the wife enjoys a position of some freedom. Though fond of ease the Annamese are more industrious than the neighbouring peoples. Theatrical and musical entertainments are popular among them. They show much outward respect for superiorp and parents, but they are insincere and incapable of deep emotion. They cherish See also:great love of their native See also:soil and native See also:village and cannot remain long. from See also:home. A proneness to gambling and See also:opium-smoking, and a tinge of vanity and deceitfulness, are their less estimable traits. On the whole they are mild and easy-going and even apathetic, but the facility with which they learn is remarkable. Like their neighbours the Cambodians and the Chinese, the Annamese have a great respect for the dead, and ancestor See also:worship constitutes the See also:national See also:religion. The learned hold the See also:doctrine of See also:Confucius, and See also:Buddhism, alloyed with much popular superstition, has some See also:influence. Like the Chinese the Annamese See also:bury their dead. Among the See also:savage tribes of the interior there is scarcely any See also:idea of See also:God and their superstitious practices can scarcely be considered as the expression of a definite religious idea. See also:Roman Catholics number about 420,000. In the midst of the Annamese live Cambodians and immigrant Chinese, the latter associated together according to the districts from which they come and carrying on nearly all the See also:commerce of the country. In the forests and mountains dwell tribes of savages, chiefly of See also:Indonesian origin, classed by the Annamese under the name .lfois or " savages.” Some of these tribes show traces of See also:Malay ancestry. Of greater See also:historical See also:interest are the Chams, who are to be found for the most Dart in southern Annam and in Cambodia, and who, judging from the numerous remains found there, appear to have been the masters of the coast region of Cochin-China and Annam till they succumbed before the pressure of the Khmers of Cambodia and the Annamese. They are taller, more See also:muscular, and more supple than the Annamese. Their See also:language is derived from Malay, and while some of the Chams are Mussulmans, the dominant religion is See also:Brahmanism, and more especially the worship of See also:Siva. Their See also:women have a high reputation for virtue, which, combined with the general See also:bright and honest See also:character of the whole people, differentiates them from the surrounding nations. Evidently derived from the Chinese, of which it appears to be a very See also:ancient See also:dialect, the Annamese language is composed of monosyllables, of slightly varied See also:articulation, expressing different ideas according to the See also:tone in which they are pronounced. It is quite impossible to connect with our musical system the utterance of the sounds of which the Chinese and Annamese See also:languages are composed. What is understood by a" tone " in this language is distinguished in reality, not by the number of sonorous vibrations which belong to it, but rather by a use of the vocal apparatus See also:special to each. Thus, the sense will to a native be completely changed according as the See also:sound is the result of an aspiration or of a See also:simple utterance of the See also:voice. Thence the difficulty of substituting our phonetic See also:alphabet for the ideographic characters of the Chinese, as well as for the ideophonetic See also:writing partly borrowed by the Annamese from the letters of the See also:celestial See also:empire. To the Jesuit missionaries is due the introduction of an ingenious though very complicated system, which has caused remarkable progress to be made in the employment of phonetic characters. By means of six accents, one See also:bar and a See also:crotchet it is possible to See also:note with sufficient precision the indications of tone without which the Annamese words have no sense for the natives. See also:Agriculture and other See also:Industries.—The cultivation of rice, which is grown mainly in the small deltas along the coast and in some districts gives two crops annually, and fishing, together with fish-salting and the preparation of nuoc-mam, a See also:sauce made from decaying fish, constitute the chief industries of Annam. See also:Silk See also:spinning and See also:weaving are carried on on antiquated lines, and silkworms are reared in a desultory See also:fashion. Besides rice, the products of the country include See also:tea, See also:tobacco, See also:cotton, See also:cinnamon, See also:precious See also:woods and See also:rubber; See also:coffee, See also:pepper, See also:sugar-canes andjute are cultivated to a See also:minor e_:See also:tent. The exports (See also:total value in 1905 £237,010) comprise tea, raw silk and small quantities of cotton, rice and sugar-See also:cane. The imports (£284,824 in 1905) include rice, See also:iron goods, See also:flour, See also:wine, opium and cotton -goods. There are See also:coal-mines at Nong-Son, near Tourane, and See also:gold, See also:silver, See also:lead, iron and other metals occur in the mountains. See also:Trade, which is in the hands of the Chinese, is for the most part carried on by sea, the chief ports being Tourane and Qui-Nhon, which are open to See also:European commerce. See also:Administration.—Annam is ruled in theory by its See also:emperor, assisted by the " See also:coral " or See also:secret See also:council, composed of the heads of the six ministerial departments of the interior, See also:finance, See also:war, See also:ritual, See also:justice and public See also:works, who are nominated by himself. The See also:resident See also:superior, stationed at See also:Hue, is the representative of See also:France and the virtual ruler of the country. He presides over a council (Conseil de Protectoral) composed of the chiefs of the French services in Annam, together with two members of the "comat"; this body deliberates on questions of See also:taxation affecting the See also:budget of Annam and on See also:local public works. A native See also:governor (tong-doc or tuan-phu), assisted by a native See also:staff, administers each of the provinces into which the country is divided, and native officials of lower See also:rank govern the areas into which these provinces are subdivided. The See also:governors take their orders from the imperial See also:government, but they are under the See also:eye of French residents. Native officials are appointed by the See also:court, but the resident superior has See also:power to annul an See also:appointment. The mandarinate or See also:official class is recruited from all ranks of the people by competitive examination. In the See also:province of Tourane, a French tribunal alone exercises See also:jurisdiction, but it administers native See also:law where natives are concerned. Outside this territory the native tribunals survive. The Annamese village is self-governing. It has its council of notables, forming a sort of See also:oligarchy which, through the See also:medium of a See also:mayor and two subordinates, directs the interior affairs of the community—policing, recruiting, the See also:assignment and collection of taxes, &c.—and has judicial power in less important suits and crimes. More serious cases come within the purview of the an-sat, a judicial See also:auxiliary of the governor. An See also:assembly of notables from villages grouped together in a See also:canton chooses a cantonal representative, who is the See also:mouthpiece of the people and the intermediary between the government and its subjects. The See also:direct taxes, which go to the local budget of Annam, consist primarily of a See also:poll-tax levied on all See also:males over eighteen and below sixty years of See also:age, and of a See also:land-tax levied according to the quality and the produce of the holding. The following table summarizes the local budget of Annam for the years 1899 and 1904: — Receipts. See also:Expenditure. 1899 £203,082 (direct taxes, £171,160) £175,117 1904 £247,435 ( „ £219,841) £232,480 In 1904 the sum allocated to the expenses of the court, the royal family and the native administration, the members of which are paid by the See also:crown, was £85,000, the chief remaining heads of expenditure being the government house and residencies (£39,709), the native guard (£32,609) and public works (£24,898). See also:Education is available to every See also:person in the community. The See also:primary school, in which the pupils learn only Chinese writing and the precepts of Confucius, stands at the base of this system. Next above this is the school of the See also:district See also:capital, where a See also:half-yearly examination takes See also:place, by means of which are selected those eligible for the course of higher education given at the capital of the province in a school under the direction of a doc-hoc, or inspector of studies. Finally a great triennial competition decides the elections. The See also:candidate whose See also:work is notified as tres bie-n is admitted to the See also:examinations at Hue, which qualify for the See also:title of See also:doctor and the holding of administrative offices. The education of a See also:mandarin includes local See also:history, See also:cognizance of the administrative See also:rites, customs, See also:laws and prescriptions of the country, the See also:ethics of Confucius, the rules of See also:good breeding, the ceremonial of official and social See also:life, and the See also:practical acquirements necessary to the conduct of public or private business. Annamese learning goes no farther. It includes no scientific idea, no knowledge of the natural sciences, and neglects even the most rudimentary instruction conveyed in a European education. The complications of Chinese writing greatly hamper education. The Annamese mandarin must be acquainted with Chinese, since he writes in Chinese characters. But the character being ideographic, the words which See also:express them are dissimilar in the two languages, and official See also:text is read in Chinese by a Chinese, in Annamese by an Annamese. The chief towns of Annam are Hue (pop. about 42,000), seat both of the French and native governments, Tourane (pop. about 4000), Phan-Thiet (pop. about 20,000) in the extreme south, Qui-Nhon, and Fai-Fo, a commercial centre to the south of Tourane. A road following the coast from Cochin-China to Tongking, and known as the " Mandarin road," passes through or near the chief towns of the provinces and forms the chief artery of communication in the country apart from the See also:railways (see INDO-CHINA, FRENCH). History.—The ancient tribe of the Giao-chi, who dwelt on the confines of S. China, and in what is now Tongking and See also:northern Annam, are regarded by the Annamese as their ancestors, and tradition ascribes to their first rulers descent from the Chinese imperial family. These sovereigns were succeeded by another See also:dynasty, under which, at the end of the 3rd See also:century B.C., the Chinese invaded the country, and eventually established there a supremacy destined to last, with little intermission, till the loth century A.D. In 968 Dinh-Bo-Lanh succeeded in ousting the Chinese and founded an See also:independent dynasty of Dinh. Till this period the greater part of Annam had been occupied by the Chams, a nation of See also:Hindu See also:civilization, which has See also:left many monuments to testify to its greatness, but the encroachment of the Annamese during the next six centuries at last left to it only a small territory in the south of the country. Three lines of sovereigns followed that of Dinh, under the last of which, about 1407, Annam again See also:fell under the Chinese yoke. In 1428 an Annamese general Le-Loi succeeded in freeing the country once more, and founded a dynasty which lasted till the end of the 18th century. During the greater part of this period, however, the titular sovereigns were See also:mere puppets, the reality of power being in the hands of the family of Trinh in Tongking and that of Nguyen in southern Annam, which in 1568 became a See also:separate principality under the name of Cochin-China. Towards the end of the 18th century a See also:rebellion over-threw the Nguyen, but one of its members, Gia-long, by the aid of a French force, in 18or acquired sway over the whole of Annam, Tongking and Cochin-China. This force was procured for him by Pigneau de Behaine, See also:bishop of Adran, who saw in the See also:political See also:condition of Annam a means of establishing French influence in Indo-China and counterbalancing the See also:English power in See also:India. Before this, in 1787, Gia-long had concluded a treaty with See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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