San Diu

People Group: San Diu   Location: Vietnam Population: 100,000+ est. Religion: Ethnic % Christian: Unknown % Evangelical: Unknown Ministry Resources: None

Total People Group Population: Unknown Other countries People Group Linked to: None ____________________________________________________________

Additional Information:

Who are they?

The San Diu originated in the area of  Guangdong Province, China.  In mid-1600s, they migrated to the northern part of Vietnam.  It is not clear whether they were of Han Chinese ancestry, or whether they were a tribal group that adopted Chinese culture and the Cantonese (Yue) language. Most of the San Diu are concentrated in Quang Ninh province.  But they are also found in: Bac Giang, Bac Can, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang and Hai Duong provinces.

San Diu villages traditionally were ruled by a village chief and the Taoist priest, the Taoshi.  Unfortunately they brought with them some of the abuses found in feudal China.  The abuses include exploitation of the poor by the rich, lending money at high rates of interest, and ruthless foreclosures which reduced many San Diu farmers to landless sharecroppers.  Over time, though, this problem has abated. 

In more recent history, the San Diu have been known for their strong belief in individual ownership of farmland.  Communal ownership is unknown to them.  To assist their leaders, each family offers a small part of its land to the village chief and the Taoshi.  There are limits, however, to prevent the donation system from being abusive.  The chief can control no more than 7.2 hectares (less than 18 acres).  The Taoshi can use the donated land only so long as he remains in office.

Recent trends are toward larger population centers.  Bamboo hedges around the village have become common, as well as the planting of fruit trees in gardens near each home.  Other innovations include fish ponds for aquaculture, small kitchen gardens, and rice drying yards.  Some villagers have been encouraged to dig wells, contrary to their traditional beliefs   Each village has a temple for the worship of the earth spirit. The lowlands and terraces are used for rice fields, while the steeper uplands are often used for corn and vegetable crops.

How do they live?

The San Diu villages are densely populated.  There may be considerable distance between villages, but within a village, they like to live close together.  Villages of the San Diu are always located close to a spring or river, and often at the foot of a mountain.  They are dependent on surface water, since they do not dig wells.  It is said that they believe a well could result in "hitting the veins of a dragon" and offend the spirits of the earth.    San Diu houses are not built on stilts.  Built level with the ground, their houses often support the roofs with posts and beams.   Alternatively, they raise walls and use them as structural support for the roof.

 Agriculture, especially intensive irrigated rice production, is the basis of most of the San Diu villages.   They also grow corn, and sweet potatoes and other vegetables on the uplands.  They understand the practice of crop rotation and fertilization, and do not use slash and burn techniques to any great degree.  In fact, they are known for their ability to take unfertile fields and transform them into productive units.  Their knowledge of crop production is at least the equal of the Viet (the majority people of Vietnam).  They also grow indigo, cotton, and raise silkworms for weaving into fabric.  But unlike the Nung,  gathering of forest products, such  as bamboo, rattan and wood, are important activities.  They do raise domestic livestock such as chickens, other poultry, pigs, horses and water buffalo.  They also raise fish in farm ponds.  The weaving of cloth and making of handicrafts items are important.  Other crafts practiced by the San Diu are bamboo and rattan crafting, carpentry, blacksmithing, lime production, and tile making.   San Diu are also noted as being good tailors and masons. Some San Diu villages near the coast are made up of fisherman, and many of these also produce salt by evaporation of sea water.  San Diu fishing villagers are skilled in boat building.

The San Diu have a rich heritage of folklore, to include humorous stories, legends, epic tales, popular songs, wisdom literature, riddles and other puzzles, and songs.  Like the Nung,  groups singing alternate stanzas are very popular.  These are called soong co (alternate songs) and are usually sung by young people.  Soong co are traditionally sung at weddings, where the singing may last for several nights.  But festivals and reunions also provide the occasion for this beautiful custom.  Musical instruments include trumpets, drums, bamboo flutes and cymbals.  Dances are usually a part of festivals, as well as religious ceremonies.

San Diu society is based upon the nuclear family, which is strongly patriarchal.   Most marriages are monogamous, but a man is allowed to take a second wife if the first does not give him a male heir.  The most common surnames are Ninh, Diep, Le, Tu, Troung and Ly.  All with the same last name are considered to be related, and marriage is forbidden between people with the same last name.  An exception is made if the prospective couple are at least five generations removed from each other.  But even in this case, a special ceremony is made to apologize to the family ancestors.

The final decision on the proper mate for a young man or woman is that of the parents, but the wishes of the young people are considered.  Expensive presents to the parents of the bride are expected.  An unusual custom is followed if the woman proves barren.  Since a failure to conceive is thought to result from a curse by evil sprits, a mock divorce is held, usually after the winter solstice in late December (just after Christmas). The wife is forced to go back to her parents.  Later the husband asks for his wife's hand in marriage and a second ceremony is held.  This is believed to be an effective way to trick the demonic spirits, with the hope that they will allow the "second" marriage to be fruitful.  

At birth, every San Diu child is given not only a proper name and the family surname but also from seven to as many as a dozen middle names.  This chain of names positively identifies each person's place in the family lineage.  When San Diu from different localities meet, they compare names, and are immediately able to determine their relationship with each other. 

 San Diu women wear an indigo headdress, tunic, and skirt with a belt. The tunic has a high collar, plain hem and no buttons. Inside the hem they sew a white cotton facing. Usually, the women also wear double-breasted indigo coats lined with white cotton. Older women wear their tunics with the left flap over the right, while young girls wear it the opposite way.  For modesty's sake they wear an undergarment resembling a bra, since the tunic is not buttoned.  Women's belts are light green, indigo or violet, and the ends hang to the knee. Women's skirts are made from two or three pieces of cotton,  not sewn together, worn calf-length. They are attached only at the belt and flap freely. This unusual style gives rise to another name for this ethnic group: Vay La, which means "skirt resembling a leaf."  They often wear leggings, usually of a neutral color.  They like jewelry, often wearing necklaces, bracelets, earrings and chains.     

Spiritual Beliefs:

The San Diu  practice a religion termed Taoism.  But the world-view of the San Diu, like most minority groups in Vietnam,  is  complicated.  Their beliefs combine elements of Taoism, Confucianism,  Caodaism, ancestor worship and animism, in addition to their own superstitious ideas.  Many elements of their belief system involve animism, which holds that both living and non-living things possess spirits.  These beliefs create a life of fear that involves a dread of the spirit world. The are extremely careful to try to avoid offending the spirits.  If they believe the spirits are angry, or if an evil spirit is suspected of causing harm, they will try to placate the spirits though rituals, sacrifices and charms.  The Taoshi, or Taoist priest, is believed to have special powers to deal with the spirit world, and remove spiritual threats and in that respect acts as a shaman.

The greatest honor for a San Diu family is for one of its sons to become a Taoshi.  Like the Nung shamans, the Taoshi is deeply involved in the occult. The Taoist priest is expected to give special protection to his own family, as well as the village as a whole.  A Taoshi receives great honor during his lifetime, and after death is often worshiped.

Like the Tay, Nung and many other minority people, the San Diu worship their ancestors.  They believe that the spirits of their ancestors are their main source of assistance and blessing from the spirit world.  On the family altar, they keep two joss stick containers:  one for the ancestors, and one for the earth spirit.  They believe that proper attention to funerals, family altars and celebrations giving honor to the ancestral spirits will result in blessing and protection.  A failure to carry out these obligations will, they believe, have the opposite effect.  This sense of loyalty and obligation to the ancestors is a definite spiritual stronghold preventing the San Diu people from considering the claims of Jesus Christ.

Taoism has contributed many elements to the San Diu, to include the worship of a host of deities.    The spirit of the earth occupies one of the highest places in their belief. Each San Diu village keeps a temple dedicated to the earth spirit, and frequently has a dinh or community hall that is often used for worship of the earth spirit, as well.   Sacrifices and other ceremonies are held regularly in the belief that the earth spirit can give protection and grant an abundant harvest. 

 An essential part of their belief system is a system of taboos or forbidden actions which are designed to avoid offending the spirits.  They refuse to dig wells, since they fear that this will anger the spirit of the earth, and awaken an underground dragon.   Many other deep-seated fears are inherent in their beliefs. They live lives dominated by fear of the evil spirits, who beset them on all sides. They also fear the ghosts of the dead . Fear of the spirit world is a pervasive part of daily life, deadly serious matters of life and death.  These people are trapped in their belief system, living in darkness, waiting for the light.

The funeral customs of the San Diu show the influence of their many superstitious beliefs.  Sons of the deceased must crawl around the grave in a counter-clockwise direction.  Daughters, however, must crawl around in a clockwise direction.  As they crawl, they throw handfuls of earth into the grave.  Then they take hands full of earth, and, without looking back, run to the house.  The earth is thrown into the stable or the poultry house in the belief that it will make the animals fruitful.  Then they sit in a basket of unthreshed rice.  The more rice that sticks to their clothing, the more happy their life will be.  Finally, to end the ceremony on the following day, they eat a boiled chicken at the place where the coffin was previously kept before burial.  But even this is not the final ceremony.  Three years after a person has been buried, the body is dug up and the bones are washed, dried, and put in a clay jar in a sitting position. Sometimes the bones are arranged in a reclining position in a small sandstone coffin.  Then the jar or coffin is reburied.  This reburial, curiously, is celebrated with great joy.

Christian Witness:

The San Diu have only recently been shown signs of interest in the gospel.  In 1999, approximately 12 San Diu from an island off Quang Ninh province came to Christ. Vietnamese workers met with them until the group dissolved due to persecution of local authorities. Several gave up their faith, but about 9 are now again meeting together quietly.

The San Diu may seem resistant to the gospel message, but few have ever heard a clear presentation of the claims of Jesus Christ.   There are few, if any, Christian materials prepared specifically for the San Diu.  A Cantonese version of the Jesus film is available, as are gospel recordings, but it is not clear to what extent these are understandable by the San Diu.  The Bible is available to the Cantonese of mainland China, but it uses Chinese characters which very few San Diu can read.  Similarly, several Cantonese Radio broadcasts are made weekly, but none of these are specifically reaching out to the San Diu people.

This means that the Christian literature needs of the San Diu have generally been overlooked by the Christian community.  Some faithful Viet Christians have reached out to them, with a positive response.  But progress has been slow.  A careful investigation needs to be made of the San Diu dialect to verify whether any existing material can be effectively used for evangelism. 

The San Diu are an unreached people group, with only a few believers in Jesus Christ. About 400 are known to be Catholic.  Only a few are evangelical Protestants. Christians comprise less than 1% of the San Diu people.  Most are in bondage to a complex mix of traditions, but the dominant belief system is Taoism (Daoism).  The San Diu understand that spirituality is the very essence of their being.  They are correct in this belief.  Unfortunately, they try to answer this spiritual hunger by worshiping false gods and spirit beings that, if they exist at all, are demonic.

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