Ngo Hai Zung Gwok Yun (I am Chinese) - a Chinese Vietnamese Documentary Part 1

[steven94116]

Great documentary. I have the same background as you. I was also born in SF and my majority of my family was born ini Vietnam, but my ancestry is from China. It's funny to this day my parents can't give me a straight answer when I ask them, "Mom, how come you never taught me vietnamese?"... She would say, either I dont know or there were not much vietnamese people in san francisco.  So I rather teach you Chinese. My question has always been... Is she telling me the truth?

[sunny130627]

@steven94116 chinese is only when you think you are

[sexiliciouslyhott]

Vietnamese don't hate Chinese

It's the communist government cos they just went through a war with china and they ripped off everyone's properties. Chinese suffered the most cos back then Chinese people were mostly upper class and wealthy

My great grandmother's family was ripped off all their possessions and their house got burned

They had to move to the countryside

And they weren't even Chinese

and they lived in the north

[dragonwing4]

This is a very interesting video! I'm half viet half chinese and that's the reason why im learning chinese

[nocturnalserpent]

if you are afraid of communist why move to another communist country which is china, why not try to go to america.

[Saftechnic]

Don't confused yourself. You are not a chinese by nationality, you are a chinese by ethnicity. You are a overseas chinese like the 40 millions others all over the world.

[excthour]

I have yet to meet a Chinese guy that is not a weasel and a coward. I've met lots in school and the workplace had friends that are Pure Chinese not just half and half. The older they get the greedier and shadier they become. Most seems to be delusional and talk a lot of bs but when the time comes to back it up, they pussy out every single time. I'm not saying every single Chinese person is like this as there are millions but I've yet to meet anyone who's not.

[BAIYUE1]

They are betrayer-chinese

[thucannhanh]

Speaking Chinese more useful and popular,Vietnamese just a small language not so important ,have or not no problem.Even some in some country,they dont know VietNam,that's true

[thucannhanh]

I appreciated your documentaries , I'm Chinese Vietnamese too!! I love Chinese.Vietnam so sucks

[anonamese]

@thucannhanh Fuck you then! There are more chinese people who know vietnamese more than vietnamese people know chinese. Don't be disrespecting Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. If you don't like Vietnam, then don't be calling yourself chinese vietnamese. Call yourself chinese only, stupid fuck!

[thucannhanh]

@anonamese FUCK U TOO!!!What a stupid u r!!Chinese is popular is true,U cant said that!!Of course Chinese lives in Vietnam speak Vietnamese,anyway Chinese also a popular language .That's true can be changed

[anonamese]

@thucannhanh Even your account name,Thucannhanh, is vietnamese. Don't be using vietnamese name and calling yourself a chinese vietnamese if you hated Vietnamese and Vietnam that much. Go fuck yourself, Ba Tau!

[BAIYUE1]

@thucannhanh

shame on you!

What chinese do you want to mention:Cantonese,MAndarin,fuk­kienese,hakka,tewchow,....?

[yhk1969]

i think be it Vietnamese or Chinese, we are the same. Same culture, same values, same outlook and belief. Look at history, before the western people (who messed up our whole), both Chinese and Vietnamese were one family. In fact still one family. Lets look at the similarities which makes us peaceful rather than keep looking at differences (which creates conflicts). The western world wants the Chinese and Vietnamese to fight so that they can gain. lets not fall into their trap.

[BAIYUE1]

@yhk1969

No,we are descendant of Baiyue in yangzi river.You are descendant of chinese in yellow river.Not same.

We are proud to be Viet(yue) not chinese.

[couchpotato25]

@BAIYUE1 in your dreams. yellow river and yangtse river are both cradles of han chinese civilisation. you're probably from the dirty mekong river or something.

kiss my ass.

[BAIYUE1]

@couchpotato25

I think it is your dream.

Because you can't change history.

Yellow river is origin of chinese.

Yangzi river is origin of Baiyue people.

And mekong river is great river which is lifeof Tibetan,Myanmar,Thailand,Laos,­Campuchia and Vietnam.

[couchpotato25]

@BAIYUE1 I learnt chinese history for four years in a chinese school, in mandarin chinese. don't attempt to correct me using wikipedia or your opinion. in any case, vietnamese (越) is not baiyue (粤), ask ANY person in china and they'll tell you that. god dirty vietnamese disgust me SO MUCH.

[BAIYUE1]

@couchpotato25

You think chinese history is true?

Maybe you should learn yourself more,not only in chinese history.

Firstly,I don't need wikipedia for my argument, i use argument from many sources.

Secondly,Do you know why has name Vietnam?

You even don't know it, we are Yue people.

[jasluvtian]

@couchpotato25 are you saying you fucking hate vietnamese and that is fine because i dont know many chinese that hate vietnamese. most of them i know appear to be neutral and they even try to make me feel that i am chinese. and the fuck do you know about history for you to say vietnamese is not baiyue. It is only a basket term that means people in the south which includes quangdong quang xi yunnam laos,thais and vietnamese people. Only quangdong quangxi and yunnam got sinized you dumb ass

[couchpotato25]

@yhk1969 bullshit. we were never one family. neither were we one family with japanese, koreans or mongolians. manchurians are fine cause they're hardworking and they've assimilated. but vietnamese, never.

[BAIYUE1]

@couchpotato25

You are mandarin or Cantonese or shanghainese,...

perhaps i think you even can't definite term "Han chinese".And even you want to same family with Japanese,Manchu and Mongol who invaded chinese in past.

And we Vietnamese proud to be Yue people,never chinese.

[couchpotato25]

@BAIYUE1 um, I never said chinese was similar to japanese, koreans and mogolians, I said WE WERE NOT. manchurians are fine cause they assimilated. you might wanna attend grammar classes for pre-schoolers.

[BAIYUE1]

@couchpotato25

What is chinese?Origin,language,...

If you can answer it,you has right to say other country was assimilated by chinese.I can prove that even chinese also was assimilated by other ethnic in past.

Don't think one way,eve thing has two sides.

[BAIYUE1]

@couchpotato25

shame on you! ha ha ha

want to same family with japanese.Ask them first!

[tungchankiet]

fuck you chinese shit

[monkeyboiz1]

it not chinese who cant go to college,. my dad and my uncle cant go too bc my

grandpa is part Cong Hoa army.

[tungchankiet]

you stupid china dog, you was born in Vietnam dude

[chonkhongduocnick]

i'm vietnamese and i dont understand why the chinese-vietnamese dont feel like vietnamese?:D most of them were born in VN, they speak vietnamese, they eat vietnamese rice, or some of them have never been to china and cant speak any words in chinese. your ancestors came to VN before 1000 years and i'm sure that most of u are not 100% chinese anymore.

I'm disappointed that u always say ur chinese and forget the country that u were/are living.

[BAIYUE1]

@chonkhongduocnick

They don't have loyalty with Vietnam which they was born and was take care.

I also feel disappointed with them as you.

[phobovn]

@chonkhongduocnick : study more about Vietnam history, especially the 1975 and 1979 period.

[chonkhongduocnick]

@phobovn i know about the war between vietnam and china. but only the communist regime was racist, not all the vietnamese!!!

[TheDoom13]

What is Chinese?? When people talk about Chinese, they refer to the Han. To me u r the Bach Viet (Bai Yue) people. I bet that u know about the Bach Viet (Bai Yue) and Vietnam today is the only 1 that able to keep the Han out and not fully get Assimilate from the Han. Cantonese was among the the Bach Viet but they deeply got assimilate byu the Han, so they lost their Yue Root & considered themselves as Chin. Anyway, I think that u r Vietnamese becus u have the Bach Viet blood more.

[soundofocean]

@TheDoom13 : Viets are khmer, not BAI YUE!!! Don't insult S Chinese by claiming "false" relaties to them!

[TheDoom13]

@soundofocean idiot

[soundofocean]

@TheDoom13 :insane brainless viet!

[soundofocean]

@KatiushaVN4 :Enjoy Chinese dick and get more banana. :))

[choiwaynekiet]

my mom is Chinese Vietnamese. The reason my mom did not teach me Vietnamese (she wish she had) was that my father speaks Cantonese, so yah.

My cousins in the US all speak Vietnamese

[lucirz]

i feel what you're parents are going through. they are chinese no matter what, even if they were born in vietnam and speaks the language, they are still chinese. for me, i was born in vietnam raised in the U.S and speaks english, have a U.S passport, but i still don't consider myself an american. im vietnamese.

nice documentary btw.

[jasluvtian]

sure it is just simply being yourself.

[jasluvtian]

when we talk about something, we need to focus on the main issue. Bao Khanh is being too political. She being chinese does not have anything to do with the government of china. How they treat other is not is this issue. What if cambodian just hate viets for what vietnamese government has done to cambodia? YOu guys have to be neutral. I dont like the chinese government neither but i dont have Hoa Kieu or Wo Kiu. They already live outside of china already geeze you guys.

[AwkwardTofu]

I like your insight =) I appreciate it. I completely agree with you. But i would like to say that i wasn't really making this video for the sake of appreciating both cultures but rather to understand myself--where I realized that I personally have a distance between both cultures. If anything, I am closer to Chinese culture but i'm a pretty unique person in a sense that I really don't fall into any category. Even with Asian Americans, i feel a distance. It's not a bad thing tho.

[AwkwardTofu]

people's niches shouldn't necessarily be race based.

[lucirz]

nice video, so in chinese it's called a "va keu"...in vietnamese it's "viet kieu" and in english, it's "expat" :D

[phobovn]

@AwkwardTofu : What is the definition of Chinese culture? Japanese, Korean and Vietnam share this with China. Anyway, a lot of Vietnamese know how to speak Cantonese and a lot of Cantonese know how to speak Vietnamese in California.

[inouelenhatduy]

@jasluvtian 1 viet nam gif free dom for campuchia from evil . 2 not all campuchia hate us , 3 viet nam not all hate chinese if they dont attack us 1979 1988 and take our island yaa

[jasluvtian]

why are you guys being mean to her? First of all she was chinese first right?. Her family was chinese. She made this video to regconize and appreciate her being of both cultures. We vietnamese are really open. we dont care who they are as long as they speak the language then they are one of our own. So if she could speak some vietnamese and her family were from vietnam then she is vietnamese. Its her right to also acknowlege her chinese root. give her a break. And i am vietnamese too.

[AwkwardTofu]

i'm sorry, are you referring to 52051? or me? Because that never came to my mind LOL

[52051]

you looks like a typical viet monkey, so I take you have mixed with the monkeys.

So dont call yourself Chinese, you aint one to begin with.

[AwkwardTofu]

wow, that's pretty insulting. For one thing, you have no idea what i really look like-I probably look exactly like you. And another thing, I really hope you're not saying that in an attempt to represent China because even though I may not be from China, but i know in Chinese culture, face and reputation is crucial. I hope next time you think twice before saying those things.

[couchpotato25]

@AwkwardTofu sorry but I agree with him. to me (and most of china), han chinese who grew up outside china/taiwan or chinese-majority countries like singapore are not chinese anymore.

moreover, you and your whole family must've assimilated into the vietnamese culture. and most chinese in vietnam are not even han chinese, they're from minority tribes in the guangzhou/guangxi area.

anyway, you're not chinese.

[atrocioustoaster]

My parents were also born in Vietnam but were ethnically Chinese. I remember when I was 6 y/o in Chinese class the teacher kept asking if I was really Chinese because on the English attendance sheet my last name read 'Tran'. I was so confused because as far as I was concerned I was pure Chinese. Then I started asking my parents if were Vietnamese and they told me no. I was a confused kid. I didn't really care which one I was, I just wanted a straight answer.

[long1175]

I need to meet all you people who commented on this video and the people who made this video. Tell me how.

[randyisdala1]

im the same way, my grandparents were from china, my parents are from vietnam and i was born here in the USA. interesting video. really makes me wonder. haha

[chaonoibuon]

Poor you, hope you and your family better in chinese background. I personally don't hate chinese but i hate the way that chinese behave with other race and small country like Vietnam.

[AwkwardTofu]

I concur haha

[soundofocean]

@chaonoibuon :U are an racist and Nazi WANNABE, by looking at your channel, dity viet!

[scoutcube1]

I never knew the Chinese were discriminated in Vietnam during the war. Thanks for the interviews!

[justinluu]

This video is wrong!!!, Vietnamese are come from china. I am Half Chinese, but I considered myself as Vietnamese, But Chinese people and Vietnamese think i am Korean LOLZ

[chaonoibuon]

half chinese, lolz, chinese is chinese , the characteristic won't be changed by context whether youre living Vietnam, Korea or Japan.

[long1175]

Same here, they think I'm Japanese hahahaha

[xxblanky2xx]

where is bunny?

[HaLong806]

come on now! your parents were born in vietnam, so basically they are more vietnamese and they can be vietnamese. forget about history of war. it only brings back the pain memory. btw, i dont see any differences between vietnamese and chinese? we all brothers, we share samiliar culture, food, religions, and thoughts.

[joannegerber]

I don't think it's a contradiction for people who do feel they're Vietnamese to nevertheless know the language and share some of the cuisine. As longtime expatriates, they're bound to be acculturated to some extent, even if they're not accepted into Vietnamese society.

They're Overseas Chinese, a category that has existed for centuries.

[awdsone]

it's also because of a minority complex

[jasluvtian]

if you know what i mean.you were in china and you did not feel like a chinese.Ofcourse.have you tried doing that in vietnam.I am sure the vietnamese would love anyone being vietnamese.Westerners speaking viet in vietnam is a cool thing.Its a country that alot of different ethicities became vietnamese.Thats why viets are warmer toward you if you want to be one of them.The same for cantonese toward you.but China? i dont know.alof of people left vietnam with bad memories.but its like 35 years ago.

[AwkwardTofu]

As for going to Vietnam--No i never been there. But it's not like i would want to go there to be more Vietnamese. I'm pretty satisfied with the American culture that i was brought up with even if White people don't really see me as American. It just takes time-i mean look at our president.

But to clarify, I didn't go to China to be more Chinese, I went there to learn more mandarin for my film major language requirement haha.

As for bad memories, there's plenty of it but i don't think they

[AwkwardTofu]

want to see it as bad. What i learned in my Southeast Asian migration class, while telling the stories, many refugee survivors tend to laugh--and it' works as a coping mechanism, trying to add a sense of pride of survival. Even if they laugh about it, it's obvious they won't want to live the experience through again. I mean the bad memories are there, even after 35 years-we still listen to it in their songs, see it in the movies, and hear it from our family.

wow that's long haha-thanks again!

[jasluvtian]

My grandma's family came from canton.however, down the line,my mom only speaks vietnamese and my dad is fully viet.However growing bit by bit exposed to cantonese,i fell in love with everything cantonese.Its lke a apart of me.although your parents want you to be like a cantonese, you can learn vietnamese if you want to.I think speaking and singing both languages is cool.And viet and cantonese are closed too.You can say you are american,but i dont think white people think you are really americans

[AwkwardTofu]

Honestly, i really don't believe that chinese and vietnamese are alike-they're similar but i personally always feel a distance with vietnamese. I mean i'm pretty knowledgeable about Vietnamese culture (I've watched a lot of Paris by NIght, I eat the food,I go to the SF Tenderloin or San Jose on Tet)and i still feel a big border.Even in language, I did kinda try to learn but it never stuck to me, nor was a good at pronouncing stuff. So, I can't really say i'm Viet even tho i eat pho every sunday

[AwkwardTofu]

Another thing too is that i can't really consider myself as Chinese because i don't really like some of the culture haha. Not to diss Chinese culture as a whole here but through my experience, esp. at my traditional chinese home, i believe there's a lot of passivity and acceptance ex. being least likely to vote and accept whatever fate. that's something I don't like, and i think you can safely say that is most likely not in Vietnamese culture--I mean look at how many wars they fought

[AwkwardTofu]

within a short amount of time to drive all the invaders away. Even in things like the naming of Little Saigon in San Jose was a HUGE thing and there was weeks of protest even tho to many other people, it's just a name... I think that's another border i feel that separates chinese and vietnamese. I mean i could be wrong but this is what i see so far and what i've been living with most of my life

[jasluvtian]

Chinese and vietnamese alike had the same fate because of history,but what do you personally feel about who you are is very personal.I can tell you alof of chinese have already become vietnamese in vietnam.There are alot of chinese vietnamese call themselves both.I feel where are your parents comming from.After all being vietnamese or chinese is not that much of a difference.However,if your family feel like they want to be chinese more,then we have to respect them.

[AwkwardTofu]

wow thank you for long comments--if you don't mind i will respond in blocks as well due to character limits

Yeah, i think that it really depends on our individual perspective and judgement about the self identification. I already know that a lot of chinese people do become vietnamese since i do visit vietnamese communities in the US and notice it. but like, i think it's matter on how the individual-i guess-hold on to the roots and their resistance to change.

[AwkwardTofu]

We could see that as well among many ABCs where some people are just more assimilated to American culture than others.  but yeah, you're right about respect since we can't really tell people who they are or force an identity upon them because they do have legit reasons why they would want to resist a certain culture.

[shuynh23]

Good project.

1) Not only in VN but for through out all SE-Asia countries.

The reason many Chinese-VNese feel not a VNese because they feel they are better in person, has better culture and better finance. So no need to teach their children the native language.

But want to move to Japan where they hate and being hated and got treated badly by Japanese.

This is the fact.

2) Chinese Proverb, it's easy to get rich fast in a war-zone or corrupted country, so Oversea-Chinese move there.

[AwkwardTofu]

Thanks for you comment. 

Yeah i was aware that it's not only Chinese-Vietnamese people who were the only ones who left (i took a refugee migration class and learned all about it). Problem of this video was, i hadta make it short since it was a class project, i already went over the time limit by a lot so i only had a little slot to slap that blurb in there that relates to my family.

but yeah, you're totally right about the how there's a lot more to this history.

[shuynh23]

Dear, After the communist took over the country, Not just the Chinese-VNese, there're a lot of middle class VNese people got rip-off their possession (house + money) and being forced into the new-economy zone.

That's how communist was, it's not toward Chinese-VNese... but lot of VN people faced the same fate.

That's the fact... my family (including uncle and aunte's families) in middle VN were lost as well.

[la626boyz]

there are alot of Chinese people who live in Vietnam, including my family too.

[Gokving]

it IS a conspiracy...