Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1885 — The Aborigines of China. [ARTICLE]

The Aborigines of China.

The southern,portion of the present domain <©f China, comprising 'nearly one-third of the whole, is a comparatively recent addition to the empire, having come under the jurisdiction of the “Son of Heaven” only 2,000 years ago. The original inhabitants of this broad territory were easily subjugated. Portions of them were attached to their conquerors .as vassals or slaves, and gradually, <by intermarriage and the adoption of the customs of thedhinese. lost their identity and were absorbed by the more powerful race. Traces of this original element are still to be found in many localities, especially among the mountains, and may be seen in peculiarities of speech, customs and physiognomy. The boat people, everywhere regarded as an inferior race, and numbering in the city of Canton alone 200,000 souls, are supposed to fee the descendants of this indigenous race. In the mountain range which forms the northern border of the three southern provinces, and is a.con tin nation <of one section .of the great Himalayan range, are over 100 tribes <of these aboriginal people, who have constantly maintain, their independence against Chinese aggressions. Comparatively little is known of them, but from the information derived from travelers, they seem, with but few exceptions, to be all of one race, and to be nearly allied to the Shans and Karens .of Burmah, the Laos tribes, and those of the interior regions of >Cambodia and Cochin China. The sublime self-coueeit of the Chinese, and their indifference to everything outside of themselves, is strikingly seen in the fact that in all tiiie centuries during which they have lived in constant contact with these various tribes they have learned but little that is reliable concerning their customs, habits of life, traditions, language or government. A few individuals lhave become interested, and have left brief accounts and some rude sketches, which are all the sources of information from the Chinese side that are available. — C. B. Henry, in Washington republican.