Anthropos: Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

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Zeitschrift

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistenter Identifier:: BV043334262

Titel:: Anthropos

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://digi.evifa.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711754

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711754

Persistenter Identifier:: 1510223177592

Titel:: Anthropos, 101.2006+Ind.1906-2005(CD-ROM)

Erscheinungsjahr:: 2006

Signatur:: LA 1118

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenheft

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 101, 2006, Heft 2

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

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Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: Betel-Chewing in Vietnam. Its Past and Current Importance

Sonstige Person:: Nguyên, Xuân Hiên

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

ANTHROPOS 101.2006: 499-518 Betel-Chewing in Vietnam Its Past and Current Importance Nguyen Xuan Hien Abstract. - Betel-chewing is an important age-old custom in Vietnam, which is in decline. The author argues that areca nuts a nd betel leaves play still a significant role in modem weddings a nd rituals and are also used in medicine and in diverse indus tries. The areca tree, the betel vine, and the lime pot are con sidered like family members and treated with deep respect. The betel service, especially the lime pot, is a specific identity marker °f Vietnamese culture. Folktales reflect on the various aspects °f the betel-chewing practice. The author presents an English translation of the oldest version of such tales. [Vietnam, betel service, betel-chewing, rituals, cultural ceremonies, folktales] Nguyen Xuán Hién, Ph. D., trained as a rice germ plasm sci- e ntist, a historian, and an information specialist, has extensively researched and lectured on rice (genetics and ethnobotany) and recently on cultural anthropology in several Asian, European, a °d American countries. - Publications: “Glutinous Rice-Eating tradition in Vietnam and Elsewhere” (Bangkok 2001); “L’an thropologic culturelle et le riz au Vietnam” (vol. 1, Paris 2001); Cultural Anthropology and Rice in Vietnam” (vol. 2, Ann Ar bor 2004). * Introduction Several hundred million people today practice the a ncient custom of betel-chewing. In South Asia, w here the habit is most prevalent, the signs are hard to miss,” D. Parsed (2005: 43) states thus the situa tion in the early 21st century. A decade ago, another a nthor confirmed: “Few traditions in South-East ^sia have the antiquity and universal acceptance of betel-chewing. The custom is over 2,000 years old ari d has survived from ancient times into the 20th c entury” (Rooney 1993: 1). In Vietnam, betel-chewing is an age-old custom, too. This country is not situated in the domestica tion areas of the areca palm tree which are located somewhere in Malaysian archipelagoes. 1 The Viet namese are not the people who were the first dis coverers of the fascination of betel-chewing. Skele tons bearing evidence of betel-chewing date back to about 3,000 B.C. and were found in the Duyong Cave in the Philippines. The Vietnamese chew ing addicts’ number does not rank among the first places in the list of high-percentage-chewers’ coun tries that are Pakistan, India, and Taiwan where people continue to chew betel to a great extent and “many new betel users are adolescents and chil dren” (Parsed 2005: 43). Even though this custom is deeply rooted in Vietnamese society and culture, it is more than a tangible matter and always consid ered as an element of national identity and prestige. These marvelous particularities are, however, un derrepresented in Vietnam and little known abroad due to the “monopoly” in international documenta tion of this custom by non-chewing outsiders. In this article we try to present some peculiari ties of the Vietnamese betel-chewing custom in its evolution and with regard to its multidisciplinary dimension from the point of view of an insider. Some 95% of the information was collected in Viet- 1 Remains of what C. F. Gorman (1970: 98) suggested to be probably areca nuts, dating to 7,000-5,500 B.C., have been found at the Spirit Cave in northwestern Thailand, but the clue of their domesticity needs to be scientifically confirmed (C. F. Gorman, personal communication 1978).

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