Man, Past and Present

by A. H. Keane

CHAPTER VI

THE SOUTHERN MONGOLS

South Mongol Domain—Tibet, the Mongol Cradle-land—Stone Age in Tibet—The Primitive Mongol Type—The Balti and Ladakhi—Balti Type and Origins—The Tibetans Proper—Type—The Bhotiyas—Prehistoric Expansion of the Tibetan Race—Sub-Himalayan Groups: the Gurkhas—Mental Qualities of the Tibetans—Lamaism—The Horsoks—The Tanguts—Polyandry—The Bonbo Religion—Buddhist and Christian Ritualism—The Prayer-Wheel—Language and Letters—Diverse Linguistic Types—Lepcha—Angami-Naga and Kuki-Lushai Speech—Naga Tribes—General Ethnic Relations in Indo-China—Aboriginal and Cultured Peoples—The Talaings—The Manipuri—Religion—The Game of Polo—The Khel System—The Chins—Mental and Physical Qualities—Gods, Nats, and the After-Life—The Kakhyens—Caucasic Elements—The Karens—Type—Temperament—Christian Missions—The Burmese—Type—Character—Buddhism—Position of Woman—Tattooing—The Tai-Shan Peoples—The Ahom, Khamti and Chinese Shans—Shan Cradle-land and Origins—Caucasic Contacts—Tai-Shan Toned Speech—Shan, Lolo, and Mosso Writing Systems—Mosso Origins—Aborigines of South China and Annam—Man-tse Origins and Affinities—Caucasic Aborigines in South-East Asia—The Siamese Shans—Origins and Early Records—Social System—Buddhism—The Annamese—Origins—Physical and Mental Characters—Language and Letters—Social Institutions—Religious Systems—The Chinese—Origins—The Babylonian Theory—Persistence of Chinese Culture and Social System—Letters and Early Records—Traditions of the Stone and Metal Ages—Chinese Cradle and Early Migrations—Absorption of the Aborigines—Survivals: Hok-lo, Hakka, Pun-ti—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism—Fung-shui and Ancestry Worship—Islam and Christianity—The Mandarin Class.

Conspectus.

Distribution in Past and Present Times.

Present Range. Tibet; S. Himalayan slopes; Indo-China to the Isthmus of Kra; China; Formosa; Parts of Malaysia.

Physical Characters.

Hair, uniformly black, lank, round in transverse section; sparse or no beard, moustache common. Colour, generally a dirty yellowish brown, shading off to olive and coppery brown in the south, and to lemon or whitish in N. China. Skull, normally brachy (80 to 84), but in parts of China sub-dolicho (77) and high. Jaws, slightly prognathous. Cheek-bones, very high and prominent laterally. Nose, very small, and concave, with widish nostrils (mesorrhine), but often large and straight amongst the upper classes. Eyes, small, black, and oblique (outer angle slightly elevated), vertical fold of skin over inner canthus. Stature, below the average, 1.62 m. (5 ft. 4 in.), but in N. China often tall, 1.77 m. to 1.82 m. (5 ft. 10 in. to 6 ft.). Lips, rather thin, sometimes slightly protruding. Arms, legs, and feet, of normal proportions, calves rather small.

Mental Characters.

Temperament. Somewhat sluggish, with little initiative, but great endurance; cunning rather than intelligent; generally thrifty and industrious, but mostly indolent in Siam and Burma; moral standard low, with slight sense of right and wrong.