My friend said that Japan, Korea and Vietnam would claim to be the “real China” if China suddenly disappeared and Vietnam was likely to be the victor. But how could that be? Aren’t they very hostile to China? And why Vietnam?

QUORA

CaiLei · Lives in China (1975–present)1y

Vietnam does not have this qualification.

In terms of civilization type, Vietnam belongs to ‘Austroasiatic civilization’, China, South Korea, and Japan belong to ‘East Asian civilization‘.

The main ethnic group in Vietnam is the Kinh people, whose language is generally considered to belong to the Austroasiatic language family, so the Kinh people are generally considered to be an Austroasiatic ethnic group;

• Bloodline: 40% of Koreans have Chinese bloodline, and 20% of Japanese have Chinese bloodline; Vietnam only has 3 million Chinese after Lê Duẩn’s anti-Chinese movement, and only 1% of the people have Chinese bloodline;
• Culture: South Korea almost copied Chinese culture + derived it; Japan has a small number of local cultures + the vast majority copied Chinese culture + derived it; Vietnam has local culture + Khmer culture + French culture + copied Chinese culture + derived it

To sum up, in terms of blood and culture, South Korea has the closest relationship with China, followed by Japan, and Vietnam has the most distant relationship with China.

The similarity between Vietnam and China is that both are socialist countries. Vietnam is very similar to China in terms of political system, but South Korea is very similar to China in terms of humanities.

Vietnam was once directly ruled by China, while South Korea and Japan existed mainly as vassal states of China.

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In Korea, the proportion of Chinese ancestry is indeed very high

Former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo visits China to pay respects to his ancestors

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun

The ancestors of former South Korean presidents Roh Tae-woo and Roh Moo-hyun can be traced back to Lu Zhi, a famous official in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (South Korea) visits China to pay respects to his ancestors. His ancestor can be traced back to General Pan Yuanjie who entered Fujian to suppress the rebellion during the Tang Dynasty.

The Ming clan in South Korea has come to Chongqing to worship their ancestors every year for more than ten years. Their ancestor is Ming Yuzhen, the leader of the uprising army in the late Yuan Dynasty and a native of Suizhou, Hubei.

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