Who are the Khmer and how many are there?
The Khmer are one of the 54 recognised ethnic groups in Vietnam, with the self-designation "Khmer people". Other names that have appeared in records include Cur, Cul, Cu Tho, Viet goc Mien, and Kho Me K'rom. In the official list of Vietnam's ethnic components, this group is recorded under the name Kho-me, with other names Mien, Cur, Cul, Tho, Viet goc Kho-me, and Kho-me Krom.
According to the Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities of 1 April 2019 published by the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, the Khmer number 1,319,652. Earlier, the 2009 Population and Housing Census recorded 1,260,640. These two figures reflect two different survey points, not conflicting counts.
Historically, the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs documents that before the 12th century, the Khmer and their culture played a predominant role in the Mekong Delta.
Where do the Khmer live?
The Khmer live in the Mekong Delta, concentrated mainly in the southwestern provinces. Records describe them settling across three major ecological zones:
- The inland plain.
- The coastal acid-saline area.
- The southwestern hills bordering Cambodia.
The official list of Vietnam's ethnic components names the Khmer's residential areas as Hau Giang, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang, Minh Hai, Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Song Be, and An Giang. These are administrative place names at the time of publication, so some are no longer in current use.
A Nhan Dan newspaper overview of Vietnam's ethnic communities groups the Khmer with the Cham and Hoa as peoples living mainly in the plains and urban areas, unlike most other ethnic minorities who live mainly in mountainous regions.
Housing and transport
According to ethnographic records, the Khmer formerly lived in stilt houses and now live in houses built on the ground. Because their environment is crisscrossed by canals, they use many kinds of boats: three-leaf canoes, tam ban boats, "tac ran" boats, and motorised "shrimp tail" boats. On land they use ox carts (co), and wooden-wheeled or pneumatic-wheeled rickshaws for travel and for transporting produce during harvest.
What language group does Khmer belong to?
Khmer belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group. This group is found in many mainland Southeast Asian countries, and in Vietnam the peoples belonging to it are distributed mainly in the Central and Southern regions.
A notable point in Khmer linguistic and educational life is the role of the pagoda. According to records, when boys grow up their parents send them to the pagoda to serve as monks for three to five years. During that time they study Buddhist scriptures and learn Khmer script at pagoda schools. Only after completing this religious duty are they allowed to return to lay life and to marry. The pagoda was thus not only a religious centre but also a place for teaching writing and education.
What does Khmer worship consist of?
The Khmer worship Buddha, venerate ancestors, and practise agricultural rites. The agricultural rites specifically named in records include: offering to the field spirit (neak ta xie), calling the rice soul (ok ang leok), and offering to the moon spirit (ok ang bok).
Two layers in this spiritual life should be distinguished. The first is Theravada Buddhism, with the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha as the sole object of veneration, occupying the centre of the main hall. The second is a system of spirits and sacred animals present in Khmer pagodas, described in records as residual traces of Brahmanism and folk belief. In other words, within the same worship space there is a layering of different belief traditions over time.
Funerals and cremation
Cremation has long existed in the Khmer community. After cremation, the ashes are kept in a stupa called "Pi chet day", built beside the main hall in the pagoda. The placing of ashes within the pagoda grounds shows the close bond between the spiritual life of the individual, the family, and the pagoda of the phum and soc.
What are the main Khmer festivals?
According to records, the Khmer have two major festivals in the year.
| Festival | Time | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Chol Chnam Thmay New Year (Chuon chnam Thmay) | From the 1st to the 3rd day of the first month of Chet in the Buddhist calendar, around April in the solar calendar | New Year celebration according to the Buddhist calendar |
| Moon greeting festival (Ok Ang Bok) | Full moon of the 10th lunar month | Ngo boat racing between phum and soc |
Ngo boats and the moon offering
The Ngo boat (Tuoc mua) is the most notable detail of the moon offering. According to records, the boat is 30 m long, made of sao wood, with 30 to 40 rowers, and with sea eagles, elephants, lions, and water waves painted on the prow and both sides. Ngo boats are used only during the Ok Ang Bok moon greeting festival in the 10th lunar month. On ordinary days the boat is kept in the pagoda and regarded by residents of the phum and soc as a sacred object.
The fact that a vehicle is used on exactly one festival occasion per year, and is otherwise kept in the pagoda and treated as sacred, shows a clear separation between sacred time and ordinary time in the cultural life of the community.
What role does the pagoda play in Khmer life?
Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs records affirm that the pagoda and Buddhist activities play an important role in the spiritual and social life of the Khmer. This role appears in several points already mentioned: the pagoda is a place of religious practice and literacy learning for young men, a place where ashes are kept after cremation, a place where Ngo boats are stored, and also a centre of art and architecture regarded as the most distinctive heritage of Khmer culture.
What is notable about marriage and family organisation?
Marriage is usually arranged by parents, with the children's agreement. The wedding goes through three steps: matchmaking, formal proposal, and the wedding ceremony, held at the bride's home. Afterwards, the groom must live at his wife's home for a period. After a few years, or once they have children, they set up their own household but still reside on the maternal side.
As for family structure, the common unit is the small monogamous family, living separately and forming an independent economic unit; in some places three to four generations live together in one house. Records also note that many matrilineal survivals still exist in Khmer society.
Regarding surnames, the Khmer have many different ones. Those once assigned by the Nguyen dynasty include Danh, Kien, Kim, Son, and Thach. Those adopted from the Vietnamese and Chinese include Tran, Nguyen, Duong, Truong, Ma, and Ly. There are also purely Khmer surnames such as U, Khan, and Khum. Records also note that adultery, polygamy, divorce, or incest between direct blood relatives rarely occur or are absolutely forbidden.
Traditional dress and wedding dress
Men and women formerly wore sarongs of silk woven by themselves. Young people today prefer trousers with shirts. Older people and the elderly often wear black ba ba clothing; wealthier men sometimes wear white ba ba with a checked scarf wrapped around the head or draped over the shoulder.
Only at weddings do men and women wear traditional clothing. The groom wears a sarong, a red high-collared shirt with a row of buttons on the chest, a long white scarf (Kal xinh) over the left shoulder, and carries a wedding knife (Kam pach), signifying protection of the bride. The bride wears a Xam pot (skirt) in purple or pink, a red long dress, a scarf, and a traditional wedding hat.
The Khmer long dress (Wen) is described in records as close to the Cham women's ao dai: a closed-front dress, with a wide body extending below the knee, a low collar with a front opening just large enough to put the head through, tight sleeves, and usually four extra panels of fabric joined at the sides from armpit to hem.
Production activities and handicrafts
The Khmer are agricultural people who use the plough and grow wet rice. Their farming tool set is assessed in records as fairly complete and effective, with tools adapted to the ecological and geographical conditions of the South:
- The phang replaces the plough, used especially in acid and saline soil to clear grass.
- The cu neo (Pok) for gathering grass.
- The planting stake (So chal), a trace of the ancient dibble stick, making holes to plant rice seedlings in wet fields with hard soil.
- The harvest sickle (Kan dieu) for cutting rice.
Besides rice cultivation, the Khmer fish and make mats, baskets, textiles, palm sugar, and pottery. Pottery technique is described as simple: the main tools are the support stone (K'leng) and the beating board (Cho), with no potter's wheel, no fixed kiln, unglazed ware, no colour, and low firing. Pottery products are mainly household items, most notably the stove (Ca rang) and the pot (Ca om), much favoured by Vietnamese and Chinese people in the Mekong Delta.
In cuisine, the Khmer grow more than 150 varieties of plain and glutinous rice and usually eat both. Daily food includes shrimp, small fish, frogs, vegetables, and tubers. They make many kinds of fermented fish, the most famous being B'hoc made from snakehead fish, striped fish, catfish, and shrimp mixed with roasted rice powder and salt. Favourite flavours are sour (from tamarind or me fruit) and spicy (pepper, garlic, lemongrass, curry).
Arts and traditional theatre
The Khmer have a rich treasury of folktales including myths, legends, fairy tales, fables, and humorous stories. They have traditional theatre such as Du ke and Di ke, and a musical tradition with both Indian and Southeast Asian origins. Pagoda and tower art and architecture are considered the most distinctive heritage of Khmer culture.
What should be noted when studying the Khmer?
There are two points to note about how this is presented. First, the names "Kho Me" and "Khmer" both refer to the same ethnic group in the list of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups; other names such as Mien, Cur, Cul, Tho, Viet goc Kho-me, and Kho-me Krom are designations that have appeared in records, not separate ethnic groups.
Second, differences in population figures between sources are due to different survey times. When citing, the source and year should be stated clearly to avoid confusion. The figure 1,319,652 is the result of the Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities of 1 April 2019; the figure 1,260,640 is the result of the 2009 Population and Housing Census.
It should also be clearly distinguished: local groups or linguistic groups do not constitute separate ethnic groups. The Khmer in Vietnam are one ethnic group in the official list, with characteristics of language, residence, religious practice, and festivals as presented above.
