|12 DETAILS RESPECTING COCHIN CHINA. 
For the rest, the identity of the usages of these two people, —in 
superstitious ceremonies, the worship of ancestors, laws, govern¬ 
ment, tSl'c., shews that they have had a common origin 5 which is con¬ 
firmed by historical traditions. According to these traditions Tong- 
king was colonized by an Emperor of China, named Iioang te, 
about 200 years before the Christian era, and, after having un¬ 
dergone many revolutions, it became an independent kingdom. 
Many Chinese at the present lime come and settle in Cochin Chi¬ 
na, but in smaller numbers than in other countries adjacent to China. 
These are the only strangers who are admitted into the country. 
They are more laborious and more ingenious th<m the Cochin Chi¬ 
nese; lienee they easily make their fortunes amongst them. 
THE LANGUAGE. 
The Anamite language is monosyllabic. It is evidently derived 
from the Chinese. The written language has not merely some af¬ 
finity to the Chinese character, but it borrows it in whole or in 
in part. However, these two languages have become so different, 
that persons of the two nations cannot understand each other in 
speaking or in reading. All those who are in circumstances at all 
easy, or who aspire to dignities, devote themselves to the study of 
Chinese characters, which they pronounce in the Cochin Chinese 
manner. This study is necessary, because these characters are the 
unlv ones employed in most bofitks, and in all official letters. There 
are general examinations in which those who obtain the first places are 
elevated to the dignities reserved for the lettered mandarins. This 
is a powerful stimulus to the ardour of the students. They are 
able in writing these characters (and it is the only means) to make 
themselves understood by the learned Chinese. Thus the learned 
language in Cochin Chinese is nothing else than the Chinese langu¬ 
age. The only difference consists in the pronunciation. The vul¬ 
gar language was only from the first a dialect, which they never 
■wrote; but in the end the Cochin Chinese, having acquired an im¬ 
posing nationality, the common language became of importance, and 
they sought the means of writing it. They had recourse to Chinese 
letters, the only ones they knew. Sometimes they have only taken 
the pronounciation of the Chinese character and have attached to it 
4 totally different signification; thus, they have written which 
