The Sách is a
Vietic
The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam. The branch was once referred to by the terms ''Việt–Mường'', ''Annamese–Muong'', and ''Vietnamuong''; the term '' ...
ethnic group of Vietnam, native people of the mountains of Central Vietnamese province of
Quảng Bình.
[Chamberlain, James R. (2018). ]
A Kri-Mol (Vietic) Bestiary: Prolegomena to the Study of Ethnozoology in the Northern Annamites
'
Kyoto Working Papers on Area Studies
No. 133. Kyoto: Kyoto University. The exonym ''Sách'' might have originated during the 15th century from the Sino-Vietnamese name for "register," which pre-modern Vietnamese texts used the term to designate villages that inhabited by various Austronesian and Austroasiatic highlanders. On the other hand, according to
Michel Ferlus
Michel Ferlus (born 1935) is a French linguistics, linguist whose special study is in the historical phonology of languages of Southeast Asia. In addition to phonological systems, he also studies Writing system, writing systems, in particular the ...
, the name's meaning may have relation with uncertain ancient Chinese terminologies. In Vietnam, they are considered a sub-ethnic group of the
Chứt.
Perhaps so, among the Chuet tribes, the Sách have been exposed to classical Sinitic civilization of the Vietnamese in the downstream plains, and they had been studied by French scholars and ethnologists since the early 20th century.
The Sách primarily practice Vietnamese-influenced Mahayana Buddhism and Vietnamese customs. Cadiere (1905) suggested that among the Sach as well as the Nguon may be descendants of the insertion of
Muong soldiers from Thanh Hoa that being sent to the region in the 17th century to quell off rebellion.
Today, the Sách reside in three mountainous districts of
Minh Hóa,
Tuyên Hóa and
Bố Trạch,
Quảng Bình province,
Central Vietnam
Central Vietnam ( vi, Trung Bộ or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by South Vietnam, and Annam under French Indochina, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam.
The name Trung Bộ was used by ...
.
References
{{Ethnic groups in Vietnam
Vietic peoples
Ethnic groups in Vietnam
Quảng Bình province