17世紀明末清初，因戰亂關係而有大批華裔族群從中國向外流竄。東寧王朝垮台後，鄭成功的舊屬楊彥迪及陳上川等人率兵三千餘人投靠當時越南中部的阮氏政權。這些較早遷徙到越南的華裔族群及其後代目前在越南通稱「明鄉人」。越南明鄉人就如同明鄭時期流亡到台灣的漢人一樣，經由通婚及各式本土化過程，已建立起強烈的在地認同。基本上，明鄉人均使用越南語且完全融入越南當地文化，其身分證件的民族類別也登記為京族。繼明鄉人之後，較近的遷徙時間是19世紀末至20世紀前半段。這段期間陸續有華裔族群移入越南。這些較晚到越南的移民目前在越南通稱為華人，主要包含來自中國講廣東話、福建話、潮州話、客家話及海南話等不同語言的族群。這些族群在不同時期陸續移居到越南，其越化的程度較明鄉人低且仍保有某種程度的族群母語及文化。本研究之目的擬以人類學「土著化」的角度探討明鄉人及近代華人遷徙到越南後的族群認同與本土化過程之異同。

The purpose of this study is to survey the different levels of indigenization of the Ming Huong People (MHP) and ethnic Chinese in Vietnam. The first half of the seventeenth century saw the fall of the Ming Empire in China. After the fall of the Koxinga regime in Taiwan, some fo me subo d nates such as Dương Ngạn Địch and Trần Thượng Xuyên brought three thousand soldiers to central Vietnam. They were called MHP. Most of them intermarried with the local Vietnamese women. Gradually, MHP identified themselves as Vietnamese people. Nowadays, MHP speak only Vietnamese rather Chinese. In contrast to the MHP, there were Chinese immigrants moving to Vietnam at a later time, especially at the end of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. They are currently categorized by Vietnamese government as ethnic Chinese (nguoi Hoa), consisting of five major sub-groups according to the original homeland they came from in China. In general, besides Vietnamese, they may maintain their vernacular languages and customs to some extent. Moreover, they are more likely to identify themselves as Chinese instead of Vietnamese.