Geographical Distribution The Nung are concentrated in Vietnam - 612,000 people. There are also 120,000 Nung in China, 48,000 in Laos and another 20,000 in Myanmar.
Population
800,000
The Nung people originated in China and have been in Vietnam for at least a millennium. Over the last 130 years many of the Nung continued to migrate south and now live in the central highlands of Vietnam.
Language and Dialect Language Group
Tai
Livelihood
Agriculture, particularly intensive rice production, is basic to the Nung economy. They are said to produce the best fruit and vegetables in Vietnam. The Nung also raise domestic livestock and fish in farm ponds. For Nung women, the weaving of cloth and making of handicrafts items are important.
Religion and Beliefs
The Nung believe that the spirits of their ancestors are their main source of assistance and blessing from the spirit world. They believe that proper attention to funerals, family altars and celebrations giving honor to the ancestral spirits will result in blessing and protection. They also believer a failure to appease these spirits will have the opposite effect. This sense of loyalty and obligation to the ancestors is a spiritual stronghold preventing the Nung people from considering the claims of Jesus Christ. The Nung are also heavily influenced by Buddhism & Taoism.
