Abstract: Ninety physical characteristics (32 observed, 58 measured) on 448 adults (232 males and 216 females) of the Dong people in Hubei Province were investigated. Forty physical indices were calculated, and the distributions of stature and typical physical traits on ten indices were determined. The results are as follows. 1) Occurrence rates of upper eyelid eyefold, Mongoloid fold and the Darwin nodule were 88.11%, 47.13% and 82.14%, respectively. In most people, the forehead hairline was shaped as a triangle. The zygoma and chin were not very prominent. Hair was thick, black and straight. The upper eyelid eyefold was high. The eye opening was of medium height with it’s lateral angle higher than the medial angle. The nasal root was high and the alae nasi was of medium height. The nasal bridge was straight in males and concave in females. The nasal base and nasal tip were upturned. The upper lip was protruding and went beyond the lower lip. The gap of the mouth was wide in males and medium in females. Total thickness of the upper lip and lower lip was thick. The auricle was mostly oval or egg-shaped but the lobulus auriulae was mostly round. Most people were short in stature with typical physical characteristics of thin and tall, middle trunk, narrow shoulder breadth, mesatiskelic, wide hands, brachycephaly, hypsicephaly, metriocephaly, platyorrhiny and euryprospy. Note that a cluster analysis dendrogram of physical traits of the Dong and 36 other minorities in southern China showed that the physical characteristics of the Dong of Hubei were similar to those of the Dong in Hunan and of the Bouyei in Guizhou. In conclusion, the physical characteristics of the Dong people in Hubei belong to the typical South Asian type of Mongoloid.

Key words: Somatoscopy; Anthropometry; Dong; Hubei