Part II: Independent Vietnam(939-1858)

Questions: 1) What were the major dynasties in

Vietnamese history? 2) What were the general trends of

Vietnam from 939 to 1858? 3) What was the Vietnamese attitude

toward their northern border/boundary with China?

4) What impact did China on Vietnam in terms of political, military, economic, and cultural aspects?

I. Dynasties Ngo dynasty (939-965, Co-loa [capital]) Dinh dynasty (Dai Co Viet) (968-980,

Hoa-lu) Former Le (980-1009, Hoa-lu) Ly dynasty (1009-1225, Thang-long

[renamed Hanoi in 1831]) Tran dynasty (1225-1400, Thang-long) Ho dynasty (1400-1407, Tay-do,

“Western Capital;” founder: Ho Quy Ly)

Early Independent Vietnam NOT Confucian Contrary to the common belief, Vietnam did not adopt Confucianism until the 15th

century (from the Later Le dynasty on), The dominant political ideology of the early

independent Vietnam (939-1400) was NOT Confucian, but Buddhist.

When Ming China conquered Vietnam in 1407, The overall Chinese impression of Vietnamese

culture was one of a mixture of beliefs: folk, Buddhist, Daoist, but not explicitly

Confucian.

Chinese occupation/recolonization (1407-1427, Dong-quan [Hanoi])

Later Le dynasty (1428-1788; Lê Lợi): North court: Mac dynasty (1527-1592, Thang-long; founder: Mạc Đăng Dung)South court: Le (1533-1599, Thanh-hoa)Trinh Lord (1600-1788, Thang-long) of the NorthNguyen Lord (1558-1777, Hue, etc.; founder: Nguyễn Hoàng) of the South

Tay Son (1778-1802, Thang-long, etc.): started with a rebellion by three brothers.

Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945, Hue; the name “Viet Nam” started in 1803)

For the first time in history, a single Vietnamese court governed a united polity that stretched from the Chinese border to the Gulf of Siam.

French rule (1858-1884-1945-1954; Saigon; Hanoi).

II. Major trends from 939 to 1858: 1) Territorial expansion: Vietnam becoming

bigger and bigger and bigger. 2) Administrative integration: The Vietnamese

state stronger and stronger, or its control over society and frontier peoples tighter and tighter (Ly and Tran marrying their daughters).

3) Cultural homogenization: from diverse beliefs to a major one (Confucianism); more people becoming “Vietnamese,” speaking Vietnamese language, adopting Vietnamese culture.

900 CE when “Vietnam” was still a part of Tang China (618-907)

Vietnam: Territorial expansion

Vietnam c. 1560

Mac dynasty - pink

Le dynasty - yellow

Champa - green

Vietnam in disunity (cir. 1650) North (Trinh Lord-Le King) vs. South (Nguyen)

Vietnam in disunity

(but not the first time)

Vietnam (re)Unification

(but not the first

time)

According to a European observer of the late 17th century,

the factors for the Trinh “not ascend the throne, and take upon him the name and title of a king” included two:

1) If “he assume the crown and royal title to himself,

he would be regarded as an usurper, and expose himself to the general hate and envy of the natives…to the persecution of Hoawing [the Nguyen in the south] who would be able to… work his ruin and extirpation.”

2) “The other motive was his apprehension, that the Chinese emperor should be against him, as knowing he was a stranger to the royal race of the kings of Tonqueen (Tonkin),

Whereby Tring (Trinh) would involve himself in a torrent of trouble, and be, probably, the cause of his own perdition;

Therefore he thought it was the securest way to set up a prince of the house of Lee (Le),

With only the bare name of king, and reserve the royal power for himself…”

III. Sacred (Northern) Border/boundary

The “Vietnam complex” of China: Ever since 939 Vietnam became an

independent county from China, But was a vassal state (paying tributes); Almost every dynasty of China, tried to bring Vietnam back to the Chinese

empire. In 981, Song invaded Vietnam but was

repelled.

Ly Thuong Kiet’s pre-emptive attack on southern China in 1075;

The Song retaliation in 1076-77, but failed to subdue the Vietnamese.

This war forced the Chinese to recognize Vietnam as a special type of vassal that could not be “nibbled away” (hard rock);

It forced the Vietnamese to recognize China as power best left unprovoked (humongous giant).

Contrast of China and Vietnam today:

China (3.748 million sq miles/9.707 million km²) is about 30 times larger than Vietnam (127,244 sq miles/329,560 km²)

China’s population (1,343,239,923; #1 in the world) is 15 times larger than that of Vietnam (91,519,289; #13 in the world).

The two sides negotiated and agreed on a common LAND border which has remained essentially unchanged to the present day.

An awareness of this SACRED border, the importance of defending it and of

maintaining relations with the power beyond it,

became a large part of Vietnamese cultural consciousness from this time on.

Ly Thuong Kiet (1019-1105): “The Principle of Identity” (1076)

“The Emperor of the South rules over the rivers and the mountains of the southern country.

“This destiny has been indelibly registered in the celestial book.

“How dare you, invading aliens, come violate?

“You shall undoubtedly witness your own and complete defeat.”

In the late 13th century, the Mongol invasions of Vietnam.

Tran Hung Dao’s “A Call to the Officers and Soldiers of the Army” (1285):

“From time immemorial, no generation has ever lacked in loyal subjects or patriotic officers who sacrificed their lives for the salvation of their country.”

An Unknown and Unlearned historical lesson (to the Americans)

Another Vietnam War (or the 15th Century Vietnam War): Chinese Colonization of Vietnam, 1406-

1427 Origin (pretext): defending

Confucian ideology (against usurpation of the Tran throne by Ho Quy Ly)

Real purpose: retaking Vietnam (“complex of Vietnam”)

Reasons for temporary success: Ming China (1368-1644) as the number

one military superpower with the cutting-edge gunpowder technology;

Disunity within Vietnamese court (unlike 13th century Dai Viet)

• Process of occupation: • cultural genocide (destroy everything

Vietnamese) and imposing Confucian ways; economic exploitation.

Reasons for final miserable defeat: Vietnamese proto-nationalism, guerrilla warfare, and adoption of Chinese-style military technology

Policy-making at the Chinese court: War (hawk) vs. peace (dove) faction

Consequences of Chinese colonization: Adoption of the Chinese model and “modernization” of Vietnamese government and military forces led to Vietnam’s “golden age” &

External expansion: conquest of Champa in 1471, invasion of modern Laos, northern

Thailand, southern Yunnan, and western Burma (Myanmar) from 1479 to 1484 (the “Long March” in the history of mainland Southeast Asia),

many Southeast Asian countries felt threatened.

Debates and controversies over this “Another Vietnam War:”

“If only the Chinese had done this or that,” China would have won or Vietnam would have become a part (again) of Chinese territory permanently.

The nature of this “another Vietnam War:” A “just cause” (most Chinese scholars) or violent invasion of Vietnam (Vietnamese & a few Chinese scholars)

Nguyen Trai’s “A Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Ngo” (1428):

“Our state of Dai Viet is indeed a country wherein culture and institutions have flourished.

“Our mountains and rivers have their characteristic features.

“Since the formation of our nation by the Trieu, Dinh, Ly, Tran, our rulers

have governed their empire exactly in the manner in which the Han, Tang, Song, and Yuan did theirs.

“Although we have been at times strong and at times weak, we have at no time lacked heroes.

“This is why Liu Kung, greedy for exploits, was defeated;

“Ch’ao Chie, in his megalomania, dashed to his own destruction;

“So Tu was made prisoner at the pass of Ham Tu;

Wuma was killed on the sea of Bach Dang.

Investigations into ancient times always provide clear evidence.”

• During the Chinese colonization (1407-27), Nguyen Trai condemned:

• “They (the Chinese) burnt living beings on cruel flames, they cast young men into pits of suffering.

• They cheated Heaven, deceived the people.

• They suborned the troops, stirred up hatred.

• Their combined oppressions lasted for last most twenty years.

• They violated the principle of righteousness, injured that of charity to the extent that Heaven and Earth seemed to have drawn to an end.

• The taxes were so heavy, the contributions so burdensome that neither mountains or dams were left.

• To exact gold ore, the [Vietnamese] people were obliged to confront pestilential vapors as they dug the mountains and washed the sands.

• To hunt the pearls, they had to dive into the sea, their backs attached to ropes, and risk encounters with flood-dragons.

• Without any consideration for the people’s rest, they compelled them to set traps for black deer.

• Without pity for wildlife, they obliged the population to weave snares to capture kingfishers.

• Even insects and worms, grass and plants were denied the liberty to live.

• Widowers and widows devoid of help found no place where they might enjoy security.

• Make their living by such the blood of the people, these cruel administrators saturated their lips and their teeth with it.

• Profiting to the utmost from the population’s labor, they erected numerous public and private buildings.

• In the prefectures and in the villages, forced labor was so frequent and strenuous that the traditional weaving industries inevitably collapsed.

• All the water of the Eastern Sea will not suffice to cleanse the mire.

• All the bamboos of the Southern Mountain will not adequately register their crimes.

• Deities and men are united in anger.

• Heaven and Earth together withhold their pardon.

• …

• (Now with the independence) Our territory from now on shall enjoy peace.

• Our mountains and rivers shall change their aspect.

• The Universe, lately in sadness, has now recovered its joy.

• The sun and the moon, momentarily darkened, have now reestablished their brilliance.

• The foundation for a peace of ten generations has been laid…”

• Ho Chi Minh in the 1940s "visited" Nguyen Trai in Trai’s home village of Con Son (43 miles east of Hanoi).

• Vietnamese historians interpreted Ho Chi Minh’s pilgrimage as a traditional way to "consult" a historical figure in a new historical situation,

• to meditate over past crises, • to learn relevant lessons for the

burning present.

Was this 15th century “Vietnam War” similar to the 20th century “Vietnam War” (the French colonization of Vietnam [1858-1954], the Indo-China War [1946-54], and the “Vietnam War” [1965-1975])?

Ngo Thoi Chi’s “Nguyen Hue’s Address to the Army” (1789):

“In the universe, each constellation is assigned a specific place and, on earth, each country has its own government.

“The Chinese do not belong to our racial stock, therefore their intentions must be completely different from ours.

From the Han dynasty to the present day, how many times have they not raided our country, massacred our population, emptied our treasures?

“No one in our country could bear this humiliation, and everyone wished to drive the enemy beyond our borders.

“Under the Han, there were the Trung Queens.

“Under the Song, there were Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh.

“Under the Yuan, there was Tran Hung Dao.

“Under the Ming, there was Le Thai To, the founder of the present dynasty.

”These heroes could not sit silently and watch the enemy indulge in violence and cruelty toward the people.

“…Through all these periods, the South (Vietnam) and the North (China) were clearly separated…

”Today the Qing have returned once again.

“They are determined to annex our country and to divide it into provinces and districts.

“How can they not be aware of what has happened to the Song, the Ming, and the Yuan?”

……