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The history of Vietnam is one of the longest to be found in any country, with archaeological excavations revealing a past that goes back almost as far as earth’s recorded time. To study this extensive history in detail would take you, the reader literally years, thus I have cut it down, deleted some of the less important periods and have concentrated on those I feel will be of more interest to the general traveller considering visiting this fascinating and beautiful country.
The country has seen both prosperous times as well as years of slumber. Evolving over literally thousands of years Vietnam and its progressive expansions have always been under constant pressure from her powerful neighbour, China and throughout the county’s history, China features very strongly.
Vietnam has her own legends concerning the origins of the race but according to the history books the Vietnamese first
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Hung Dao |
appeared as one of many scattered peoples living in what is now South China and Northern Vietnam just before the beginning of the Christian era.
According to local tradition, the small Vietnamese kingdom of Au Lac, located in the heart of the Red River valley, was founded by a line of legendary kings who had ruled over the ancient kingdom of Van Lang for thousands of years. Archaeological findings indicate that the early peoples of the Red River delta area were among the first East Asians to practice agriculture and by the first century BC had achieved an advanced level of civilization.
The Chinese Influence In 221 BC the Ch'in dynasty in China conquered the neighbouring states and became the first to rule over a united China. The Ch'in Empire, however, did not survive the death of its founder, Shih Huang Ti and this was soon felt by Vietnam.
The Chinese commander in the south built his own kingdom, Nam Viet (South Viet; Chinese, Nan Yüeh); the young state of Au Lac was included. In 111 BC, Chinese armies conquered Nam Viet and included it in the growing Han Empire. This conquest had fateful consequences for the future course of Vietnamese history.
Chinese rulers attempted to include Vietnam politically and culturally into the Han Empire. Administrators were brought in to replace the local rulers and political systems along Chinese lines were imposed. Confucianism became the official ideology. The Chinese language was introduced as the official language and Chinese script as the writing. Chinese art, architecture and music also influenced Vietnamese history.
Vietnamese resistance to rule by the Chinese was fierce but ineffectual and the Vietnamese during these times had a fondness for murdering anyone in power, including their families that weren’t popular, a practice that continued up until the 1600’s.
The most famous early revolt took place in AD 39, when two widows of local aristocrats, the Trung sisters, led an uprising against foreign rule. The revolt was briefly successful and the older sister, Trung Trac, established herself as ruler of an independent state. Chinese armies returned to the attack, however, and in AD 43 Vietnam was re-conquered.
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Trung Sisters |
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