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Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), often known as Annam ( vi, An Nam,
Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...
: 安南), was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
,
Northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt,( Hán tự: 大瞿越) was established in 968 by Vietnamese ruler
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (924–979) (r. 968–979), real name allegedly Đinh Hoàn ( 丁 桓), was the first Vietnamese emperor following the liberation of the country from the rule of the Chinese Southern Han Dynasty, as well as the founder of the s ...
after he ended the Anarchy of the 12 Warlords, until the beginning of the reign of
Lý Thánh Tông Lý Thánh Tông (30 March 1023 – 1 February 1072), personal name Lý Nhật Tôn , temple name Thánh Tông, was the third emperor of the Lý dynasty and the 8th ruler of the Vietnamese kingdom Đại Việt. In his reign, Lý Thánh Tôn ...
(r. 1054–1072), the third emperor of the
Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...
. Đại Việt lasted until the reign of
Gia Long Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
(r. 1802–1820), the first emperor of the
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
, when the name was changed to Việt Nam. Đại Việt's history is divided into the rule of eight dynasties: Đinh (968–980), Early Lê (980–1009), (1009–1226),
Trần Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...
(1226–1400), Hồ (1400–1407), and Later Lê (1428–1789); the
Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫 朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...
(1527–1677); and the brief
Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (, vi, Nhà Tây Sơn (Chữ Nôm: 茹西山); vi, Tây Sơn triều ( Hán tự: 西山朝) was a ruling dynasty of Vietnam, founded in the wake of a rebellion against both the Nguyễn lords and the Trịnh lords befor ...
(1778–1802). It was briefly interrupted by the
Hồ dynasty The Hồ dynasty (Vietnamese: , chữ Nôm: 茹胡; Sino-Vietnamese: ''Hồ triều, chữ Hán:'' 胡 朝) was a short-lived Vietnamese dynasty consisting of the reigns of two monarchs, Hồ Quý Ly (胡季犛) in 1400–01 and his second so ...
(1400–1407), who changed the country's name briefly to '' Đại Ngu'',( Hán tự: 大虞) and the
Fourth Era of Northern Domination The Fourth Era of Northern Domination was a period of Vietnamese history, from 1407 to 1427, during which Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese Ming dynasty as the province of Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ). Ming rule was established in Vietnam following its ...
(1407–1427) when the region was administered as
Jiaozhi Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...
by the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. Đại Việt's history can also be divided into two periods: unified empire, which lasted from 960s to 1533, and fragmented from 1533 to 1802, when there were more than one dynasty and noble clans simultaneously ruling from their own domains. From the 13th to 18th century, Đại Việt's borders expanded to encompass territory that resemble modern-day Vietnam, which lies along the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
from the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
to the
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...
. Early Đại Việt emerged in the 960s as a hereditary monarchy with
Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
as state religion, and lasted for 6 centuries. From the 16th century, Đại Việt gradually weakened and decentralized into multiple sub-kingdoms and domains, ruled by either the Lê, Mạc, Trịnh, Nguyễn families simultaneously. It was briefly unified by the Tây Sơn brothers in 1786, who divided among themselves in 1787. After the Trịnh-Nguyễn War which ended in Nguyễn victory and destruction of the Tây Sơn, Đại Việt was reunified, ending 300 years of fragmentation. From 968 to 1804, Đại Việt flourished and acquired significant power in the region. The state slowly annexed
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
and
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
's territories, expanding Vietnamese territories to the south and west. The Empire of Đại Việt is the primary precursor to the country of Vietnam and the basis for its national historic and cultural identity.


Etymology

The term "" (Yue) () in
Early Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The S ...
was first written using the
logograph In a written language, a logogram, logograph, or lexigraph is a written character that represents a word or morpheme. Chinese characters (pronounced '' hanzi'' in Mandarin, ''kanji'' in Japanese, ''hanja'' in Korean) are generally logograms, ...
"戉" for an axe (a homophone), in
oracle bone Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...
and bronze inscriptions of the late
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
( BC), and later as "越". At the time it referred to a people or chieftain to the northwest of the Shang.Theobald, Ulrich (2018
"Shang Dynasty - Political History"
in ''ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''. quote: "Enemies of the Shang state were called fang 方 "regions", like the Tufang 土方, which roamed the northern region of Shanxi, the Guifang 鬼方 and Gongfang 𢀛方 in the northwest, the Qiangfang 羌方, Suifang 繐方, Yuefang 戉方, Xuanfang 亘方 and Zhoufang 周方 in the west, as well as the Yifang 夷方 and Renfang 人方 in the southeast."
In the early 8th century BC, a tribe on the middle
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
was called the
Yangyue The Yangyue () were a tribe of the Yue people, one of the ancient peoples of South China. In Chinese historical books, the earliest description about the Yangyue appeared during the Warring States period. The commonly accepted hypothesis is that ...
, a term later used for peoples further south. Between the 7th and 4th centuries BC Yue/Việt referred to the
state of Yue Yue (, Old Chinese: ''*''), also known as Yuyue (), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Sha ...
in the lower Yangtze basin and its people. From the 3rd century BC the term was used for the non-
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
populations of south and southwest China and northern Vietnam, with particular ethnic groups called
Minyue Minyue () was an ancient kingdom in what is now the Fujian province in southern China. It was a contemporary of the Han dynasty, and was later annexed by the Han empire as the dynasty expanded southward. The kingdom existed approximately from ...
, Ouyue, Luoyue (Vietnamese:
Lạc Việt The Lạc Việt or Luoyue ( or ; pinyin: ''Luòyuè'' ← Middle Chinese: *''lɑk̚-ɦʉɐt̚'' ← Old Chinese *''râk-wat'') was a group of multilinguistic, specifically Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic, tribal peoples that inhabited ancient northe ...
), etc., collectively called the
Baiyue The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...
(Bách Việt, ; ). The term Baiyue/Bách Việt first appeared in the book ''
Lüshi Chunqiu The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Micha ...
'' compiled around 239 BC. According to Ye Wenxian (1990), apud Wan (2013), the ethnonym of the Yuefang in northwestern China is not associated with that of the Baiyue in southeastern China. At first, Yue referred to all peoples of the south that practiced un-Chinese slash-and-burn cultivation and lived in stilt houses, but this definition does not suggest that all Yue were the same and spoke the same language. They were loosely-connected or independent tribal societies belonging to a diverse ethnolinguistic complex. As Chinese imperial power expanded toward the south, Chinese sources generalized the tribes of Northern Vietnam at the time as Yue, or the Luoyue and the Ouyue (Lạc Việt and Au Viet in Vietnamese). Over time, the term Yue morphed and became a geopolitical designation rather than a term for a group of people, and became more of a historical and political term rather than tied to connotations of barbarism. During the period of Chinese rule, many states and rebellions in the former region of ''Yue'' (Southern China and Northern Vietnam) used the name Yue as an old geopolitical name rather than as an ethnonym. When the word Yue (
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
: ''ɦʉɐt̚'') was borrowed into
Vietnamese language Vietnamese ( vi, tiếng Việt, links=no) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language originating from Vietnam where it is the national language, national and official language. Vietnamese is spoken natively by over 70 million people, ...
during the late
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
(618–907) by the Austroasiatic Viet-Muong speaking peoples who were the ancestors of modern-day Vietnamese Kinh, the exonym was gradually localized to become an endonym of the Vietnamese. That endonym might have been manifested in different forms depending on how neighboring peoples who interact with, referred to the Vietnamese back then, and until modern-day, for instance, the
Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...
have been calling the Vietnamese as ''Yuen'' (yvan) from the reign of
Harivarman IV Harivarman IV or Prince Thäng (?–1081), Sanskrit name Vishnumürti, was the ruling king of Champa from 1074 to 1080. His father was a noble belonging to the Coconut clan (northern tribes), and his mother was a member of the Areca clan (southe ...
(1074–1080) to present unchanged. It is evident that Vietnamese elites tried to tie their ethnic identity to the ancient Yue through constructed traditions during the late medieval period. However, all endonyms and exonyms referring to the Vietnamese such as ''Viet,'' ''Kinh,'' or Kra–Dai ''Keeu'', are related to political structures or have common origins in ancient Chinese geographical imagination. Most of the time, the Austroasiatic-speaking ancestors of the modern Kinh under one single ruler might have assumed for themselves a similar or identical self-designation inherent in the modern Vietnamese first-person pronoun ''ta'' (us, we, I) to differentiate themselves from other groups. In the older colloquial usage, ''ta'' corresponded to "ours" as opposed to "theirs", and during colonial times they were "''nước ta''" (our country) and "''tiếng ta''" (our language) in contrast to "''nước tây''" (western countries) and "''tiếng tây''" (western languages). Historically Đại Việt, (Đại) Cồ Việt, or Cự Việt was the polity's official name and not a dynastic name. "Đại Việt Quốc" (the Great Viet state) was first mentioned in several brick inscriptions from Hoa Lu, the first capital of the polity, from the 10th century AD.Momoki Shiro, ''The Vietnamese empire and its expansion circa 980–1840'' in ''Asian Expansions: The historical experiences of polity expansion in Asia'', edited by Geoff Wade, p. 158 According to Momoki (2014), the name ''(Đại) Cồ Việt'' is from the 15th-century chronicle ''
Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...
'' and likely originated from ''Cự Việt'' in 12th-century Ly dynasty inscriptions, rather than being the name for the kingdom during the late 10th century.


History


Origins

For a thousand years, the area of what is now
Northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
was ruled by a succession of Chinese dynasties as
Nanyue Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establish ...
, Giao Chỉ (, Jiaozhi),
Giao Châu Jiaozhou (; Wade–Giles: Chiao1-Cho1; vi, Giao Châu) was an imperial Chinese province under the Han and Jin dynasties. Under the Han, the area included Liangguang and northern Vietnam but Guangdong was later separated to form the province of ...
(, Jiaozhou), Annan, and Jinghai Circuit. Ancient Northern Vietnam and particularly the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
were inhabited by various different ethnolinguistic groups that constituted modern-day Hmong–Mien, Tibeto–Burman, Kra–Dai,
Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
speaking peoples. Early societies had emerged and existed there for a while before the Han conquest in 111 BC, such as the Phùng Nguyên and
Dong Son culture The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...
s. Both practiced metallurgy and sophisticated bronze-casting techniques. They were together called the Yue and barbarians by the Chinese and collectively understood as non-Chinese. Ancient Chinese texts do not give any distinction for each tribe, and not precisely indicate which languages of tribes that they interacted with in Northern Vietnam. All peoples living under the administration of the Empire were usually referred to as either “people” (ren 人) or “subjects” (min 民). There was absolutely no classification or distinction for "Vietnamese" and it is implausible to identify people accurate as such or implying modern ethnicity to the ancient. It is highly likely that these intermingled multilinguistic communities might have evolved into the present-day without modern ethnic consciousness until ethnic classification efforts carried out by the colonial government and successive governments of the
Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
,
Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
, and
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
, while retaining their intangible ethnic identity such as culture. There was no persisting "ethnic Vietnamese" identity during this period. Official Vietnamese history textbooks usually assume that the people of Northern Vietnam during Chinese rules were Việt/Yue. The Yue were broad groups of non-Chinese peoples of the south which included many different ethnolinguistic groups who shared some certain customs. After the disappearance of the
Baiyue The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...
and the
Lac Viet Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...
from Chinese records around the first century AD, new indigenous tribal groups might have emerged in the region under the name of Li-Lao. The Li-Lao people were also known for their great drum casting tradition. However, the culture produced Heger Type II drums, while the previous Dong Son culture of the Lac Viet produced Heger Type I drums. The Li Lao culture flourished from approximately 200 to 750 AD in present-day
Southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
and
Northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
. These Li tribes were recorded in Chinese sources as ''Lǐ'' (俚) "bandits" inhabiting the coastal areas between the
Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
and Red River. Li political structures were distributed in numerous autonomous settlements/chiefdoms (''dong'' 洞) located in riverine valleys. The ''
Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...
'' notes that Li noblemen who possess bronze drum in each ''dong'' were called ''dulao'' (都老), which Churchman argues bears some resemblance and cultural connection to the previous local ruling class of the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
. The Li tribes were described as ferocious raiding bandits who refused to accept imperial authority, leading to Jiaozhou, the heartland of the Red River Delta, whence the Chinese deemed a lone, isolated borderlands with difficult, limited administration. Because the Li-Lao people managed to keep themselves away from Chinese sphere of cultural influence, the landscape of Northern Vietnam during Han-Tang period experienced a perfect equilibrium between Sinification and localization. From the sixth to the seventh century, Chinese dynasties attempted to militarily subdue the Li ''dong'', gradually causing the Li Lao culture to decline. The important effects of ten centuries of Chinese rules over Northern Vietnam arguably in terms of complex cultural and linguistics are still clear observable. Some native languages of the regions for a long time had employed Sinitic script and Sinitic-derived writing systems to represent their languages, such as
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
, Tày, and Nùng. James Chamberlain believes that the traditional
Vietic The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam. The branch was once referred to by the terms ''Việt–Mường'', ''Annamese–Muong'', and ''Vietnamuong''; the term '' ...
realm was north central Vietnam/northern Laos and not the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
. Based on his interpretation of Keith Weller Taylor's examination of Chinese texts (''
Jiu Tangshu The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', ''
Xin Tangshu The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'', '' Suishu'', ''
Taiping Huanyu Ji The ''Taiping Huanyu Ji'' (), or "Universal Geography of the Taiping Era 76-983" is a 10th-century AD geographical treatise by Chinese scholar Yue Shi 樂史 (930-1007), written during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song in the Northern Song Dy ...
'', ''
Tongdian The ''Tongdian'' () is a Chinese institutional history and encyclopedia text. It covers a panoply of topics from high antiquity through the year 756, whereas a quarter of the book focuses on the Tang Dynasty. The book was written by Du You from 766 ...
''), Chamberlain suggests that Việt-Mường peoples began emigrating from Central Vietnam (
Jiuzhen Jiuzhen (Vietnamese: Cửu Chân, Chinese: 九真) was a Chinese commandery within Jiaozhou. It is located in present-day Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam. Michel Ferlus (2012) and Frédéric Pain (2020) propose that 九真 Old Chinese Old Ch ...
, Rinan) to the Red River Delta in the seventh century, during the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, possibly due to pressure from the Khmers in the south or the Chinese in the north. Chamberlain speculates that during the rebellion led by
Mai Thúc Loan Mai Thúc Loan (or Mai Huyền Thành ( 梅 玄 成), self-proclaimed Mai Hắc Đế ( 梅 黑 帝, The Black Emperor or The Swarthy Emperor), was the Vietnamese leader of the uprising in 722 AD against the rule of the Chinese Tang dynasty in th ...
, the son of a salt-producing family in Hoan province (today
Hà Tĩnh Province Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ. Notable people with the surname Hà * Hà Kiều Anh, ...
, North-Central Vietnam), which lasted from 722 to 723, a large number of Sinicized lowland Vietic people or the Kinh moved north. The ''
Jiu Tangshu The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'' records that Mai Thúc Loan, also known as Mai Huyền Thành, styled himself as ''the Black Emperor'' (possibly after his swarthy complexion), and that he had 400,000 followers from 23 provinces across Annam and other kingdoms, including
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
and
Chenla Chenla or Zhenla (; km, ចេនឡា, ; vi, Chân Lạp) is the Chinese designation for the successor polity of the kingdom of Funan preceding the Khmer Empire that existed from around the late sixth to the early ninth century in Indoc ...
. However, archaeogenetics demonstrate that before the Đông Sơn period, the Red River Delta's inhabitants were predominantly Austroasiatic: genetic data from
Phùng Nguyên culture The Phùng Nguyên culture of Vietnam (c. 2,000 – 1,500 BC) is a name given to a culture of the Bronze Age in Vietnam which takes its name from an archeological site in Phùng Nguyên, east of Việt Trì discovered in 1958. It was during this p ...
's
Mán Bạc Mán Bạc is a Neolithic archaeological site located in Yên Mô District, Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam, dated from around 1,850–1,650 BC. Mán Bạc is associated with the Phùng Nguyên culture. With 95 burials found at the site, Mán Bạ ...
burial site (dated 1,800 BC) have close proximity to modern Austroasiatic speakers; meanwhile, "mixed genetics" from
Đông Sơn culture The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...
's Núi Nấp site showed affinity to " Dai from China, Tai-Kadai speakers from Thailand, and Austroasiatic speakers from Vietnam, including the
Kinh The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native lang ...
"; therefore, " e likely spread of Vietic was southward from the RRD, not northward. Accounting for southern diversity will require alternative explanations." Michael Churchman states that "the absence of records of large-scale population shifts indicates that there was a fairly stable group of people in Jiaozhi throughout the Han–Tang period who spoke Austroasiatic languages ancestral to modern Vietnamese". On a Buddhist inscription dated to the 8th century from Thanh Mai village, Hà Nội, 100 out of 136 women mentioned in the epigraphy could be identified as ethnic Vietnamese females. Linguist John Phan proposes that a local dialect of
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
called Annamese Middle Chinese developed and was spoken in the Red River Delta by descendants of Chinese immigrants, and later was absorbed into the co-existing Việt-Mường languages by the ninth century. Phan identifies three layers of Chinese loanwords into Vietnamese: the earliest layer of borrowing dates to the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(ca. 1st century CE) and Jin dynasty (ca. 4th century CE); the late layer of borrowing dates to the post-Tang period, and the recent layer of borrowing dates to the Ming & Qing dynasties.


National historiography

Study of Northern Vietnam and the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
during the first millennium AD is highly problematic. This region is widely associated with the foundation of the modern country and nation-state of Vietnam. It has been given exceptional treatment and academic scrutiny compared to other regions. This unique academic focus has resulted in critical misinterpretations. Some notable academic works have echoed the established frameworks of colonial and postcolonial Vietnamese nationalist historiography in order to associate the entire history of the early Red River Delta with the Vietnamese, i.e. the Kinh, and the modern country of Vietnam. The rewriting of Vietnamese history in the 20th century considered pushing several nationalistic themed theories. On notable theory, the ''Continuity,'' is defined as a belief that the peoples of Red River Delta during Han-Tang period had always retained their unique "Vietnamese identity" and "Vietnamese spirit", which was arguably rooted in the highly sophisticated Van Lang kingdoms under the Hung kings, which were largely legends transformed into "historical facts" under the scholarship of the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
. This was despite relentless Chinese acculturation, making them "different" from other groups in Southern China who "eventually lost their separate identities through assimilation to Chinese culture." The Continuity theory reconstructs the emergence of the Đại Việt kingdom in the 10th century as the awakening and resurrection of "Vietnamese sovereignty," and these traditions of Vietnamese exceptionalism continued into modern Vietnam. For example, Keith Taylor took up some aspects of Vietnamese nationalist historiography in his 1983 monograph, ''The Birth of Vietnam'', and falsely asserted that "Vietnam's independence resulted from a thousand-year struggle to throw off Chinese rule by a group of people who held a conviction 'that they were not and did not want to become Chinese.'" Later, Taylor retreated from Vietnamese nationalist historiography. No evidence of "ethnic Vietnamese" resembling what would be considered the modern Vietnamese exists during the Han-Tang period. Instead, ancient Northern Vietnam as well as today was very diverse and complex in terms of ethnolinguistic and cultural origins. The Continuity theory can be easily discredited by linguistic examinations. By the 9th-11th centuries, the northern portion of the Viet-Muong portion of
Vietic The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam. The branch was once referred to by the terms ''Việt–Mường'', ''Annamese–Muong'', and ''Vietnamuong''; the term '' ...
speakers had just supposedly diverged, and one dialect cluster thereby evolved into
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
. Other theories advocated by John Phan presents evidence of Vietnamese being developed from a
creolized language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. Wh ...
which resulted from a local linguistic shift from
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
to proto-Vietnamese after Sinitic rule. Beside anachronisms, Vietnamese nationalist scholarship also inserted a ''Vietnamese resistance'' myth into history by labeling any rebellious local group in Northern Vietnam during the Han-Tang period as collectively "Vietnamese" who 'were in constant struggles against the Chinese yokes,' in contrast to "corrupt invading Chinese colonizers", generic modern nationalities and ethnicities. The context was heavily entangled with modern perceptions about Vietnam during decolonization and the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Historians such as Catherine Churchman have criticized attempts of characterizing the past through the lens of modern national boundaries and projecting a "wish for the restoration of long-lost national independence" onto localized dynasties.


Founding

Prior to independence in the late 9th century, the area that became Đại Việt in northern Vietnam was ruled by the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
as Annan. The hill dwellers on the western frontier of Annan and powerful chieftains such as Lý Do Độc allied with the state of
Nanzhao Nanzhao (, also spelled Nanchao, ) was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was centered on present-day Yunnan in China. History Origins Nanzh ...
in
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
and rebelled against the Tang dynasty in the 860s. They captured Annan in three years, forcing the lowlanders to scatter to asylums around the delta. The Tang dynasty turned back and defeated the Nanzhao-indigenous alliance in 866 and renamed the area Jinghai Circuit. A military mutiny forced Tang authorities to withdraw in 880 while loyalist troops left for home on their own initiative. A regional regime led by the Khuc family formed on the Red River Delta in the early 10th century. From 907 to 917,
Khúc Hạo Khúc Hạo (860–917) () was the Vietnamese self-declared jiedushi of northern Vietnam ( Tĩnh Hải quân) from 907 to 917 succeeding his father Khúc Thừa Dụ. During his reign, Khúc Hạo made several important social and administrativ ...
and then
Khúc Thừa Mỹ Khúc Thừa Mỹ ( chữ Hán: 曲承美; pinyin: ''Qū Chéngměi''; governed: 918–923 or 918–930) was a self-declared jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân (modern northern Vietnam) during the later part of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam, w ...
was appointed by Chinese dynasties as
jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...
, tributary governors. The Khúc did not try to create any kind of a ''de jure'' independent polity. In 930, the neighboring
Southern Han Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...
state invaded Annam and removed the Khúc from power. In 931,
Dương Đình Nghệ Dương Đình Nghệ ( Chữ Hán: 楊廷藝; pinyin: ''Yáng Tíngyì''; 874 – March 937; some sources record Dương Diên Nghệ, Chữ Hán: 楊延藝) was the jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân in around 931 AD. He was a skillful, talented g ...
, a local chief from Aizhou, revolted and quickly ousted the Southern Han. In 937 he was assassinated by
Kiều Công Tiễn Kiều Công Tiễn ( chữ Hán: 矯公羡 or 皎公羨; ) (870 - 938) was a general in the court of Dương Đình Nghệ, a Vietnamese Jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân who took over the position in 931. In 937 Kiều Công Tiễn assassinated ...
, leader of the revanchist faction allied with the Southern Han. In 938, emperor
Liu Gong Emperor Qianshao of Han (, 193 BC – 15 June 184 BC), personal name said to be Liu Gong (), was the third emperor of the Han dynasty in China. He was a son, likely the oldest son, of Emperor Hui, likely by a concubine—although there is s ...
of Southern Han led an invasion fleet to Annam to assist Kiều Công Tiễn. Dương Đình Nghệ's son-in-law
Ngô Quyền Ngô Quyền ( vi-hantu, 吳權) (April 17, 898 – February 14, 944), often referred to as Tiền Ngô Vương (前吳王; "First King of Ngô"), was a warlord who later became the founding king of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned from ...
, also was from the south, marched north and killed Kiều Công Tiễn. He then led the people to fight and destroyed the Southern Han fleet on the
Bạch Đằng River The Bạch Đằng River ( vi, Sông Bạch Đằng, ), also called Bạch Đằng Giang (from ), ''white wisteria river'', is a river in northern Vietnam, located near Hạ Long Bay. It flows through the Yên Hưng District of Quảng Ninh Provin ...
. After defeating the Southern Han invasion, Ngô Quyền proclaimed himself king and established a new dynasty in Cổ Loa citadel over the Principality. Cổ Loa's sphere of influence probably did not reach the other local nobility. In 944, after his death, Ngô Quyền's brother-in-law
Dương Tam Kha Dương Tam Kha ( 楊 三 哥), formally King Ping of Yang ( 楊 平 王), later known as the Duke of Chương Dương (章陽公) (died 10 August 980), was king of the Ngô dynasty from 944 to 950.''Đại Việt sử lược'', vol. 1''Nguyễn ...
(son of Dương Đình Nghệ) took power. The Dương clan increased factional segregation by bringing more southern men into the court. As a result, the principality broke apart during the reign of Tam Kha. Ngô Quyền's sons
Ngô Xương Văn Ngô Xương Văn ( vi-hantu, 吳昌文, 935–965), formally King of Nam Tấn (南晉王), was a king of the Vietnamese Ngô dynasty. He was the second son of Ngô Quyền, the dynastic founder. Background Ngô Xương Văn was born in 935. ...
and
Ngô Xương Ngập Ngô Xương Ngập ( vi-hantu, 吳昌岌, died 954), formally King of Thiên Sách (天策王), was a co-ruler of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He was the eldest son of Ngô Quyền, the dynastic founder. Ngô Quyền named Dương Tam Kha as r ...
deposed their maternal uncle and became dual kings in 950. In 954, Ngô Xương Ngập died. The younger Ngô Xương Văn ruled as the sole king, and nine years later he was killed by warlords. Chaos unleashed across the Red River Delta.


Early Đại Việt

A new leader of prowess named
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (924–979) (r. 968–979), real name allegedly Đinh Hoàn ( 丁 桓), was the first Vietnamese emperor following the liberation of the country from the rule of the Chinese Southern Han Dynasty, as well as the founder of the s ...
emerged. From Hoa Lư, he and his son
Đinh Liễn Đinh Liễn (丁璉, 940 – October 979) or Đinh Khuông Liễn (丁匡璉), was the eldest son of emperor Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, the founding emperor of Đinh dynasty. Liễn was granted the title ''Nam Việt vương'' (南越王, "king of Nam Vi ...
spent two years in political and military struggle and managed to subdue all warlords and oppositions. Around 967 or 968, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh established the kingdom of Đại Cồ Việt (大瞿越) (meaning "The Great Gau(tama)'s Việt"), and moved the court to Hoa Lư. He (r. 968–979) became king of Đại Cồ Việt and titled himself emperor, while Prince Đinh Liễn became the great prince. In 973 and 975, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh sent two embassies to the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
and established relationships. Buddhist clergy were put in charge of important positions. Coins were minted. The territories of the early Việt state comprised the lowland Red River Basin to the Nghệ An region. According to a Hoa Lư inscription (c. 979), in that year Đinh Liễn murdered his brother
Đinh Hạng Lang Đinh Hạng Lang ( vi-hantu, 丁項郎, died 979), dharma name Đính-noa Tăng-noa (頂帑僧帑), was the crown prince of the Đinh dynasty. __TOC__ Biography Đinh Hạng Lang was second son of emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng. He had a very meek ...
who had been promoted to crown prince by his father. In late 979, both Đinh Bộ Lĩnh and Đinh Liễn were assassinated. Hearing the news,
Ngô Nhật Khánh Ngô Nhật Khánh ( vi-hantu, 吳日慶, died 979), formally Prince An (安王), was a Vietnamese warlord during the Period of the 12 Warlords. Khánh was a grandson of Ngô Quyền. He occupied Đường Lâm (modern Sơn Tây, Hanoi), and ti ...
, a prince of the old royal family in exile-and king
Paramesvaravarman I Parameswaravarman I was a Pallava emperor who ruled in South India in the latter half of the 7th century, 670-695 AD. He ascended to the throne after the death of his father Mahendravarman II in 670 CE. His grandfather Narasimhavarman I had al ...
of
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
launched a naval attack on Hoa Lư, but much of the fleet was capsized by a late-season
typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
. Queen
Dương Vân Nga Dương Thị Ngọc Vân (楊氏玉雲, ?–1000) courtesy name Vân Nga (雲娥) was the only empress dowager of the Đinh dynasty and afterwards empress of Lê Đại Hành, the first emperor of the Early Lê dynasty. When her husband Đinh Ti ...
placed her partner, general
Lê Hoàn Lê Hoàn (10 August 941 – 18 March 1005), posthumously title Lê Đại Hành, was a Vietnamese emperor and the third ruler of Dai Viet kingdom, ruling from 981 to 1005. He first served as the generalissimo commanding a ten-thousand man arm ...
, as chief of the state. Lê Hoàn's rivals then attacked him but were defeated. The queen of the Dương family decided to replace the Đinh family with the Lê family of Lê Hoàn, and brought the crown from her six-year-old son Đinh Toàn (r. 979–980) to her mate Lê Hoàn (r. 980–1005) in 980. Disturbances in Đại Cồ Việt attracted attention from the Song dynasty. In 981, the Song Emperor launched an invasion of Đại Cồ Việt, but was repulsed by Lê Hoàn. In 982 he attacked Champa, killed the Cham king Paramesvaravarman I, and destroyed a Cham city. A Khmer inscription (c. 987) mentioned that in that year, some Vietnamese merchants or envoys arrived in Cambodia through the
Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
. After Lê Hoàn died in 1005, civil war broke out between crown princes Lê Long Việt,
Lê Long Đĩnh Lê Long Đĩnh (; 黎 龍 鋌, 15 November 986 – 19 November 1009), also known as Lê Ngọa Triều (黎臥朝), was the last emperor of the Early Lê family of the kingdom of Đại Cồ Việt, ruling from 1005 to 1009. After killing his ...
, Lê Long Tích, and Lê Long Kính. Long Việt (r. 1005) was murdered by Long Đĩnh while after ruling for three days. As the Lê brothers fought each other, the Lý family-a member of the court's cadet, led by
Lý Công Uẩn LY or ly may refer to: Government and politics * Libya (ISO 3166-1 country code LY) * Lý dynasty, a Vietnamese dynasty * Labour Youth of Ireland * Legislative Yuan, the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Science and tech ...
, quickly rose to power. Long Đĩnh (r. 1005–1009) ruled as a tyrant king and developed hemorrhoids. He died in November 1009. Lý Công Uẩn ascended the throne two days later, with support from the monks, as
Lý Thái Tổ Lý Thái Tổ ( vi-hantu, , 8 March 974 – 31 March 1028), Vietnamese name, personal name Lý Công Uẩn, temple name Thái Tổ, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese emperor, the founder of the Lý dynasty of Vietnam and the 6th ruler of ...
.


Flourishing period

Emperor
Lý Thái Tổ Lý Thái Tổ ( vi-hantu, , 8 March 974 – 31 March 1028), Vietnamese name, personal name Lý Công Uẩn, temple name Thái Tổ, was a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese emperor, the founder of the Lý dynasty of Vietnam and the 6th ruler of ...
(r. 1009–1028) moved the court to the abandoned city of
Đại La Đại La (), means ''the Citadel of the Great Dike'', or La Thành (羅城, means ''the Citadel of the Dike'') was an ancient fortified city in present-day Hanoi during the third Chinese domination of the 7th and 8th centuries, and again in the 11 ...
, which had previously been a seat of power under the Tang dynasty, and renamed it to Thăng Long in 1010. The city became what is now present-day
Hà Nội Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. To control and maintain the nation's wealth, in 1013 he created a taxation system per product. His reign was relatively peaceful, though he campaigned against the Han communities in
Hà Giang Hà Giang () is a city located on the banks of the Lô River in the Northeast region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Hà Giang Province. The city has an area of 135.33 km2 and a population of 55 559 inhabitants. The population is compose ...
massif and subdued them in 1014. He furthermore laid the basis of the stability Vietnamese state and his dynasty would rule the kingdom for the next 200 years. Lý Thái Tổ's son and grandson
Lý Thái Tông Lý Thái Tông ( chữ Hán: 李 太 宗; 29 July 1000 – 3 November 1054), personal name Lý Phật Mã, posthumously temple name Thái Tông, was the second monarch of the Lý dynasty, ruled Đại Việt from 1028 to 1054. He was consider ...
(r. 1028–1053) and
Lý Thánh Tông Lý Thánh Tông (30 March 1023 – 1 February 1072), personal name Lý Nhật Tôn , temple name Thánh Tông, was the third emperor of the Lý dynasty and the 8th ruler of the Vietnamese kingdom Đại Việt. In his reign, Lý Thánh Tôn ...
(r. 1054–1071) continued to strengthen the Viet state. Starting during the reign of Lê Hoàn, the Việt expansion extended Việt territories from the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
in all directions. The Vietnamese destroyed the Cham northern capital Inprapura in 982, raided and plundered Southern Chinese port cities in 995, 1028, 1036, 1059, and 1060; subdued the
Nùng people The Nùng (''pronounced as noong'' uːŋ are a Central Tai-speaking ethnic group living primarily in northeastern Vietnam and southwestern Guangxi. The Nùng sometimes call themselves Tho, which literally means '' autochthonous'' (indigenous ...
in 1039; raided Laos in 1045; invaded Champa and pillaged Cham cities in 1044 and 1069, and subjugated three northern Cham provinces of Địa Lý, Ma Linh, and Bố Chính. Contact between the Song dynasty of China and the Việt state increased through raids and tributary mission, which resulted in Chinese cultural influences on Vietnamese culture, the first civil examination based on the Chinese model was staged in 1075, Chinese script was declared the official script of the court in 1174, and the emergence of Vietnamese demotic script (
Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...
) occurred in the 12th century. In 1054 Lý Thánh Tông changed his kingdom's name to Đại Việt and declared himself an emperor. He married an ordinary girl named Lady
Ỷ Lan Ỷ Lan ( Hán tự: 倚 蘭, literally ''leaning on the orchid'', ?–1117) or Empress Mother Linh Nhân ( Vietnamese: ''Linh Nhân thái hậu'', Hán tự: 靈 仁 太 后) was a Vietnamese regent, the imperial concubine of Lý Thánh T ...
and she gave birth to the crown prince Lý Càn Đức. In 1072 the infant Lý Càn Đức became Emperor Lý Nhân Tông (r. 1072–1127), the longest-ruling monarch in Vietnamese history. During the early years of Lý Nhân Tông, his father's military leader
Lý Thường Kiệt Lý Thường Kiệt (; 1019–1105), real name Ngô Tuấn (), was a Vietnamese general and admiral of the Lý dynasty. He served as an official through the reign of Lý Thái Tông, Lý Thánh Tông and Lý Nhân Tông and was a general durin ...
, uncle
Lý Đạo Thành Lý Đạo Thành (, ? – 1081), courtesy name Bá Định (伯定), was a member of the royal family and the chancellor in the royal court of Lý dynasty. Highly appreciated for his ability and righteousness, Lý Đạo Thành had a major role ...
, and Queen Ỷ Lan became court regents. From the 1070s, border tensions between the Song Empire, local Tai principalities, and the Việt kingdom arose into open violence. In winter 1075, Lý Thường Kiệt led a naval invasion of southern China. Việt troops wreaked havoc on Chinese border towns, then laid siege to
Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...
and captured it one month later. The Song emperor sent a large counter-invasion of Đại Việt in late 1076, but Lý Thường Kiệt was able to fend off and defeat the Song advance at the Battle of the Cầu River, where half of Song forces perished in combats and diseases. Lý Nhân Tông then offered peace with the Song, and later all hostilities were ended in 1084; the Song recognized the Việt polity as a sovereign kingdom. According to a fourteenth-century chronicle, the
Đại Việt sử lược The ''Đại Việt sử lược'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史略; lit. ''Abridged Chronicles of Đại Việt'') or ''Việt sử lược'' ( vi-hantu, 越史略; lit. ''Abridged Chronicles of Viet'') is an historical text that was compiled during the ...
, the Khmer Empire sent three embassies to Đại Việt in 1086, 1088 and 1095. The matured Lý Nhân Tông came to rule in 1085. He defeated the Cham ruler Jaya Indravarman II in 1103, built the Dạm pagoda in Bắc Ninh in 1086, and constructed a Buddhist temple for his mother called Long Đọi pagoda in 1121. He died in 1127. One of his nephews, Lý Dương Hoán, succeeded him and became known as Emperor
Lý Thần Tông Lý Thần Tông (1116–1138), Vietnamese name, personal name Lý Dương Hoán, was the List of emperors of the Lý dynasty, fifth monarch of the Lý dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1127 to his death in 1138. Becoming the ruler of ...
(r. 1128–1138). This marked the downfall of Lý family's authority within the court. Lý Thần Tông was crowned under the supervision of
Lê Bá Ngọc Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-co ...
, a powerful eunuch. Lê Bá Ngọc adopted a son of the emperor's mother named
Đỗ Anh Vũ Đỗ Anh Vũ ( Hán tự: 杜 英 武) (1113–1158) was an official in the royal court of Lý Anh Tông, the sixth emperor of the Lý Dynasty. Considered the most prominent figure of the consort clan during the Early Lý period, Đỗ Anh Vũ ...
. During the reign of Lý Thần Tông,
Suryavarman II Suryavarman II ( km, សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី២), posthumously named Paramavishnuloka, was a Khmer king from 1113 AD to 1145/1150 AD and the builder of Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world which he dedicated t ...
of the Khmer Empire launched an attack on Đại Việt's southern territories in 1128. In 1132 he allied with Cham king Jaya Indravarman III and briefly seized Nghệ An and pillaged Thanh Hoá. In 1135 Duke Đỗ Anh Vũ raised an army and repelled the Khmer invaders. After the Chams refused to support in 1137, Suryavarman II abandoned his incursions on Đại Việt and launched the invasion of Champa. At the same time, Lý Thần Tông began suffering a fatal illness, according to an inscription, and he died in the next year, leaving the infant Lý Thiên Tộ who became Emperor
Lý Anh Tông Emperor Lý Anh Tông (1136 – 14 August 1175) of Đại Việt (literally Great Viet), was the sixth ruler of the later Lý dynasty, from 1138 until his death in 1175. Since Lý Anh Tông, given name Lý Thiên Tộ ( 李天 祚), was chose ...
(r. 1138–1175) under Đỗ Anh Vũ's patronage. After Đõ Anh Vũ died in 1159, another powerful figure named
Tô Hiến Thành Tô Hiến Thành ( Hán tự: 蘇 憲 誠) (died 1179) was an official in the royal court of Lý Anh Tông and Lý Cao Tông, the sixth and seventh emperors of the Lý dynasty. Being a capable official of Lý Anh Tông who helped the emperor in ...
stepped into the role of guarding the dynasty until 1179. In 1149, Javanese and Siamese ships arrived Vân Đồn to trade. The sixth son of Lý Anh Tông, Prince Lý Long Trát was crowned in 1175 as
Lý Cao Tông Lý Cao Tông (6 July 1173 – 15 November 1210), born Lý Long Trát, courtesy name Long Cán, was the seventh emperor of the Lý dynasty, ruled Đại Việt for 35 years. He identified himself with Buddha, similar with Angkorian Khmer Empire c ...
(r. 1175–1210). By the 1190s, more outsider clans were able to penetrate and infiltrate the royal family, weakening further the Lý authority. Three powerful aristocratic families–Đoàn, Nguyễn, and Trần (descendants of Trần Emperors, a Chinese emigre from
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
) emerged in the court and contested on behalf of the royals. In 1210, Lý Cao Tông's eldest son Lý Sảm became Emperor
Lý Huệ Tông Lý Huệ Tông (chữ Hán: 李惠宗; born Lý Sảm 李旵; July 1194 – 3 September 1226) was the emperor of Vietnam from 1211 to 1224, the penultimate leader of the Lý dynasty. During Lý Huệ Tông's rule, many members of the Trần famil ...
(r. 1210–1224) of Đại Việt. In 1224, Lý Sảm appointed his second princess Lý Phật Kim (Empress
Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng ( vi-hantu, 李昭皇, September 1218 – 1278), personal name Lý Phật Kim (李佛金) later renamed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), was the ninth and last sovereign of the Lý dynasty, empress of Đại Việt f ...
) as successor while he abdicated and became a monk. Finally, in 1225 the Trần leader
Trần Thủ Độ Prince Trung Võ Trần Thủ Độ ( vi-hantu, 陳守度, 1194–1264) was a general and leader of the Trần clan during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng of Vietnam. Trần Thủ Độ was credited for overthrowing the Lý dyna ...
sponsored a marriage between his eight-year-old nephew
Trần Cảnh Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...
with Lý Chiêu Hoàng, that means the Ly would give up power to the Trần, and Trần Cảnh became Emperor
Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being Retired Emperor f ...
of the new dynasty of Đại Việt. The young Trần Thái Tông centralized the monarchy, organized the civil examination on the Chinese model, built Royal Academy and Confucian Temple, constructed and repaired the delta dikes during his reign. In 1257, the
Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
under
Möngke Khan Möngke ( mn, ' / Мөнх '; ; 11 January 1209 – 11 August 1259) was the fourth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms ...
who was waging a war to conquer the Song Empire, sent envoys to Trần Thái Tông, demanded the Emperor of Đại Việt to present himself to the Mongol Khan in
Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. The envoys were imprisoned and the demand was rejected, about 25,000 Mongol–Dali troops led by general Uriyangqadaï to invade Đại Việt from
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
, and then to attack the Song from Đại Việt. Unprepared, Trần Thái Tông's army was overwhelmed at
battle of Bình Lệ Nguyên The Battle of Bình Lệ Nguyên was a battle between the invading Mongol forces led by Uriyangkhadai and Đại Việt forces led by king Trần Thái Tông. The battle took place on the field of Bạch Hạc, now located in Vĩnh Phúc provinc ...
on 17 January 1258. Five days later they captured and sacked
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
. The Mongols retreated to Yunnan fourteen days later, as Trần Thái Tông had submitted and sent tribute to Möngke. Trần Thái Tông's successors
Trần Thánh Tông Trần Thánh Tông (October 12, 1240 – July 3, 1290), personal name Trần Hoảng (), was the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Nhân Tông, Thán ...
(r. 1258–1278) and
Trần Nhân Tông Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the throne to his son Tr ...
(r. 1278–1293) continued to send tribute to the new Mongol-led
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
. In 1283, Yuan emperor
Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
launched the invasion of Champa. In early 1285 he commissioned prince Toghon to led the second invasion of Đại Việt to punish the Vietnamese Emperor Trần Nhân Tông for not helping the Yuan campaign in Champa and refusing to send tribute. Kublai also appointed
Trần Ích Tắc Trần Ích Tắc ( vi-hantu, 陳益稷, Chen Yiji, 1254–1329), or Prince Chiêu Quốc (Vietnamese: Chiêu Quốc vương / 昭 國 王), was a prince of Đại Việt, the fifth son of emperor Trần Thái Tông of the Trần dynasty, and the ...
, a Trần prince dissent as the puppet Emperor of Đại Việt. Yuan forces though initially captured
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
, however, were defeated by Cham–Vietnamese alliance in June. In 1288 they decided to launch the third and also the largest invasion of Đại Việt but were repelled. Prince
Trần Hưng Đạo Trần Hưng Đạo (; 1228–1300), real name Trần Quốc Tuấn (陳國峻), also known as Grand Prince Hưng Đạo (''Hưng Đạo Đại Vương'' - 興道大王), was a Vietnamese royal prince, statesman and military commander of Đạ ...
ended the Mongol yokes through a decisive naval victory in the battle of
Bạch Đằng River The Bạch Đằng River ( vi, Sông Bạch Đằng, ), also called Bạch Đằng Giang (from ), ''white wisteria river'', is a river in northern Vietnam, located near Hạ Long Bay. It flows through the Yên Hưng District of Quảng Ninh Provin ...
in April 1288. Đại Việt continued to flourish under the reigns of Trẩn Nhân Tông and
Trần Anh Tông Trần Anh Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳英宗, 17 September 1276 – 12 December 1320), personal name Trần Thuyên (陳烇), courtesy name Nhật Sủy (日煃) or Nhật Sáng (日㷃/日𤊞), was the fourth emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning ov ...
(r. 1293–1314).


Crisis of the Fourteenth century

By the 14th century, Đại Việt kingdom began experiencing a long decline. The transitional decade (1326–36) from the end of the
Medieval Warm Period The Medieval Warm Period (MWP), also known as the Medieval Climate Optimum or the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, was a time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region that lasted from to . Proxy (climate), Climate proxy records show peak warmth oc ...
to the Mini-ice age period affected the climate of the Red River Delta into extremes. Weather phenomena such as drought, violent flooding, storms frequently occurred, weakened the irrigation system that damaged agriculture production, generating famines, together with widespread non-bubonic plagues, impoverished the peasantry, unleashing robbery and chaos. The estimated population could have been grown from 1.2 million in 1200 to perhaps 2.4 million in 1340.
Trần Anh Tông Trần Anh Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳英宗, 17 September 1276 – 12 December 1320), personal name Trần Thuyên (陳烇), courtesy name Nhật Sủy (日煃) or Nhật Sáng (日㷃/日𤊞), was the fourth emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning ov ...
seized northern Champa in 1307, intervening in Champa's politics through the marriage of Cham king
Jaya Simhavarman III Jaya may refer to: Media *''Jaya'', self titled albums by Jaya (singer), released in 1989, 1996 and 2001 * ''Jaya'' (film), a 2002 Indian Tamil film Mythology *''Jaya'', a name of Karna in Mahabharata; the core portion of the ''Mahabharata'' ...
with Trần Anh Tông's sister Queen Paramecvariin.
Trần Minh Tông Trần Minh Tông (4 September 1300 – 10 March 1357), real name Trần Mạnh (陳奣), was the fifth emperor of the Trần dynasty who ruled Đại Việt from 1314 to 1329. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Hiến Tông, Minh Tô ...
(r. 1314–1329) went into conflict with
Tai people Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, a ...
s in
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
and Sukhothai from the 1320s to 1330s. During the reign of the weak king
Trần Dụ Tông Trần Dụ Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳裕宗, 22 November 1336 – 25 May 1369), given name Trần Hạo (陳暭), was the seventh emperor of the Trần dynasty, and reigned over Vietnam from 1341 to 1369. Enthroned by Senior Emperor Minh Tông afte ...
(r. 1341–1369), internal rebellions led by serfs and peasants from the 1340s and 1360s weakened the royal power. In 1369, due to Trần Dụ Tông's lack of an heir to success,
Dương Nhật Lễ Duke Hôn Đức ( vi, Hôn Đức Công, vi-hantu, 昏德公, ? – 1 December 1370), real name Dương Nhật Lễ (楊日禮), was the List of emperors of the Trần Dynasty, emperor of Đại Việt from 1369 to 1370. Although not coming from ...
, a man from the Dương clan, seized power. A short bloody civil war led by the royal Tran family against the Dương clan broke out in 1369–1370 that created turmoil. The Trần reclaimed the crown, enthroning
Trần Nghệ Tông Trần Nghệ Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳藝宗, December 1321 – 15 December 1394), given name Trần Phủ (陳暊), was the eighth emperor of the Trần Dynasty who reigned Vietnam from 1370 to 1372. Biography As prince Nghệ Tông was born in 132 ...
(r. 1370–1372) while Dương Nhật Lễ was deposed and executed. Duong's queen mother went into exile in Champa and begged Cham king
Po Binasuor Po Binasuor (died 1390), Ngo-ta Ngo-che, Cei Bunga, Chế Bồng Nga (''Bunga'' is the Malay word for 'flower', and "Chế" is the Vietnamese transliteration of Cei, a Cham word that means "uncle" - and was, in the days of Champa, frequently used ...
to help her get revenge. Took advantage,
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
Empire under
Po Binasuor Po Binasuor (died 1390), Ngo-ta Ngo-che, Cei Bunga, Chế Bồng Nga (''Bunga'' is the Malay word for 'flower', and "Chế" is the Vietnamese transliteration of Cei, a Cham word that means "uncle" - and was, in the days of Champa, frequently used ...
(Chế Bồng Nga) invaded Đại Việt and ransacked
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
in 1371. Six years later, the Đại Việt army suffered a great defeat at
Battle of Vijaya The Battle of Vijaya (Vietnamese language: ''trận Đồ Bàn'') between Đại Việt and the kingdom of Champa was a siege of Vijaya, the Cham capital, in 1377. The Vietnamese forces were defeated and the Đại Việt emperor, Trần Duệ Tô ...
, and
Trần Duệ Tông Trần Duệ Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳睿宗, 1337–1377), real name Trần Kính (陳曔), was the ninth emperor of the Trần dynasty who reigned Vietnam from 1373 to 1377. Duệ Tông succeeded the throne from his brother Trần Nghệ Tông ...
(r. 1373–1377) was killed. The Chams then continued to advance north, besieging, pillaging, and looting
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
four times, from 1378 to 1383. War with Champa ended in 1390 after the Cham king Che Bong Nga was killed during his northward offensive by Vietnamese forces led by prince Trần Khát Chân, who used firearms in battle.


Ming conquest and occupation

Hồ Quý Ly Hồ Quý Ly ( vi-hantu, 胡季犛, born 1336) ruled Đại Ngu (Vietnam) from 1400 to 1401 as the founding emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty. Quý Ly rose from a post as an official served the court of the ruling Trần dynasty and a milit ...
(1336–1407)-the minister of the Trần court who has desperately fought off the Cham invasions, now became the most powerful figure in the kingdom. He conducted a series of reforms, including replacing copper coins with
banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...
s, despite the kingdom still recovering after the devastating war. Time by time, he slowly eliminated the Trần dynasty and aristocracy. In 1400 he deposed the last Trần Phế Đế, Trần Emperor and became ruler of Đại Việt. Hồ Quý Ly became emperor, moved the capital to Citadel of the Hồ dynasty, Tây Đô and briefly changed the kingdom's name to Đại Ngu (Great Joy/Peace) (大虞). In 1401 he stepped down and established his second son Hồ Hán Thương (r. 1401–1407) who had Trần blood as king. In 1406, Emperor Yongle of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, in the name of restoring the Trần dynasty, Ming conquest of Dai Viet, invaded Đại Ngu. The ill-prepared Vietnamese resistance of Hồ Quý Ly, who failed to get support from his people, especially from the
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
literati, was crumbled and defeated by a Chinese army of 215,000, armed with the newest technology at the time. Đại Ngu kingdom became the Jiaozhi Province, thirteenth province of the Ming empire. The short-lived Ming colonial rule had traumatic impacts on the kingdom and the Vietnamese. In pursuit of their mission civilisatrice (sinicization), the Ming built and opened Confucian schools and shines, prohibited old Vietnamese traditions such as tattooing, sent several thousand Vietnamese scholars to China where they were re-educated in Neo-Confucian classics. Some of these literati would dramatically change the Vietnamese state under the new Lê dynasty when they returned in the 1430s and served the new court, triggering a seismic shift from
Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
to Confucianism. Remains of pre-1400s Hanoi, Buddhist sanctuary and temples, were systematically demolished and reduced to ruins or nothing.


Revival

Lê Lợi-son of a peasant from Thanh Hóa Province, Thanh Hoá region, led an uprising against the Chinese occupation in spring 1418. He led a war of independence against Ming colonial rule that lasted for 9 years. Assisted by Nguyễn Trãi–a prominent anti-Ming scholar–and other Thanh Hoá families–the Trịnh and the Nguyễn, his rebel forces managed to capture and defeat several major Ming strongholds and counterattacks, eventually drove the Chinese back to the north in 1427. In April 1428, Lê Lợi was proclaimed as Emperor of a new Đại Việt. He established Hanoi as Đông Kinh or the eastern capital, while the dynasty's estate Lam Son became Tây Kinh or the western capital. Through his proclamation, Lê Lợi called upon educated men of ability to come forward to serve the new monarchy. The old Buddhist aristocrats were stripped during the Ming occupation and gave rise to the new emerging literati class. For the first time, a centralized authority based on proper laws was instituted. Literary examination now became crucial for the Việt state, scholars like Nguyễn Trãi played a large role in the court. Lê Lợi shifted his main affair focus to the Tai people and the Laotian Lan Xang kingdom in the west, due to their betrayal and becoming allies with the Ming during his rebellion in the 1420s. In 1431 and 1433, the Việt launched several campaigns on various Tai polities, subdued them, and incorporated the northwest region into Đại Việt.


Resurgent kingdom


Succession crisis

Lê Lợi died in 1433. He chose the younger prince Lê Thái Tông, Lê Nguyên Long (Lê Thái Tông, r. 1433–1442) as heir instead of the eldest Lê Tư Tề. Later Lê Tư Tề was expelled from the royal family and degraded status to a commoner. Lê Thái Tông was only ten years old when he was crowned in 1433. Lê Lợi's former comrades now fought politically with each other to control the court. Lê Sát used his power as the young emperor's regent to purge opposition factions. When Lê Thái Tông found out about Le Sat's abuses of power, he allied with Lê Sát's rival, Trịnh Khả. In 1437, Lê Sát was arrested and given a death sentence. In 1439 Lê Thái Tông launched a campaign against rebelling Tai vassals in the west and Chinese settlers in Đại Việt. He ordered the Chinese to cut their hair short and wear clothes of the Kinh people. One of his sisters raised in China was forced to commit suicide, being accused of endless conspiracies. Later he had four princes: The eldest son Lê Nghi Dân, the second Lê Khắc Xương, the third Lê Nhân Tông, Lê Bang Cơ, and the youngest Lê Thánh Tông, Lê Hạo. In 1442 Lê Thái Tông, the emperor died in suspicion after a visit to Nguyễn Trãi's family. Nguyễn Trãi and his clan, relatives were innocently condemned to death. One-year-old Lê Bang Cơ (Lê Nhân Tông, r. 1442–1459) assumed the throne a few days after his father's death. The emperor was too young and most political power of the court fell Lê Lợi's former comrades Trịnh Khả and Lê Thụ, who allied with the queen mother Nguyễn Thị Anh. During the dry season of 1445–1446, Trịnh Khả, Lê Thụ, and Trịnh Khắc Phục attacked Champa and took Vijaya, where the king of Champa Maha Vijaya (r. 1441–1446) was captured. Trịnh Khả installed Maha Kali (r. 1446–1449) as a puppet king, however, three years later Kali's elder brother murdered him and became king. Relations between the two kingdoms downfall into hostility. In 1451, amidst chaotic political struggles, Queen Nguyễn Thị Anh ordered Trịnh Khả to be executed for an accusation of conspiracy against the royal throne. Only two of Lê Lợi's former comrades, Nguyễn Xí and Dinh Liet, Đinh Liệt were still alive. During a night in late 1459, Prince Lê Nghi Dân and followers stormed into the palace, stabbed his Lê Nhân Tông, half-brother and the Nguyễn Thị Anh, mother. Four days later he was proclaimed as emperor. Nghi Dân ruled the kingdom for 8 months, then the two former-Nguyễn Xí and Đinh Liệt carried a Coup d'état, coup against him. Two days after Nghi Dân's death, the youngest prince Lê Hạo was crowned, known as Emperor Lê Thánh Tông the Overflowing Virtue (r. 1460–1479).


Lê Thánh Tông's reforms

In the 1460s, Lê Thánh Tông carried out a series of reforms, from centralizing government, built the first extensive bureaucracy and strong fiscal system, institutionalizing education, trade, and laws. He greatly reduced the power of the traditional Buddhist aristocracy with a scholar-literati class, ushered a brief golden age. Classical scholarly, literature (in nom script), science, music, and culture flourished. Hanoi emerged as the centre of learning of Southeast Asia in the 15th century. Lê Thánh Tông's reforms helped heightened the power of the king and the bureaucratic system, allowing him to mobilize a more massive army and resources that overawed the local nobility and capable to expand the Việt territories. To expand the kingdom, Lê Thánh Tông launched Cham–Vietnamese War (1471), an invasion of Champa in early 1471 that brought destruction to the Cham civilization and made the rump state Panduranga (Champa), Panduranga a vassal of Đại Việt. Respond to disputes with Laos over Muang Phuan and the mistreatment of the Laotian envoy, Lê Thánh Tông led a strong army that invaded Laos in 1479, sacked Luang Phabang, occupied it for five years, and advanced far away as Upper Burma. Vietnamese products, particularly porcelains, were sold throughout Southeast Asia, China, and also in modern-day East African coast, Japan, Iran and Turkey.


Decline and disintegration

In the next few decades after Lê Thánh Tông's death in 1497, Đại Việt once again fell to civil unrest. Agricultural failures, rapid population growth, corruption, and factionalism all compounded to stress the kingdom, leading to a rapid decline. Eight weak Lê kings briefly held power. During the reign Lê Uy Mục–known as the "devil king" (r. 1505–1509), bloody fighting ignited between the two rival Thanh Hoá families in the cadet branch, the Trịnh and the Nguyễn on behalf of the ruling dynasty. Lê Tương Dực (r. 1509–1514) tried to restore stability, but chaotic political struggles and rebellions returned years later. In 1516 a Buddhist-peasant rebellion led by Trần Cao, Trần Cảo stormed the capital, killed the emperor, plundered, and destroyed the royal palace along with its library. The Trịnh and Nguyễn clans briefly ceased hostility for a short time, suppressed Trần Cảo, and installed a young prince as Lê Chiêu Tông (r. 1517–1522), then they quickly turned against each other and forced the king to flee. The chaos prompted Mạc Đăng Dung, a military officer and well-educated in Confucian classics, to rise up and try to restore order. By 1522, he effectively subjugated the two warring clans and put down the rebellions while establishing his clan and supporters to the government. In 1527 he enforced the young Lê king to abdicate and proclaimed himself emperor and began the rule of the Mạc dynasty. Six years later, Nguyễn Kim–a Nguyễn noble and Lê loyalist-rebelled against the Mạc, enthroned Lê Duy Ninh–a descendant of Lê Lợi and began the monarchy-in-exile in Laos. In 1542 they reemerged from the south, known as the southern court, laid claim to the Vietnamese crown, and opposed the Mạc (the northern court). The Việt kingdom now fell into a long period of depressions, decentralization, chaos, and civil wars that lasted for three centuries. The Lê (assisted by Nguyễn Kim) and the Mạc loyalists fought on behalf of reclaiming the legitimate Vietnamese crown. When Nguyễn Kim died in 1545, the power of the Lê dynasty swiftly fell into the dictate of the lord Trịnh Kiểm of the Trịnh family. One of Nguyễn Kim's sons, Nguyễn Hoàng, was appointed as ruler of the southern part of the kingdom, thus began the Nguyễn family rule over Đàng Trong. The Lê-Trịnh loyalists expelled the Mạc from Hanoi in 1592, forcing them to flee into the mountainous hinterland, where their reign lasted until 1677. The Trịnh-controlled northern Đại Việt was known as Đàng Ngoài (Outer Realm), while the Nguyễn-controlled south became Đàng Trong (Inner Realm). They fought a fifty-year civil war (1627–1673), which ended inconclusively and the two lords signed a peace treaty. This stable division would last until 1771 when three Tây Sơn brothers Nguyễn Nhạc, Quang Trung, Nguyễn Huệ and Nguyễn Lữ led a peasant revolution that would overrun and topple the Nguyễn, the Trịnh lords, and the Le dynasty. In 1789, the Tây Sơn defeated a Qing intervention that sought to restore the Lê dynasty. Nguyễn Nhạc established a monarchy in 1778 (Thái Đức), followed by his brother Nguyễn Huệ (Emperor Quang Trung, r. 1789–1792) and nephew Nguyễn Quang Toản (Emperor Cảnh Thịnh, r. 1792–1802), while a descendant of the Nguyễn lords, Nguyễn Ánh returned to the Mekong Delta, after several years exiled in Thailand and France. Ten years later Nguyễn loyalists defeated the Tây Sơn and conquered the whole kingdom. Nguyễn Anh became the emperor of the new Nguyễn dynasty, unified Vietnamese state.


Political structure


Pre-1200s

In the early Đại Việt period (pre-1200), the Viet monarchy existed as a form of what historians describe as a "charter state" or a "mandala state." In 1973, Minoru Katakura used the term "centralized feudal system" to describe the Lý dynasty's Viet state. Yumio Sakurai reconstructed the Lý dynasty as a local dynasty, that the dynasty was only able to control several inner areas, while outer areas (phu) were autonomously governed by local clans of various ethnolinguistic backgrounds, who aligned to the royal clan through Buddhist alliances, such as temples. The Viet king "man of prowess" was the center of the mandala structure that has influences beyond the Red River Delta via Buddhist alliance with local lords, while a bureaucracy was still practically nonexistent. For examples, an inscription dating from 1107 in Hà Giang records the religious-political connection between the Nung people, Nùng Hà clan with the dynasty, or another inscription dated 1100 commemorates
Lý Thường Kiệt Lý Thường Kiệt (; 1019–1105), real name Ngô Tuấn (), was a Vietnamese general and admiral of the Lý dynasty. He served as an official through the reign of Lý Thái Tông, Lý Thánh Tông and Lý Nhân Tông and was a general durin ...
as the lord of Thanh Hoá. As a mandala realm, according to F. K. Lehman, its direct territories could not exceed more than 150 miles in diameter, however, the Đại Việt kingdom was able to maintain a large influence sphere due to active coastal trade and maritime activities with other Southeast Asian states.


Trần-Hồ period

During the 13th and 14th century as the Trần dynasty ruled the kingdom, the Trần first move was preventing matrilineality clans to take over the royal family, by adopting the king–retired king relation, which the emperor usually abdicated in favor of his eldest son while retaining power behind the scenes, and practicing consanguine marriage. To prevent maternal families’ influences, Trần kings took only queens from their dynastic lineage. The state had been more centralized, taxes and bureaucracy appeared, chronicles were written down. Most power is concentrated in the hands of the emperor and the royal families. In the lowland, the Trần removed all non-Trần, autonomous aristocratic clans from the power, appointed Trần princes to rule these lands, tightened up relations between the state and locals. Working in Trần princely lands were serfs-poor peasants that own no land and slaves. Large hydraulic projects that mobilized more labors such as
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
’s dyke system were constructed-one that maintained and increased its particularly wet-rice-based agricultural economy and its population by diverting rivers to aid in irrigation. Confucianism was ensured by the Trần monarchs as the second belief, gave rise to the literati class, which later became rivals to the established Buddhist clergies. The Việt monarchy during this period faced a series of massive Yuan and Cham invasions, political unrest, famines, disasters, and diseases, and was led to a nearly collapse in the late 1300s.
Hồ Quý Ly Hồ Quý Ly ( vi-hantu, 胡季犛, born 1336) ruled Đại Ngu (Vietnam) from 1400 to 1401 as the founding emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty. Quý Ly rose from a post as an official served the court of the ruling Trần dynasty and a milit ...
as the minister had tried to fix the troubles by eliminating the Trần aristocrats, limiting monks, and promote Chinese classic learning, however, resulted in political catastrophe.


Early modern period

From Lê Thánh Tông's 1463 reforms onward, the Vietnamese state's structure was modeled after the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
of China. He established six Ministries and six Courts. The government had been centralized. By 1471, Đại Việt was divided into 12 provinces and one capital city (
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
), each governed by a provincial government consisted of military commanders, civil administrators, and judicial officers. Lê Thánh Tông employed 5,300 officials into the bureaucracy. A new legal code called the Lê Code was published in 1462 and was practiced until 1803. As a Confucian king, Le Thanh Tong generally disliked cosmopolitanism and foreign trade. He banned slavery, which had been popular during previous centuries, limited trade and commercial. During his reign, power was based on institutional obligations that enforced loyalty to court and merits, rather a religious relationship between aristocracy and the royal court. Self-sufficient agriculture and state-monopolized crafting were encouraged. The social hierarchy of 15th century Đại Việt comprised: * Vua/Hoàng Đế–Emperor * Hoàng Tử–Crown Prince * Vương–Ordinary princes * Công–Duke * Hầu–Marquis * Bá–Count Non-royal nobility: * Tử–Viscount * Nam–Baron After the death of Le Thanh Tong in 1497, the social-political orders he had built gradually fell apart as Đại Việt was entering its chaotic disintegration period under the reigns of his weak successors. Social upheavals, ecological crisis, corruption, irreparable failing system, political rivalry, rebellions pushed the kingdom to a climatic burst of civil war between rival clans. The last Le king was overthrown by general Mạc Đăng Dung in 1527, who promised to restore "Le Thanh Tong's golden era and stability." For the next six decades, from 1533 to 1592, the raging civil war between the Le loyalists and the Mạc had ruined much of the polity. The Trịnh and Nguyễn clans both assisted the Le loyalists in their struggle against the Mạc. After the Le-Mac war ended in 1592 with the Mạc ousted from the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
, the two clans of Trịnh and Nguyễn who revived the Le dynasty emerged as the strongest powers, and resumed their own infighting, from 1627 to 1672. The northern Trịnh clan had installed themselves as regency for the Le dynasty by 1545, but in reality, they hold most power of the royal court and de facto rulers of the northern half of Đại Việt, and began using the title ''Chúa'' (lord), which is outside of the classical hierarchy of nobility. The Le king was reduced to a figurehead, he ruled in earnest, while the Trịnh lord had total power to select and enthrone or remove any king the lord favors. The southern Nguyễn leader also began to proclaim as ''Chúa'' lord in 1558. Initially, they were considered subjects of the Le court, which was controlled by the Trịnh lord. But later, by the early 1600s, they ruled southern Đại Việt like an independent kingdom and became the main rival to the Trịnh domain. Le Thanh Tong's legacy such as his 1463 Code and bureaucratic institutions, was revived in the north and somehow continued to persist and lasted until French Indochina period. Before and after the war, the two Thanh Hoá clans divided the kingdom into two simultaneously coexist but rival regimes: the northern Đàng Ngoài or Tonkin ruled by the Trịnh family while the southern Đàng Trong or Cochinchina ruled by the Nguyễn family; their natural border is the city of Đồng Hới (18th parallel north). Each polity had its own independent court, however, the Nguyễn lord still sought to subordinate himself with the Lê dynasty, which also stayed under Trịnh supervision, trying to pretend an imaginary unity. Paying homage and respect to the Le king remained a source of both lords' legitimacy and of adherence to the idea of a unified Vietnamese state, even if such a thing no longer existed or was loosely emptied. The Tay Son wars, Tay Son rebellion of the late 18th century Đại Việt was an extraordinary movement of Đại Việt's chaotic period when the three Tay Son brothers divided the kingdom into three subordinating but independently realms ruled by them who all declared kings: Nguyen Hue controlled the north, Nguyen Nhac controlled the central, and Nguyen Lu controlled the Mekong Delta.


Economy

Fan Chengda (1126–1193), a Chinese statesman and geographer, wrote an account in 1176 that described the medieval Vietnamese economy: Unlike southern neighbor
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
, medieval (900-1500 AD) Đại Việt was mostly an agricultural kingdom, centered around the
Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
. Most stelae epigraphs discussing the economy from this period concerned land reclamation, maintaining irrigation system of the Red River, culminating fields, harvesting, and the king's land donation to Buddhist clergies. Trade was not primarily important in Đại Việt, although Đại Việt's ceramic exports blossomed for several decades during the 15th century. Le Thanh Tong-the greatest king of the 15th century who had conquered Champa, once said "Do not cast aside the roots (agriculture) and pursue the insignificant trade/(commerce)", showcasing his unfavorable views toward trade and merchandising. Đại Việt's only single port located at the mouth of the Red River–a town called Van Don–near Ha Long Bay, was considered too far away from the main sea route. Similarly, Marco Polo also made his description of Đại Việt where he did not visit but gathered information from the Mongols: "They find in this country a good deal of gold, and they also have a great abundance of spices. But they are such a long way from the sea that the products are of little value, and thus their price is low." Most Southeast Asian and Indian merchant ships sailing along the Vietnamese coast of the South China Sea often stopped at Champa's port-cities, then bypassed Đại Việt and the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
, and headed on to southeast China. Compared to a more well-known Champa, Đại Việt was little known to the faraway world until the 16th century with the arrival of Spanish and Portuguese explorers. Medieval sources such as Ibn al-Nadim's ''Al-Fihrist, The Book Catalogue'' (c. 988 AD) mention that the king of Luqin or Lukin (Đại Việt) invaded the state of Sanf (Champa) in 982. Đại Việt was included in the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi's world atlas–the ''Tabula Rogeriana''. In the early 1300s, Đại Việt was briefly chronicled by Persian historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani, Rashid al-Din in his Jami' al-tawarikh, Ilkhanid annals as ''Kafje-Guh'', which was the rendition of a Mongol/Chinese toponym for Đại Việt, ''
Jiaozhi Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...
quo.''


Art and religion

Buddhism had penetrated to modern-day Vietnam around the first century AD, during the Han occupation. By the 8th century,
Mahayana Buddhism ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
had become the dominant faith of the Red River Delta Region. The development of Mahayana faiths there undoubtly gave the rise for several Buddhist dynasties that would rule Đại Việt. The epigraphy of Thanh Mai inscription (c. 798) indicates that a Chinese-influenced Buddhist sect was widely practiced among the Red River dwellers during the Tang period. Buddhist scriptures claim that in 580, an Indian monk named Vinītaruci arrived northern Vietnam and founded the ''Vietnamese Thiền, Thiền'' patriarch (Vietnamese Zen Buddhism). In 820, a Chinese monk named Wu Yantong arrived northern Vietnam and found the second Thiền sect, which lasted to the 13th century. In 1293,
Trần Nhân Tông Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the throne to his son Tr ...
personally opened a new Thiền patriarch called Trúc Lâm, which is still operating today. Vietnamese Buddhism gained an apex during the medieval period. The king, the court, and society were deeply Buddhist. According to Đinh Liễn's Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī inscriptions (c. 973), Mahayana Buddhism and some elements of Tantric Buddhism were promoted by the emperor and the royals, who devoutly Buddhists. Mahayana sutras were inscribed along with the Prince's speech on these pillars. The inscription of Lê Hoàn, Lê Đại Hành (c. 995) however mentioned Thiền Buddhism as the royal religion. By the early 11th century, Mahayana, Hinduism, folk beliefs, and spiritual worship was fused and formed into a new religion by Ly royals, who frequently performed Buddhist rituals, blood oaths, and prayed for spiritual deities. This syncretic religion, dubbed as "Ly dynasty religion" by Taylor, embraces the amalgamating worship of Buddhism, Indian Buddhist deities Indra and Brahma, and Cham folk legend Lady Po Nagar. The Lý dynasty religion later was absorbed into Vietnamese folk religion. The emperors built temples and statues delicate for Indra and Brahma in 1016, 1057, and 1134, along with temples for Vietnamese legends. At the funeral, the emperor's body was put on a pyre to be burned, according to Buddhist tradition. The main characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhists were largely influenced by Chinese Chan Buddhists. A temple inscription dated from 1226 in Hanoi describes a Vietnamese Buddhist altar: "the Buddha statue was flanked by an Apsara, one of the Hindu water and cloud nymphs, and a Bodhisattva with a clenched fist. Before the altar stood statues of a Guardian of the Dharma flanked by Mỹ Âm, king of the Gandharvas, mythical musician husbands of the Apsaras, and Kauṇḍinya, the Buddha's leading early disciple." The Buddhist sangha sponsored by the royals, owned the majority of farmlands and the kingdom's wealth. A stele erected in 1209 records that the royal family had donated 126 acres of land to a pagoda. A Vietnamese Buddhist temple often consists of a temple built by timber, and pagoda/stupas made of bricks or granite rocks. Việt Buddhist art notably shares similarities with Cham art, especially at sculptures. The dragon bodhi leaf sculpture symbolizes the emperor, while the phoenix bodhi leaf stands for the queen. Buddhism shaped the society and the laws during the Ly dynasty Đại Việt. Princes and royals were raised in Buddhist monasteries and monkhood. A Buddhist Arhat Assembly was instituted to legislate monastic and temple affairs generated relatively tolerant laws. Vietnamese Buddhism declined in the 15th century due to the Ming Chinese Neo-Confucianism anti-Buddhist agenda and later Le monarchs downplaying of Buddhism, but was revived in the 16th–18th century when the royal family's efforts to restore Buddhism's role in society, which resulted in today Vietnam's majority Buddhist country. In the south, thanked the effort of Chinese monk Shilian Dashan in 1694–1695, the whole Nguyễn family converted themselves from secularism to Buddhism. The Nguyễn also incorporated local Cham deities into Southern Vietnamese Buddhism. The ''Vietnamese communal temple, Đình''–village temples–persisted from the 15th century are the centre of village administration and prohibited Buddhist-based cults and local deities. File:Binh Son tower 2.jpg, File:Pho Minh Pagoda during festival - Tháp Phổ Minh mùa lễ hội 002.jpg, File:Chua Mot Cot.jpg, File:Tháp đá bảy tầng.jpg, File:Bao Nghiem Tower 2.jpg, File:Tran Quoc pagoga.jpg, File:ThienMuPagoda.jpg, File:ChuaDau Thap.JPG,


Maps


Timeline (dynasties)

Started in 968 and ended in 1804.


Notes


See also

*
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
* List of monarchs of Việt Nam


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * Wade, Geoff. tr. (2005)
''Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource''
Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore. * * ' (Rome, 1650) * ' (Lyon, 1652) ** ' (Lyon, 1651), translated by Henri Albi * ' (Paris, 1653), translated into English as ''Rhodes of Viet Nam: The Travels and Missions of Father Alexandre de Rhodes in China and Other Kingdoms of the Orient'' (1666) * ' (The Glorious Death of Andrew of Phú Yên, Andrew, Catechist) (pub. 1653) * Royal Geographical Society, ''The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society: Volume 7'' (1837)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dai Viet 968 establishments 10th-century establishments in Asia 1054 establishments in Asia 11th-century establishments in Vietnam 1400 disestablishments in Asia 15th-century disestablishments in Vietnam 1428 establishments in Asia 15th-century establishments in Vietnam 1802 disestablishments in Vietnam History of Vietnam Former countries in Vietnamese history Former countries in Southeast Asia Đại Việt,