Vietnam under Chinese rule or ''Bắc thuộc'' (北屬, lit. "belonging to the north") (111 BC-939, 1407-1427) refers to four historical periods when several portions of modern-day Northern Vietnam was under the rule of various

Chinese dynasties Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the legendary inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great circa 2070 BC to the abdication of t ...

. ''Bắc thuộc'' in Vietnamese historiography is traditionally considered to have started in 111 BC, when 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 ...

conquered

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 establis ...

and lasted after the fall of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

in the 10th century. A fourth, relatively brief, 20-year rule by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

during the 15th century is usually excluded by historians in their discussion of the main, almost continuous, period of Chinese rule from 111 BC to 939 AD. These periods are largely modern reconstructions, however, and are often twisted to serve various nationalist and irredentist causes in China,

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 i ...

, and other countries.

Periods of Chinese rule

The four periods of Chinese rule in Vietnam:

Geographical extent and impact

The four periods of Chinese rule did not correspond to the modern borders of Vietnam, mainly 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 word ...

and adjacent areas. During the first three periods of Chinese rule, the pre-Sinitic indigenous culture was centered in the northern part of modern Vietnam in the alluvial deltas of the

Hong Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

, Că and

Mã River The Ma River ( vi, Sông Mã, links=no, Lao language, Lao: ''ນ້ຳມ້າ / Nam Ma'') is a river in Asia, originating in northwestern Vietnam. It flows 400km through Vietnam, Laos, and then back through Vietnam, meeting the sea at the Gulf o ...

s. Ten centuries of Chinese rule left a substantial genetic footprint, with settlement by large numbers of ethnic Han, while opening up Vietnam for trade and cultural exchange. Elements of

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

such as language, religion, art and way of life constituted an important component of traditional Vietnamese culture until modernity. This cultural affiliation to China remained true even when Vietnam was militarily defending itself against attempted invasions, such as against the

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 fift ...

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

remained the official script of Vietnam until French colonization in the 20th century, despite the rise in vernacular

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 represent ...

literature in the aftermath of the expulsion of the Ming. Although 1,000 years of Chinese rule left many traces, the collective memory of the periods reinforced Vietnamese cultural and later political independence.

Population

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Vietnam under Chinese rule on Encyclopædia Britannica
{{Foreign relations of China China–Vietnam relations Historical regions of China History of China History of Vietnam