''Nam quốc sơn hà'' (, ) is a famous 10th- to 11th-century Vietnamese patriotic

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meaning ...

. Dubbed "Vietnam's first Declaration of Independence", it asserts the sovereignty 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 ...

's rulers over its lands. The poem was first dictated to be read aloud before and during battles to boost army morale and nationalism when Vietnam under

Lê Đại Hành 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 ...

and Lý Thường Kiệt fought against two invasions by

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 res ...

in 981 and 1075–1076 and would become became an emblematic hymn in the early independence wars. The poem's authorship its exact authorship is still controversial and it's written in the form of an oracle, the poem is one of the best-known pieces of

Vietnamese literature Vietnamese literature ( vi, Văn học Việt Nam; chữ Nôm: 文學越南) is the literature, both oral and written, created largely by the Vietnamese. Early Vietnamese literature has been greatly influenced by Chinese literature. As Literary Chi ...

. More recently, this same poem has often been recited to show

anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-Chinese sentiment, also known as Sinophobia, is a fear or dislike of China, Chinese people or Chinese culture. It often targets Chinese minorities living outside of China and involves immigration, development of national identity i ...

by Vietnamese citizens when China began oil exploration in historically Vietnamese marine areas.

981 version

This version is included in ''

Lĩnh Nam chích quái ''Lĩnh Nam chích quái'' ( vi-hantu, 嶺南摭怪 lit. "Selection of Strange Tales in Lĩnh Nam") is a 14th-century Vietnamese semi-fictional work written in Han scripts by Trần Thế Pháp. The title indicates strange tales "plucked fro ...

("Selection of Strange Tales from Lingnan")'' and dated to the Song–Đại Cồ Việt war:

1076 version

This version is included in ''

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 ...

("Complete Historical Annals of Great Viet")'' and dated to the

Song–Đại Việt war The Song–Đại Việt war, also known as the Lý-Song War, was a military conflict between the Lý dynasty of Đại Việt and the Song dynasty of China between 1075 and 1077. The war was sparked by the shifting allegiances of tribal peoples ...

:''ĐVSKTT'', "Basic Annals - Volume 3
Emperor Renzong

Notes

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Lý Thường Kiệt với bài thơ "Nam quốc sơn hà"
Declarations of independence of Vietnam Vietnamese poems Spoken word Lý dynasty literature 11th century in Vietnam 11th-century poems {{poem-stub

981 version

1076 version

See also

Notes

References

External links