Bùi Viện (裴援; 1839–1878) was a Vietnamese reformer and diplomat of the late 19th century, served under the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

. He was considered the first person from Vietnam to travel to the United States. He was sent by the Vietnamese government in 1873, in hopes of obtaining American support against France's

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

. Viện was born into an educated, but poor, family in

Thái Bình Province Thái Bình was a former coastal eastern Provinces of Vietnam, province in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. Its name is chữ Hán (太平) for "great peace." It is about 18 km from Nam Định, 70 km from Haiphong, and 110 km from ...

in the

Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta () 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 for "red" or "crimson". T ...

. As a boy, he lived among fisherman and merchants, learning whatever he could from them. The knowledge he acquired at a young age proved to be quite impactful as it eventually led to an impressive career in the fine arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bùi Viện 1839 births 1878 deaths Nguyen dynasty 19th-century Vietnamese people 19th-century diplomats Vietnamese diplomats People from Thái Bình province