The Khúc family or Khúc clan (,
chữ Nôm
Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented by new characters ...
: 𣱆曲, ,
chữ Hán
( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...
: 曲家; zh, 曲家) was a succession of native leaders who ruled over
Tĩnh Hải quân
Tĩnh Hải quân or Jinghai Circuit ( Chinese: 靜海軍, pinyin: Jìnghǎi Jūn) (literally "Peaceful Sea Army"), also known as Annan or An Nam (), was an administrative division of the Tang dynasty of China administered by Chinese governors, ...
during the late
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
until the
Five Dynasties period.
The Chinese Tang dynasty took control of the region of
Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or
,
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 Commandery (; , ch� ...
(Giao Châu; roughly corresponding to the area of the modern
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 ...
) in 621 from the preceding
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
. Later, the Tang dynasty established 12 provinces and 59 districts under the
Protectorate of Annan. Effective control exercised by the Tang dynasty lasted until the 10th century, when
Khúc Thừa Dụ
Khúc Thừa Dụ () or Khúc Tiên Chủ () (830–907) was a ''jiedushi'' of Tĩnh Hải quân, nominally under the Chinese Tang dynasty, in the early 10th century.
Khúc Thừa Dụ was the head of the Khúc family in Hải Dương and w ...
took over as ''
jiedushi
The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...
'' in 905. By 906 an autonomous region in Vietnam was established under the Khúc clan in
Tống Bình (near modern-day
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
), paving the way for total Vietnamese independence from China under
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (924–979; ), real name allegedly Đinh Hoàn ( 丁 桓), was the founding emperor of the short-lived Đinh dynasty of Vietnam, after declaring its independence from the Chinese Southern Han dynasty. He was a significant figur ...
.
Preconditions
The Tang took control of the northern Vietnamese region of
Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or
,
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 Commandery (; , ch� ...
(
Giao Chỉ; roughly corresponding to the area of the modern Red River Delta).
Periodical rebellions have occurred in Annam in 828, 841, 858, 860, 880, involving more and more people every time. After every uprising Tang authorities were forced to retreat to China.
China have been torn apart by upheaving dynasties from 874, until 907 when the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period had started. Jiedushi (
Tiết độ sứ) of Annam since 892, brother of marshal Zhou Juanzhong, Zhou Quanyu has failed to rule this land, he asked Tang to call him back. Instead of him brother of ex-first minister Du Sun was appointed as jiedushi. After two months of Du Sun's rule, commoners had started to call him "villain minister".
Khúc Thừa Dụ (905–907)
Soon Du Sun was transferred to
Hainan
Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...
, and Vietnamese took their chance to uprise. Leader of a local clan,
Khúc Thừa Dụ
Khúc Thừa Dụ () or Khúc Tiên Chủ () (830–907) was a ''jiedushi'' of Tĩnh Hải quân, nominally under the Chinese Tang dynasty, in the early 10th century.
Khúc Thừa Dụ was the head of the Khúc family in Hải Dương and w ...
(曲承裕), came to take over the empty post. The weakened Tang dynasty now recognizes him and titles him ''tiết độ sứ'' of Tĩnh Hải quân.
Khúc Thừa Hạo (907–917)

July 23 of 907 Khúc Thừa Dụ died, his son
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 ...
became the new
jiedushi
The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...
''tiết độ sứ''. This time China legitimate ruler was the
Later Liang, which acknowledged Khuc Hao, but gave title ''An Nam Tiết độ sứ'' to another mandarin in Guangzhou, to make Vietnamese remember Chinese territory claims.
Hao had handled several reforms, dividing his land to administrative districts lom phu, chiao, diap, xa. He also changed some of the local landlords, changed the taxing system. Tax collecting was flattened, homages were canceled. People loved his rule
[Việt sử Thông giám cương mục, book 5, p. 94]
Khúc Thừa Mỹ (917–930) and decline
The next tiết độ sứ after Hao was his son
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, ...
. Meanwhile, the
Southern Han
Southern Han ( zh , t = 南漢 , p = Nán Hàn , j=Naam4 Hon3; 917–971), officially Han ( zh , t = 漢 , links=no), originally Yue ( zh , c = 越 , links=no), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the ...
Dynasty was established in 917. Khúc Thừa Mỹ, being a Later Liang jiedushi, does not recognize the newly formed dynasty, hoping instead for assistance from the dwindling Later Liang court. This angers the Southern Han emperor and its ruler were willing to annex Annam once more. In 930, Southern Han sent an army to Annam, led by Li Shouyong and Liang Kezheng. Han soldiers captured Thừa Mỹ and occupied Tống Bình. Li Jin became Annam's jiedushi.
Legacy
Although the Khúc did not declare themselves kings or emperors like many of other breakaway states during the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, they had established more power for local rule than ever before. In 931, another Vietnamese native
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 gen ...
, summoned a 3,000 strong army that took control of
Tống Bình. Southern Han retreated again and this time for good. No other Chinese dynasty would have managed an established rule over Vietnam in the next five centuries, until the Ming dynasty invaded in 1407 and occupied Vietnam for 20 years.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khuc Family
906 establishments
10th-century establishments in Vietnam
10th-century disestablishments in Vietnam
10th century in Vietnam
Vietnamese dynasties
10th century in China
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms rulers