The Nguyễn dynasty (,
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 ...
: 茹阮,
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 ...
: 朝阮) was the last
Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883. Its emperors were members of the
House of Nguyễn Phúc. During its existence, the Nguyễn empire expanded into modern-day Southern Vietnam,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
, and
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
through a continuation of the centuries-long
Nam tiến and
Siamese–Vietnamese wars
The Siamese–Vietnamese wars were a series of armed conflicts between the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom and Rattanakosin Kingdom and the various dynasties of Vietnam mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Several of the wars took place in mode ...
. With the
French conquest of Vietnam, the Nguyễn dynasty was forced to give up sovereignty over parts of
Southern Vietnam to France in 1862 and 1874, and after 1883 the Nguyễn dynasty only nominally ruled the French
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
s of
Annam (Central Vietnam) as well as
Tonkin (Northern Vietnam). Backed by
Imperial Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
, in 1945 the last Nguyễn emperor
Bảo Đại abolished the protectorate treaty with France and proclaimed the
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
for a short time until 25 August 1945.
The
House of Nguyễn Phúc established control over large amounts of territory in Southern Vietnam as the
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
(1558–1777, 1780–1802) by the 16th century before defeating the
Tây Sơn dynasty and establishing their own imperial rule in the 19th century. The dynastic rule began with
Gia Long
Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...
ascending the throne in 1802, after ending the previous Tây Sơn dynasty. The Nguyễn dynasty was gradually absorbed by
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
over the course of several decades in the latter half of the 19th century, beginning with the
Cochinchina Campaign in 1858 which led to the occupation of the
southern area of Vietnam. A series of
unequal treaties followed; the occupied territory became the
French colony of Cochinchina in the
1862 Treaty of Saigon, and the
1863 Treaty of Huế gave France access to Vietnamese ports and increased control of its foreign affairs. Finally, the
1883 and
1884 Treaties of Huế divided the remaining Vietnamese territory into the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin under nominal Nguyễn Phúc rule. In 1887, Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin, and the
French Protectorate of Cambodia were grouped together to form
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
.
The Nguyễn dynasty remained the formal emperors of Annam and Tonkin within Indochina until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Japan had occupied Indochina with
French collaboration in 1940, but as the war seemed increasingly lost,
Japan overthrew the French administration on 9 March 1945 and the Nguyễn dynasty proclaimed independence for its constituent protectorates two days later. It also regained Cochinchina on 14 August 1945. The
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
under Nguyễn Emperor
Bảo Đại was a nominally independent state but actually a Japanese
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
during the last months of the war. It ended with the
abdication of Bảo Đại
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
following the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
then
August Revolution
The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...
led by the communist
Việt Minh in August 1945. This ended the 143-year rule of the Nguyễn dynasty. Bảo Đại was later restored to power to become emperor of the
State of Vietnam in 1949 until the country became a
republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
in 1955.
Names
Việt Nam
The name (,
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 ...
: ) is a variation of (; literally "Southern ''Việt''"), a name that can be traced back to the
Triệu dynasty of the second century BC. The term "" (Yue) () in
Early Middle Chinese was first written using the
logograph
In a written language, a logogram (from Ancient Greek 'word', and 'that which is drawn or written'), also logograph or lexigraph, is a written character that represents a semantic component of a language, such as a word or morpheme. Chines ...
"戉" for an axe (a homophone), in
oracle bone and bronze inscriptions of the late
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...
( BC), and later as "越". At that time it referred to a people or chieftain to the northwest of the Shang. In the early eighth century BC, a tribe on the middle
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
were called the
Yangyue, a term later used for peoples further south. Between the seventh and fourth centuries BC Yue/Việt referred to the
State of Yue in the lower Yangtze basin and its people. From the third century BC the term was used for the non-Chinese populations of south and southwest China and northern Vietnam, with particular ethnic groups called
Minyue,
Ouyue, Luoyue (Vietnamese:
Lạc Việt), etc., collectively called the
Baiyue (Bách Việt, ; ). The term Baiyue/Bách Việt first appeared in the book ''
Lüshi Chunqiu'' compiled around 239 BC. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, educated Vietnamese called themselves and their people as ''người Việt'' and ''người Nam'', which combined to become ''người Việt Nam'' (Vietnamese people). However, this designation was for the Vietnamese themselves and not for the whole country.
The form () is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem ''
Sấm Trạng Trình''. The name has also been found on 12
steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in
Hải Phòng
Haiphong or Hai Phong (, ) is the third-largest city in Vietnam and is the principal port city of the Red River Delta. The municipality has an area of , consisting of 8 List of urban districts of Vietnam, urban districts, 6 Huyện, rural distri ...
that dates to 1558. In 1802,
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (who later became Emperor Gia Long) established the Nguyễn dynasty. In the second year of his rule, he asked the
Jiaqing Emperor of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
to confer on him the title 'King of Nam Việt / Nanyue' ( in Chinese character) after seizing power in Annam. The Emperor refused because the name was related to
Zhao Tuo's Nanyue, which included the regions of
Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
and
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
in southern China. The Qing Emperor, therefore, decided to call the area "Việt Nam" instead. Between 1804 and 1813, the name Vietnam was used officially by Emperor Gia Long.
Đại Nam
In 1839, under the rule of Emperor
Minh Mạng's, the official name of the empire was Đại Việt Nam (大越南, which means "Great Vietnam"), and it was shortened to ''Đại Nam'' (大南, which means "Great South").
Nam Triều
During the 1930s
its government used the name ''Nam Triều'' (南朝, Southern dynasty) on its official documents.
Other names
Westerners in the past often called the kingdom ''Annam'' or the ''Annamite Empire.'' However, in Vietnamese historiography, modern historians often refer to this period in Vietnamese history as Nguyễn Vietnam, or simply Vietnam to distinguish with the pre-19th century
Đại Việt kingdom.
History
Background and establishment
Origin of Nguyễn clan
The Nguyễn clan, which originated in the
Thanh Hóa Province had long exerted substantial political influence and military power throughout early modern
Vietnamese history through one form or another. The clan's affiliations with the ruling elites dated back to the tenth century when
Nguyễn Bặc was appointed the first grand chancellor of the short-lived
Đinh dynasty under emperor
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh in 965. Another instance of their influences materializes through
Nguyễn Thị Anh, the empress consort of emperor
Lê Thái Tông; she served as the official regent of Đại Việt for her son, the child emperor
Lê Nhân Tông between 1442 and 1453.
Lê dynasty's loyal vassal
In 1527,
Mạc Đăng Dung, after defeating and executing the
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
's vassal, Nguyễn Hoằng Dụ in a rebellion, emerged as the intermediate victor and established the
Mạc dynasty. He did this by deposing the Lê emperor,
Lê Cung Hoàng, taking the throne for himself, effectively ending the once prosperous but declining
later Lê dynasty. Nguyễn Hoằng Dụ's son,
Nguyễn Kim, the leader of the Nguyễn clan with his allies, the
Trịnh clan remained fiercely loyal to the
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
. They attempted to restore the Lê dynasty to power, igniting an anti-Mạc rebellion, in favor of the loyalist cause.
Both the Trịnh and Nguyễn clan again took up arms in
Thanh Hóa province and revolted against the Mạc. However the initial rebellion failed and the loyalist forces had to fled to the kingdom of
Lan Xang, where king
Photisarath allows them to establish an exiled loyalist government in
Xam Neua (modern day Laos). The Lê loyalists under Lê Ninh, a descendant of the imperial family, escaped to Muang Phuan (today
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
). During this exile, the Marquis of An Thanh,
Nguyễn Kim summoned those who were still loyal to the Lê emperor and formed a new army to begin another revolt against Mạc Đăng Dung. In 1539, the coalition returned to Đại Việt beginning their military campaign against the
Mạc in
Thanh Hóa, capturing the
Tây Đô in 1543.
File:VietnamMac1540.gif, Map of Vietnam from 1540 to 1592 during Southern and Northern Dynasties period shows the division of Đại Việt between .
Nguyễn's dominion in the south
In 1539, the Lê dynasty was restored in opposition to the Mạc in
Thăng Long, this occurred after the loyalist's capture of Thanh Hoá province, reinstalling the Lê emperor
Lê Trang Tông on the throne. However, the Mạc at this point still controls most of the country, including the capital,
Thăng Long.
Nguyễn Kim, who had served as leader of the loyalists throughout the 12 years of the
Lê–Mạc War (from 1533 to 1545) and throughout the
Northern and Southern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...
period, was assassinated in 1545 by a captured Mạc general,
Dương Chấp Nhất. Shortly after Nguyễn Kim's death, his son-in-law,
Trịnh Kiểm, leader of the Trịnh clan, killed Nguyễn Uông, the eldest son of Kim to take over the control of the loyalist forces. The sixth son of Kim,
Nguyễn Hoàng, fears that his fate will be like his elder brother; therefore, he tried to escape the capital to avoid the purges. Later, he asks his sister, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Bảo (the wife of Trịnh Kiểm) to ask Kiểm to appoint him to be the governor of far-south frontier of Đại Việt,
Thuận Hóa (modern Quảng Bình to Quảng Nam provinces). Trịnh Kiểm, thinking of this proposal as an opportunity to remove the power and influence of Nguyễn Hoàng away from the capital city, agreed to the proposal.
In 1558,
Lê Anh Tông, emperor of the newly-restored
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
appointed
Nguyễn Hoàng to the lordship of the
Thuận Hóa, the territory which have been previously conquered during the 15th century from the
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
kingdom. This event of Nguyễn Hoàng leaving Thăng Long laid the foundation for the eventual fragmentation and division of Đại Việt later down the road as the
Trịnh clan would solidify their power in the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
, establishing a unique political system where the
Lê emperors would reign (as figureheads) yet the
Trịnh lords Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full na ...
would rule (wielding actual political power). Meanwhile the descendants of the Nguyễn clan, through the bloodline of Nguyễn Hoàng would rule in the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
; the Nguyễn clan, just like their Trịnh relatives in the north, recognize the authority of the Lê emperors over Đại Việt yet at the same time solely exercise political power over their own territory. The official
schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
of the two families however, would not begin until 1627, the first war between the two.
Nguyễn Phúc Lan chose the city of
Phú Xuân in 1636 as his residence and established the dominion of the Nguyễn lord in the southern part of the country. Although the Nguyễn and Trịnh lords ruled as de facto rulers in their respective lands, they paid official tribute to the Lê emperors in a ceremonial gesture, and recognize Lê dynasty as the legitimacy of
Đại Việt.
File:VietnamMac1560.gif, Map of Vietnam from 1569 to 1592 shows the division of Đại Việt between land of when Nguyễn Hoàng was appointed as governor of Thuận Hóa and Quảng Nam .
Nguyễn-Trịnh confrontation
Nguyễn Hoàng and his successors started to engage in
rivalry with the Trịnh lords, after refusing to pay tax and tribute to the central government in
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 ...
as
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
tried to create the autonomous regime. They expanded their territory by making parts of
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
as a protectorate, invaded
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, captured the last vestiges of
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
in 1693 and ruled in an unbroken line until 1776.
File:Vietnam1650.GIF, Map of Vietnam from 1627 shows Đại Việt between .
Tây Sơn–Nguyễn war (1771–1802)
The end of the Nguyễn lords' reign

The 17th-century war between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn ended in an uneasy peace, with the two sides creating de facto separate states although both professed loyalty to the same
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
. After 100 years of domestic peace, the Nguyễn lords were confronted with the
Tây Sơn rebellion in 1774. Its military had had considerable losses in manpower after a series of campaigns in Cambodia and proved unable to contain the revolt. By the end of the year, the Trịnh lords had formed an alliance with the Tây Sơn rebels and captured Huế in 1775.
Nguyễn lord,
Nguyễn Phúc Thuần fled south to the
Quảng Nam province, where he left a garrison under co-ruler
Nguyễn Phúc Dương. He fled further south to the
Gia Định Province (around modern-day Ho Chi Minh City) by sea before the arrival of Tây Sơn leader
Nguyễn Nhạc, whose forces defeated the Nguyễn garrison and seized Quảng Nam.
In early 1777 a large Tây Sơn force under
Nguyễn Huệ and
Nguyễn Lữ attacked and captured Gia Định from the sea and defeated the Nguyễn Lord forces. The Tây Sơn received widespread popular support as they presented themselves as champions of the Vietnamese people, who rejected any foreign influence and fought for the full reinstitution of the Lê dynasty. Hence, the elimination of the Nguyễn and Trinh lordships was considered a priority and all but one member of the Nguyễn family captured at Saigon were executed.
Nguyễn Ánh escapes
In 1775, the 13-year-old
Nguyễn Ánh escaped and with the help of the Vietnamese Catholic priest Paul Hồ Văn Nghị soon arrived at the
Paris Foreign Missions Society in
Hà Tiên. With Tây Son search parties closing in, he kept on moving and eventually met the French missionary
Pigneau de Behaine. By retreating to the
Thổ Chu Islands in the Gulf of Thailand, both escaped Tây Sơn capture.
Pigneau de Behaine decided to support Ánh, who had declared himself heir to the Nguyễn lordship. A month later the Tây Sơn army under Nguyễn Huệ had returned to
Quy Nhơn. Ánh seized the opportunity and quickly raised an army at his new base in
Long Xuyên, marched to Gia Định and occupied the city in December 1777. The Tây Sơn returned to Gia Định in February 1778 and recaptured the province. When Ánh approached with his army, the Tây Sơn retreated.
By the summer of 1781, Ánh's forces had grown to 30,000 soldiers, 80 battleships, three large ships and two Portuguese ships procured with the help of de Behaine. Ánh organized an unsuccessful ambush of the Tây Sơn base camps in the
Phú Yên province. In March 1782 the Tây Sơn emperor
Thái Đức and his brother Nguyễn Huệ sent a naval force to attack Ánh. Ánh's army was defeated and he fled via Ba Giồng to Svay Rieng in Cambodia.
Nguyễn–Cambodian agreement
Ánh met with the Cambodian King
Ang Eng, who granted him exile and offered support in his struggle with the Tây Sơn. In April 1782 a Tây Sơn army invaded Cambodia, detained and forced Ang Eng to pay tribute, and demanded, that all Vietnamese nationals living in Cambodia were to return to Vietnam.
Chinese Vietnamese support for Nguyễn Ánh
Support by the Chinese Vietnamese began when the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
overthrew the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
. The
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
refused to live under the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
Qing and fled to Southeast Asia (including Vietnam). Most were welcomed by the Nguyễn lords to resettle in
southern Vietnam and set up business and trade.
In 1782, Nguyễn Ánh escaped to Cambodia and the Tây Sơn seized southern Vietnam (now Cochinchina). They had discriminated against the ethnic Chinese, displeasing the Chinese-Vietnamese. That April, Nguyễn loyalists Tôn Thất Dụ, Trần Xuân Trạch, Trần Văn Tự and Trần Công Chương sent military support to Ánh. The Nguyễn army killed
grand admiral Phạm Ngạn, who had a close relationship with Emperor Thái Đức, at Tham Lương bridge.
Thái Đức, angry, thought that the ethnic Chinese had collaborated in the killing. He sacked the town of Cù lao (present-day
Biên Hòa), which had a large Chinese population,
and ordered the oppression of the Chinese community to avenge their assistance to Ánh.
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...
had previously occurred in
Hoi An, leading to support by wealthy Chinese for Ánh. He returned to Giồng Lữ, defeated Admiral Nguyễn Học of the Tây Sơn and captured eighty battleships. Ánh then began a campaign to reclaim southern Vietnam, but Nguyễn Huệ deployed a naval force to the river and destroyed his navy. Ánh again escaped with his followers to
Hậu Giang. Cambodia later cooperated with the Tây Sơn to destroy Ánh's force and made him retreat to
Rạch Giá, then to
Hà Tiên and
Phú Quốc.
Nguyễn–Siam alliance
Following consecutive losses to the Tây Sơn, Ánh sent his general
Châu Văn Tiếp to Siam to request military assistance. Siam, under
Chakri rule, wanted to conquer Cambodia and southern Vietnam. King
Rama I agreed to ally with the Nguyễn lord and intervene militarily in Vietnam. Châu Văn Tiếp sent a secret letter to Ánh about the alliance. After meeting with Siamese generals at
Cà Mau, Ánh, thirty officials and some troops visited
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
to meet Rama I in May 1784. The governor of
Gia Định Province,
Nguyễn Văn Thành, advised Ánh against foreign assistance.

Rama I, fearing the growing influence of the Tây Sơn dynasty in Cambodia and Laos, decided to dispatch his army against it. In Bangkok, Ánh began to recruit Vietnamese refugees in Siam to join his army (which totaled over 9,000).
He returned to Vietnam and prepared his forces for the Tây Sơn campaign in June 1784, after which he captured Gia Định. Rama I nominated his nephew, Chiêu Tăng, as admiral the following month. The admiral led Siamese forces including 20,000 marine troops and 300 warships from the Gulf of Siam to
Kiên Giang Province. In addition, more than 30,000 Siamese infantry troops crossed the Cambodian border to
An Giang Province.
On 25 November 1784, Admiral
Châu Văn Tiếp died in battle against the Tây Sơn in
Mang Thít District,
Vĩnh Long Province. The alliance was largely victorious from July through November, and the Tây Sơn army retreated north. However, Emperor Nguyễn Huệ halted the retreat and counter-attacked the Siamese forces in December. In the decisive battle of Rạch Gầm–Xoài Mút, more than 20,000 Siamese soldiers died and the remainder retreated to Siam.
Ánh, disillusioned with Siam, escaped to
Thổ Chu Island in April 1785 and then to
Ko Kut Island in Thailand. The Siamese army escorted him back to Bangkok, and he was briefly exiled in Thailand.
French assistance
The war between the Nguyễn lord and the Tây Sơn dynasty forced Ánh to find more allies. His relationship with de Behaine improved, and support for an alliance with France increased. Before the request for Siamese military assistance, de Behaine was in
Chanthaburi and Ánh asked him to come to
Phú Quốc Island. Ánh asked him to contact King
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
of France for assistance; de Behaine agreed to coordinate an alliance between France and Vietnam, and Ánh gave him a letter to present at the French court. Ánh's oldest son,
Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, was chosen to accompany de Behaine. Due to inclement weather, the voyage was postponed until December 1784. The group departed from Phú Quốc Island for
Malacca and thence to
Pondicherry
Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...
, and Ánh moved his family to Bangkok. The group arrived in
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
in February 1787, and Louis XVI agreed to meet them in May.
File:Signatures of the 1787 Treaty of Versailles.jpg, Signatures on the 1787 Treaty of Versailles
File:Pigneau de Behaine portrait.jpg, Pigneau de Behaine, the French priest who recruited armies for Nguyễn Ánh during Ánh's war against the Tây Sơn
On 28 November 1787, Behaine signed the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
with French
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
Armand Marc at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
on behalf of Nguyễn Ánh.
The treaty stipulated that France provide four frigates, 1,200 infantry troops, 200 artillery, 250
cafres (African soldiers), and other equipment. Nguyễn Ánh ceded the
Đà Nẵng
Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...
estuary and
Côn Sơn Island to France. The French were allowed to trade freely and control foreign trade in Vietnam. Vietnam had to build one ship per year which was similar to the French ship which brought aid and gave it to France. Vietnam was obligated to supply food and other aid to France when the French were at war with other East Asian nations.
On 27 December 1787, Pigneau de Behaine and
Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh left France for Pondicherry to wait for the military support promised by the treaty. However, due to the
French Revolution and the abolition of the French monarchy, the treaty was never executed.
Thomas Conway, who was responsible for French assistance, refused to provide it. Although the treaty was not implemented, de Behaine recruited French businessman who intended to trade in Vietnam and raised funds to assist Nguyễn Ánh. He spent fifteen thousand francs of his own money to purchase guns and warships. Cảnh and de Behaine returned to Gia Định in 1788 (after Nguyễn Ánh had recaptured it), followed by a ship with the war materiel. Frenchmen who were recruited included
Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau
Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau (1769–1832) was a French Navy sailor and an adventurer who played an important role in Vietnam in the 19th century. He served the Nguyễn dynasty from 1794 to 1819, and 1821 to 1826,Tran, p. 206. and took the Vietnamese ...
,
Philippe Vannier,
Olivier de Puymanel, and
Jean-Marie Dayot. A total of twenty people joined Ánh's army. The French purchased and supplied equipment and weaponry, reinforcing the defense of Gia Định, Vĩnh Long, Châu Đốc, Hà Tiên, Biên Hòa, Bà Rịa and training Ánh's artillery and infantry according to the European model.
Qing China–Lê alliance against Tây Sơn
In 1786, Nguyễn Huệ led the army against the Trịnh lords;
Trịnh Khải escaped to the north but got captured by the local people. He then committed suicide. After the Tây Sơn army returned to Quy Nhơn, subjects of the Trịnh lord restored
Trịnh Bồng (son of
Trịnh Giang) as the next lord.
Lê Chiêu Thống, emperor of the Lê dynasty, wanted to regain power from the Trịnh. He summoned Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, governor of Nghệ An, to attack the Trịnh lord at the
Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. Trịnh Bồng surrendered to the Lê and became a monk. Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh wanted to unify the country under Lê rule, and began to prepare the army to march south and attack the Tây Sơn. Huệ led the army, killed Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, and captured the later Lê capital. The Lê imperial family were exiled to China, and the later Lê dynasty collapsed.
At that time, Nguyễn Huệ's influence became stronger in northern Vietnam; this made Emperor Nguyễn Nhạc of the Tây Sơn dynasty suspect Huệ's loyalty. The relationship between the brothers became tense, eventually leading to battle. Huệ had his army surround Nhạc's capital, at Quy Nhơn citadel, in 1787. Nhạc begged Huệ not to kill him, and they reconciled. In 1788, Lê emperor Lê Chiêu Thống fled to China and asked for military assistance. The
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
of the Qing ordered
Sun Shiyi to lead the military campaign into Vietnam. The campaign failed, and later on, the Qing recognized the Tây Sơn as the legitimate dynasty in Vietnam. However, with the death of Huệ (1792), the Tây Sơn dynasty began to weaken.
Franco–Nguyễn alliance against Tây Sơn
= Nguyễn Ánh's counter-attack
=
Ánh began to reorganize a strong armed force in Siam. He left Siam (after thanking King Rama I), and returned to Vietnam.
During the 1787 war between Nguyễn Huệ and Nguyễn Nhạc in northern Vietnam, Ánh recaptured the southern Vietnamese capital of Gia Định. Southern Vietnam had been ruled by the Nguyễns and they remained popular, especially with the ethnic Chinese.
Nguyễn Lữ, the youngest brother of Tây Sơn (who ruled southern Vietnam), could not defend the citadel and retreated to
Quy Nhơn. The citadel of Gia Định was seized by the Nguyễn lords.
In 1788 de Behaine and Ánh's son, Prince Cảnh, arrived in Gia Định with modern war equipment and more than twenty Frenchmen who wanted to join the army. The force was trained and strengthened with French assistance.
= Defeat of the Tây Sơn
=
After the fall of the citadel at Gia Định, Nguyễn Huệ prepared an expedition to reclaim it before his death on 16 September 1792. His young son,
Nguyễn Quang Toản, succeeded him as emperor of the Tây Sơn and was a poor leader.
In 1793, Nguyễn Ánh began a campaign against Quang Toản. Due to conflict between officials of the Tây Sơn court, Quang Toản lost battle after battle. In 1797, Ánh and Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh attacked
Qui Nhơn (then in
Phú Yên Province) in the Battle of Thị Nại. They were victorious, capturing a large amount of Tây Sơn equipment. Quang Toản became unpopular due to his murders of generals and officials, leading to a decline in the army. In 1799, Ánh captured the citadel of Quy Nhơn. He seized the capital (
Phú Xuân) on 3 May 1801, and Quang Toản retreated north. On 20 July 1802, Ánh captured
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 ...
and end the
Tây Sơn dynasty, all of the members of the Tây Sơn was captured. Ánh then executed all the members of the Tây Sơn dynasty that year.
Imperial rule (1802–1883)
Overview
In Vietnamese historiography, the independent period is referred to as the Nhà Nguyễn thời độc lập period. During this period the Nguyễn dynasty's territories comprised the present-day territories of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
and parts of modern
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, bordering
Siam to the west and Manchu
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
to the north. The ruling Nguyễn emperors established and ran the first well-defined imperial administrative and bureaucratic system of Vietnam and annexed Cambodia and
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
into its territories in the 1830s. Together with Chakri Siam and
Konbaung Burma, it was one among three major Southeast Asian powers at the time. The emperor Gia Long was relatively friendly toward Western powers and Christianity. After his reign of
Minh Mạng brought a new approach, he ruled for 21 years from 1820 to 1841, as a conservative and
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
ruler; introducing a policy of isolationism which kept the country from the rest of the world for nearly 40 years until the
French invasion in 1858. Minh Mạng tightened control over
Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
,
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, and ethnic minorities, resulting in more than two hundred rebellions across the country during his twenty-one-year reign. He also further expanded Vietnamese imperialism in modern-day
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
and
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
.
Minh Mạng's successors,
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
(r. 1841–1847) and
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
(r. 1847–1883) would be assailed by serious problems that ultimately decimated the Vietnamese state. In the late 1840s, Vietnam was struck by the global
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
pandemic that killed roughly 8% of the country's population, while the countries isolationist policies damaged the economy. France and Spain declared war on Vietnam in September 1858. Faced with these industrialised powers, the hermit Nguyễn dynasty and its military crumbled, the alliance capturing
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
in early 1859. A series of
unequal treaties followed with first the
1862 Treaty of Saigon, and then the
1863 Treaty of Huế which gave France access to Vietnamese ports and increased control of its foreign affairs. The
Treaty of Saigon (1874) concluded the French annexation of Cochinchina that had begun in 1862.
The last independent Nguyễn emperor of note was Tự Đức. Upon his death, a
succession crisis followed, as the regent
Tôn Thất Thuyết orchestrated the murders of three emperors in a year. This presented an opportunity to the French. The Huế court was forced to sign the
Harmand Convention in September 1883, which formalised the handover of
Tonkin to the French administration. After the
Treaty of Patenôtre was signed in 1884, France finished its annexation and partitioning of Vietnam into three constituent protectorates of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, and turned the Nguyễn into a vassal monarchy. Finally, the
Treaty of Tientsin (1885) between the Chinese Empire and the French Republic was signed on 9 June 1885 recognizing French dominion over Vietnam. All emperors after
Đồng Khánh were chosen by the French, and only ruled symbolically.
Gia Long period
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh united Vietnam after a three-hundred-year division of the country. He celebrated his coronation at Huế on 1 June 1802 and proclaimed himself emperor (), with the
era name Gia Long (嘉隆). This title emphasized his rule from "Gia" Định region (modern-day
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
) in the far south to Thăng "Long" (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 ...
) in the north. Gia Long prioritized the nation's defense and worked to avoid another civil war. He replaced the feudal system with a reformist ''
Doctrine of the Mean'', based on
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
. The Nguyen dynasty was founded as a
tributary state
A tributary state is a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This token often ...
of the Qing Empire, with Gia Long receiving an imperial pardon and recognition as the ruler of Vietnam from the
Jiaqing Emperor for recognizing Chinese
suzerainty
A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...
.
The envoys sent to China to acquire this recognition cited the ancient kingdom of
Nanyue (Vietnamese: ''Nam Việt'') to Emperor Jiaqing as the countries name, this displeased the emperor who was disconcerted by such pretentions, and Nguyễn Phúc Ánh had to officially rename his kingdom as ''Vietnam'' the next year to satisfy the emperor. The country was officially known as 'The (Great) Vietnamese state' (
Vietnamese: Đại Việt Nam quốc),
Gia Long asserted that he was reviving the bureaucratic state that was built by King
Lê Thánh Tông during the fifteenth-century golden age (1470–1497), as such he adopted a Confucian-bureaucratic government model, and sought unification with northern literati. To ensure stability over the unified kingdom, he placed two of his most loyal and Confucian-educated advisors,
Nguyễn Văn Thành and
Lê Văn Duyệt as
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory.
The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
s of Hanoi and Saigon. From 1780 to 1820, roughly 300 Frenchmen served Gia Long's court as officials. Seeing the French influence in Vietnam with alarm, the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
sent two envoys to Gia Long in 1803 and 1804 to convince him to abandon his friendship with the French. In 1808, a British fleet led by
William O'Bryen Drury mounted an attack on the Red River Delta, but was soon driven back by the Vietnamese navy and suffered several losses. After the Napoleonic War and Gia Long's death, the British Empire renewed relations with Vietnam in 1822. During his reign, a system of roads connecting Hanoi, Hue, and Saigon with postal stations and inns was established, several canals connecting the Mekong River to the
Gulf of Siam were constructed and finished. In 1812, Gia Long issued the Gia Long Code, which was instituted based on the Ch'ing Code of China, replaced the previous Thánh Tông's 1480 Code. In 1811, a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
broke out in the
Kingdom of Cambodia, a Vietnamese tributary state, forcing the pro-Vietnamese King
Ang Chan II to seek support from Vietnam. Gia Long sent 13,000 men to Cambodia, successfully restoring his vassal to his throne, and beginning a more formal
occupation of the country for the next 30 years, while
Siam seized northern Cambodia in 1814.
Gia Long died in 1819 and was succeeded by his fourth son,
Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, who soon became known as Emperor
Minh Mạng (r. 1820–1841) of Vietnam.
Rise and expansion under Minh Mạng
Minh Mạng was the younger brother of prince
Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh and fourth son of Emperor Gia Long. Educated in Confucian principles from youth, Minh Mạng became the Emperor of Vietnam in 1820, during a deadly
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
outbreak
In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...
that ravaged and killed 200,000 people across the country. His reign mainly focused on centralizing and stabilizing the state, by abolishing the Viceroy system and implementing a new full bureaucracy-provincial-based administration. He also halted diplomacy with Europe, and cracked down on religious minorities.
Minh Mạng shunned relations with the European powers. By 1824, after the death of
Jean Marie Despiau, no Western advisors who had served Gia Long remained in Minh Mạng's court. The last French consul of Vietnam, Eugene Chaigneau, was never able to obtain audience with Minh Mạng. After he left, France ceased attempts at contact. In the next year he launched an anti-
Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
propaganda campaign, denouncing the religion as "vicious" and full of "false teaching." In 1832 Minh Mạng turned the
Cham Principality of Thuận Thành into a Vietnamese province, the final conquest in a long history of
colonial conflict between Cham and Vietnam. He coercively fed lizard and pig meat to Cham Muslims and cow meat to Cham Hindus in violation of their religions to forcibly assimilate them to Vietnamese culture. The first Cham revolt for independence took place in 1833–1834 when
Katip Sumat, a Cham mullah who had just returned to Vietnam from
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
declared a holy war (
jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
) against the Vietnamese emperor.
The rebellion failed to gain the support of the Cham elite and was quickly suppressed by the Vietnamese military. A second revolt began the following year, led by a Muslim clergy named
Ja Thak with support from the old Cham royalty, highland people, and Vietnamese dissents. Minh Mạng mercilessly crushed the Ja Thak rebellion and executed the last Cham ruler
Po Phaok The in early 1835.
In 1833, as Minh Mạng had been trying to take firm control over the six southern provinces, a large
rebellion
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
led by
Lê Văn Khôi (an adopted son of the Saigon viceroy
Lê Văn Duyệt) broke out in
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, attempting to place Minh Mang's brother
Prince Cảnh on the throne. The rebellion lasted for two years, gathering much support from Vietnamese Catholics, Khmers, Chinese merchants in Saigon, and even the Siamese ruler
Rama III until it was crushed by the government forces in 1835. In January, he issued the first country-wide prohibition of Catholicism, and began persecuting Christians. 130 Christian missionaries, priests and church leaders were executed, dozens of churches were burned and destroyed.
War with Siam and invasion of Cambodia
Minh Mạng also expanded his empire westward, putting central and southern Laos under Cam Lộ Province, and collided with his father's former ally –
Siam, in Vientiane and Cambodia. He backed the revolt of Laotian king
Anouvong of
Vientiane
Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...
against the Siamese, and seized
Xam Neua and
Savannakhet in 1827.
In 1834, the Vietnamese Crown fully annexed Cambodia and renamed it to
Tây Thành Province. Minh Mạng placed the general
Trương Minh Giảng as the governor of the Cambodian province, expanding his forcible religious assimilation to the new territory. King
Ang Chan II of Cambodia died in the next year and Ming Mang installed Chan's daughter
Ang Mey as Commandery Princess of Cambodia. Cambodian officials were required to wear Vietnamese-style clothing, and govern in Vietnamese style. However the Vietnamese rule over Cambodia did not last long and proved draining to Vietnam's economy to maintain. Minh Mạng died in 1841, while a Khmer uprising was in progress with Siamese support, putting an end to the
Tây Thành province and Vietnamese control of Cambodia.
Decline of the Nguyễn dynasty
Over the next forty years, Vietnam was ruled by two further independent emperors
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
(r. 1841–1847) and
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
(r. 1848–1883). Thiệu Trị or Prince Miên Tông, was the eldest son of Emperor Minh Mạng. His six-year reign showed a significant decrease in Catholic persecution. With the population growing fast from 6 million in the 1820s to 10 million in 1850, the attempts at agricultural self sufficiency were proving unworkable. Between 1802 and 1862, the court had faced 405 minor and large revolts of peasants, political dissents, ethnic minorities, Lê loyalists (people that were loyal to the old Lê Duy dynasty) across the country, this made responding to the challenge of European colonisers significantly more challenging.
In 1845, the American warship
USS Constitution
USS ''Constitution'', also known as ''Old Ironsides'', is a Full-rigged ship, three-masted wooden-hulled heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's List of oldest surviving ships, oldest commissioned naval warship still afloat ...
landed in
''Đà Nẵng'', taking all local officials hostage with the demands that Thiệu Trị free imprisoned French bishop
Dominique Lefèbvre. In 1847, Thiệu Trị had made peace with Siam, but the imprisonment of Dominique Lefebvre offered an excuse for French and British aggression. In April the French navy
attacked the Vietnamese and sank many Vietnamese ships in Đà Nẵng, demanding the release of Lefèbvre. Angered by the incident, Thiệu Trị ordered all European documents in his palace to be smashed, and all European caught on Vietnamese land were to immediate execution. In autumn, two British warships of
Sir John Davis arrived in Đà Nẵng and attempted to force a commercial treaty on Vietnam, but the emperor refused. He died a few days later of apoplexy.
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
, or Prince Hồng Nhậm was Thiệu Trị's youngest son, well-educated in Confucian learning, he was crowned by minister and co-regent Trương Đăng Quế. Prince
Hồng Bảo-the elder brother of Tự Đức, the primogeniture heir rebelled against Tự Đức on the day of his accession. This coup failed but he was spared execution on the intervention of
Từ Dụ, with his sentence being reduced to life imprisonment. Aware of the rise of Western influences in Asia, Tự Đức confirmed his grandfathers isolationist policy towards the European powers, prohibiting embassies, forbidding trade and contact with foreigners and renewing
the persecution of Catholics his grandfather had orchestrated. During Tự Đức's first twelve years, Vietnamese Catholics faced harsh persecution with 27 European missionaries, 300 Vietnamese priests and bishops, and 30,000 Vietnamese Christians executed and crucified from 1848 to 1860.
In the late 1840s, another
cholera outbreak hit Vietnam, having travelled from India. The epidemic quickly spread out of control and killed 800,000 people (8–10% of Vietnam's 1847 population) across the Empire. Locusts plagued northern Vietnam in 1854, and a major rebellion in the following year damaged much of the Tonkin countryside. These various crises weakened the empire's control over Tonkin considerably.
In the 1850–70s, a new class of liberal intellectuals emerged in the court as persecution relaxed, many of them Catholics who had studied abroad in Europe, most notably
Nguyễn Trường Tộ, who urged the emperor to reform and transform the Empire following the Western model and open Vietnam to the west. Despite their efforts the conservative Confucian bureaucrats and Tự Đức himself had a literal interest in such reforms. The economy remained largely agricultural, with 95% of the population living in rural areas, only mining offered potential to the modernist's dreams of a western-style state.
French conquest

In September 1858, Napoleon III orchestrated a Franco-
Spanish army
The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century.
The Spanish Army has existed ...
bombardment and invaded
Đà Nẵng
Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...
to protest against the executions of two Spanish Dominican missionaries. Seven months later, they sailed to the south to attack Saigon and the rich Mekong Delta. The Alliance troops held Saigon for two years, while a rebellion of Lê loyalists led by Catholic bishop Pedro
Tạ Văn Phụng, who proclaimed himself to be a Lê prince, broke out in the north and escalated. Alongside the pretext of avenging the death of the missionaries the French invasion was designed to prove to Europe that France wasn't a second-rate power, and 'civilize' the area. In February 1861, French reinforcement and 70 warships led by General Vassoigne arrived and overwhelmed the Vietnamese strongholds. Facing the Alliance invasion and internal rebellion, Tự Đức chose to cede three Southern provinces to France to deal with the coinciding rebellion.
In June 1862, the
Treaty of Saigon was signed, resulting in Vietnam losing three southern provinces;
Gia Định, Mỹ Tho, Biên Hòa which became the basis of
French Cochinchina. In the
Treaty of Huế (1863) the island of Poulo Condoræ would allow Catholicism, three ports would be open to French trade, and the sea opened to allow French expansion into
Kampuchea. and war reparations were required to be sent to France. Despite the religious elements of this treaty, France would not intervene in the Christian revolt in
Northern Vietnam, even with their missionaries urging them to. To the Queen dowager, Từ Dụ, the court, and the people, the 1862 treaty was a national humiliation. Tự Đức once again sent a mission to the French Emperor
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
, in which he called to revise the 1862 treaty. In July 1864, another draft treaty was signed. France returned the three provinces to Vietnam, but still held control over three important cities Saigon, Mỹ Tho, and Thủ Dầu Một. In 1866, France convinced Tự Đức to hand over the southern provinces of Vĩnh Long, Hà Tiên, and Châu Đốc.
Phan Thanh Giản, the governor of the three provinces immediately resigned. Without resistance, in 1867, the French annexed the provinces and turned their attention to the northern provinces.
File:Prise de Saigon 18 Fevrier 1859 Antoine Morel-Fatio.jpg, Capture of Saigon by Charles Rigault de Genouilly on 17 February 1859, painted by Antoine Morel-Fatio.
File:L'Illustration 1862 gravure L'expédition de Cochinchine - prise et incendie de Bien-Hao le 18 décembre 1861.jpg, Bombardment of Biên Hòa (16 December 1861).
File:French ships at Danang 1858.jpg, French warships Siege of Tourane (Đà Nẵng
Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the list of cities in Vietnam, fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River (Vietnam), Hàn R ...
), September 1858.
File:Prise de Bac-Ninh.jpg, Capture of Bắc Ninh
Bắc Ninh () is a city in the Northern Vietnam, northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a populat ...
during the Tonkin campaign.
File:Capture ninh binh.jpg, The capture of Ninh Bình by Aspirant Hautefeuille and his sailors
File:Capture of Hai Duong 1873.jpg, French attack on the citadel of Hải Dương.
File:Taking-of-bac-ninh.jpg, Turcos and fusiliers-marins at Bắc Ninh, 12 March 1884
File:French artillery at Gia Cuc.jpeg, A French naval gun, deployed on a dyke, supports a marine infantry attack on the Vietnamese positions at Gia Cuc (Gia Quất)
File:Warships at Thuan An.jpg, French warships deployed off the Thuận An forts, 18 August 1883
File:Attack on the Thuan An forts.jpg, The attack on the Thuận An forts, 20 August 1883
File:Prise de Son Tay.jpg, The capture of Sơn Tây, 16 December 1883
File:Combat of Nam Dinh 19 July 1883.jpg, Capture of Nam Định
Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam.
History
From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...
, 19 July 1883.
File:CaptureNamDinh.jpg, French troops attack Nam Định
Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam.
History
From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...
fortress.
File:Hunghoa.jpg, Capture of Hưng Hóa
By the late 1860s, pirates, bandits, and remnants of the Taiping rebellion in China, fled to Tonkin and turned Northern Vietnam into a hotbed for their raid activities. The Vietnamese state was too weak to fight against the pirates. These Chinese rebels eventually formed their own mercenary armies as the
Black Flags had done and cooperated with local Vietnamese officials to interfere with French business interests. As France was looking to acquire Yunnan and Tonkin, when in 1873, a French merchant-adventurer named
Jean Dupuis was intercepted by local Hanoi authority, the
French Cochinchina government responded by sending out a new attack without talking with the Hue court. A French army led by
Francis Garnier
Marie Joseph François Garnier (; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Expedition of 1866–68, Mekong Exploration C ...
arrived at Tonkin in November. Because local administrators had allied with the Black Flags and mistrusted of Hanoi governor
Nguyễn Tri Phương, in late November the French and Lê loyalists opened fire at the Vietnamese citadel of Hanoi. Tự Đức immediately sent delegations to negotiate with Garnier, but Prince
Hoàng Kế Viêm, governor of
Sơn Tây, had enlisted the Chinese Black Flags militia of
Liu Yongfu to attack the French. Garnier was killed on 21 December by the Black Flag soldiers at the . A peace negotiation between Vietnam and France was reached on 5 January 1874. France formally recognized Vietnam's full independence from China; France would pay off Vietnam's Spanish debts; French force returned Hanoi to the Vietnamese; the Vietnamese military in Hanoi had to disband and be reduced to a simple police force; total religious and trade freedom was ensured; Vietnam was compelled to recognise all six southern provinces as French territories.
End of independence (1874–1885)

Just two years after French recognition, Tự Đức sent an embassy to Qing China in 1876 and re-provoked the tributary relationship with the Chinese (the last mission was in 1849). In 1878, Vietnam renewed relations with Thailand. In 1880, Britain, Germany, and Spain were still debating the fate of Vietnam, and the Chinese Embassy in Paris openly rejected the 1874 Franco-Vietnamese agreement. In Paris, Prime Minister
Jules Ferry proposed a direct military campaign against Vietnam to revise the 1874 treaty. Because Tự Đức was too preoccupied to keep the French out of his Empire without directly engaging against them, he requested assistance from the Chinese court. In 1882, 30,000 Qing troops flooded into the northern provinces and occupied cities. The Black Flags had also been returning, together, collaborating with local Vietnamese officials and harassing French businesses. In March, the French responded by sending a second expedition led by
Henri Rivière to the north to deal with these various problems but had to avoid all international attention, particularly from China. On 25 April 1882, Rivière took Hanoi without facing any resistance. Tự Đức informed the Chinese court that their tributary state was being attacked. In September 1882, 17 Chinese divisions (200,000 men) crossed the Sino-Vietnamese borders and occupied
Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, Bac Ninh, and Thái Nguyên, under the pretext of defending against the French aggression.
File:1885 chromolithograph celebrating the French conquest in Indochina.jpg, Admiral Amédée Courbet and Harmand at Huế, August 1883
File:Signature of 1883 Treaty of Hue.jpg, Signing of the Treaty of Huế, 25 August 1883
File:Thống-Chế đã nói - Đại-Pháp khắng khít với thái bình, như dân quê với đất ruộng.jpg, French propaganda painting in Hanoi, 1942
Backed by the Chinese army and prince Hoàng Kế Viêm, Liu Yongfu, and the Black Flags decided to attack Rivière. On 19 May 1883, the Black Flags ambushed and beheaded Rivière at the
Second Battle of Cầu Giấy. When news of Rivière's death reached France, there was immediate outcry and demands for a response. The French Parliament quickly voted for the conquest of Vietnam. Tens of thousands of French and Chinese reinforcements poured into the
Red River Delta.
Tự Đức died on 17 July. Succession trouble temporarily paralyzed the court. One of his nephews
Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Ái was crowned as Emperor Dục Đức but was, however, imprisoned and executed after three days by the three powerful regents Nguyễn Văn Tường,
Tôn Thất Thuyết and Tran Tien Thanh for unknown reasons. Tự Đức's brother Hiệp Hòa, Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Dật succeeded on 30 July as Emperor Hiệp Hòa. The senior Censorate official of the court Phan Đình Phùng denounced the three regents for their irregular handling of Tự Đức's succession. Tôn Thất Thuyết excoriated Phan Đình Phùng and sent him from the court to his home territory, where later he led a nationalist resistance movement against the French for ten years.
To knock Vietnam out of the war, France decided to take a direct assault on the city of Huế. The French army split up itself into two parts: the smaller under General Alexandre-Eugène Bouët, Bouët stayed in Hanoi and waited for reinforcement from France while the French fleet led by
Amédée Courbet and Jules Harmand sailed to Thuận An, the sea gate of Hue on 17 August. Harmand demanded the two regents Nguyễn Văn Tường and Tôn Thất Thuyết surrender Northern Vietnam, North-Central Vietnam (Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh) and Bình Thuận Province to French possession, and to accept a French résident in Huế who could demand imperial audiences. He sent an ultimatum to the regents that "The name Vietnam will no longer exist in history" if they did not comply with this.
On 18 August, French battleships began shelling Vietnamese positions in the Thuận An citadel. Two days later, at dawn, Courbet and the French marines landed on the shore. By the next morning, all Vietnamese defenses in Huế were overwhelmed by the French. Emperor Hiệp Hòa dispatched mandarin Nguyễn Thượng Bắc to negotiate.
On 25 September, two court officials, Trần Đình Túc and Nguyễn Trọng Hợp signed a twenty-seven-article treaty known as
Harmand Convention. The French were granted Bình Thuận; Đà Nẵng and Qui Nhơn were opened for trade; the ruling sphere of the Vietnamese monarchy was reduced to Central Vietnam while Northern Vietnam became a French Protectorate. In November, Emperor Hiệp Hòa and Trần Tiễn Thành were executed by Nguyễn Văn Tường and Tôn Thất Thuyết for their perceived pro-French sympathies. 14-year-old Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Đăng was crowned as Emperor Kiến Phúc. After achieving peace with China through the Tientsin Accord in May 1884, on 6 June the French Ambassador in China Jules Patenôtre des Noyers signed with Nguyen Van Tuong the Protectorate
Treaty of Patenôtre, which confirmed French dominion over Vietnam. On 31 May 1885, France appointed the first governor of all Vietnam. On 9 June 1885, Vietnam ceased to exist after 83 years as an independent state. The leader of the pro-war faction, Tôn Thất Thuyết and his supporters revolted against the French in July 1885, but were forced to retreat to the Laotian highlands with the young emperor Hàm Nghi (Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch.) Meanwhile the French installed his pro-French brother Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Kỷ as emperor
Đồng Khánh. Thuyết called up the nobility, loyalists and nationalists to arm for the resistance against the French occupation (Cần Vương movement). The movement lasted for 11 years (1885–1896) and Thuyết was forced to exile in China in 1888.
French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin (1883–1945)
The Treaty of Huế (1883), 1883 Treaty of Huế led to the rest of Vietnam becoming French protectorates, divided into the Annam (French protectorate), Protectorates of Annam and
Tonkin. The terms were, however, considered overly harsh in French diplomatic circles and never ratified in France. The following Treaty of Huế (1884), 1884 Treaty of Huế provided a softened version of the previous treaty.
The Treaty of Tientsin (1885), 1885 Treaty of Tientsin, which reaffirmed the 1884 Tientsin Accord and ended the Sino-French War, confirmed Vietnam's status as French protectorates and severed Vietnam's tributary relationship with the Qing dynasty by requiring that all of Vietnam's foreign affairs be conducted through France.
After this the Nguyễn dynasty only nominally ruled the two French protectorates. Annam and Tonkin were combined with Cochinchina and the neighboring French protectorate of Cambodia, Cambodian protectorate in 1887 to form the Union of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, of which they became administrative components.
French rule also reinforced ingredients that the Portuguese had already added to Vietnam's cultural stew: Catholicism and a Latin alphabet, Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet, alphabet. The spelling used in the Vietnamese transliteration is in fact Portuguese-based, because the French relied on a dictionary compiled earlier by a Portuguese cleric, Francisco de Pina.
Due to their presence in Macau, the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese were also the ones who brought Catholic Church in Vietnam, Catholicism to Vietnam in the XVI Century, although it was the French who built most of the churches and established missions in the country.
World War I
While seeking to maximize the use of Indochina's natural resources and manpower to fight World War I, France cracked down on Vietnam's patriotic mass movements. Indochina (mainly Vietnam) had to provide France with 70,000 soldiers and 70,000 workers, who were forcibly drafted from villages to serve on the French battlefront. Vietnam also contributed 184 million French Indochinese piastre, piastres in loans and 336,000 tons of food.
These burdens proved heavy since agriculture experienced natural disasters from 1914 to 1917. Lacking a unified nationwide organization, the vigorous Vietnamese national movement failed to use the difficulties France had as a result of the war to stage significant uprisings.
In May 1916, sixteen-year-old emperor Duy Tân escaped from his palace to participate in an uprising of Vietnamese troops. The French were informed of the plan, and its leaders were arrested and executed. Duy Tân was deposed and exiled to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
World War II
Nationalist sentiment intensified in Vietnam (especially during and after the First World War), but uprisings and tentative efforts failed to obtain concessions from the French. The Russian Revolution greatly impacted 20th-century Vietnamese history.
For Vietnam, the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 was as decisive as the 1858 French seizure of Đà Nẵng. The Axis power of Empire of Japan, Japan invaded Vietnam on 22 September 1940, attempting to construct military bases to strike against Allies of World War II, Allied forces in Southeast Asia. This led to a period of Indochina under French Indochina in World War II, Japanese occupation with the cooperation of the Collaboration with Imperial Japan, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy French, who still retained the administration of the colony. During this time the Viet Minh, a communist resistance movement, developed under Ho Chi Minh from 1941, with Allies of World War II, allied support. During 1944–1945 Vietnamese Famine of 1945, famine in northern Vietnam, over one million people starved to death.
Empire of Vietnam (1945)
In March 1945, after the Provisional Government of the French Republic, liberation of France and heavy setbacks in the war, the Japanese in a last ditch effort to gather support in Indochina Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, overthrew the French administration, imprisoned their civil servants and proclaimed independence for Japanese occupation of Cambodia#Collaborationist Kingdom of Kampuchea, Cambodia, French Protectorate of Laos#Japanese occupation of Laos, Laos and Vietnam, which became the
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
with
Bảo Đại as its Emperor.
The Empire of Vietnam was a
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
of the Empire of Japan.
After the Surrender of Japan, Bảo Đại abdicated on 25 August 1945 after the Viet Minh launched the
August Revolution
The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...
.
This ended the 143-year reign of the Nguyễn dynasty. Bảo Đại was later restored to power by the French to become emperor of the
State of Vietnam in 1949 until the country became a
republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
in 1955, however this period is not considered part of the Nguyễn Dynasty.
National administration
Government
Emperor
file:Con dấu.jpg, Imperial seal, decorated with a dragon, and its imprint against a red background.
file:Imperial headgear Nguyen era NMVH EDAV.jpg, Nine-dragon Imperial Crown (Cửu Long thông thiên quan, 九龍通天冠) influenced by Chinese Futou#Derivatives and influences, Yishan guan (翼善冠).
File:Nguyen Dynasty, 19th-20th Century Swords and Rifles (9735530409).jpg, Imperial sword and hunting rifle of emperor Minh Mang.
File:HoangVietLoatLe first page.jpg, ''Hoàng Việt luật lệ'' (皇越律例), Code of law introduced by Gia Long.
File:Emperor'scostume.jpg, Court dress of Emperor.
The Nguyễn dynasty retained the bureaucratic and hierarchic system of previous dynasties. The emperor was the head of state who wielded absolute authority. Under the emperor was the Ministry of Interior (which worked on papers, imperial messages and recording) and four Grand Secretariats (), later renamed the Ministry of Secret Council.
The Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty was an Absolute monarchy, absolutist ruler, which means he was both the head of state and the head of government. The Gia Long Code in 1812 declared the Vietnamese monarch as the universal ruler of all Vietnam; using the Confucian concept Mandate of Heaven to provide monarchs absolute power. Their reign and popular images were judged based on how prosperous the livelihood (民生, ''dân sinh'') of the people and the Confucian concept of ''chính danh'' (rectification of names), according to the Confucian biblical Analects, everything has to stay in its right order. Gia Long also perceived the ancient Chinese conception of Hua–Yi distinction, Hua-Yi and in 1805 he confessed his Empire as ''Trung Quốc'' (中國, "the Middle Kingdom (disambiguation), Middle Kingdom"), the Vietnamese term which often refers to China but now was taken by Gia Long to emphasis his Son of Heaven status and the devaluation of China. Following next decades, Confucianism and the Mandate of Heaven theory gradually lost their positions among the Vietnamese officials and intellectuals. When the fourth emperor, Tự Đức, ceded Southern Vietnam to France and called all Southern officials to give up arms, many ignored, disobeyed the Son of Heaven and continued to fight against invaders. Many dissents viewed him as surrendering and frightened of France. Rebellions against Tự Đức erupted every year from 1860 until he died in 1883.
A dual theory of sovereignty existed in Vietnam. All the Nguyễn monarchs were addressed as ''hoàng đế'' (黃帝, Sino-Vietnamese title for "Emperor") in the court while referring himself the first person honorific ''trẫm'' (he who give the order). They also used the concept of ''thiên tử'' (天子, "Son of Heaven", which is borrowed from China) to demonstrate that the ruler was descended and commissioned by heaven to rule the kingdom. However, in most cases, Nguyen rulers were formally called ''vua'' (𪼀, the
Vietnamese title for "monarch" or " sovereign ruler") by the ordinary Vietnamese folks.
[Alexander Barton Woodside: ''Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Vietnamese and Chinese Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1988, S. 10] The concept of a divine Son of Heaven has not been dogmatically practiced, and the monarch's divinity was not absolute due to the dual theory. For example, Xu Jiyu, a Chinese geographer, reported that the bureaucrats in the Vietnamese court sat down and even felt free to search themselves for body lice during the court audiences. Gia Long once told the son of J.B. Chaigneau, one of his advisors, that the use of Son of Heaven in Vietnam was an "absurdity" and "at least in mixed Vietnamese–European Company." Once the young crown prince is chosen to succeed, his obligation is to be filial with parents, be well-educated in politics and classics, and internalize the morals and ethics of a ruler.
After the 1884 Treaty of Huế was signed, the Nguyễn dynasty became two protectorates of France and the French installed their own administrators.
[Trần Gia Phụng. ''Trung Kỳ Dân biến 1908''. Toronto, Canada, 2008. pp. 35–40.] Although the Emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty were still nominally in control of the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin, the Resident-Superior of Annam gradually gained more influence over the imperial court in Huế.
In 1897 the Resident-Superior was granted the power to appoint the Nguyễn dynasty Emperors and presided over the meetings of the Viện cơ mật.
These moves incorporated French officials directly into the administrative structure of the Imperial Huế Court and further legitimized French rule in the legislative branch of the Nguyễn government.
From this period onwards any imperial edicts issued by the Emperors of Đại Nam had to be confirmed by the Resident-Superior of Annam giving him both legislative and executive power over the Nguyễn government.
In the year 1898, the federal government of
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
took over the financial and property management duties of the Nguyễn dynasty's imperial court meaning that the Nguyễn dynasty Emperor (at the time Thành Thái) became a salaried employee of the Indochinese colonial structure, reducing their power to being only a civil servant of the Protectorate government.
The Resident-Superior of Annam also took over the management of provincial Mandarin (bureaucrat), mandarins and was a member of the Supreme Council (''Conseil supérieur'') of the Government-General of French Indochina.
Civil service and bureaucracy
File:TranhtrieuNguyen-19.jpg, The imperial guards of the Nguyễn dynasty.
File:Thai-giam.jpg, The eunuchs of the Nguyễn dynasty.
File:Áo tấc bát bảo mãng bào.jpeg, Imperial family member (left) in the traditional Áo tấc and mandarin (right) in the imperial court dress.
File:Vietmandarins.jpg, Mandarin conducted ceremony in front of Imperial City of Huế, Imperial palace in 1939.
Taxes
Vietnam's monetary subunit was the quan (貫). One quan equaled 10 coins, equivalent to Vietnamese đồng, ₫600. In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng determined that officials received the following taxes ():
* First senior rank (''Chánh nhất phẩm''): 400 quan; rice: 300 kg; per-capita tax: 70 quan
* First junior rank (''Tòng nhất phẩm''): 300 quan; rice: 250 kg; tax: 60 quan
* Second senior rank (''Chánh nhị phẩm''): 250 quan; rice: 200 kg; tax: 50 quan
* Second junior rank (''Tòng nhị phẩm''): 180 quan; rice: 150 kg; tax: 30 quan
* Third senior rank (''Chánh tam phẩm''): 150 quan; rice: 120 kg; tax: 20 quan
* Third junior rank (''Tòng tam phẩm''): 120 quan; rice: 90 kg; tax: 16 quan
* Fourth senior rank (''Chánh tứ phẩm''): 80 quan; rice: 60 kg; tax: 14 quan
* Fourth junior rank (''Tòng tứ phẩm''): 60 quan; rice: 50 kg; tax: 10 quan
* Fifth senior rank (''Chánh ngũ phẩm''): 40 quan; rice: 43 kg; tax: 9 quan
* Fifth junior rank (''Tòng ngũ phẩm''): 35 quan; rice: 30 kg; tax: 8 quan
* Sixth senior rank (''Chánh lục phẩm''): 30 quan; rice: 25 kg; tax: 7 quan
* Sixth junior rank (''Tòng lục phẩm''): 30 quan; rice: 22 kg; tax: 6 quan
* Seventh senior rank (''Chánh thất phẩm''): 25 quan; rice: 20 kg; tax: 5 quan
* Seventh junior rank (''Tòng thất phẩm''): 22 quan; rice: 20 kg; tax: 5 quan
* Eighth senior rank (''Chánh bát phẩm''): 20 quan; rice: 18 kg; tax: 5 quan
* Eighth junior rank (''Tòng bát phẩm''): 20 quan; rice: 18 kg; tax: 4 quan
* Ninth senior rank (''Chánh cửu phẩm''): 18 quan; rice: 16 kg; tax: 4 quan
* Ninth junior rank (''Tòng cửu phẩm''): 18 quan; rice: 16 kg; tax: 4 quan
Officials from the first to third ranks received taxes twice a year, while those from the fourth to seventh ranks received taxes at the end of the four seasons. The eighth and ninth-ranked officials did so every month in a year. The Emperor also granted an annual "dưỡng liêm" money to prevent corruption among regional administrators.
Political organization
File:Viencomat.jpg, Privy Council of Nguyễn Dynasty (Viện cơ mật, Cơ Mật Viện: 機密院).
File:Triều đình Huế - Bộ Lại (Ministère de l’Intérieur).jpg, alt=Ministry of Administration of Nguyễn Dynasty (Lại Bộ : 吏部)., Ministry of Administration of Nguyễn Dynasty (Lại Bộ : 吏部).
File:Triều đình Huế - Bộ Lễ (Ministère des Rites).jpg, Ministry of Rites of Nguyễn Dynasty (Lễ Bộ: 禮部).
File:Triều đình Huế - Bộ Hộ (Ministère des Finances).jpg, Ministry of Finance of Nguyễn Dynasty (Hộ Bộ: 戸部).
File:Triều đình Huế - Bộ Công (Ministère des Travaux publics).jpg, Ministry of Public Works of Nguyễn Dynasty (Công Bộ: 工部).
File:His Excellency Tôn Thất Đàn, minister of Justice.jpg, alt=Tôn Thất Đàn, Minister of Justice of Nguyễn Dynasty (Hình Bộ : 刑部)., Tôn Thất Đàn, Minister of Justice of Nguyễn Dynasty (Hình Bộ : 刑部).
File:Imperial Academy of Hue.jpg, alt=Imperial Academy, Huế under Ministry of Education of Nguyễn Dynasty (Học Bộ : 學部)., Imperial Academy, Huế under Ministry of Education of Nguyễn Dynasty (Học Bộ : 學部).
File:Triều đình Huế - Lễ Phục mạng (la Cérémonie de Phuc mang).jpg, Phục mạng ceremony when mandarin receive the edict from the Emperor in 1895.
Education system
Colonial education
File:School21.jpg, Tailoring class in a colonial school in 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 ...
, Tonkin
File:Geography class in colonial school Hanoi.jpg, Geography class in a colonial school. Hanoi, 1920
Pension
When mandarins retired, they could receive one hundred to four hundred quan from the emperor. When they died, the imperial court provided twenty to two hundred quan for a funeral.
Administrative divisions
Under Gia Long
During the reign of Gia Long, the kingdom was divided into twenty-three quasi-militant protectorates ''trấn'' and four military departments ''doanh.'' Each protectorate, besides having their own separated regional governments, was under patrol of one greater, powerful unit called Overlord of Citadel, or the Viceroys of Vietnam, Viceroy. For examples, the northern protectorates had ''Bắc thành Tổng trấn'' (Viceroy of Northern Protectorates) in Hanoi, and southern protectorates had ''Gia Định thành Tổng trấn'' (Viceroy of Gia Định Protectorates) resides in
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. Two famously viceroys during Gia Long's reign were
Nguyễn Văn Thành (Hanoi) and
Lê Văn Duyệt (Saigon). By 1802, these were:
* 16 protectorates under joint-governance from the Viceroys.
# Sơn Nam Thượng (Hanoi)
# Sơn Nam Hạ (
Nam Định
Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam.
History
From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...
)
#
Sơn Tây
# Kinh Bắc (Bắc Ninh)
#
Hải Dương
# Tuyên Quang
# Hưng Hóa Province, Hưng Hoá
# Cao Bằng
#
Lạng Sơn
# Thái Nguyên
# Quảng Yên
# Ho Chi Minh City, Gia Định or Phiên An
# Biên Hoà
# Vĩnh Thanh (later became Vĩnh Long and
An Giang
# Định Tường Province, Định Tường (Tiền Giang)
#
Hà Tiên
* 7 Central protectorates
# Thanh Hoá
# Nghệ An
# Quảng Nghĩa (Quảng Ngãi)
# Bình Định
# Phú Yên
# Bình Hoà (Khánh Hòa Province, Khánh Hoà)
# Bình Thuận Province, Bình Thuận
* 4 departments surrounding Huế, directly ruled by Gia Long.
# Quảng Đức
# Quảng Bình
# Quảng Trị
#
Quảng Nam
Minh Mạng and later
In 1831, Minh Mạng reorganised his kingdom by converting all these protectorates into 31 provinces (''tỉnh''). Each province had a series of smaller jurisdictions: the prefecture (''phủ''), the subprefecture (''châu'', in areas whereas having a significant population of ethnic minorities). Under prefecture and subprefecture, there was the district (''huyện''), the canton (''tổng''). Under district and canton, the bundle of hamlets around one common religious temple or social factor point, the village ''(làng'' or the commune ''xã'') was the lowest administrative unit, which one respected person nominally took care of village administrative, which called lý trưởng.
Two nearby provinces were combined into a pair. Every pair had a governor-general (''Tổng đốc'') and a governor (''Tuần phủ''). Frequently, there were twelve governor-generals and eleven governors, although, in some periods, the Emperor would appoint a "commissioner in charge of patrolled borderlands" (''kinh lược sứ'') that supervising entire northern of the southern part of the kingdom. In 1803, Vietnam had 57 prefectures, 41 subprefectures, 201 districts, 4,136 cantons and 16,452 villages, and then by the 1840s its had been increased to 72 prefectures, 39 subprefectures and 283 districts, which an average 30,000 people per district. Cambodia had been absorbed into the Vietnamese administrative system, bore the name
Tây Thành Province from 1834 to 1845. With areas having minority groups like Tày people, Tày, Nùng people, Nùng, Mèo (Hmong people), Mường people, Mường, Mang people, Mang and Jarai people, Jarai, the Huế court imposed the co-existing tributary and quasi-bureaucratic governance system, while allowing these people to have their own local rulers and autonomy.

In 1832, there were:
* Three regions and 31 provinces (encompassed modern-day Vietnam):
# Bắc Kỳ (
Tonkin)
##
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 ...
##
Lạng Sơn
## Cao Bằng
## Bắc Ninh
## Thái Nguyên
##
Nam Định
Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam.
History
From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...
## Hưng Yên
##
Sơn Tây
## Hưng Hóa Province, Hưng Hoá
## Tuyên Quang
##
Hải Dương
## Quảng Yên
##
Ninh Bình
# Trung Kỳ (Annam)
## Thanh Hoá
## Nghệ An
## Hà Tĩnh
## Quảng Bình
## Quảng Trị
## Thừa Thiên Huế Province, Thừa Thiên
##
Quảng Nam
## Quảng Ngãi
## Bình Định
## Phú Yên
## Khánh Hòa Province, Khánh Hoà
## Bình Thuận Province, Bình Thuận
# Nam Kỳ (Cochinchina)
## Biên Hoà
## Gia Định
## Vĩnh Long
## Định Tường Province, Định Tường
##
An Giang
##
Hà Tiên
* Client/dependent territories:
# Kingdom of Luang Phrabang, Luang Phrabang
# Kingdom of Vientiane, Vientine
# Cambodia
# Jarai chiefdoms
* Chief cities:
# Huế, capital city, population (1880): 30,000
#
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 ...
, major city, population (1880): 120,000
#
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, major city, population (1880): 100,000
Economy
Society
Culture and cultural discrimination
The Nguyễn dynasty viewed cultures that were "non-Chinese" as barbaric and called themselves the Central Kingdom (Trung Quốc, 中國). This includes the Han Chinese under the Qing dynasty who were viewed as "non-Chinese". As the Qing have caused the Chinese to not be "Han" anymore. Chinese were referred to as ''"Thanh nhân"'' (清人)''.'' This occurred after Vietnam had sent a delegate to Beijing, whereupon a diplomatic disaster caused Vietnam to view other "non-Chinese" as barbaric in much the same way as the Qing. By the Nguyen dynasty, Nguyễn dynasty the Vietnamese themselves were ordering Cambodian Khmer to adopt Culture of Vietnam#Hairstyle and teeth blackening, Vietnamese culture by ceasing "barbarous" habits like cropping hair and ordering them to grow it long besides making them replace skirts with trousers. Han Chinese Ming dynasty refugees numbering 3,000 came to Vietnam at the end of the Ming dynasty. They opposed the Qing dynasty and were fiercely loyal to the Ming dynasty. Vietnamese women married these Han Chinese refugees since most of them were soldiers and single men. They did not wear Manchu hairstyle unlike Hoa people, later Chinese migrants to Vietnam during the Qing dynasty.
Vietnamisation of ethnic minorities
Under emperor Minh Mạng Sinicization, sinicisation of ethnic minorities became state policy. He claimed the legacy of Confucianism and China's Han dynasty for Vietnam, and used the term "Han people" (漢人, ''Hán nhân'') to refer to the Vietnamese.
According to the emperor, "We must hope that their barbarian habits will be subconsciously dissipated, and that they will daily become more infected by Han [Sino-Vietnamese] customs."
These policies were directed at the Khmer Krom, Khmer and Degar, hill tribes.
Nguyễn Phúc Chu had referred to the Vietnamese as "Han people" in 1712, distinguishing them from the Chams. The Nguyễn lords established Tuntian#Other countries, colonies after 1790. Gia Long said, ''"Hán di hữu hạn"'' (:wikt:漢, 漢 :wikt:夷, 夷 :wikt:有, 有 :wikt:限, 限, "The Vietnamese and the barbarians must have clear borders"), distinguishing the Khmer people, Khmer from the Vietnamese.
Minh Mang implemented an acculturation policy for minority non-Vietnamese peoples.
''"Thanh nhân"'' (:wikt:清, 清 :wikt:人, 人 referring to the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
) or ''"Đường nhân"'' (:wikt:唐人, 唐人 referring to the Tang dynasty) were used to refer to Hoa people, ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese, who called themselves ''"Hán dân"'' (:wikt:漢, 漢 :wikt:民, 民) and ''"Hán nhân"'' (漢人 referring to the Han dynasty) during 19th-century Nguyễn rule.
Since 1827, descendants of
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
refugees were called ''Minh nhân'' (明人) or ''Minh Hương'' (:wikt:明, 明 :wikt:鄉, 鄉) by Nguyễn rulers, to distinguish with ethnic Chinese. ''Minh nhân'' were treated as Vietnamese since 1829.
They were not allowed to go to China, and also not allowed to wear Queue (hairstyle), the Manchu queue.
Costume
The Nguyễn dynasty popularized Chinese clothing#Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), Qing-influenced clothing.
Trousers were adopted by female Hmong language, White H'mong speakers, replacing their traditional skirts.
The Qing-influenced tunics and trousers were worn by the Vietnamese. The ''áo dài'' was developed in the 1920s, when compact, close-fitting Tuck (sewing), tucks were added to predecessor of the áo dài, áo ngũ thân.
Chinese-influenced trousers and tunics were ordered by lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát during the 18th century, replacing traditional Vietnamese áo giao lĩnh, áo tràng vạt derived from Chinese ''jiaoling youren'' (Chinese: 交領右衽).
Although the Chinese-influenced trousers and tunic were mandated by the Nguyen government, skirts were worn in isolated north Vietnamese hamlets until the 1920s.
Chinese style clothing was ordered for the Vietnamese military and bureaucrats by Nguyễn Phúc Khoát.
An 1841 polemic, "On Distinguishing Barbarians", was based on the Qing sign "Vietnamese Barbarians' Hostel" (越夷會館) on the Fujian residence of Nguyen diplomat and Hoa people, Hoa Chinese Lý Văn Phức.
It argued that the Qing did not subscribe to the neo-Confucianist texts from the Song dynasty, Song and Ming dynasties which were learned by the Vietnamese,
who saw themselves as sharing a civilization with the Qing.
This event triggered a diplomatic disaster. The consequence was that non-"Han Chinese highland tribes" and other non-Vietnamese peoples living near (or in) Vietnam were called "barbarian" by the Vietnamese imperial court.
The essay distinguishes the Yi and Hua, and mentions Zhao Tuo, Wen, Shun and Taibo. Liam Kelley (historian), Kelley and Woodside described Vietnam's Confucianism.
Emperors Minh Mạng,
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
and
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
, were opposed to French involvement in Vietnam, and tried to reduce the country's growing Catholic Church, Catholic community. The imprisonment of missionaries who had illegally entered the country was the primary pretext for the French to invade (and occupy) Indochina. Like Qing China, a number of incidents involved other European nations during the 19th century.
Religion

Although the previous
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
were faithful Buddhists, Gia Long was not a Buddhist. He adopted Neo-Confucianism and actively restricted Buddhism. Scholars, elites, and officials attacked Buddhist doctrines and criticized them as superstitious and useless. The third emperor,
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
, elevated Confucianism as the true religion and while regarding Buddhism as superstition.

Building new Buddhist pagodas and temples were forbidden. Bhikkhu, Buddhist clergies and Bhikkuni, nuns were forced to join public works to limit the influence of Buddhism and promote Confucianism as the sole dominant belief of the society. However, such embracing a Sinic Confucian culture among the Vietnamese populace whom lived amidst a Southeast Asian infrastructure, widening the distance between the population and the court far away. Buddhism was still prevalent in mainstream society and had its presence within the imperial palace. Empress mothers, queens, princess, and concubines were devout Buddhists, despite the patriarchal prohibition.
Confucianism itself was the ideology of the Nguyen court, also provided the basic core of classical education and civil examination every year. Gia Long pursued Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, Confucianism to create and maintain a conservative society and social structures. Confucian rituals and ideas were circulations based within ancient Confucian teaching such as The Analects and Spring and Autumn Annals in Vietnamese-script collections. The court rigidly imported these Chinese books from Chinese merchants. Confucian rituals such as ''cầu đảo'' (offering heaven for wind and rain during a drought) that the emperor and court officials perform for wishing heaven to rain down his kingdom. If the offer went successful, they had to conduct ''lễ tạ'' (thanksgiving ritual) to heaven. In addition, the emperor believed that holy spirits and natural goddesses of his country can also make rain. In 1804, Gia Long built the Nam Hải Long Vương Temple (Temple of Southern Ocean Dragon King) in Thuận An, northeast of Hue in his faithfulness to the god of Thuận An (''Thần Thuận An''), the place where most of ''cầu đảo'' ritual was performed. His successor, Minh Mạng, continued to build several temples dedicated to the ''Vũ Sư'' (Rainmaking god) and altars for ''Thần Mây'' (Cloud God) and ''Thần Sấm'' (Thunder God).

Nguyen Truong To, Nguyễn Trường Tộ, a prominent Catholic and reformist intellectual, launched an attack on Confucian structures in 1867 as decadent. He wrote to Tự Đức: "the evil that has been brought on China and on our country by the Confucian way of life." He criticized the court's Confucian education as dogmatic and unrealistic, promoted for his education reform.
During Gia Long's years, Catholicism was peacefully worshipped without any restriction. Began with Minh Mạng, who considered Christianity as a heterodox religion for its rejection of ancestor worship, the important belief of the Vietnamese monarchy. After reading the Bible (Old and New Testament), he considered the Christianity religion irrational and ridiculous, and praised Tokugawa era, Tokugawa Japan for its notorious policies on Christians. Minh Mạng also was influenced by anti-Christian propaganda written by Vietnamese Confucian officials and literati, which described the mixing of men and women and liberal society among the Church. The most thing he worried about Christianity and Catholicism was writing texts that proved that Christianity was a means for Europeans to take over foreign countries. He also praised the anti-Christian policy in Japan. Churches were destroyed and many Christians were imprisoned. The persecution got intense during the reign of his grandson
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
, when most of the state efforts were to annihilate Vietnamese Christianity. Unironically, even during the height of the anti-Catholic campaign, many Catholic scholars were still permitted to hold high positions in the imperial court.
After an imperial edict in late 1862, Catholicism was officially recognized and worshipers of the faith obtained state protection. It is estimated that late-19th century Vietnam had about 600,000 to 700,000 Catholic Christians.
Demography
Before the French conquest, the Vietnamese population was very sparse due to the agricultural backbones economy of the country. The population in 1802 was 6.5 million people and had only grown to 8 million by 1840. Rapid industrialization after the 1860s ushered in massive population growth and rapid urbanization in the late 19th century. Many peasants left tenant farms and poured into cities, they were hired by French-owned factories. By 1880 the Vietnamese were estimated back then as high as 18 million people, while modern estimates by Angus Maddison have suggested a lower figure of 12.2 million people. Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty was always a multiethnic complex. Nearly 80% percent of the Empire's population were ethnic Vietnamese (called Annamites then), whom language belonged to the Mon-Khmer (Mon–Annamite then) family, and the rest were Cham people, Cham, Han Chinese, Chinese, Khmer people, Khmer, Muong people, Mường, Tày people, Tày (called Thô then), and other 50 ethnic minorities such as the Mang people, Mang, Jarai, Yao.
The Annamites are distributed across the lowland of the country from Tonkin to Cochichina. The Chams live in central Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. The Chinese particularly concentrated in urbanised areas such as Saigon, Chợ Lớn, and Hanoi. The Chinese tended to be divided into two groups called ''Minh Hương'' (明鄉) and ''Thanh nhân'' (清人). The Minh Hương were Chinese refugees that had migrated and settled down in Vietnam earlier during the 17th century, who married with Vietnamese women, had been substantially assimilated to local Vietnamese and Khmer populaces, and loyal to the Nguyen, compared to the Thanh nhân that recently arrived in Southern Vietnam, dominated the rice trade. During the reign of Minh Mạng, a restriction against the Thanh nhân was issued in 1827, Thanh nhân could not access to the state bureaucracy and had to be integrated into Vietnamese population like the Minh Hương.
The Muong people, Mường people inhabited the hills west of the Red River Delta, and although subordinate to the central authority, they were permitted to bear arms, a privilege not accorded to any other subjects of the court of Huế. The Tày and the Mang live in the northern highlands of Tonkin, both submitted to Huế court along with taxes and tribute, but were allowed to have their hereditary chiefs.
Photography
The first photographs of Vietnam were taken by Jules Itier in Danang, in 1845. The first photos of the Vietnamese were taken by Fedor Jagor in November 1857 in Singapore. Due to the forbidden contact to foreigners, photography returned to Vietnam again during the French conquest and had shots taken by Paul Berranger during the French invasion of Da Nang (September 1858). Since the French seizure of Saigon in 1859, the city and southern Vietnam had been opening to foreigners, and photography entered Vietnam exclusively from France and Europe.
File:Fortress of Danang, 1845.jpg, alt=, Early photograph of Fortress of Danang in 1845
File:Imperial parade.jpg, The Nobility leaving the Imperial Citiadel.
File:Noble.jpg, A Vietnamese noble posed for the photograph.
File:Group of musicians.jpg, Group of musicians in Huế, 1919. They are sitting on a sập.
File:Female musicians.jpg, Group of female musicians from Cochinchina to perform in the colonial exposition in Marseille, 1922
File:Judge and criminal.jpg, Judge and offender in the local trial.
Military
Gallery
File:770RueHue.jpg, alt=, Huế city drawing in 1875
File:Une cérémonie de mariage au Tonkin.jpg, 1884 drawing of a marriage ceremony in Tonkin
File:ElephantParadeHue.png, Elephant parade in Huế
File:DrawingVN.jpg, Tết new year holiday in temple Vietnam
File:Maquette de bateau de l'Annam (Indochine, Viêt Nam) (1).jpg, Model of a traditional ship in central Vietnam
File:Boat festival in Hue.jpg, Boat racing festival in Hue
Imperial family
The House of Nguyễn Phúc (Nguyen Gia Mieu) had historically been founded in the 14th century in Gia Miêu village, Thanh Hoa Province, Thanh Hóa Province, before they came to rule southern Vietnam from 1558 to 1777 and 1780 to 1802, then became the ruling dynasty of the entire Vietnam. Traditionally, the family traces themselves to
Nguyễn Bặc (924–79), a duke and general during the
Đinh dynasty from Gia Viễn,
Ninh Bình. Princes and male descendants of Gia Long are called Hoàng Thân, while male lineal descendants of previous Nguyen lords are named Tôn Thất. Grandsons of the emperor were Hoàng tôn. Daughters of the emperor were called Hoàng nữ, and always earned the title công chúa (princess).
Their succession practically is according to the law of primogeniture, but sometimes conflicted. The first succession conflict arose in 1816 when Gia Long was designing for an heir. His first prince
Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh died in 1802. As a result, two rival factions emerged, one support Nguyễn Phúc Mỹ Đường, the eldest son of Prince Cảnh, as the crown prince, while other support Prince Đảm (later Minh Mang). The second conflict was the 1847 succession when two young princes Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Bảo and Tu Duc, Hồng Nhậm were dragged by the ill-failing Emperor Thiệu Trị as a potential heir. At first, Thiệu Trị apparently chose Prince Hồng Bảo because he was older, but after hearing advice from two regents Trương Đăng Quế and Nguyễn Tri Phương, he revised the heir at last minute and choose Hồng Nhậm as the crown prince.
Emperors
The following list is the emperors' era names, which have meaning in Chinese and Vietnamese. For example, the first ruler's era name, Gia Long, is the combination of the old names for
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
(Gia Định) and
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 ...
(Thăng Long) to show the new unity of the country; the fourth, Tự Đức, means "Inheritance of Virtues"; the ninth, Đồng Khánh, means "Collective Celebration".
After the death of Emperor Tự Đức (and according to his will), Dục Đức ascended to the throne on 19 July 1883. He was dethroned and imprisoned three days later, after being accused of deleting a paragraph from Tự Đức's will. With no time to announce his dynastic title, his era name was named for his residential palace.
Lineage
''Note'':
* Years are reigning years.
Family tree
Simplified family tree of the Nguyen Phuc dynasty:
* – Lords of Cochinchina (1550s–1777)
* – Emperors of the independent Vietnamese monarchy (1802–1883)
* – Emperors of French Annam and Tonkin/Emperor of
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
(1885–1945)
Succession line
* ''
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...
(1801–1847)''
** ''
Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...
(1829–1883)''
** ''Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Cai, Kiên Thái Vương (1845–1876)''
***

''
Đồng Khánh (1864–1889)''
**** ''Khải Định (1885–1925)''
***** ''
Bảo Đại (1913–1997)''
****** ''Crown Prince Bảo Long (1936–2007)''
****** ''Prince Bảo Thăng (1943–2017)''
*** ''Kiến Phúc (1869–1884)''
*** ''Hàm Nghi (1871–1944)''
**** '' (1910–1990)''
Symbols
Flags
The Nguyễn dynasty's national flag or the Imperial flag first appeared during the reign of Emperor
Gia Long
Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...
. It was a yellow flag with a single or three horizontal red stripes, sometimes in 1822, it was entirely blank yellow or white. The emperor's personal flag was a golden dragon spitting fire, surrounded by clouds, a silver moon, and a black crescent on a yellow background.
Seals
The Nguyễn dynasty's seal are rich and diverse in types and had strict rules and laws that regulated their manipulation, management, and use.
The common practice of using seals was clearly recorded in the book "Khâm định Đại Nam hội điển sự lệ" on how to use seals, how to place them, and on what kinds of documents, which was compiled by the Cabinet of the Nguyễn dynasty in the year Minh Mạng 3 (1822).
The various types of seals of the Nguyễn dynasty had different names based on their function, namely Bảo (寶), Tỷ (璽), Ấn (印), Chương (章), Ấn chương (印章), Kim bảo tỷ (金寶璽), Quan phòng (關防), Đồ ký (圖記), Kiềm ký (鈐記), Tín ký (信記), Ấn Ký (印記), Trưởng ký (長記), and Ký (記).
Seals in the Nguyễn dynasty were overseen by a pair of agencies referred to as the Office of Ministry Seals Management – Officers on Duty (印司 – 直處, ''Ấn ty – Trực xứ''), this is a term that refers to two agencies which were established within each of the Three Departments and Six Ministries, Six Ministries, these agencies were tasked with keeping track of the seals, files, and chapters of their ministry.
[''Từ điển chức quan Việt Nam'', Đỗ Văn Ninh, 2002, trang 327 mục 571. Hộ ấn ty, hộ trực xứ (in Vietnamese).] On duty of the Office of Ministry Seals Management were the correspondents of each individual ministry that received and distributed documents and records of a government agency.
These two agencies usually had a few dozen officers who would import documents from their ministry.
Usually the name of the ministry is directly attached to the seal agency's name, for example "Office of Civil Affairs Ministry Seals Management – Civil Affairs Ministry Officers on Duty" (吏印司吏直處, ''Lại Ấn ty Lại Trực xứ'').
Since the Nguyễn dynasty period seals have a fairly uniform shape (with or without a handle), the uniform description of these seals in Vietnamese are:
* ''Thân ấn'' – The geometric block, or body, of the seal.
* ''Seal knob, Núm ấn'' – The handle for pressing the seal down on texts. In case the seal is shaped like a pyramid, there is no knob.
* ''Mặt ấn'' – Where the main content of the seal (symbol or word) is engraved, this area is usually in the face down position. The stamp surface is often used up to engrave letters or drawings.
* ''Lưng ấn'' – The face of the seal, where other information about the seal is engraved, usually in the supine position. In the case of the flat-head pyramid seal (''ấn triện hình tháp đầu bằng''), the flat head is the back.
* ''Hình ấn'' – A word used to indicate the impression of the seal on a text.
Seals were also given to people after they received a Vietnamese nobility, noble title.
For example, after Léon Louis Sogny received the title of "Baron of An Bình" (安平男) in the year Bảo Đại 14 (保大拾肆年, 1939) he was also given a golden seal and a'' Bai (decoration), Kim Bài'' (金牌) with his noble title on it. The seal had the seal script inscription ''An Bình Nam chi ấn'' (安平男之印).
In its 143 years of existence, the government of the Nguyễn dynasty had created more than 100 imperial seals.
These imperial seals were made of jade, bronze, silver, gold, ivory, and meteorite.
Sun, moon, auspicious clouds, and the Yin-Yang symbol
Like Imperial China and History of Korea, Royal Korea, the Vietnamese used the sun as the "Symbol of the Empire" and auspicious clouds and the Taijitu as "Symbols of the State".
[De Rode Leeuw �]
Armorial of Vietnam
by Hubert de Vries. Retrieved: 19 August 2021. The Heraldry, heraldic systems of both the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties were similar to those found in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The sun symbol as a flaming disc in Vietnam dates back to the 11th century and during the Nguyễn dynasty period this symbol was often depicted with pointed rays.
The moon symbolised the state, the sun the empire, stars the sovereigns, and clouds the heaven.
The "Achievement (heraldry), Achievement of the Empire" and the "Achievement of the State" were identical to their Imperial Chinese counterparts, the "Achievement of the Empire" first appeared in Vietnam during the 11th century and were identical during the Later Lê and Nguyễn periods consisting of two Dragons surrounding a flaming sun, while the "Achievement of the State" is known to have been used as early as the Trần dynasty period and this early Trần version consists of two Dragons surrounding a lotus flower (a symbol of Buddhism).
During the Nguyễn dynasty period the "Achievement of the State" typically consisted of two dragons surrounding a moon or two dragons surrounding a Taijitu, this symbol was commonly found on the caps of high-ranking mandarins.
The two dragons surrounding the moon implies that the emperor, or "sovereign", (represented by the dragons) was also the head of state (represented by either the moon or a Yin-Yang symbol).
During the period of French domination (法屬, ''Pháp thuộc'') these symbols could be interpreted as the French National Assembly (that is: the French people) was the sovereign over the Empire (the dragons), the Nguyễn Emperor now merely being the head of state (moon or Yin-Yang symbol).
Moons also appeared on the shields of common Nguyễn dynasty soldiers representing the state, while soldiers of the imperial guards sometimes had shields depicting a red sun showcasing that they were a function of the empire.
Dragons
Vietnamese dragon, Dragon motifs appeared on many state symbols during the Nguyễn dynasty period including on imperial edicts, coins, buildings, and the badges of the Imperial Guard.
During the Minh Mạng period (1820–1841) dragons on silver Tiền coins were often depicted facing dexter (to the right), while during the Thiệu Trị period (1841–1847) and later these coins depicted dragons guardant (facing forward).
Dragons were considered to be one of the four sacred animals together with the Fenghuang, Phượng hoàng (Phoenix), Qilin, Kỳ lân (Unicorn), and the Spirit turtle, Linh quy (Sacred turtle).
During the Nguyễn dynasty period the depiction of dragons in Vietnamese art reached their zenith and the quality and variety of Nguyễn dynasty dragons was much higher than those of earlier dynasties.
In the third month of the year ''Bính Tý'', or Gia Long 15 (1816), Emperor Gia Long instructed the court to create special clothes, hats, and seals for himself and the crown prince to denote independence from China.
These regalia all depicted Chinese dragon#Dragon claws, five-clawed dragons (蠪𠄼𤔻, ''rồng 5 móng''), in Chinese symbolism (including Vietnamese symbolism) five-clawed dragons are symbols of an Emperor, while four-clawed dragons are seen as symbols or kings.
To denote the high status of Emperor all monarchial robes, hats, and seals were adorned with five-clawed dragons and ordered the creation of new seals with five-clawed dragons as their seal knobs to showcase imperial legitimacy.
Meanwhile, the wardrobes and other symbols of vassals and princes were adorned with four-clawed dragons symbolising their status as "kings".
[Đại Nam thực lục chính biên, trang 921 tập 1 NXB Giáo dục 2002. (in Vietnamese).]
The two Emblem of Vietnam#List, national coats of arms of the French protectorate of Annam would also consist of golden dragons with one being a sword per fess charged with a scroll inscribed with two Traditional Chinese characters ''Đại Nam'' (大南) and supported by a single Vietnamese dragon and the other being a golden Chinese dragon#Dragon claws, five-clawed dragon positioned Attitude (heraldry)#Positions indicating direction, affronté.
Gallery of symbols
File:First flag of the Nguyen Dynasty.svg, Flag of Nguyễn period Vietnam.
File:Golden seal Sắc mệnh chi bảo.jpg, An Imperial seal made during the Minh Mạng period.
File:Roof detail, dragon.jpg, Vietnamese dragon, Dragon motifs are found everywhere in imperial buildings.
See also
* List of monarchs of Vietnam
*
Nguyễn Trường Tộ – served Emperor Tự Đức
* Hà Ngại, official of the dynasty
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen Dynasty
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Former monarchies of Asia, Vietnam, Nguyen Dynasty
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