History of Vietnam
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domination 207 BCE – 39 CE
domination 43–544
Triệu Việt Vương 544–602
domination 602–905
domination 1407–1427
of Vietnam 1945–1949 and
1955–1976
of Vietnam from 1976
The history of Vietnam begins around 2,700 years ago. Successive dynasties based in China ruled Vietnam directly for most of the period from 111 BC until 938 when Vietnam regained its independence.[1] Vietnam remained a tributary state to its larger neighbor China for much of its history but repelled invasions by the Chinese as well as three invasions by the Mongols between 1255 and 1285.[2] King Trần Nhân Tông later diplomatically submitted Vietnam to a tributary of the Yuan to avoid further conflicts. The independent period temporarily ended in the middle to late 19th century, when the country was colonized by France (see French Indochina). During World War II, Imperial Japan expelled the French to occupy Vietnam, though they retained French administrators during their occupation. After the war, France attempted to re-establish its colonial rule but ultimately failed. The Geneva Accords partitioned the country in two with a promise of democratic election to reunite the country.
However, rather than peaceful reunification, partition led to the Vietnam War, a civil war and a major part of the Cold War. During this time, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union supported the North while the United States supported the South. After millions of Vietnamese deaths and the American withdrawal from Vietnam in March 1973, the war ended with the fall of Saigon to the North in April 1975. The reunified Vietnam suffered further internal repression and was isolated internationally due to the continuing Cold War and the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. In 1986, the Communist Party of Vietnam changed its economic policy and began reforms of the private sector similar to those in China. Since the mid-1980s, Vietnam has enjoyed substantial economic growth and some reduction in political repression, though reports of corruption have also risen.
Contents
Early kingdoms
Evidence of the earliest established society other than the prehistoric Iron Age Äông SÆ¡n culture in Northern Vietnam was found in Cổ Loa, an ancient city situated near present-day Hà Ná»™i.
According to myth, the first Vietnamese people were descended from the Dragon Lord Lạc Long Quân and the Immortal Fairy Âu Cơ. Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ had 100 sons before deciding to part ways. 50 of the children went with their mother to the mountains, and the other 50 went with their father to the sea. The eldest son became the first in a line of early Vietnamese kings, collectively known as the Hùng kings (Hùng Vương or the Hồng Bà ng Dynasty). The Hùng kings called their country, located on the Red River delta in present-day northern Vietnam, Văn Lang. The people of Văn Lang were known as the Lạc Việt.
Văn Lang is thought to have been a matriarchal society, similar to many other matriarchal societies common in Southeast Asia and in the Pacific islands at the time. Various archaeological sites in northern Vietnam, such as Äông SÆ¡n have yielded metal weapons and tools from this age. Most famous of these artifacts are large bronze drums, probably made for ceremonial purposes, with sophisticated engravings on the surface, depicting life scenes with warriors, boats, houses, birds and animals in concentric circles around a radiating sun at the center.
Many legends from this period offer a glimpse into the life of the people. The Legend of the Rice Cakes is about a prince who won a culinary contest; he then wins the throne because his creations, the rice cakes, reflect his deep understanding of the land's vital economy: rice farming. The Legend of Giong about a youth going to war to save the country, wearing iron armor, riding an armored horse, and wielding an iron staff, showed that metalworking was sophisticated. The Legend of the Magic Crossbow, about a crossbow that can deliver thousands of arrows, showed extensive use of archery in warfare.
By the 3rd century BC, another Viet group, the Âu Việt, emigrated from present-day southern China to the Red River delta and mixed with the indigenous Van Lang population. In 258 BC, a new kingdom, Âu Lạc, emerged as the union of the Âu Việt and the Lạc Việt, with Thục Phán proclaiming himself "King An Dương Vương". At his capital Cổ Loa, he built many concentric walls around the city for defensive purposes. These walls, together with skilled Âu Lạc archers, kept the capital safe from invaders for a while. However, it also gave rise to the first recorded case of espionage in Vietnamese history, resulting in the downfall of king An Dương Vương.
In 207 BC, an ambitious Chinese warlord named Triệu Äà (Chinese: Zhao Tuo) defeated king An DÆ°Æ¡ng VÆ°Æ¡ng by having his son Trá»ng Thủy (Chinese: Zhong Shi) act as a spy after marrying An DÆ°Æ¡ng VÆ°Æ¡ng's daughter. Triệu Äà annexed Âu Lạc into his domain located in present-day Guangdong, southern China, then proclaimed himself king of a new independent kingdom, Nam Việt (Chinese: å—越, Nan Yue). Trá»ng Thủy, the supposed crown prince, drowned himself in Cổ Loa out of remorse for the death of his wife in the war.
Some Vietnamese consider Triệu's rule a period of Chinese domination, since Triệu Äà was a former Qin general. Others consider it an era of Việt independence as the Triệu family in Nam Việt were assimilated to local culture. They ruled independently of what then constituted China's (Han Dynasty). At one point, Triệu Äà even declared himself Emperor, equal to the Chinese Han Emperor in the north.
Period of Chinese domination (111 BC – 938 AD)
In 111 BC, Chinese troops invaded Nam Việt and established new territories, dividing Vietnam into Giao Chỉ (Chinese: 交趾 pinyin: Jiaozhi, now the Red river delta); Cá»u Chân from modern-day Thanh Hoá to Hà TÄ©nh; and Nháºt Nam, from modern-day Quảng Bình to Huế. While the Chinese were governors and top officials, the original Vietnamese nobles (Lạc Hầu, Lạc TÆ°á»›ng) still managed some highlands.
In 40 AD, a successful revolt against harsh rule by Han Governor Tô Äịnh (蘇定 pinyin: SÅ« Dìng), led by the two noble women TrÆ°ng Trắc and her sister TrÆ°ng Nhị, recaptured 65 states (include modern Guangxi), and TrÆ°ng Trắc became the Queen (TrÆ°ng Nữ VÆ°Æ¡ng). In 42 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han sent his famous general Mã Viện (Chinese: Ma Yuan) to quell the revolt. After a torturous campaign, Ma Yuan defeated the TrÆ°ng Queen, who committed suicide. To this day, the TrÆ°ng Sisters are revered in Vietnam as the national symbol of Vietnamese women. Learning a lesson from the TrÆ°ng revolt, the Han and other successful Chinese dynasties took measures to eliminate the power of the Vietnamese nobles. The Vietnamese elites would be coerced to assimilate into Chinese culture and politics. However, in 225 AD, another woman, Triệu Thị Trinh, popularly known as Lady Triệu (Bà Triệu), led another revolt which lasted until 248 AD.
During the Tang dynasty, Vietnam was called Annam (Giao Châu), until the early 10th century AD. Giao Chỉ (with its capital around modern Bắc Ninh province) became a flourishing trading outpost receiving goods from the southern seas. The "History of Later Han" (Háºu Hán ThÆ°, Hou Hanshu) recorded that in 166 AD the first envoy from the Roman Empire to China arrived by this route, and merchants were soon to follow. The 3rd-century "Tales of Wei" (Ngụy Lục, Weilue) mentioned a "water route" (the Red River) from Jiaozhi into what is now southern Yunnan. From there, goods were taken overland to the rest of China via the regions of modern Kunming and Chengdu.
At the same time, in present-day central Vietnam, there was a successful revolt of Cham nations. Chinese dynasties called it Lin-Yi (Lin village). It later became a powerful kingdom, Champa, stretching from Quảng Bình to Phan Thiết (Bình Thuáºn).
In the period between the beginning of the Chinese Age of Fragmentation to the end of the Tang Dynasty, several revolts against Chinese rule took place, such as those of Lý Bôn and his general and heir Triệu Quang Phục; and those of Mai Thúc Loan and Phùng Hưng. All of them ultimately failed, yet most notable were Lý Bôn and Triệu Quang Phục, whose Anterior Lý Dynasty ruled for almost half a century (544 AD to 602 AD) before the Chinese Sui Dynasty reconquered their kingdom Vạn Xuân.
Early independence (938 AD – 1009 AD)
Early in the 10th century, as China became politically fragmented, successive lords from the Khúc family, followed by DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ, ruled Giao Châu autonomously under the Tang title of Tiết Äá»™ Sứ, Virtuous Lord, but stopping short of proclaiming themselves kings.
In 938, the kingdom of Southern Han sent troops to conquer autonomous Giao Châu. Ngô Quyá»n, DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ's son-in-law, defeated the Southern Han fleet at the Battle of Bach Dang River (938). He then proclaimed himself King Ngô and effectively began the age of independence for Vietnam.
Ngô Quyá»n's untimely death after a short reign resulted in a power struggle for the throne, the country's first major civil war, The upheavals of Twelve warlords (Loạn Tháºp Nhị Sứ Quân). The war lasted from 945 AD to 967 AD when the clan led by Äinh Bá»™ LÄ©nh defeated the other warlords, unifying the country. Dinh founded the Äinh Dynasty and proclaimed himself First Emperor (Tiên Hoà ng) of Äại Cồ Việt (Hán tá»±: 大瞿越; literally "Great Viet Land"), with its capital in Hoa LÆ° (modern day Ninh Bình). However, the Chinese Song Dynasty only officially recognized him as Prince of Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ Quáºn VÆ°Æ¡ng). Emperor Äinh introduced strict penal codes to prevent chaos from happening again. He tried to form alliances by granting the title of Queen to five women from the five most influential families.
In 979 AD, Emperor Äinh Bá»™ LÄ©nh and his crown prince Äinh Liá»…n were assassinated, leaving his lone surviving son, the 6-year-old Äinh Toà n, to assume the throne. Taking advantage of the situation, the Chinese Song Dynasty invaded Äại Cồ Việt. Facing such a grave threat to national independence, the court's Commander of the Ten Armies (Tháºp Äạo TÆ°á»›ng Quân) Lê Hoà n took the throne , founding the Former Lê Dynasty. A capable military tactician, Lê Hoan realized the risks of engaging the mighty Chinese troops head on; thus he tricked the invading army into Chi Lăng Pass, then ambushed and killed their commander, quickly ending the threat to his young nation in 981 AD. The Song Dynasty withdrew their troops yet would not recognize Lê Hoà n as Prince of Jiaozhi until 12 years later; nevertheless, he is referred to in his realm as Äại Hà nh Emperor (Äại Hà nh Hoà ng Äế). Emperor Lê Hoà n was also the first Vietnamese monarch who began the southward expansion process against the kingdom of Champa.
Emperor Lê Hoà n's death in 1005 AD resulted in infighting for the throne amongst his sons. The eventual winner, Lê Long ÄÄ©nh, became the most notorious tyrant in Vietnamese history. He devised sadistic punishments of prisoners for his own entertainment and indulged in deviant sexual activities. Toward the end of his short life – he died at 24 – Lê Long ÄÄ©nh became so ill that he had to lie down when meeting with his officials in court.
Independent period of Äại Việt (1010 AD – 1527 AD)
- Further information: History of the Song Dynasty#Relations with Lý of Vietnam and border conflict
When the king Lê Long ÄÄ©nh died in 1009 AD, a Palace Guard Commander named Lý Công Uẩn was nominated by the court to take over the throne, and founded the Lý dynasty. This event is regarded as the beginning of a golden era in Vietnamese history, with great following dynasties. The way Lý Công Uẩn ascended to the throne was rather uncommon in Vietnamese history. As a high-ranking military commander residing in the capital, he had all opportunities to seize power during the tumultuous years after Emperor Lê Hoà n's death, yet preferring not to do so out of his sense of duty. He was in a way being "elected" by the court after some debate before a consensus was reached.
Lý Công Uẩn, posthumously referred as Lý Thái Tổ, changed the country's name to Äại Việt (Hán tá»±: 大越; literally "Great Viet"). The Lý Dynasty is credited for laying down a concrete foundation, with strategic vision, for the nation of Vietnam. Leaving Hoa LÆ°, a natural fortification surrounded by mountains and rivers, Lý Công Uẩn moved his court to the new capital in present-day Hanoi and called it Thăng Long (Ascending Dragon). Lý Công Uẩn thus departed from the militarily defensive mentality of his predecessors and envisioned a strong economy as the key to national survival. Successive Lý kings continued to accomplish far-reaching feats: building a dike system to protect the rice producing area; founding Quốc Tá» Giám, the first noble university; holding regular examinations to select capable commoners for government positions once every three years; organizing a new system of taxation; establishing humane treatment of prisoners. Women were holding important roles in Lý society as the court ladies were in charge of tax collection. The Lý Dynasty also promoted Buddhism, yet maintained a pluralistic attitude toward the three main philosophical systems of the time: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. During the Lý Dynasty, the Chinese Song Dynasty officially recognized the Äại Việt monarch as King of Giao Chỉ (Giao Chỉ Quáºn VÆ°Æ¡ng).
The Lý Dynasty had two major wars with Song China, and a few conquests against neighboring Champa in the south. The most notable battle took place on Chinese territory in 1075 AD. Upon learning that a Song invasion was imminent, the Lý army and navy totalling about 100,000 men under the command of Lý ThÆ°á»ng Kiệt, Tông Äản used amphibious operations to preemptively destroy three Song military installations at Yong Zhou, Qin Zhou, and Lian Zhou in present-day Guangdong and Guangxi, and killed 100,000 Chinese. The Song Dynasty took revenge and invaded Dai Viet in 1076, but the Song troops were held back at the Battle of NhÆ° Nguyệt River commonly known as the Cầu river, now in Bắc Ninh province about 40 km from the current capital, Hanoi. Neither side were able to force a victory, so the Lý Dynasty proposed a truce, which the Song Dynasty accepted.
Toward the end of the Lý Dynasty, a powerful court minister named Trần Thủ Äá»™ forced king Lý Huệ Tông to become a Buddhist monk and Lý Chiêu Hoà ng, Huệ Tông's young daughter, to become queen. Trần Thủ Äá»™ then arranged the marriage of Chiêu Hoà ng to his nephew Trần Cảnh and eventually had the throne transferred to Trần Cảnh, thus begun the Trần Dynasty. Trần Thủ Äá»™ viciously purged members of the Lý nobility; some Lý princes escaped to Korea, including Lý Long TÆ°á»ng.
After the purge most Trần kings ruled the country in similar manner to the Lý kings. Noted Trần Dynasty accomplishments include the creation of a system of population records based at the village level, the compilation of a formal 30-volume history of Äại Việt (Äại Việt Sá» Ký) by Lê Văn HÆ°u, and the rising in status of the Nôm script, a system of writing for Vietnamese language. The Trần Dynasty also adopted a unique way to train new kings: as a king aged, he would relinquish the throne to his crown prince, yet holding a title of August Higher Emperor (Thái Thượng Hoà ng), acting as a mentor to the new Emperor.
Mongol invasions
During the Trần Dynasty, Äại Việt repelled three invasions in 1257 AD, 1284 AD, and 1288 AD by the Mongols under Kublai Khan, who had occupied China and founded the Yuan dynasty. The key to Äại Việt's successes was to avoid the Mongols' strength in open field battles and city sieges - the Trần court abandoned the capital and the cities. The Mongols were then countered decisively at their weak points, which were battles in swampy areas such as ChÆ°Æ¡ng DÆ°Æ¡ng, Hà m Tá», Vạn Kiếp and on rivers such as Vân Äồn and Bạch Äằng. The Mongols also suffered from tropical diseases and loss of supplies to Trần army's raids. The Yuan-Trần war reached its climax when the retreating Yuan fleet was decimated at the Battle of Bach Dang (1288). The military architect behind Dai Viet's victories was Commander Trần Quốc Tuấn, more popularly known as Trần HÆ°ng Äạo.
Champa
It was also during this period that the Trần kings waged many wars against the southern kingdom of Champa, continuing the Viets' long history of southern expansion (known as Nam Tiến) that had begun shortly after gaining independence from China. Often, they encountered strong resistance from the Chams. Champa troops led by king Chế Bồng Nga (Cham: Po Binasuor or Che Bonguar) killed king Trần Duệ Tông in battle and even laid siege to Äại Việt's capital Thăng Long in 1377 AD and again in 1383 AD. However, the Trần Dynasty was successful in gaining two Champa provinces, located around present-day Hue, through the peaceful means of the political marriage of Princess Huyá»n Trân to a Cham king.
Ming occupation and the rise of the Le dynasty
The Trần dynasty was in turn overthrown by one of its own court officials, Hồ Quý Ly. Hồ Quý Ly forced the last Trần king to resign and assumed the throne in 1400. He changed the country name to Äại Ngu (Hán tá»±: 太虞) and moved the capital to Tây Äô, Western Capital, now Thanh Hóa. Thăng Long was renamed Äông Äô, Eastern Capital. Although widely blamed for causing national disunity and losing the country later to the Chinese Ming Dynasty, Hồ Quý Ly's reign actually introduced a lot of progressive, ambitious reforms, including the addition of mathematics to the national examinations, the open critique of Confucian philosophy, the use of paper currency in place of coins, investment in building large warships and cannon, and land reform. He ceded the throne to his son, Hồ Hán ThÆ°Æ¡ng, in 1401 and assumed the title Thái Thượng Hoà ng, in similar manner to the Trần kings.
In 1407, under the pretext of helping to restore the Trần Dynasty, Chinese Ming troops invaded Äại Ngu and captured Hồ Quý Ly and Hồ Hán ThÆ°Æ¡ng. The Hồ Dynasty came to an end after only 7 years in power. The Ming occupying force annexed Äại Ngu into the Ming Empire after claiming that there was no heir to Trần throne. Almost immediately, Trần loyalists started a resistance war. The resistance, under the leadership of Trần QuÄ© at first gained some advances, yet as Trần QuÄ© executed two top commanders out of suspicion, a rift widened within his ranks and resulted in his defeat in 1413.
In 1418, a wealthy farmer, Lê Lợi, led the Lam son revolution against the Ming from his base of Lam SÆ¡n (Thanh Hóa province). Overcoming many early setbacks and with strategic advices from Nguyá»…n Trãi, Lê Lợi's movement finally gathered momentum, marched northward, and launched a siege at Äông Quan (now Hanoi), the capital of the Ming occupation. The Ming Emperor sent a reinforcement force, but Lê Lợi staged an ambush and killed the Ming commander, Liá»…u Thăng (Chinese: Liu Sheng), in Chi Lăng. Ming troops at Äông Quan surrendered. The Lam son revolution killed 300000 Ming soldiers. In 1428, Lê Lợi ascended to the throne and began the Háºu Lê dynasty (Posterior Lê). Lê Lợi renamed the country back to Äại Việt and moved the capital back to Thăng Long.
The Lê Dynasty carried out land reforms to revitalize the economy after the war. Unlike the Lý and Trần kings, who were more influenced by Buddhism, the Lê kings leaned toward Confucianism. A comprehensive set of laws, the Hồng Äức code was introduced with some strong Confucian elements, yet also included some progressive rules, such as the rights of women. Art and architecture during the Lê Dynasty also became more influenced by Chinese styles than during the Lý and Trần Dynasty. The Lê Dynasty commissioned the drawing of national maps and had Ngô SÄ© Liên continue the task of writing Äại Việt's history up to the time of Lê Lợi. King Lê Thánh Tông opened hospitals and had officials distribute medicines to areas affected with epidemics.
In 1471, Le troops led by king Lê Thánh Tông invaded Champa and captured its capital Vijaya. This event effectively ended Champa as a powerful kingdom, although some smaller surviving Cham kingdoms still lasted for a few centuries more. It initiated the dispersal of the Cham people across Southeast Asia. With the kingdom of Champa mostly destroyed and the Cham people exiled or suppressed, Vietnamese colonization of what is now central Vietnam proceeded without substantial resistance. However, despite becoming greatly outnumbered by Kinh (Việt) settlers and the integration of formerly Cham territory into the Vietnamese nation, the majority of Cham people nevertheless remained in Vietnam and they are now considered one of the key minorities in modern Vietnam. The city of Huế, founded in 1600 lies close to where the Champa capital of Indrapura once stood. In 1479, King Lê Thánh Tông also campaigned against Laos and captured its capital Luang Phrabang. He made further incursions westwards into the Irrawaddy River region in modern-day Burma before withdrawing.
Divided period (1528–1802)
The Lê dynasty was overthrown by its general named Mạc Äăng Dung in 1527. He killed the Lê emperor and proclaimed himself emperor, starting the Mạc Dynasty. After defeating many revolutions for two years, Mạc Äăng Dung adopted the Trần Dynasty's practice and ceded the throne to his son, Mạc Äăng Doanh, who became Thái Thượng Hoà ng.
Meanwhile, Nguyá»…n Kim, a former official in the Lê court, revolted against the Mạc and helped king Lê Trang Tông restore the Lê court in the Thanh Hóa area. Thus a civil war began between the Northern Court (Mạc) and the Southern Court (Restored Lê). Nguyá»…n Kim's side controlled the southern part of Äại Việt (from Thanhhoa to the south), leaving the north (including Äông Kinh-Hanoi) under Mạc control. When Nguyá»…n Kim was assassinated in 1545, military power fell into the hands of his son-in-law, Trịnh Kiểm. In 1558, Nguyá»…n Kim's son, Nguyá»…n Hoà ng, suspecting that Trịnh Kiểm might kill him as he had done to his brother to secure power, asked to be governor of the far south provinces around present-day Quảng Bình to Bình Äịnh. Hoang pretended to be insane, so Kiem was fooled into thinking that sending Hoang south was a good move as Hoang would be quickly killed in the lawless border regions. However, Hoang governed the south effectively while Trịnh Kiểm, and then his son Trịnh Tùng, carried on the war against the Mạc. Nguyá»…n Hoà ng sent money and soldiers north to help the war but gradually he became more and more independent, transforming their realm's economic fortunes by turning it into an international trading post.
The civil war between the Lê/Trịnh and Mạc dynasties ended in 1592, when the army of Trịnh Tùng conquered Hanoi and executed king Mạc Máºu Hợp. Survivors of the Mạc royal family fled to the northern mountains in the province of Cao Bằng and continued to rule there until 1667 when Trịnh Tạc conquered this last Mạc territory. The Lê kings, ever since Nguyá»…n Kim's restoration, only acted as figureheads. After the fall of the Mạc Dynasty, all real power in the north belonged to the Trịnh Lords.
In the year 1600, Nguyễn Hoà ng also declared himself Lord (officially "Vương", popularly "Chúa") and refused to send more money or soldiers to help the Trịnh. He also moved his capital to Phú Xuân, modern-day Huế. Nguyễn Hoà ng died in 1613 after having ruled the south for 55 years. He was succeeded by his 6th son, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, who likewise refused to acknowledge the power of the Trịnh, yet still pledged allegiance to the Lê king.
Trịnh Tráng succeeded Trịnh Tùng, his father, upon his death in 1623. Tráng ordered Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên to submit to his authority. The order was refused twice. In 1627, Trịnh Tráng sent 150,000 troops southward in an unsuccessful military campaign. The Trinh were much stronger, with a larger population, eocnomy and military, but they were unable to vanquish the Nguyen, who had built two defensive stone walls and invested in Portuguese artillery.
- See also: Artillery of the Nguyen lords
The Trịnh-Nguyễn War lasted from 1627 until 1672. The Trịnh army staged at least seven offensives, all of which failed to capture Phú Xuân. For a time, starting in 1651, the Nguyễn themselves went on the offensive and attacked parts of Trịnh territory. However, the Trịnh, under a new leader, Trịnh Tạc, forced the Nguyễn back by 1655. After one last offensive in 1672, Trịnh Tạc agreed to a truce with the Nguyễn Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần. The country was effectively divided in two.
The Trịnh and the Nguyễn maintained a relative peace for the next hundred years, during which both sides made significant accomplishments. The Trịnh created centralized government offices in charge of state budget and producing currency, unified the weight units into a decimal system, established printing shops to reduce the need to import printed materials from China, opened a military academy, and compiled history books.
Meanwhile, the Nguyễn Lords continued the southward expansion by the conquest of the remaining Cham land. Việt settlers also arrived in the sparsely populated area known as "Water Chenla", which was the lower Mekong Delta portion of Chenla (present-day Cambodia). Between the mid-17th century to mid-18th century, as Chenla was weakened by internal strife and Siamese invasions, the Nguyễn Lords used various means, political marriage, diplomatic pressure, political and military favors,... to gain the area around present day Saigon and the Mekong Delta. The Nguyễn army at times also clashed with the Siamese army to establish influence over Chenla.
In 1771, the Tây SÆ¡n revolution broke out in QuynhÆ¡n, which was under the control of the Nguyá»…n. The leaders of this revolution were three brothers named Nguyá»…n Nhạc, Nguyá»…n Lữ, and Nguyá»…n Huệ, not related to the Nguyá»…n lords. By 1776, the Tây SÆ¡n had occupied all of the Nguyá»…n Lord's land and killed almost the entire royal family. The surviving prince Nguyá»…n Phúc Ãnh (often called Nguyá»…n Ãnh) fled to Siam, and obtained military support from the Siamese king. Nguyá»…n Ãnh came back with 50000 Siamese troops to regain power, but was defeated at the Battle of Rạch Gầm–Xoà i Mút and almost killed. Nguyá»…n Ãnh fled Vietnam, but he did not give up.
The Tây Sơn army commanded by Nguyễn Huệ marched north in 1786 to fight the Trịnh Lord, Trịnh Khải. The Trịnh army failed and Trịnh Khải committed suicide. The Tây Sơn army captured the capital in less than two months. The last Lê emperor, Lê Chiêu Thống, fled to China and petitioned the Chinese Qing Emperor for help. The Qing emperor Qianlong supplied Lê Chiêu Thống with a massive army of around 200,000 troops to regain his throne from the usurper. Nguyễn Huệ proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung and defeated the Qing troops with 100,000 men in a surprise 7 day campaign during the lunar new year (Tết). During his reign, Quang Trung envisioned many reforms but died by unknown reason on the way march south in 1792, at the age of 40.
During the reign of Emperor Quang Trung, Äại Việt was actually divided into 3 political entities. The Tây SÆ¡n leader, Nguyá»…n Nhạc, ruled the centre of the country from his capital Qui NhÆ¡n. Emperor Quang Trung ruled the north from the capital Phú Xuân Huế. In the South, Nguyá»…n Ãnh, assisted by many talented recruits from the South, captured Gia Äịnh (present day Saigon) in 1788 and established a strong base for his force.
After Quang Trung's death, the Tây SÆ¡n Dynasty became unstable as the remaining brothers fought against each other and against the people who were loyal to Nguyá»…n Huệ's infant son. Nguyá»…n Ãnh sailed north in 1799, capturing Tây SÆ¡n's stronghold Qui NhÆ¡n. In 1801, his force took Phú Xuân, the Tây SÆ¡n capital. Nguyá»…n Ãnh finally won the war in 1802, when he sieged Thăng Long (Hanoi) and executed Nguyá»…n Huệ's son, Nguyá»…n Quang Toản, along with many Tây SÆ¡n generals and officials. Nguyá»…n Ãnh ascended the throne and called himself Emperor Gia Long. Gia is for Gia Äịnh, the old name of Saigon; Long is for Thăng Long, the old name of Hanoi. Hence Gia Long implied the unification of the country. The Nguyá»…n dynasty lasted until Bảo Äại's abdication in 1945. As China for centuries had referred to Äại Việt as Annam, Gia Long asked the Chinese Qing emperor to rename the country, from Annam to Nam Việt. To prevent any confusion of Gia Long's kingdom with Triệu Äà 's ancient kingdom, the Chinese emperor reversed the order of the two words to Việt Nam. The name Vietnam is thus known to be used since Emperor Gia Long's reign. Recently historians have found that this name had existed in older books in which Vietnamese referred to their country as Vietnam.
The Period of Division with its many tragedies and dramatic historical developments inspired many poets and gave rise to some Vietnamese masterpieces in verse such as the epic poem The Tale of Kieu (Truyện Kiá»u) by Nguyá»…n Du, Song of a Soldier's Wife (Chinh Phụ Ngâm) by Äặng Trần Côn and Äoà n Thị Äiểm, and a collection of satirical, erotically charged poems by the female poet Hồ Xuân HÆ°Æ¡ng.
19th century and French colonization
The West's exposure in Vietnam dates back to 166 BC with the arrival of merchants from the Roman Empire, to 1292 with the visit of Marco Polo, and the early 1500s with the arrival of Portuguese and other European traders and missionaries.[citation needed]Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit priest, improved on earlier work by Portuguese missionaries and developed the Vietnamese romanized alphabet Quốc Ngữ in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanam et Latinum in 1651.[3]
Between 1627 and 1775, two powerful families had partitioned the country: the Nguyễn Lords ruled the South and the Trịnh Lords ruled the North. The Trịnh-Nguyễn War gave European traders the opportunities to support each side with weapons and technology: the Portuguese assisted the Nguyễn while the Dutch helped the Trịnh.
- See also: Citadel of Saigon
In 1784, during the conflict between Nguyá»…n Ãnh, the surviving heir of the Nguyá»…n Lords, and the Tây SÆ¡n Dynasty, a French Catholic Bishop, Pigneaux de Behaine, sailed to France to seek military backing for Nguyen Anh. At Louis XVI's court, Pigneaux brokered the Little Treaty of Versailles which promised French military aid in return for Vietnamese concessions. The French Revolution broke out and Pigneaux's plan failed to materialize. Undaunted, Pigneaux went to the French territory of Pondicherry, India. He secured two ships, a regiment of Indian troops, and a handful of volunteers and returned to Vietnam in 1788. One of Pigneaux's volunteers, Jean-Marie Dayot, reorganized Nguyá»…n Ãnh's navy along European lines and defeated the Tây SÆ¡n at Qui NhÆ¡n in 1792. A few years later, Nguyá»…n Ãnh's forces captured Saigon, where Pigneaux died in 1799. Another volunteer, Victor Olivier de Puymanel would later build the Gia Äịnh fort in central Saigon.
After Nguyá»…n Ãnh established the Nguyá»…n Dynasty in 1802, he tolerated Catholicism and employed some Europeans in his court as advisors. However, he and his successors were conservative Confucians who resisted Westernization. The next Nguyá»…n emperors, Ming Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and Tá»± Äức brutally suppressed Catholicism and pursued a 'closed door' policy, perceiving the Westerners as a threat. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese and foreign-born Christians were persecuted and trade with the West slowed during this period. There were frequent uprisings against the Nguyens , with literally hundreds of such events being recorded. These acts were soon being used as excuses for France to invade Vietnam. The early Nguyá»…n Dynasty had engaged in many of the constructive activities of its predecessors, building roads, digging canals, issuing a legal code, holding examinations, sponsoring care facilities for the sick, compiling maps and history books, and exerting influence over Cambodia and Laos. However, those feats were not enough of an improvement in the new age of science, technology, industrialization, and international trade and politics, especially when faced with technologically superior European forces exerting strong influence over the region. The Nguyá»…n Dynasty is usually blamed for failing to modernize the country in time to prevent French colonization in the late 19th century.
French invasion
Under the orders of Napoleon III of France, French gunships under Rigault de Genouilly attacked the port of Äà Nẵng in 1858, causing significant damages, yet failed to gain any foothold. De Genouilly decided to sail south and captured the poorly defended city of Gia Äịnh (present-day Saigon). From 1859 to 1867, French troops expanded their control over all 6 provinces on the Mekong delta and formed a French Colony known as Cochin China. A few years later, French troops landed in northern Vietnam (which they called Tonkin) and captured Hà Ná»™i twice in 1873 and 1882. The French managed to keep their grip on Tonkin although, twice, their top commanders, Francis Garnier and Henri Riviere were ambushed and killed. France assumed control over the whole of Vietnam after the Franco-Chinese War (1884-1885). French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam (Trung Kỳ, central Vietnam), Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ, northern Vietnam), Cochin China (Nam Kỳ, southern Vietnam, and Cambodia, with Laos added in 1893). Within French Indochina, Cochin China had the status of a French Colony, Annam was a Protectorate where the Nguyen Dynasty still ruled in name, and Tonkin had a French Governor with local governments run by Vietnamese officials.
After Gia Äịnh fell to French troops, many Vietnamese resistance movements broke out in occupied areas, some led by former court officers, such as TrÆ°Æ¡ng Äịnh, some by peasants, such as Nguyá»…n Trung Trá»±c, who sunk the French gunship L'Esperance using guerilla tactics. In the north, most movements were led by former court officers and lasted decades, with Phan Äình Phùng until 1895 and Hoà ng Hoa Thám until 1911. Even the teenage Nguyá»…n Emperor Hà m Nghi left the Imperial Palace of Huế in 1885 and started the Cần VÆ°Æ¡ng, or "Save the King", movement, trying to rally the people to resist the French. He was captured in 1888 and exiled to French Algeria. Decades later, two more Nguyá»…n kings, Thà nh Thái and Duy Tân were also exiled to Africa for having anti-French tendencies.
20th century
In the early 20th century, Vietnamese patriots realized that they could not defeat France without modernization. Having been exposed to Western philosophy, they aimed to establish a republic upon independence, departing from the royalist sentiments of the Cần Vương movements. Japan's defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War served as a perfect example of modernization helping an Asian country defeat a powerful European empire.
There emerged two parallel movements of modernization. The first was the Äông Du ("Go East") Movement started in 1905 by Phan Bá»™i Châu. Phan Bá»™i Châu's plan was to send Vietnamse students to Japan to learn modern skills, so that in the future they could lead a successful armed revolt against the French. With Prince CÆ°á»ng Äể, Phan Bá»™i Châu started two organizations in Japan: Duy Tân Há»™i and Việt Nam Công Hiến Há»™i. Due to French diplomatic pressure, Japan later deported Phan Bá»™i Châu to China.
Phan Chu Trinh, who favored a peaceful, non-violent struggle to gain independence, led the second movement Duy Tân ("Modernization"). He stressed the need to educate the masses, modernize the country, foster understanding and tolerance between the French and the Vietnamese, and a peaceful transition of power.
The early part of the 20th century also saw the growing in status of the Romanized Quốc Ngữ alphabet for the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese patriots realized the potential of Quốc Ngữ as a useful tool to quickly reduce illiteracy and to educate the masses. The traditional Chinese scripts or the Nôm script were seen as too cumbersome and too difficult to learn. The use of prose in literature also became popular with the appearance of many novels; most famous were those from the literary circle Tá»± Lá»±c Văn Äoà n.
As the French suppressed both movements, and after witnessing revolutionaries in action in China and Russia, Vietnamse revolutionaries began to turn to more radical paths. Phan Bá»™i Châu created the Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi in Guangzhou, planning armed resistance against the French. In 1925, French agents captured him in Shanghai and spirited him to Vietnam. Due to his popularity, Phan Bá»™i Châu was spared from execution and placed under house arrest until his death in 1940. In 1927, the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Äảng (Vietnamese Nationalist Party), modeled after the Guomingtang in China, was founded. In 1930, the party launched the armed Yen Bai mutiny in Tonkin which resulted in its chairman, Nguyen Thai Hoc and many other leaders captured and executed by the guillotine.
Marxism was also introduced into Vietnam with the emergence of three separate Communist parties; the Indochinese Communist Party, Annamese Communist Party and the Indochinese Communist Union, joined later by a Trotskyist movement led by Tạ Thu Thâu. In 1930 the Communist International (Comintern) sent Nguyá»…n Ãi Quốc (later Ho Chi Minh) to Hong Kong to coordinate the unification of the parties into the Vietnamese Communist Party with Trần Phú as the first Secretary General. Later the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party as the Comintern, under Stalin, did not favor nationalistic sentiments. Nguyá»…n Ãi Quốc was a leftist revolutionary living in France since 1911. He participated in founding the French Communist Party and in 1924 traveled to the Soviet Union to join the Comintern. Through the late 1920s, he act