The Historical Relationship between Vietnam and China – Teaching Guide

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Vocabulary of Note

• Demographic – relating to population
• Usurper – someone who takes power illegally
• Statecraft – management of a government of a nation
• Entrepot – a location where goods are brought to be bought and sold; more than a market, as goods are imported and exported
• Literate – able to read and write
• Diaspora – group of people who have “dispersed” from their original home location
• Romanization – converting a language written in another script into the Roman alphabet script, based on Latin (used to write English and other languages)
• Latinization – same as “Romanization”; converting the characters of another script into the characters of the Latin or Roman alphabet
• Protectorate – a state or nation that is controlled by another state (“protected”)
• Supersede – to replace; set aside and take the place of
• Nine-dash Line – a geographic line that China uses to define its maritime claims in the South China Sea
• Paracel islands – in area of South China Sea; both Vietnam and China claim control

Names of Note

• Dong San culture
• Nam Yue/Nam Viet
• Trung Sisters
• Dai Viet – “big” Viet
• Tran Hung Dao – military hero led Vietnam to defeat the Mongols
• Battle of Bach Dang River – famous battle against the Mongol navy
• Le Loi – military leader who drives out the Ming dynasty from Vietnam
• Ho Hoam Kiem – lake in Hanoi where the magic sword is located
• Theravada Buddhism – branch of Buddhism, most commonly practiced in Southeast Asia
• Mahayana Buddhism – branch of Buddhism, most commonly practiced in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and northern Vietnam)
• Tonkin – name given to northern Vietnam by the Europeans
• Cochinchina – name given to southern Vietnam by the Europeans
• Hoi An – city that is a major trading port on the coast of Vietnam
• Trinh (Tin) – Vietnamese family name; prominent political family
• Nguyen (Nu-win) – Vietnamese family name; prominent political family
• Nom – script introduced c. 1100 that uses Chinese characters to represent the sounds of spoken Vietnamese (Chinese characters chosen for the sound element, not their meaning; Chinese speakers could not make sense of a sentence writing in Nom)
• Quoc Ngu – Romanized script to write spoken Vietnamese; introduced mid–18^th c by Portuguese missionaries; later modified by a French missionary and used under the French in Vietnam; now official writing system of Vietnam
• Hui (who-ay) – old imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty, 1802–1945; located in the middle of Vietnam, where the mountains meet the sea
• Tet – Lunar New Year celebration in Vietnam
• French Indo-China – French colonial territories in Vietnam (Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina), Laos, and Cambodia; Saigon was used as the administrative capital
• Khmer Rouge – name of the Cambodia Communist Party
• Kampuchea – another name for Cambodia used briefly in the 1980s

Teaching Note: There are excellent maps throughout the slides. Students might benefit from a topographical map indicating the Red River (Song Hong) delta as the centerpiece of the northern area of Vietnam today and the Mekong River delta the centerpiece of the southern area. The Annamite mountain chain forms a spine for Vietnam, and comes very close to the ocean in the middle of the country, around Hoi An and Hui. (The Red River originates in the province of Yunnan, China, and the Mekong River originates on the Tibetan plateau.)

There is also a comparative timeline of dynasties in both China and Vietnam on slide #12.

Outline of Presentation – with [Timecode]

Introduction: Vietnam as part of Southeast Asia or East Asia?

• Vietnam, or at least northern Vietnam, long a participant in the civilization of northeast Asia, or “East Asia”: with China, Japan, and Korea

Dong Son Civilization

• Before there was a “China” or a “Vietnam,” the Dong Son civilization (c. 500 BCE) existed in what is today southern China and what is today northern Vietnam.
• Dong Son artifacts are found throughout both regions.

Kingdom of “Nam Viet” or “Nam Yue”

• Established by Zhao Tuo c. 200 BCE in again, what is today northern Vietnam and today the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi

Han Dynasty of China (206 BCE – 220 CE) conquers Nam Viet in 111 BCE, beginning 1000 years of Chinese domination [04:00]

• Reasons Chinese sought control
• Trung Sisters – lead rebellion on elephants 39–43 CE (eventually defeated but still national heroes) [05:45]

Vietnam moves from being a “colony” of China to an independent kingdom (936 CE) [06:30]

• This follows the dissolution of the Tang dynasty in China (618–906 CE)
• Establishment of “Dai Viet,” in 936, independent kingdom
• Both China and Vietnam call their ruling houses “dynasties” and use civil service exams for government ministers

What were relations like between China and Vietnam when Vietnam was separate from China? [08:30]

Mongols determined to incorporate Vietnam into their empire, as they establish the Yuan Dynasty in China (1279–1368) [10:00]

• Three naval invasions: 1258, 1285, 1287
• Tran Hung Dao, military hero defeats them
• Battle of Bach Dang River, 1288; stakes hidden in water
• General movement of Chinese population to the south, during this period, Mongols defeat the Song dynasty and Vietnamese go north to fight Mongols; mixing of populations [12:00]

Ming dynasty comes to power in China (1368–1644) and occupies Dai Viet for twenty years (1407–1427)

• Dai Viet incorporated it into a province of China
• General Ho establishes himself as king in 1407 and Ming claim he is a usurper

During Ming occupation, Chinese military technology and gunpowder transferred to Dai Viet, which the Vietnamese later use to defeat their neighbors [12:50]

Le Loy drives out the Ming in 1427 and established the Le Dynasty

• Uses “magic sword” which is placed thereafter in the Hoam Kiem lake in Hanoi; temple built

Vietnam as a cultural crossroads [15:50]

• Influences from China and SE Asia
  • Theravada Buddhism from SE Asian countries; Mahayana Buddhism from China

Chinese Influences [16:00]

• Include first writing system, Mahayana Buddhism, Government structure
• “Temple of Literature” in Hanoi, where successful degree holders from the examination system are listed (still exists today)

Le Dynasty (1427–1525; 1533–1789) [17:00]

• Strongly influenced by Ming statecraft, after Ming occupation
• Le Dynasty itself divided, and weakens; country divided [18:50]
• Trinh family in northern area
• Nguyen family in south – very multicultural area
  • Hoi An, entrepot/trading port with merchants from many countries
• When Europeans arrive, they perceive two countries, naming them “Tonkin” in north and “Cochin China” in south (“Annam” is the middle area)

Chinese Diaspora

• The Chinese throughout SE Asia during this time; become very important in economy of countries [19:45]
• Miners move into the Vietnamese highlands to work

Vietnamese language – evolution of writing system [21:30]

• Use of Chinese language and writing system by elite; all of East Asia connected in one literate culture; China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam communicate with Chinese writing and grammar
• Nom script – Chinese characters used to represent spoken Vietnamese [23:45]
  • Tale of Kieu, national poetic work, written
    • Quoc Ngu – Romanized script of the sounds of Vietnamese language, introduced by Europeans, first to translate the Bible and then by French colonists, replaces Nom (there is a revival of Nom in 21^st c.) [24:00]
    • When civil service examination system in Vietnam ends in 1919, French replaces Chinese as the language of instruction (civil service exam had ended in China in 1905)

Nguyen Dynasty (1802–1945) – last imperial dynasty in Vietnam [28:00]

• Builds imperial city in Hue, modeled on China’s Imperial City, a palace within a rectangular walled city
  • Much of Hue destroyed in Vietnam War, Tet offensive, 1968; “Tet” is the name of the lunar new year in Vietnam

1862 – French colonization of Indo-China begins [29:00]

• China comes to Vietnam’s defense
  • Sino-French War, 1884–85
  • China cannot sustain war effort; dealing with its own European incursions at the same time
  • China cedes Vietnam to French orbit
  • Vietnam becomes a protectorate of France

1940–1945 –WW II, Japan invades Vietnam

Note: Not covered in video presentation, included for historical continuity.

• 1941 League for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh) formed in China by Ho Chi Minh; uses guerrilla tactics to fight Japanese in Vietnam
  • 1945, with defeat of the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh declares the establishment of the “Democratic Republic of Vietnam” with capital in Hanoi French return and fight for control of whole country

People’s Republic of China (PRC) [31:00]

• Established in 1949 when Communist Party under Mao Zedong takes power in China
• Immediately offer help to the Vietnamese government in Hanoi fighting to liberate Vietnam from the French During “First Indochina War,” 1946–1954 “Second Indochina War” 1955–1975, “War of Resistance against America”

Sino-Vietnamese Border War takes place in 1979 [32:00]

• Brief period
  • Vietnam invades Cambodia to oust the Khmer Rouge, whom the Chinese are supporting in Cambodia (also called “Kampuchea”
  • Vietnam expels ethnic Chinese from Vietnam

Issues between Vietnam and China as of 2022 [33:00]

• Conflicting claims in the South China Sea
  • Construction of dams on the Mekong River, which originates on Tibetan plateau, flows through the southwest of China, and eventually through southern Vietnam to the sea

Conclusion

• Ties between Vietnam and China:
  • Cultural
  • Economic
  • Political
  • Demographic
  • Conflicts:
    • Territorial
  • Resources