Vietnam under Chinese rule
Vietnam under Chinese rule or Bắc thuộc refers to four historical periods during which several portions of modern-day northern and central Vietnam were governed by successive Chinese dynasties. Vietnamese historiography traditionally dates the beginning of this period to 111 BC, when the Han dynasty annexed Nanyue. Chinese control continued in various forms until 939 AD, when the Ngô dynasty was established, marking the end of what is usually referred to as the main phase of Chinese rule. A later period of occupation by the Ming dynasty from 1407 AD to 1428 AD is often treated as a distinct episode. Notably, parts of Vietnam were under Chinese rule for longer than several territories that now form the modern provinces of China, underlining the longevity and depth of Chinese influence in the region over many centuries.
The historiography of this period has become a subject of scholarly debate, particularly concerning how national and cultural identities have been retroactively applied. Historians such as Catherine Churchman, Jaymin Kim, and Keith W. Taylor argue that many narratives about Bắc thuộc are shaped by modern constructs, often influenced by nationalist or anti-colonial sentiment. These scholars emphasise that the idea of an unbroken narrative of resistance or subjugation simplifies a more complex historical relationship, which included periods of accommodation, syncretism and local autonomy. Recent research critiques the use of this history as a tool for contemporary nationalist and irredentist projects in Vietnam, China and elsewhere.
Geographical extent and impact
The four periods of Chinese rule did not correspond to the modern borders of Vietnam, but were mainly limited to the area around the Red River Delta and adjacent areas. During the first three periods of Chinese rule, the pre-Sinitic indigenous culture was centered in the northern part of modern Vietnam, in the alluvial deltas of the Hong, Cả and Mã Rivers. Ten centuries of Chinese rule left a substantial genetic footprint, with settlement by large numbers of ethnic Han, while opening up Vietnam for trade and cultural exchange.Elements of Chinese culture such as language, religion, art, and way of life constituted an important component of traditional Vietnamese culture until modernity. This cultural affiliation with China remained true even when Vietnam was militarily defending itself against attempted invasions, such as against the Yuan dynasty. Chinese characters remained the official script of Vietnam until French colonization in the 20th century, despite the rise in vernacular chữ Nôm literature in the aftermath of the expulsion of the Ming.
History
Pre-Han
Prior to the Han dynasty's conquest and colonization of the Red River Plain region, it was home to a material culture known as the Đông Sơn culture that flourished during the 5th century BC. It produced bronze drums using sophisticated lost wax technology. Material evidence of the Đông Sơn culture was however not exclusive to the Red River Plain and could be found from Malaysia to Fujian.In the late 3rd century BC, the Red River Plain was the site of an urban center that came to be known as Cổ Loa in the Tây Vu region in modern Phong Khê across the river from Hanoi. However the earliest written account of this site is a 6th century AD source compiled by Li Daoyuan, in which it was unnamed. After that it was called the Việt Thường Citadel or the Khả Lâu Citadel in Lê Tắc's An Nam chí lược. It was only in the 15th century that the site came to be known as Cổ Loa. The source provides a folk etymology of Cổ Loa attributing it to its shape: curving and twisting like a snail. Archaeological evidence from the site reveals that a highly organized society occupied the area and the ramparts of the citadel did form concentric spiraling earthen walls. They also had technologies such as crossbows, stamped earth, and terracotta roof tiles similar to regions further north.
Archaeologist Nam Kim estimates a population of around 5,000 people inhabiting Cổ Loa and tens of thousands in the surrounding area. The inhabitants had bronze ploughs and other implements supporting wet rice agriculture. They used both flooding and irrigation techniques to grow rice. By the time the Han arrived, the Red River Plain was already densely populated by wet rice farmers. However historian John Phan notes that there is no actual evidence that these people were Vietic or spoke a Vietic language. While it is plausible that they were Vietic speakers, it is also plausible that some or a small portion of them were, or that they spoke other Austroasiatic languages, or a combination of different languages.
According to the 6th century Commentary on the Classic of Waterways, an outsider named Thục conquered the Red River Plain by the end of the first millennium BC. Thục took the title of King An Dương. The later 15th century Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư describes a man named Thục Phán who ended 18 generations of Hùng kingship when he conquered Cổ Loa and named his kingdom Âu Lạc.
Nanyue
The polity created by Thục Phán was conquered by a Qin dynasty general named Zhao Tuo. After the Qin disintegrated in 207 BC, Zhao established a polity called Nanyue encompassing southeastern China as well as the Red River Plain. This is confirmed by the Book of Han as well as archaeological evidence. The tomb of Zhao Tuo's grandson, Zhao Mo, contains iconography reminiscent to the Đông Sơn culture. Nanyue's capital was situated at Panyu in modern Guangzhou. The Red River Plain was named Jiaozhi Commandery by Zhao Tuo.In 183 BC, Zhao Tuo proclaimed himself "martial emperor of Nanyue" but relinquished the title soon after in 180 BC when he submitted to the Emperor Wen of Han. However despite his symbolic submission, Zhao also made sure that the Han understood that Nanyue possessed substantial military might by claiming that he "secured a land of a hundred cities, from east to west, south to north numbering ten million li; my armies number over a million". As a result, Nanyue was not destroyed until 111 BC when it was conquered by the Han general Lu Bode. During Nanyue's reign, Jiaozhi was likely left relatively undisturbed in its governance, and handled its affairs according to its own political traditions.
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty reorganized Jiaozhi into the Jiaozhi Region consisting of seven commanderies. The commandery seat was initially located in Leilou. In 106 BC, the seat was relocated to Cangwu Commandery. A Western Han census in the year 2 AD recorded 92,440 hearths in Jiaozhi Commandery, 57,510 hearths in Cangwu Commandery, and 19,613 hearths in Nanhai Commandery. At the time, Jiaozhi was more densely populated than Guangdong and 58% of Jiaozhi's population was located in northern and north-central Vietnam.During the Han period, Jiaozhi was an important trading hub as well as agricultural producer for neighboring regions. Trade in Southeast Asia, particularly maritime trade, passed through Jiaozhi before heading to other parts of the Han empire. The Han concentrated on controlling the Pearl River and Red River regions rather than controlling the hilly highlands. The most important overland trade route was through the Ghost Gate Pass, otherwise known as the Linzhang pass, that followed the Yu River from southwest Guangzhou to the sea in Hepu Commandery. The importance of Jiaozhi as a trading center meant that the Han placed direct administrators in the region unlike its predecessor, turning Jiaozhi into a major Han city in the centuries following the destruction of Nanyue.
The Trưng sisters rebelled against Han rule in 40 AD and established an independent rule at Mê Linh at the center of the Red River Delta. In 42 AD, the Han general Ma Yuan was called in from the northern frontier of the empire after defeating the Xiongnu to lead Han forces against the Trưng sisters. Ma Yuan led over 2,000 ships and 20,000 plus warriors to strike at Douyang and Jiuzhen where the remaining clan members of Trưng Trắc were located. The leaders of the Trưng rebellion were beheaded. From Wugong to Jufeng, he captured over 5,000 men and pacified the region. Ma Yuan reported to the emperor that Xiyu district had 32,000 households and that it should be divided into two new districts: Fengxi and Wanghai. The emperor permitted this and wherever Ma Yuan went, new commanderies and districts were created. He organized the inner and outer walls of towns, dug irrigation canals, and made laws regarding the Yue people. In the latter half of the 4th century, a traveler named Yu Yiqi heading down the coast noted in a letter to his friend that in the area that is now central Vietnam, there lived descendants of soldiers who had come with Ma Yuan three hundred years ago. There were originally only 10 households, but they intermarried with each other and became 200 households, all named Ma, and were similar to other "Hua" people in their language and eating habits.
Material evidence such as the disappearance of the Đông Sơn drums following the Trưng sisters' defeat and the appearance of Han material culture devoid of Đông Sơn influence supports the theory that the Trưng sisters represented a failed indigenous uprising that saw the beginning of more intense Han administration over the region. According to Michael Churchman, more than 120 Han brick tombs in the Red River region suggest growing Chinese migration into the area or significant cultural influence on the locals by these immigrants. The earliest Sino-Vietnamese loanwords also date from around this time.
By the end of the Han dynasty, a community of Sinitic speakers lived in Jiao alongside speakers of Ancient Northern Vietic, which continued to act as a political faction even after the end of the Han. Throughout the final years of the Han dynasty, Jiao was relatively stable with the exception of a rebellion that originated from Nanhai Commandery and spread to Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan from 178 until 181 AD. The rebellion, led by Liang Long, was defeated by general Zhu Jun, who later led many aristocrats to take refuge in Jiaozhi as the Yellow Turban Rebellion swept through the empire in 184 AD. Jiao was considered a stable and prosperous region under the governance of the Shi family, who themselves had migrated to Jiaozhi during the Wang Mang era.
The stability of Jiao is described briefly by a Buddhist monk named Mou Bo in the late 2nd century AD. Mou remarked that though the empire was in disorder, Jiao was relatively calm, and so unusual men from the north moved there. Many of them became engaged in heterodox religious studies involving worship of gods and spirits, abstinence from cereals, and immortality. Mou objected to these behaviors.