Hồng Bàng dynasty
The Hồng Bàng period, also called the Hồng Bàng dynasty, was a legendary ancient period in Vietnamese historiography, spanning from the beginning of the rule of Kinh Dương Vương over the kingdom of Văn Lang in 2879 BC until the conquest of the state by An Dương Vương in 258 BC. Vietnamese history textbooks claim that this state was established in the 7th century BC on the basis of the Dong Son culture.
The 15th-century Vietnamese chronicle Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư claimed that the period began with Kinh Dương Vương as the first Hùng king, a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Vietnamese rulers of this period. The Hùng king was the absolute monarch of the country and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. The Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư also recorded that the nation's capital was Phong Châu and alleged that Văn Lang was bordered to the west by Ba-Shu, to the north by Dongting Lake, to the east by the South China Sea and to the south by Champa.
Origin of name
The name Hồng Bàng is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of characters "" assigned to this dynasty in early Vietnamese-written histories in Chinese; its meaning is supposedly a mythical giant bird.French linguist Michel Ferlus includes Văn Lang in the word-family *-ra:ŋ "human being, person" of Southeast Asian ethnonyms across three linguistic families, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, together with:
- The ethnonym Maleng of a Vietic people living in Vietnam and Laos; Ferlus suggests that Vietic *m.leŋ is the "iambic late form" of *m.ra:ŋ.
- A kingdom north of today-Cambodia, Táng-míng in Sānguózhì and later Dào-míng in Tang documents;
- A kingdom subjected by Jayavarman II in the 8th century, known as Maleṅ in Pre-Angkorian and Malyaṅ in Angkorian Khmer; the kingdom's name is phonetically connected with Maleng, yet nothing further is conclusive.
- The ethnonym မြန်မာ Mraṅmā ; in Chinese transcription : OC *moːɡ-raːŋs → MC *muk̚-lɑŋᴴ → Mandarin Mù-làng.
- Malayic *ʔuʀaŋ "human being, person".
The earliest historical mentions of Văn Lang, however, just had been recorded in Chinese-language documents, dated back to the Tang dynasty, about the area of Phong Châu. However, Chinese records also indicated that another people, who lived elsewhere, were also called Văn Lang.
History
Pre-dynastic
The area now known as Vietnam has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times, with some archaeological sites in Thanh Hóa Province reportedly dating back around half a million years ago. The prehistoric people had lived continuously in local caves since around 6000 BC, until more advanced material cultures developed. Some caves are known to have been the home of many generations of early humans. As northern Vietnam was a place with mountains, forests, and rivers, the number of tribes grew between 5000 and 3000 BC.During a few thousand years in the Late Stone Age, the inhabitant populations grew and spread to every part of Vietnam. Most ancient people were living near the Hồng, Cả and Mã rivers. The Vietnamese tribes were the primary tribes at this time. Their territory included modern meridional territories of China to the banks of the Hồng River in the northern territory of Vietnam. Centuries of developing a civilization and economy based on the cultivation of irrigated rice encouraged the development of tribal states and communal settlements.
Xích Quỷ Kingdom
Legend describes a significant political event occurred when Lộc Tục came into power in 2879 BC. Lộc Tục was recorded as a descendant of the mythical ruler Shennong. He consolidated the other tribes and succeeded in grouping all the vassal states within his territory into a unified nation. Lộc Tục proclaimed himself Kinh Dương Vương and called his newly born nation Xích Quỷ. In the Complete Annals of Đại Việt, states that,The name Xích Quỷ 赤鬼 is derived from Sino-Vietnamese xích 赤 "red" and quỷ 鬼 "demon". The meaning of the name is from Twenty-Eight Mansions, where 鬼 quỷ refers to the constellation 鬼宿 which lies in the South. Red 赤 is associated with Vermilion Bird of the South.
Lộc Tục inaugurated the earliest monarchical regime as well as the first ruling family by heirdom in Vietnam's history. He is regarded as the ancestor of the Hùng kings, as the founding father of Vietnam, and as a Vietnamese cultural hero who is credited with teaching his people how to cultivate rice.
Văn Lang Kingdom
Starting from the third Hùng dynasty since 2524 BC, the kingdom was renamed Văn Lang, and the capital was set up at Phong Châu at the juncture of three rivers where the Red River Delta begins from the foot of the mountains. The evidence that the Vietnamese knew how to calculate the lunar calendar by carving on stones dates back to 2200–2000 BC. Parallel lines were carved on the stone tools as a counting instrument involving the lunar calendar.According to Vietnamese legend, at one point, Văn Lang had a war against Shang-China invasion, which Văn Lang came out victorious thanks to general Gióng.
The Hồng Bàng epoch finally ended in the middle of the third century BC on the advent of the military leader Thục Phán's conquest of Văn Lang, dethroning the last Hùng king.
Âu Lạc Kingdom
Văn Lang ended 258 BC when Thục Phán led the Âu Việt tribes to overthrow the last Hùng king in approximately 258 BC. After conquering Văn Lang, Thục Phán united the Lạc Việt tribes with the Âu Việt tribes to form a new kingdom of Âu Lạc. He proclaimed himself An Dương Vương and built his capital and citadel, Cổ Loa Citadel, in the modern-day Dong Anh district of Hanoi.Organization
The first Hùng King established the first "Vietnamese" state in response to the needs of co-operation in constructing hydraulic systems and in struggles against their enemies. This was a very primitive form of a sovereign state with the Hùng king on top and under him a court consisted of advisors – the lạc hầu. The country was composed of fifteen bộ "regions", each ruled by a lạc tướng; usually the lạc tướng was a member of the Hùng kings' family. Bộ comprised the agricultural hamlets and villages based on a matriarchal clan relationship and headed by a bộ chính, usually a male tribal elder.The Tale of the Hồng Bàng Clan claimed that Hùng kings had named princesses as "mỵ nương", and prince as quan lang.
Semi-historical source described Văn Lang's northern border stretched to the southern part of present-day Hunan, and the southern border stretched to the Cả River delta, including parts of modern Guangxi, Guangdong and Northern Vietnam. Such claims haven't been proved by archeological research.
According to Trần Trọng Kim's book, Việt Nam sử lược, the country was divided into 15 regions as in the table below. However, they're in fact taken from Sino-Vietnamese names of later commanderies established by the Chinese in northern Vietnam.
| Name | Present-day location |
| Phong Châu | Phú Thọ Province |
| Châu Diên | Sơn Tây Province |
| Phúc Lộc | Sơn Tây Province |
| Tân Hưng | Hưng Hóa and Tuyên Quang Province |
| Vũ Định | Thái Nguyên Province and Cao Bằng Province |
| Vũ Ninh | Bắc Ninh Province |
| Lục Hải | Lạng Sơn Province |
| Ninh Hải | Quảng Yên |
| Dương Tuyên | Hải Dương Province |
| Giao Chỉ | Hà Nội, Hưng Yên Province, Nam Định Province and Ninh Bình Province |
| Cửu Chân | Thanh Hóa Province |
| Hoài Hoan | Nghệ An Province |
| Việt Thường | Quảng Bình Province and Quảng Trị Province |
| Cửu Đức | Hà Tĩnh Province |
| Bình Văn | Ninh Binh from Day River to Mount Tara Diep |
Culture and economy
Agriculture
The economy was based predominantly on rice paddy cultivation, and also included handicrafts, hunting and gathering, husbandry and fishing. Especially, the skill of bronze casting was at a high level. The most famous relics are Đông Sơn Bronze Drums on which are depicted houses, clothing, customs, habits, and cultural activities of the Hùng era.The Hùng Vươngs ruled Văn Lang in feudal fashion with the aid of the Lạc Tướng, who controlled the communal settlements around each irrigated area, organized construction and maintenance of the dikes, and regulated the supply of water. Besides cultivating rice, the people of Văn Lang grew other grains and beans and raised stock, mainly buffaloes, chickens, and pigs. Pottery-making and bamboo-working were highly developed crafts, as were basketry, leather-working, and the weaving of hemp, jute, and silk.
From 2000 BC, people in modern-day North Vietnam developed a sophisticated agricultural society, probably through learning from the Shang dynasty or the Laotian. The tidal irrigation of rice fields through an elaborate system of canals and dikes started by the sixth century BC. This type of sophisticated farming system would come to define Vietnamese society. It required tight-knit village communities to collectively manage their irrigation systems. These systems in turn produced crop yields that could sustain much higher population densities than competing methods of food production.