Chinese Influence on Vietnam

Chapter 13 (3 of 3)

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Vietnam

China

Vietnamese a Distinct Culture

Unlike the Koreans who seemed content to be dominated by Chinese culture, the Vietnamese did not want to lose their

own culture by being conquered by China

Chinese First Meet the Viets

1st encounter in 220s B.C.E. when Qin Dynasty of China

invaded Vietnam (and later in 111 B.C.E. the

Han continue fight and conquer Vietnam)

After the invasion, trade increased b/t China and Vietnam

(Viets got silk for ivory, pearls, and aromatic

woods

Did You Know….

The Chinese named the Vietnamese people. They called them Nam Viets, which meant

“People of the South” since Vietnam is south of China

Chinese Officials and Directly Rule Vietnam

Viet elites accepted Chinese rule b/c they knew they could learn a lot from the Chinese

Eventually Vietnamese elites

were even allowed into the Han bureaucracy

China’s Positive Influence

Thanks to learning Chinese farming techniques,

Vietnamese agriculture becomes best in S.E. Asia

As a result of good crop production, Vietnam has a

high population density (had enough food to support many

people) with most people living along the Red River

Red River

China’s Positive Influence

China’s influence on Vietnamese politics and military gave Vietnam an advantage over it rivals, which were mostly

influenced by India

Red River

But Vietnamese Culture Different From Chinese

• Vietnamese strong tradition of village autonomy (self-rule)

• Vietnamese lived with nuclear family

• Vietnamese women had better status than Chinese

• Vietnamese language different and unrelated

• Vietnamese had cockfights

• Vietnamese chewed betel nuts (Chinese thought gross)

• Vietnamese blackened teeth (Chinese also thought gross

• Vietnamese art and literature different

• Vietnamese even more attached to Buddhism than Chinese

Vietnamese Resist

Chinese Rule

While Viets learned from the Chinese, they resented the

Chinese who thought the Viets were a backwards people

Trung Sisters = led uprising against Chinese rule in 39 C.E.

(showed how Vietnamese women disliked China b/c women in China subordinate to men)

Vietnamese Struggle for Independence

Vietnamese took advantage when there was turmoil in China (nomadic invasions

and civil wars)

Main Chinese cities far from Vietnam (and separated by

mountains)

Vietnamese fought for centuries against Chinese rule before

finally getting independence

Independence Won!

In 939 C.E. Vietnam finally gains independence (shortly after the Tang Dynasty fell

from power

For the next thousand years, Vietnam had to

fight off the Chinese and

Mongols to remain independent

Chinese Cultural Influence Still Seen After Independence

Vietnamese built Chinese-styled cities and copied

Chinese bureaucracy

(including the exam system)

Bureaucrats studied

Confucianism and had high

status in society (similar to

China), though they never

gained as much power as in

China

Local rulers sided with peasants over the scholar elites who were ruling the country

(local leaders even assisted in peasant revolts)

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Vietnamese Expansion

Once free from China, the Vietnamese drive south to conquer more land

They were successful largely thanks to political

and military tactics learned from China

(people they fought had learned from India)

Vietnamese Defeat Chams and Khmers to Gain Territory in South

Vietnam Expansion Divides People

Capital of Vietnam was up north in Hanoi

Hanoi leaders found it difficult to rule far away

areas down south

Over time, people in south intermarried

with Chams and Khmers and developed distinct culture (which

north Vietnamese thought inferior

Hanoi

Southern leaders begin disobeying

Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi (ex: stop

sending tax payments up north)

Nguyen Dynasty rises to power to rule south Vietnam

The Trinh Dynasty ruled north Vietnam (Hanoi)

A long civil war breaks out, making Vietnam vulnerable for the French to takeover in the 1800s

Mekong Delta

Red River Valley