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