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Vietnam History
In
2000 BC, before the first history
was recorded in writings, there had
been already among people the
legends and mythology about the
origin of mankind and stories about
the beginning of formation of Viet
nation from HUNG VUONG. These are
stories on HONG BANG dynasty, on
offspring of dragon and fairy, bag
of hundred eggs, eighteen kings of
Hung Vuong dynasty, Son Tinh - Thuy
Tinh's conflict, Thanh Giong's
victory over An foreign aggressors,
folk of betel and areca nuts, "banh
chung banh day", watermelon .....
All these legends together can be
regarded as a folk history
comprising mythology characteristic
as well as core of history in memory
and tradition through many ages of
people. Most of history of a nation
of the world, with or without
writing, is penetrated with treasure
of folk and legends.
At the beginning of the Bronze Age,
the Viet tribe groups had settled
down in the North and in the north
of Central Vietnam. There were about
15 groups of Lac Viet tribesmen
living mainly in the northern
highland and delta and a dozen Au
Viet groups of tribesmen living in
Viet Bac, the northern region of old
Vietnam. At that time, the two
ethnic tribes of the Lac Viet and Au
Viet lived together in many areas
with other inhabitants . Due to the
increasing need to control floods,
fight against invaders, and exchange
culture and economy, these tribes
living near each other tended to
gather together and integrate into a
larger mixed group. Among these Lac
Viet tribes was the Van Lang, which
was the most powerful tribe. The
leader of this tribe joined all the
Lac Viet tribes together to found
Van Lang Nation, addressing himself
as Hung King. The next generations
followed in their father’s footsteps
and kept this appellation. Based on
historical documents, researchers
correlatively delineated the
location of Van Lang Nation to the
present day regions of North and
north of Central Vietnam, as well as
the south of present-day Kwangsi
(China). The Van Lang Nation
approximately lasted from the
beginning of the first millennium
B.C. to the 3rd century B.C.
In 221 BC, Tan Thuy Hoang, King of
Tan (China), invaded the land of the
Viet tribes. Thuc Phan, the leader
of the alliance of Au-Viet tribes
was respected as the chief of the
resistance war against the Tan enemy
that later, in 208 BC, was forced to
withdraw. With his imposing power,
Thuc Phan nominated himself as King
An Duong Vuong and founded Au Lac
Nation with groups of Lac Viet and
Au Viet tribes. In 179 BC, Trieu Da,
King of Nam Viet (China), invaded Au
Lac country. The resistance of An
Duong Vuong failed soon after this
invasion. As a result, the northern
feudalist took turns dominating the
country over the next seven
centuries, establishing their harsh
regime in the country and dividing
the country into administrative
regions and districts with
unfamiliar names. However, the
country’s name of Au Lac could not
be erased from the people’s minds in
their everyday life.
In the spring of 542, Ly Bi rose up
in arms and swept away the Chinese
administration, liberating the
territory. He declared himself King
of Van Xuan Kingdom in February 544,
acknowledging the national
superiority complex of the
independent spirits to live in
eternal peace. However, the
existence of Ly Bi’s administration
was very brief. He was defeated by
the Chinese imperial army, and the
country returned to feudal Chinese
domination again in 602. The name
Van Xuan was restored only after the
victory over the Han army at the
Bach Dang River led by General Ngo
Quyen in 938. This victory marked
the end of the Chinese domination
period in Vietnam.
In 968, Dinh Bo Linh defeated the
twelve lords and unified the
country. He declared himself King
and named the country Dai Co Viet.
This name remained throughout the
Dinh dynasty (868-979), Pre-Le
dynasty (980-1009) and the beginning
of Ly dynasty (1010-1053).
In 1054, a flaming bright star
appeared in the sky for many days,
which was considered a good omen. As
a result, the Ly King changed the
name of the country to Dai Viet.
This name remained until the end of
Tran dynasty.
In March 1400, Ho Quy Ly usurped the
throne of King Tran Thieu De,
founded the Ho dynasty and changed
the country’s name to Dai Ngu,
meaning peace in the ancient
language. This name only lasted for
very short time, until April 1407,
when the Minh enemy invaded Dai Ngu
and defeated the Ho dynasty.
After 10 years of resistance against
the Ming occupation (1418-1427), Le
Loi had achieved a victorious
triumph. In 1428, Le Loi declared
himself King of Le dynasty and
changed the name of the country back
to Dai Viet. At this time, the
territory of Vietnam had expanded to
the region of present-day Hue. The
name Dai Viet remained under the Le
dynasty (1428-1787) and the Tay Son
dynasty (1788-1810).
In 1802, Nguyen Anh claimed his
coronation to become the first
Nguyen King, starting the Nguyen
dynasty and changing the country’s
name to Viet Nam. This name was
officially recognized in many
diplomatic missions in 1804.
However, the words "Viet Nam" had
already appeared very early in
history. In the 14th century, there
was a book of code entitled "Viet
Nam The Chi", edited by Doctor Ho
Tong Thoc. In the book by scholar
Nguyen Trai entitled "Du Dia Chi" at
the beginning of 15th century, the
words "Viet Nam" were repeated
several times. Doctor Trinh Nguyen
Binh Khiem (1491-1585) had written
on the first page of his work "Trinh
Tien Sinh Quoc Ngu" the following:
"... Viet Nam have constructed its
foundation..." The words "Viet Nam"
were also found in some carved
stelae of the 16th - 17th century in
Bao Lam Pagoda, Haiphong (1558), in
Cam Lo Pagoda, Ha Tay (1590), in
Phuc Thanh Pagoda, Bac Ninh (1664),
etc. In particular, in the first
sentence on the stele Thuy Mon Dinh
(1670) at the landmark on the border
at Lang Son, it was written: "This
is the gateway of Viet Nam that
guards the northern frontiers..." In
terms of meaning, there are many
theories that prove the words "Viet
Nam" are created by combining two
racial and geographic elements,
which is understood as "Viet people
from the south". During the reign of
King Minh Mang (1820-1840), the name
of the country was changed to Dai
Nam, but Viet Nam was still widely
used in many literary works, civil
business affairs, and social
relations.
Following the triumph of the August
Revolution on August 19th 1945,
which had entirely swept away
Vietnamese feudal and French
colonial oppression and began a new
era in the country, President Ho Chi
Minh proclaimed the nation’s
independence and the national name
Democratic Republic of Vietnam was
born on September 2nd 1945. Although
Vietnam suffered from war and
separation in the following 30
years, the sacred words "Viet Nam"
were very popularly used from the
north to the south, and were deeply
imprinted in the hearts of the
Vietnamese people.
Following the liberation of Southern
Vietnam on April 30 1975, the entire
country of Vietnam was completely
unified. In the first meeting of the
national assembly of the unified
Vietnam on July 2nd 1976, the
assembly decided to name the country
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The constitution of 1980, and 1992,
continued its affirmation of the
country’s official name, legally and
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