China and Vietnam

Although China certainly had a strong influence in Vietnam between 1371 and 1592, Vietnam was not truly a "Little China" during that period, relative to the smaller nation's much greater subjugation in an earlier era. In fact, by 1371, the beginning of the era under study, Vietnam had thrown off the outright domination of China which had kept the people under the thumb of the Chinese for centuries.

In fact, there is no true way to have a clear perspective on the Chinese relationship with the Vietnamese during the period under question without putting that relationship and that period into the broader historical context. The fact is that if we were to consider the period in question, China, at times, certainly held great sway over Vietnam, although it would still not be accurate to refer to Vietnam as "Little China" during the period in question. However, the Chinese influence in that period simple pales compared to the earlier complete control of Vietnam by the Chinese.

Complete and unquestioned Chinese rule dominated Vietnam from about 250 B.C. to 938 A.D. The kingdom of "Nam Viet" was founded by the Chinese general Trieu Da in 208 B.C. (Florence 10). That event and subsequent Chinese actions effectively placed ancient Vietnam under Chinese rule, although even then "there were major rebellions against Chinese feudal rule in the 3rd and 6th centuries" (Florence 10), demonstrating that the Vietnamese people were no more willing in ancient times than in modern times to ben

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e threatened externally by powerful foes, particularly China, the colossus of the North. Internally, Vietnam was frequently ruled by inept leaders, riven by civil wars, and suffered from a fragmentation of power. But the Vietnamese managed to maintain their independence for over 900 years. They twice fought off Chinese invading armies in the thirteenth century and thereafter stayed free of foreign rule, except for a brief period during the fifteenth century when the Chinese, taking advantage of Vietnamese disunity, reestablished a colonial regime of brief duration (Moss 6-7). The argument that Vietnam was "Little China" during the period from 1371 to 1592 is undermined by the fact that Vietnam, under Vietnamese and not Chinese leadership, was in a process of expansion during that era. Moss writes, for example, that the Vietnamese early in the fifteenth century, under Vietnamese Emperor Le Loi, "destroyed the Champa kingdom" (of Indonesian origin). This victory over the Chams led to Le Loi's reign, beginning in 1427, and "a great march southward" in a policy of expansion: Over the next 250 years, the Vietnamese slowly trekked south. Advancing colonies of Vietnamese peasant-warriors reached the Mekong delta region. . . . Peasan

Category: Foreign - C