Vietnam Country & Its People

Throughout Vietnam's turbulent history, geography and destiny have traveled hand in hand. Both blessed and cursed with a 3,000-km coastline, fertile river deltas, and lush valleys, this resource-rich, strategically positioned country has tempted foreign powers hungry to control its land and people. Over the centuries, mercenaries, missionaries, traders and kings have laid claim to sections of what we now know as Vietnam. The primary influences on architecture, culture, religion and politics were Indian and Chinese. Vietnam, therefore, remains the quintessential representation that fascinating hybrid, Indochina.

The relentless passage of foreign influences also fermented a passionate desire for independence and self-determination. Tenacious, resilient, and persistent, the Vietnamese people are eager to leave the hardships of the past behind them. Their welcoming nature and the awesome natural beauty of their country make Vietnam one of the most appealing destinations in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam's history can be traced back over half a million years. While Paleolithic hunter-gatherers lived here for millennia, it was with the cultivation of the Red River Delta , 4000 years ago, that Vietnamese history really began. This cultivation gave birth to what is considered the first Vietnamese nation. By the first millennium BC, Bronze Age cultures were well-established in the present day Hanoi region, with their influence stretching as far as modern day Indonesia.

In the third century BC, a Chinese warlord gained control over this area, beginning a millennium of Chinese domination over northern Vietnam, and a lifetime of Vietnamese struggle against a relentless series of foreign invaders. While the Chinese ruled northern Vietnam, Indian culture, in the shape of the Champa Hindu kingdom , dominated central Vietnam from the 4th to 17th centuries. The Champa kingdom was built on agriculture, fishing, and trade with Indians, Chinese, and Arabs. Despite constant battles with the Chinese to the north, and the Khmers to the west, the Champa Empire managed to flourish. Many magnificent Champa temples were destroyed during the war by American B52 bombers, but fine examples still stand at My Son, and Po Klong Garai. This latter city is the site of a vivacious Cham New Year festival each October featuring Cham music and dance, royal processions, and ceremonies to placate powerful gods.

Though China increasingly came to influence their politics and culture, the Vietnamese held on to their desire for self-determination. Several insurrections attacked Chinese power in Vietnam, culminating in the Bach Dang River Battle in the late 10th century. This insurgency brought about the end of Chinese rule and the beginning of a thousand years of independence.

By the close of the century, the warlord Dinh Bo Linh had united the country, overseeing a delicate balance of paying tribute to the Chinese while maintaining political autonomy. This system was to continue until the 19th century. The Le Dynasty , reigning from the early 11th - mid 13th century, further stabilized and centralized the nation, establishing solidly Confucian administrative and political systems. Under their rule, the capital was moved to Thang Long-the precursor of modern Hanoi-and larger, more efficient irrigation systems were constructed, thus enabling a more centralized nation state. The later Le Dynasty, especially in the period of Le Than Tong's rule (1460 - 1497), expanded the nation, as the Champa kingdom was pushed south. The Confucian ruler instigated a new civil and criminal code, which was the center of Vietnamese law until the 19th century. The Nguyen and Trinh clans ruled Vietnam from the 16th - 18th centuries, with the Nguyens dominating the central Vietnam area around Hue, and the Trinhs controlling the north, around Hanoi. By the end of the 17th century, the Nguyens had conquered the Mekong Delta area.

The Tay Son Rebellion of 1771 was the most successful of a series of uprisings by peasants, ethnic minorities, and small merchants worn down and disenfranchised by hierarchical Confucian rule. This rebellion overthrew the Nguyen and Trinh lords, destabilizing the nation and opening Vietnam up to the temporary return of Chinese rule.

Modern Vietnam became the nation we know of today in 1802. Gia Long's Nguyen dynasty ruled until 1945. Land ownership and political power were centralized. The peasants suffered under the new government, and rebellions were brutally suppressed. Missionaries and traders were accused of sowing the seeds of domestic discord, and the country's borders were closed to the outside world. Meanwhile, French desire for access to the valuable territories of Yunnan and southern China led them to expand further into Indochina. By the mid-19th century, successful attacks on Danang, Saigon, and the Mekong Delta had led to full French domination of southern Vietnam (Cochinchina). The French soon controlled the center (Annam) and the north (Tonkin) as well, and in 1887 they established the Union of Indochina consisting of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

The 20th century brought more change. In 1925, with anti-colonial feelings running high, Ho Chi Minh founded the Revolutionary Youth League. He was a tireless champion of Vietnamese independence, motivating other revolutionaries and nationalists to work together. After the defeat of the Japanese, who had occupied the country during World War II, the Vietnamese again dreamed of full independence. But again they would have to wait. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, declared by Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945, was not recognized by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference. The French reinstated themselves as rulers, and the modern era of Vietnamese history began.

The decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French domination in Indochina and the beginning of a new period of instability. The 1954 Geneva Accord divided the country at the Seventeenth Parallel. Nearly a million refugees, most of them displaced Catholics, moved south as 100,000 anti-French guerillas traveled north. Old tensions between the north and south intensified, and led ultimately to what the Vietnamese call the American War. Between 1965 and 1973, nearly 57,000 American soldiers and over three million Vietnamese were killed.

Today, the Vietnamese are successfully emerging from the shadow of their turbulent history. With both the cold war and the nearby Cambodian civil war over, Vietnam is not only open to the world, it has become one of the most varied, stimulating destinations in Asia. From the rapidly urbanizing south, to the ancient imperial cities of central Vietnam, to the awesome karst mountains of the north-Vietnam is an invigorating, beautiful country. Its coastline abounds in magnificent beaches and isolated coves. Its cuisine, emphasizing fresh herbs and light, subtle flavorings, is world-renowned. Its people are friendly and diverse, representing more than fifty ethnic groups. Taoism, Confucianism, ancestor worship, and animist beliefs have merged with traditional Buddhism to create a vibrant metaphysics and exciting cultural atmosphere that is distinctly Vietnamese. After years of internal and geopolitical strife, modern Vietnam moves forward dynamically.

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