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Vietnam as a whole has been much of a dynastic-monarch type of society from the time of its early formation during its stone age, up until the middle of the twentieth century. Though modern Vietnam still is in someways still oppressed as far as their government, the overall success of the independence of Vietnam has come a long way.
The people of Vietnam originated from the mainland of Southeast Asia. Most of what could be considered the ancient people of the land lived both near and around the Hồng and Mã Rivers. Eventually after about 1,000 years, the land became much more populated and had 15 different tribes which resided around what is know now as North Vietnam. Tribes living on or near the river in this land had the benefit of being on ground where many plants and trees as well as other vegetation grew both naturally and easily. Such resources that were available made the tribes very successful and allowed them to grow into much larger and stronger tribes somewhat quickly. So much so that the 15 tribes that lived in this area became the strongest tribes around. Due to the location of the land and its resources the Viet people based much of their economy on rice.
Though the resources of rice farming were available, it was not until the leader of these 15 tribes, Hùng Vương, began the cultivation of rice and showed the others how to farm this economical wonder. -As odd as it would seem to say modern day, rice was responsible for much of the survival of Vietnam.- Hùng Vương would later go on to become the first 'king' of Vietnam. His dynasty would last 88 kings until it would change. During this period, Hùng Vương would also from the first Viet state and take the dynastic title of "Văn Lang". This title translate into "Vietnam". This land became indepandant of any other societies. It would remain independent until the power would eventually be lost and become the first Chinese dominant Viet society. Two very notable leaders around this period were the Trung Sisters. Hai Bà Trưng, or "the Trung ladies" would become the first women leaders of Vietnam and hold back the Chinese from invasion for 3 years. Finally the Chinese built up an army that the Vietnamese people were not able to withstand.
-It is said that during this defeat the Chinese were naked during the invasion. The reason as to why this was such a big deal even then was because the Trưng army was primarily women. What makes the story even more interesting is that their leader, Phung Thi Chinh, just so happened to be pregnant. Making matters worse, she gave birth while she was fighting; and held a sword in one hand and the baby in the other as she continued to defend against the invading Chinese.-
Patterns of Chinese dominance and defense from the Viet states would continue until around 1845. Before that year, Vietnam had no independence from the Chinese. One of the largest influences would come from Napoleon III in 1858 when he launched a Naval expedition to Vietnam with the central goal of punishing the Vietnamese for mistreating and torturing European missionaries from the Catholic church. An example of this mistreatment was the incident in 1845 when Thiệu Trị had imprisoned Bishop Lefebvre for his Catholic ministry. Though most of the Western influence was from the French, this one was from America.
"He arrived in 1845 at Danang on the USS Constitution with the purpose of freeing French bishop Lefebvre who had been sentenced to death by the Thieu Tri government. He kept all local mandarins as hostages against the release of the French priest. Because the Vietnamese refused to bow at his unorthodox diplomacy, Percival found himself caught in a kind of dilemma." (Chapuis)
As things did not go as he expected and were very non-diplomatic on the side of American John Percival, Joseph Balestier was sent to apologize to Vietnamese Thieu Tri for the way that Percival had taken many local mandarin people as his hostages for five years. Ultimately this incident alone was not the biggest conflict, but it was an important deciding factor for Napoleon III as to if he should have launched the expedition that he did.
One of the other goals of Napoleon III's Naval Expedition was to establish French presence in Vietnam even if it was not welcomed by the Vietnamese. This presense of the French which was primarily established in the 1850's would continue to grow until around 1940. The Indochina world which was established by the French grew fairly large and eventually large enough for France to gain complete control of Vietnam. This time not by the Chinese, but yet again, Vietnam lost their independence. Dramatically, in 1940 France was just about out of resources due to the war. The work that had been done in Vietnam would be immediately stopped due to this lack of resources. At this time, Japan would decided to gain control of the Tonkin border. This would ultimately allow an advantage of Japanese transportation. In reaction to the war, all of Indochina would agree to the temporary Ho-Sainteny Agreement. While the French Indochina world was somewhat functional under this agreement, and usually not self conflicting between the French, Vietnam, or Chinese to the point of physical battle on less than war scales; the attack on the French presence by the Vietnamese in 1944 would changes this. This attack was Viet General Võ Nguyên Giáp's way of saying he wanted France out! The final outcome of this would result into the agreement made at the Geneva Conference. Though Indochina did not remain united, countries such as Laos and Cambodia would be drawn into the Vietnam War in 1959.
Book Sources:
Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000
Interesting facts:
Most family names are the persons first name...as well as cities. Vietnam is actually the state of Nam in the Viet society. Trung Nhi and Trung Trac are sisters who's first, not last name is the same as is most other dynasties of the Viet world.
"Văn Lang" translates into "Vietnam".
Rice farming is responsible for much of Vietnam's early economy.
The bronze drums came out of the Đông Sơn Culture.
The Chinese had to approve of the Viet king as ultimately he was in control of a tributary state. Not all dynsaties were accepted by China such as the Hồ Dynasty (1400–1407).
Unlike many other Asian cultures, women are very much respected in Vietnam.
