Sinification of Vietnam
Vietnamese Identity
 Distinct group of
people
 Shared common
heritage
 Desire to remain
politically
independent
Chinese Advantages
 Initial contact with
Qin
 Development of lively
trade
 Chinese: silk
 Vietnamese: ivory,
pearls, tortoise shell,
peacock feathers
and exotic woods
Vietnamese Culture
Differs from Chinese
 Vietnamese







Long skirts for women
Cockfights
Chewed betel nut
Blackened teeth
Buddhism
Nuclear family
Distinctive art and
poetry
 Chinese
 Black pants
 Never adopted
cockfights for
entertainment
 Disgusted by betel
nut
 Repulsed by
blackened teeth
 Extended family
Betel Nut and Blackened
Teeth
Cockfighting
Chinese Conquest
 Han rulers
 At first happy with Viet
ruler as vassal
 Accepted tribute
 111BCE wanted total
control
 Viet elite
 Cooperated with China
 Worked into bureaucracy
 Chinese schools and
Confucianism
Resistance Movements
 Aristocracy
 Chinese disdain for local
customs
 Considered backward
 Peasants
 Little interest in Chinese
culture
 Trung sisters
 Led peasant revolt against
Chinese in 39 CE
 Reaction to patriarchal
society
Vietnamese Independence
 Strong sense of identity
 Fragile bonds to China
 Geographic barriers
 Few Chinese residents in
region
 907: Fall of Tang offered
opportunity/chaos
 939: won independence
Ancient Vietnam