The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
Chapter 13
1. What played a major role in the transmission of
Chinese civilization to Japan, Korea, and
Vietnam?
 Buddhism
 An Indian religion filtered through Chinese
civ, and then transported to J,K,V
 Also provided a link between Japan and
Korea
2. How was East Asia different from other
societies in terms of cross-cultural interaction?
 Japan and Korea almost exclusively
interacted with China
 Isolated from wider international contacts,
even though they attempted to establish
some autonomy
 In other societies, cross-cultural interaction
was persistent with large consequences
3. Timeline
 206 bce-220 ce
i. Reign of the Han in China
 618-907 ce
i. Tang dynasty
 838
i. Last Japanese embassy to China
 1160-1185
i. Taira clan dominant in Japan
 1231-1292
i. Mongol rule in Korea
 1467-1477
i. Onin War in Japan
Japan: The Imperial Age
4. When and how did Japan attempt to imitate
China? (Intro)
 7th and 8th century- peak of Chinese
influence
 Tried to build a Chinese-style bureaucracy
and army
 Emulate Chinese etiquette and art
5. When were the Taika, Nara, and Heian periods?
What equivalent dynasty is occurring in China?
 Taika (645-710)
 Nara (710-784)
 Heian (794-857)
 Sui in China
6. What was the aim of the Taika reforms in 646?
 Aimed to revamp the imperial admin along
Chinese lines
7. How did the aristocrats and common people
adjust to Chinese influence?
 Aristocrats struggled to do so
 Challenged the influence
i. Argued for a return to Japanese ways
 Commoners largely influenced by Buddhism
i. When to monks when sick or needed luck
ii. Meshed the Buddhist deities with Kami
 Even commoners showed displeasure by
reworking Buddhism into a distinctly
Japanese form
 Reflected the failure of the Taika reforms
8. What happens due to the failure of the Taika
reforms?
 Leads to a decrease in power from the
emperor
i. First went aristocratic families
ii. Later shifted to the local lords in the
provinces
 As this shift happens, those who wanted to
strengthen indigenous traditions gained the
upper hand
Crisis at Nara and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto)
9. Describe the Taika reforms. What groups
attempted to halt the reforms?
 Central goal: remake the Japanese monarch
into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor
 Intended to create a professional
bureaucracy
 Create a peasant conscript army
 Aristocracy and the Buddhist monks
i. Dominated the emperor and the capital
 Monks led street demonstrations
i. Almost took over the throne
10. How did the emperor react to the Buddhist
challenge?
 Fled and established a new capital city at
Heian (Kyoto)
i. Forbade the Buddhists to build
monasteries
 Established monasteries in the hills
around Heian
 Abandoned the Taika reforms
i. Restored the great aristocratic families
 The reforms were meant to curb
their power
ii. Kept the elaborate ranking system in
which the aristocrats were divided
 Broke with Chinese precedent by
determining rank mostly by birth
 (Korea)
iii. Aristocrats had already taken over most
positions in the central gov
 Now they also could build rural
estates
iv. Gave up the conscript army
 Local leaders organized milita forces
instead
Ultracivilized: Court Life in the Heian Era
11. What was a key aspect of life at the court in
Heian?
 Created a closed world of luxury and
aesthetic delights
i. Lived in accordance with codes of polite
behavior
ii. Social status key
iii. Love affairs and gossip
12. What was the architectural layout of the Heian
court?
 Complex of palaces and gardens
i. Unpainted wood
ii. Sliding panels, matted floors, wooden
walkways
 Fish ponds, artificial lakes with water falls,
fine gardens
13. What was the most valued art at court?
 Poems
 Written on painted fans or scented paper
i. Sent in little boats down the stream
 Brief verse full of allusions to classic
writings
14. How did the need to express literary verse
change the written language? What does this
lead to?
 Simplified the borrowed Chinese script
 Increase in poetry and literary works
 Most celebrated- Lady Murasaki’s The Tale
of Genji
i. First novel ever
ii. Captures the charms of court life
15. What does the literature and poetry of the time
show about women at court?
 Rivaled men as poets, artists, and musicians
i. Unseemly to openly pursue lovers
 Expected to be as poised and cultured as
women
i. Wrote poems, played flutes or stringed
instruments
ii. Had elaborate schemes to snub or
disgrace rivals
 Became involved in palace intrigues and
power struggles
The Decline of Imperial Power
16. Which aristocratic family gets power?
 Fujiwara clan
17. How did they gain power?
 Packed the upper admin
i. Married into the imperial family
 Used wealth and influence to build up large
estates
i. Provided a stable financial base for their
growing power
ii. Had to compete for land with the
Buddhist monasteries
 Organized with Buddhist monks to decrease
imperial control
i. As their lands expanded, effectively ruled
more people
ii. Used secret texts and ceremonies to
communicate
Rise of the Provincial Warrior Elite
18. How did the elite provincial families gain
power?
 Risen to power as:
i. Land owners
ii. Estate managers
iii. Local state officials
 Came to control land and labor
i. Denied these resources to the court
 Gradually carved out little kingdoms
i. Dominated their mini-states from small
fortresses
19. What were the bushi and what did they do?
 Warrior leaders of the mini-states
 Administed laws
 Supervised public work projects
 Collected revenue for themselves
20. How did the decision to remove the
conscription army increase the power of the
provincial families?
 Allowed the bushi to build up their own
armies
 Most effective militaries in the land
 Mounted troops known as samurai
i. Loyal to local lords
ii. Increasingly called in to protect the
emperor and keep peace in the capital
21. Describe the warrior culture of Japan.
 With the peasants supplying them food, the
bushi and samurai devoted their lives to
hunting, riding, archery
 From 12th century on, used curve steel
swords

Rode into battle that hinged on duels of
champions
i. Time and place of battle negotiated
before
 Developed a warrior code
i. Stressed family honor and death
 Beaten or disgraced warriors turned to ritual
suicide to restore their families’ honor
i. Known as seppuku
 Steadily moved Japan towards a feudal
order
22. How did the life of the peasantry change with
the rise of the samurai?
 Ended the hopes of a free peasantry
 Japanese peasants were reduced to
serfdom, bound to the land
 Separated by rigid class barriers from the
warrior elite
i. Physically set off by different ways of
dressing and by prohibitions of them
carrying swords or riding horses
 Peasants turned to popular Buddhism with
the Salvationist pure land sect
i. Offered promise of bliss in heaven
ii. Colorful figures (Kuya) to make the
teaching appealing
23. What was the role of artisans?
 Concentrated at the court in Heian and
fortress towns
 Skills were celebrated
i. Paid as poorly as the peasants
 Compared to China, where the s-g pursued
these activies
i. Usually were professional artisans
The Era of Warrior Dominance
24. How did the provincial families gain more
power
 Powerful families at the court (Fujiwara)
increasingly depended on alliances with
regional lords
 By the 11th & 12th century, the provincial
families had begun to pack the court
i. Competed for power
 By mid-12th century, competition turned to
open feuding between the two most
powerful provincial families
i. Taira
ii. Minamoto
25. How did the battle between the two families
play out?
 Taira had original upper hand
i. Controlled the emperor
ii. Dominated at court
 When the rivalry turned to open warfare in
the 1180s, the Minamoto won out
i. Powerful alliance network
ii. Tairas’ concentration of efforts to gain
power in the capital broke their
important links with rural notables
 The Gempei Wars lasted for five years in
Honshu
i. Brought lots of suffering to the
peasantry- ravaged farmlands
 Compelled to fight each other
 Cut down by better-armed
professional soldiers
 By 1185, the Taira had been destroyed
26. What was the original political structure of the
Minamoto
 Established a bakufu, or military gov’t
 Located at Kamakura in Kanto
 Emperor and his court were preserved
i. All the military houses that followed
derived their legitimacy from the
descendants of the sun goddess
 Real power now in hands of Minamoto
i. Begins the feudal period in Japan
The Declining Influence of China
27. How did Chinese influence decline?
 As the power of the imperial house
weakened and the aristocracy grew,
relevance of Chinese precedents and
institutions diminished for the Japanese
 End of heavenly mandate and centralized
power
i. Emergence of a s-g was stifled by
aristocrats
 No bureaucracy
 Idea that civilian admin should rule and
soldiers should serve was violated by the
growing influence of the bushi elite and
their samurai
 Buddhism was increasingly changed into a
distinctively Japanese religion
 Especially with the fall of the Tang and a
return to political uncertainty and social
turmoil in China
 As early as 838, the Japanese court decided
to stop its embassies to the Tang court
The Breakdown of Bakufu Dominance and the Age
of the Warlords
28. How did Yoritomo weaken the Kamakura
regime?

Obsessed with being overthrown by his own
family
i. Exiled or killed close relatives, including
his brother Yoshitsune
 Did lots of the Minamoto triumph
due to courage and military genius
 Fear of spies lent an element of paranoia to
elite life under the first Kamakura shogun,
or military leader of the bakufu
29. What happened after the death of Yoritomo?
 While his rule was unchallenged, the
measures he took left him without an able
heir
i. His death and the weakness of his
successor led to a scramble on the bushi
lords to built up their own powers
 The Hojo soon dominated the Kamakura
regime
i. Left the Minamoto as the formal rulers
 Leads to a confusing three-tiered system
i. Real power of the Hojo
ii. Manipulated the Minamoto
iii. Claimed to rule in the name of the
emperor in Kyoto
30. How does this get even more complicated?
 Head of one of the branches of the
Minamoto, Ashikaga Takuaji, led a revolt of
the bushi
i. Overthrows the Kamakura regime
ii. Established the Ashikaga Shogunate
(1336-1573)
 When the emperor refused to recognize the
usurper, he was driven from Kyoto to
Yoshino
i. There, he fought against the Ashikaga
and the puppet emperor form much of
the 14th century
31. How does Japan devolve into violence?
 The years of war for control undermined the
powers of both the shogunate and the
emperor
i. The bushi were free to crush local rivals
and seize land of:
 Peasants
 Old aristocracy
 Competing warlords
 As the power of the bushi grew, the court
aristocracy was nearly wiped out
i. Lands the warlords gained was parceled
out to their samurai
 In turn, they pledged loyalty and
were expected to provide military
support
32. How did civil war break out?
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Collapse of central authority was
accelerated by the outbreak of full-scale
civil war from 1467-77
Rival heirs of the Ashikaga Shogunate called
on the warlord chiefs to support their claims
i. Samurai flocked to rival quarters in
Kyoto, where feuding broke into full-scale
war
With a few years, the old imperial capital
had been reduced to rubble and weeds
While the shogunate self-destructed in the
capital, the provincial lords amassed power
and plotted new coalitions
Japan was divided into 300 little kingdoms,
whose warlord rulers were called daimyos
rather than bushi
Towards Barbarism? Military Division and Social
Change
33. How did the pattern of warfare change with the
creation of the daimyos?
 More elaborate rituals
 Heavier armor
 Better swords
 Deterioration of chivalry
 Stone castles instead of mud-walled forts
 Spying, sneak attacks, ruses, timely
betrayals
 Pattern of warfare transformed
i. Peasants with pikes became a critical
component of the daimyo army
ii. Battles hinged less on solo combat
iii. Depended more on the size and
organization of a warlord’s forces
34. How did the peasants show their displeasure?
 Peasants, poorly trained and badly fed,
became a major source of the growing
misery of the common people
 As they marched, they looted and pillaged
 Peasantry sporadically revolted
i. Fed the trend of brutality and destruction
of the era
 Idea that Japan was devolving into
barbarism
35. How did the daimyos develop economic and
cultural growth?
 Realized they needed to build up their
states if they were to survive
 Tried to stabilize village life in their domain
by:
i. Introducing regular tax collection
ii. Supported the construction of irrigation
systems and other public works
iii. Built strong rural communities
 Incentivized the settlement of
unoccupied areas
 New tools, greater use of draft animals, and
new crops (soybeans)
i. Contributed to the well-being of the
peasantry
36. How did commerce develop under the daimyos?
 Persuaded peasants to create silk, hemp,
paper, dyes, vegetable oils
i. Highly marketable
 Daimyos competed for merchants
 A new and wealthy class emerged as
purveyors of goods for the military elite and
intermediaries
i. Between Japan and overseas areas,
especially China
 Guild organizations were strong
i. Provided solidarity and group protection
37. How was the role of women affected?
 Gave women opportunities to avoid the
sharp drop in status most had during the
warring daimyos
i. Participated in guilds and business
management
 Emergence of women in commercial class
drastically different than women in the
warrior elites
i. Earlier, women in bushi household
learned to ride and use a bow and arrow
 Joined in the hunt
ii. By the 14th and 15th centuries, the
process of primogeniture dealt a blow to
women in elite classes
 Now received little or no land or
income
 Disinheritance was part of a bigger pattern
i. Women treated as defenseless
appendages of their warrior kin
 Given in marriage to cement alliances
i. Reared to anticipate their husband’s
every desire
ii. Taught to kill themselves rather than
dishonor the family through rape
Artistic Solace for a Troubled Age
38. How did Chine reenter Japan?
 Zen Buddhism proved a key point in
renewed diplomatic and trade contacts with
China
i. Leads to revival of Chinese influence in
Japan
ii. Its stress on simplicity and discipline had
an appeal to the warrior elite
iii. Played a key role in securing the place of
the arts in an era of strife and
destruction
39. What type of artwork did this era have in
Japan? How was it influenced by Zen
Buddhism?
 Monochrome ink sketches
 Screen and scroll paintings
i. Capture the natural beauty of Japan
ii. Glimpses in Japanese life
 Zen sensibilities in the architecture
i. Gold and Silver Pavilions in Kyoto
 Designed to blend into the natural
setting
 Evident in famous gardens (Ryoanji
Temple)
 Influence of Shinto and Buddhism in the
gardens
i. Present in the tea ceremony
 Graceful gestures, elaborate rituals,
special pots lent themselves to
composure and introspection
Seeds of Unity and Japanese Nationhood
40. What laid the basis for the lasting unification of
Japan?
 Economic and cultural growth
 Daimyos ability to improve administration
within their domains
 Emerging commercial and artisan classes
transferred their money and talents to
building a unified economy
i. Became potent allies of political leaders
 Wanted to break down regional
trade barriers
 Wanted to create a unified currency
and system of weights and
measures
 The legal and admin systems in each
daimyo could provide the bureaucratic
infrastructure needed for a unified Japan
i. Within them, professional government
functions emerged
 Would eventually enable them to run
a centralized bureaucracy
Korea: Between China and Japan
41. Describe the early peoples of Korea and their
first interaction with China.
 Descended from tribes of eastern Siberia
and Manchuria

By the 4th century BCE, acquired sedentary
farming and metal-working from China
i. Would play a role in the dynastic
struggles of the north China plain
 In 109 BCE, the earliest Korean kingdom,
Choson, was conquered by Wudi
i. Colonized by Chinese who remained for
four centuries
 These colonies would be a channel by which
China influenced Korean culture
42. Who are the Koguryo? How did they increase
sinification?
 Tribal group on the north of peninsula who
created an independent state
i. At war with two southern rivals, Silla and
Paekche
 Contacts between the Koguryo and the
northern China groups (post-Han) resulted
in the first wave of Sinification
43. What aspects of Buddhism did Korea import
from China?
 Patronized Buddhist artists
i. Financed the building of monasteries and
pagodas
 Korean scholars traveled to China
i. Some even went to India
44. How else did Koguryo implement Chinese
culture? Who didn’t like them?
 Attempted the writing style
i. Korean not good for it
 Koguryo king imposed a unified law code
i. Patterned after the Han
 Established universities to master Confucian
classics and Chinese history
 Tried to create a Chinese-style bureaucracy
i. Nobility did not support him- why would
they?
Tang Alliances and the Conquest of Korea
45. How did Korean divisions lead to Chinese
conquerors?
 The three Korean kingdoms weakened each
out without unifying
i. Internal strife left Korea vulnerable to
outside attacks
 Tang could not successfully defeat the
Koguryo
 Decided to strike an alliance with the Silla
i. Defeated Paechke and Koguryo
46. How did China rule the peninsula?
 They didn’t- they had the Silla do it
i. Originally, quarreled over how to divide
the peninsula
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

Fought Silla, could not win
i. Uprisings in peninsula
Tang gave up the peninsula in return for
regular tribute payments and Silla’s
submission as a vassal
i. Silla independent rulers
Kept these boundaries and independence
until 20th century
Sinification: The Tributary Link
47. What was the timeline of Korean dynasties until
1392?
 Silla (668-9th century)
 Koryo (918-1392)
48. How did Korea interact with China? What did
this relationship show about Korea?
 Sent embassies and tribute to the Tang
court
i. Collected Chinese texts
ii. Noted the latest fashion
 Their regular attendance was a sign of their
prominent and enduring participation in the
tribute system
i. The Chinese emperors were content to
receive tribute
 Offered tribute in the form of splendid gifts
i. Acknowledged the superiority of the Son
of Heaven by their willingness to kowtow
49. What benefits did Korea receive from the
tribute system?
 Guaranteed continuing peace
 Provided access to Chinese learning, art,
manufacturing
 Tribute missions included merchants
i. Ability to buy up Chinese goods and sell
their own in the Chinese market
depended on their participation in the
Chinese system
 Major channel of trade and inter-cultural
exchange between China and its neighbors
The Sinification of Korean Elite Culture
50. How did the aristocrats take to sinification?
 Rebuilt their capital at Kumsong
i. Laid out on a regular grid
ii. Looked like the Tang capital
 Aristocrats flocked to the capital
i. Made up a large portion of the
population
 Some studied in Chinese schools
i. Some even submitted to the Confucian
exam system under the SIlla
ii. Most opted for artistic pursuits and
entertainments in the capital
 Could do this- success in the exam
system didn’t really matter
51. How did Buddhism affect Korean culture?
 Aristocrats and the royal family endowed
monasteries and patronized works of art
 Kumsong crowded with Buddhist temples
(wood)
 Monks constantly in attendance on the royal
family
 Schools that caught on were Chinese
Buddhist
i. Art and monasteries copied Chinese style
52. Where did the Koreans best their teachers in
China?
 Pottery of the Silla and Koryo eras
i. First learned from China
ii. With pale green-glazed celadon bowls
and vases, bested China
 Pioneered oxide glazes
i. Used on black, rust colored stoneware
Civilization for the Few
53. Who dominated interaction with China in
Korea?
 Aristocrats
i. Divided into ranks
 Didn’t intermarry or socialize with
one another
ii. Filled most of the posts in the
bureaucracy
iii. Dominated social and economic life
 Most trade with China and Japan was to
provide the aristocrats with:
i. Fancy clothes
ii. Special teas
iii. Scrolls
iv. Art
 Korea exported mostly raw materials
i. Timber
ii. Copper
 Mined by near-slaves in horrible
conditions
54. What was the role of artisans and merchants in
Korea?
 Backed by aristocrats
i. Limited the activities of the two groups
 Considered low in status, poorly paid
i. Merchants weren’t even a class
55. How was Korea organized socially?
 Classes beneath the aristocrats were
organized based on their service to them
i. Government functionaries
ii. Commoners
iii. Near slaves; “low born”
 Buddhist festivals relieved the drudgery
i. Salvationist teachings gave hope for bliss
in the afterlife
 Much of what the peasants, artisans, miners
produced went to support the court
Koryo collapsed, Dynastic renewal
56. What led to the fall of both the Silla and Koryo?
 Uprisings by the common people and “low
born”
i. Against a class supremely devoted to
their own well-being
 Combined with quarrels between the
aristocratic households and outside
invasions
57. Who rules after the Mongolian invasion?
 Ti dynasty established in 1392, runs until
1910
 Re-established the aristocratic dominance
and links to China
 Korea was the most content of the border
cultures to live in the shadow of China
Between China and Southeast Asia: The
Making of Vietnam
58. What was Vietnam’s relationship with China?
 Had a culture before China
i. Gave them a strong sense of themselves
as a distinct ppl with a common heritage
ii. Did not want to see that overwhelmed by
China
 Well aware of the benefits they derived
from:
i. Superior tech
ii. Political organization
iii. Ideas
 Gratitude was tempered by the fear of
losing their own identity
59. How did the Chinese interaction affect trade in
Vietnam
 First appeared in recorded history as
“southern barbrians” in Qin books around
220 bce
 Called them Nam Viet “people in the south”
i. Extended along the southern coastal area
of modern China
 Gave a boost to trade in the area
i. Silk from China
ii. Viets gave ivory, tortoise shells, pearls,
peacock feathers, aromatic woods
60. How did the Viets unite the area?
 After the Qin raids, the Viet rulers defeated
the feudal lords in the Red River valley
 Intermarried and blended with the MonKhmer and Tai-speaking peoples who
occupied the Red River
i. Crucial to the formation of the
Vietnamese as an ethnic group
61. What was the distinct culture of Vietnam before
the Han invasions?
 Willing to intermarry with groups like the
Khmers
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

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i. Showed they had many traits
characteristic of SE Asia
Language not related to Chinese
Village autonomy
i. Bamboo hedges that surrounded
northern Vietnamese villages
Favored the nuclear family to the extended
household
Never developed clan networks like in south
China
Vietnamese women had greater freedom
and more influence than in China
Dressed differently
Cockfights
Chewed betel night
Blackened their teeth
When China dominated them politically,
Vietnam managed to preserve most of
these features
Were fervently attached to Buddhism at the
peasant level
Developed art and lit distinct from China
Conquest and Sinification
62. How did the Han approach the Viets?
 The Han tried to incorporate south China
into their empire
i. Came into conflict with the Viets
 Initially settled for vassal status and tribute
payment
 By 111 BC, the Han thought it best to
conquer them outright
i. Garrisoned the Red River valley with
Chinese troops
ii. S-G co-opted the local lords and
encouraged them to adopt Chinese
culture
 The Viet realized they could learn from
China, and cooperated

China began introducing key elements of
their own culture into the south
63. How did the Vietnamese change their
government, agriculture, and society?
 Vietnam elite drawn into the bureaucratic
machine
 Attended Chinese-style schools
i. Wrote in Chinese script
ii. Read and memorized Confucius and
Mencius
iii. Took exams to qualify for admin posts
 Introduced cropping techniques and
irrigation tech
i. Made it the most productive in SE Asia
ii. Could support larger numbers
 Led to higher pop density
 Found this organization gave them a
decisive edge of the Indianized peoples
i. Increasingly clashed with them for land
 Vietnamese elite adopted the extended
family model
 Venerated their ancestors in Confucian
manner
Roots of Resistance
64. How were Chinese attempts to assimilate the
Viets foiled?
 Sporadic revolts led by the Viet aristocracy
 Failure of Chinese cultural imports to make
an impression on the peasants
 While they had learned much from them,
Vietnamese lords chafed under their rule
i. Chinese found it hard to conceal the
disdain for local Vietnamese customs
 Intensity of Vietnamese hatred was notable
 Peasantry rallied again and again to the call
of their own lords
 Uprising in 39 ce led by the Trung sisters
i. Points to the favored position of women
in Vietnam
65. How did Vietnamese women react to the
Confucian codes of family?
 Hostile to them- would have confined them
to the household and subjected them to
male authority
 Confirmed in poetry written in later
centuries
Winning Independence
66. What factors made it easier for Vietnam to
revolt?
 The fragility toe links that bound them to
China
i. Distance and mountains created harsh
conditions for Chinese admin to make
expeditions
ii. Only a few Chinese lived in the Red River
 Chinese control depended on the strength
of the ruling dynasty
i. When there was political turmoil or
nomadic incursions, Vietnam took
advantage to assert their independence
67. How did they win their independence?
 Failed to win independence several times
 Mounted a massive rebellion during the
period of chaos after the fall of the Tang
i. Had won independence by 939
 Later Mongol and Ming rulers tried to
reassert control, they railed
 From 939 until the conquests of the French,
Vietnam owned themselves
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i. Tended to minimize their cultural
exchange with the “nude savages”
Moved south, using their:
i. Larger population
ii. Superior bureaucratic
iii. Military organization
 Fostered by China
From the 11th to 18th century, they fought a
long series of successful wars against the
Chams
i. Eventually drove them into the highlands
Clashed with the Khmers
i. Had moved into the Mekong delta
ii. Power had declined since the great
temple of Angkor Wat was built
iii. Provided no match
Occupied much of the upper delta of the
Mekong
The Continuing Chinese Impact
Expansion and Division
68. How did China continue to play a role in
Vietnam?
 A series of Vietnamese dynasties built
Chinese-styles palaces
i. Started with the Le (980-1009)
 Ruled through a bureaucracy that was a
smaller copy of the Chinese admin system
 Civil service exams
 Administrative elite learned the Confucian
classics
69. What Chinese ideas did not develop?
 Vietnamese s-g equivalent never gained
much power
i. Control at village level was much less
secure than in China
 Local Vietnamese officials tended to identify
with the peasants more than the imperial
court
i. Looked out for local interests and served
as leaders in village uprisings
71. How did Vietnam fracture?
 As armies and colonists moved further
south from Hanoi, found it difficult to
control the fighters in the frontier
 As the southerners intermarried and
adopted some of the customs of the Chams
and Khmers, differences developed between
the north and south
 North saw the south as being less energetic
and slower in speech and movement
 Regional military commanders in the south
grew less responsive
i. Slower in sending taxes
 Bickering turned to violent clashes
i. By the end of the 16th century, the
Nguyen had emerged to challenge the
Trinh family in the North
72. How did the fight between Nguyen and Trinh
hurt Vietnam?
 Nguyen centered along the narrow plains of
Vietnam along the Mekon and Red river
i. Capital at Hue
 For the next two centuries, the two
dynasties fought for the right to unite
Vietnam
 Not only absorbed all of Vietnam’s energy,
prevented them from recognizing the
growing external threat
i. Came from France and the RomanCatholic church
The Vietnamese Drive to the South
70. How did Vietnam expand?
 Refused to settle in the highlands on the
Red River (malaria)
 Main adversaries were Chams and Khmers
i. Occupied the low lands to the south that
Vietnam wanted
 Launched periodic expeditions to retaliate
for raids
 Regularly traded with the hill dwellers for
forest products