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In the 3rd century BC, the Han people who lived in the
Yellow River
basin
unified
China,
merging the various ethnic groups who lived in southern
China
to the south of the
Yangtze River
into a centralized empire. This feudal empire soon
spread southwards.
In 111 B.C. the
Han dynasty sent an expeditionary corps to conquer the
kingdom
of
Nam Viet
established by Chao To, who had brought the
kingdom
of
Au Lac
and several territories in southern
China
together under his rule. The Han integrated Au Lac into
their empire, creating the commander of Chiao Chih, which
was divided into provinces and districts. The three
provinces, which constituted present-day northern
Vietnam
to the 18th parallel, had a population of 981,375 people
according to Han documents. From this time on, the history
of
Vietnam
evolved under the combined influence of two contradictory
factors. On the one hand, there was a policy of' economic
exploitation and cultural assimilation, and on the other,
there was a steadfast popular resistance marked by armed
insurrection against foreign domination.
A final resistance
led to the preservation of the identity of the Vietnamese
people after many centuries, the emergence of a national
consciousness, and the establishment of the independent
state of
Vietnam.
While keeping its unique character, the nation's culture
also adopted quite a few elements of Chinese culture. Ten
centuries of domination resulted in a thorough
transformation of Vietnamese society.
♦
The
Imperial Policy of the Han
At first, for
their own benefit, the Han retained the system of
lac hau and lac tuong, the civilian and
military chiefs of the early communities; little by little,
they replaced them with functionaries appointed by the court
who administered the country down to province and district
levels (there were three provinces and 56 districts). A
mandarin, protected by an armed entourage, presided over
each district. The rural communes, which contained most of
the population, escaped their direct rule so that this
administration very slowly expanded its network throughout
the country while coping with a stubborn popular resistance.
The imperial functionaries came from
China,
accompanied by an entourage of scribes, agents and family
members. Many of them settled in the country permanently.
The population
had to make a double contribution: a tribute to the imperial
court and taxes, duties and corves to maintain the
administration and military apparatus. The tribute paid to
the court mostly comprised valuable tropical products such
as ivory, mother-of-pearl, pearls and sandalwood which
Chinese documents of the time described as abundant and
varied products from the southern territories. Tropical
fruit, various handicraft items, fabric, gold or silver
engravings, and mother-of-pearl inlay work were also
required. A certain number of craftsmen were exiled to work
for the court while part of the population was compelled to
hunt for elephant and rhinoceros in forests or dive into the
sea to gather pearls or coral.
Each inhabitant
had to pay a head-tax and a land tax on each plot; the
population was also forced to supply corvee laborers to dig
canals and build roads and citadels. Chinese documents
describe many revolts due to this systematic exploitation
and extortion by imperial functionaries.
At the same
time, the feudal Han carried out a policy of systematic
cultural assimilation, the empire having to be unified in
all aspects. The first concern was to impose veneration of
the emperor, Son of Heaven; use of the ideographic script
was enforced as a vehicle for the official doctrine,
Confucianism. At the centre of human obligation was absolute
loyalty to the monarch, who ruled not only human society but
also the kingdom of the gods. A tightly-woven network of
obligations and rites bound societal and individual life,
strictly governing relationships between parents and
children, husbands and wives, between friends, and between
subjects and the imperial administration which tried to
replace old customs with laws and rites inspired by
Confucian doctrine.
♦
Socio - economic transformation
Economic
exploitation by the occupiers hampered the development of
productive forces but could not check them. Excavation of
tombs dating from the 1st to the 6th centuries has revealed
the progressive diffusion of iron tools, production
implements and weapons already known in the previous era.
Iron cauldrons, nails and tripods appeared while objects in
bronze became less common, although the making of bronze
drums continued for centuries.
In the 1st
century, furrowing with iron ploughshares on wing ploughs
drawn by oxen or water buffaloes gradually replaced
cultivation in burned out clearings. In particular,
hydraulic works, canals and dykes ensured control over
water; the use of fertilizer facilitated intensive farming,
the practice of growing two crops a year on well-irrigated
fields for example. The growing of tubers such as sweet
potato, sugarcane and mulberry was already known, as well as
various vegetables and fruit trees. Mulberry growing and
silkworm raising took pride of place; there was also betel,
areca-nut trees, medicinal plants, bamboo and rattan, which
supplied raw materials for basket making. From the earliest
centuries, there was thus a diversified agriculture which,
gradually improved, would last for a very long time.
Handicrafts also
reached a relatively high level. Many tools of iron and
bronze were forged; ceramics with enamel coating was added
to the already flourishing pottery of the previous era. The
remains of citadels, pagodas and tombs showed that brick and
tile making was thriving, some of which were also coated
with a layer of enamel.
The most
prosperous handicraft occupations were weaving and
basket-making. Fabrics in cotton and silk and baskets of
bamboo and rattan were sought after items. In the 3rd
century, paper began to be made using techniques imported
from
China.
Glass-making techniques also came to
Vietnam
from
China
and
India.
To meet the need for luxury goods for the court and local
functionaries, the making of objects in engraved gold and
silver underwent new development, the quality of which
improved through the use of Chinese techniques. Lacquer was
already known. It could be said that Vietnamese handicrafts
established themselves during this period.
If the economy
as a whole remained autarkic, certain products supplied
markets in administrative centre such as Long Bien (in
present-day Hanoi Capital) which had trading quarters. River
and sea transport was carried out using sampans or junks,
some of which had barges and several score oarsmen. The
Red River
and the road running along it led to
Yunnan
and
Sichuan,
and hence to
Central Asia
as well as
Burma.
Communication with
China
was achieved by both sea and land, the road being dotted
with many relays. Chiao Chih served as a port of call for
junks from
Java,
Burma,
Iran,
India
and even the
Roman empire
on their way to
China.
In large centre, there were a number of foreign residents
such as Khmers and Indians. The vessels carried local
products, valuable timbers, ivory and handicrafts, and also
took part in the slave trade. This external trade was
entirely monopolized by the occupiers.
The Han policy
of cultural assimilation benefited from the prestige of
Chinese civilization,, which was then at a high level, but
it was confronted with a stubborn resistance. The Vietnamese
language was largely borrowed from Chinese, but the words
had been Vietnamized to become part and parcel of the
language which was progressively enriched without losing its
identity; popular literature kept its vigor while beginning
to develop a learned literature written in Han (classical
Chinese). Despite Confucian rites and precepts, many local
traditions continued the veneration of founding fathers or
patriots, participation by women in patriotic activities,
and the making and use of bronze drums during great
ceremonies. Relics found in the tombs of that era show
stronger Han civilization influence; the indigenous upper
classes came under greater foreign influence than the
population at large or rural communities. However, Dong Son
art was still clearly seen with its decorations and
statuettes.
Together with
Confucianism, Buddhist and Taoist doctrine also made their
way into Chiao Chih. Buddhism, coming from India by sea and
from China by land, was conspicuous from the 2nd and 6th
centuries, with the town of Luy Lau (in present-day Bac Ninh
Province) having 20 towers, 500 bonzes and 15
already-translated sutras. Taoism integrated itself with
local beliefs, giving rise to magical, medical and ascetic
practices. The main characteristic of these religions was
that they did not encourage fanaticism nor exclude one
another, thus helping to preserve unity within the national
community.
Following the
conquest by the Han, Vietnamese society gradually turned
into a feudal society. De jure, land belonged entirely to
the emperor, while all members of the population became his
subjects, bound to pay taxes, corvee and other duties.
Nevertheless, the communes stayed more or less autonomous.
To ensure domination, the Han feudalists advocated the
creation of "military colonies"; military men, political or
common-law prisoners and destitute people coming from
China
together with destitute Vietnamese and landless peasants
were recruited to reclaim and exploit the land under the
direction of officers or functionaries. At the same time,
private domains were created by Chinese functionaries
settled for good in the country or indigenes loyal to the
administration (members of the former ruling classes or
notables from rural communities). After the 2nd century, a
certain number of Vietnamese who had received a good
education had access to mandarin posts and, hence, could set
up private domains. Slaves worked in these military colonies
and domains. The tombs of that era often reveal models in
baked earth of domains with outer areas dotted with
watchtowers, houses, granaries and stables. As time went by,
the Chinese functionaries and their descendants living in
the country became "Vietnamized". With indigenous
functionaries and landowners, they constituted an indigenous
ruling class with feudal characteristics.
Shaped in a
country subject to the harsh domination of the Han
imperialists, this feudal class was opposed in some aspects
to the court and sided with the population. Internal
disturbances in
China,
caused mostly by peasant revolts, created favorable
conditions for an open struggle against Chinese imperialist
domination for secession - first temporary, then definitive. |
