Central Themes for a Unit on Vietnam

by John K. Whitmore, Adjunct Associate Professor of History, University of Michigan

I. Vietnam in its Physical and Cultural Envrionment

Physical Setting

• Vietnam is divided naturally into northern and southern areas, divided by mountains that reach the sea in the central area.
• Both the northern and southern regions are in turn dominated by a river delta: that of the Red River in the north and of the Mekong River in the south.
• Historically, different groups held power respectively in the northern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam.

Cultural Influences

• Vietnam is considered here to be part of the East Asian civilization.
• Vietnam is one of three modern-day countries that constitute what is known as Indochina. The other two countries are Laos and Cambodia.
• As the term "Indo-china" suggests, the cultures there drew both from indigenous traditions and from those of the two major neighboring civilizations of India, to the west, and China, to the north.
• Of the three areas in Vietnam, the northern area of Vietnam — which, in turn, had China to its north — interacted most closely with Chinese power and influence. At times, China dominated the northern area of Vietnam politically, as noted in the outline below. Elites from the northern area of Vietnam interacted with the larger East Asian community throughout their history and participated in the wider East Asian conversation, along with Japan, Korea, and China. This dialogue took place in literary Chinese, using the Chinese written script and language, and concerned itself with Confucian and Buddhist issues of common concern.
• Commercial contacts between the northern area of Vietnam and the southeast coast of China occurred throughout history, especially in the 13th-15th centuries. The central area of Vietnam and then the southern area were active in this commercial contact with the southeast coast of China in the 16th-18th centuries. The center, especially in the latter period, was important within the East Asian trade and Buddhist religious network; Hoi-an (in central Vietnam) played an important role in links with Guangzhou (in China) and Nagasaki (in Japan).
• Over time, the Viet groups of the north spread their influence and power southward, uniting the entire area now known as Vietnam in the late 1700s. The southern spread of Viet power to some degree parallels that of the southern spread of Han Chinese influence over other peoples in what we know of today as "China."

II. Outline of Vietnamese History by Time Period and Region