One Thousand Years: Volume Two of “A Traveller’s Story of Vietnam’s Past”

By Tan Pham and Sonla Pham

During the Vietnam War, the country was divided at the 17th parallel. About 140 kilometres north of this dividing line is a mountain pass called Ngang pass. The land south of this pass, about 60 per cent of present-day Vietnam, was occupied for centuries by the kingdoms of Linyi, Funan and Zhenla. But most people either have not heard of them or have only vague ideas about them. This book is about these kingdoms.

North of Ngang pass, Giao Châu, was ruled by northern dynasties for over a thousand years from the 2nd century BCE to the 10th century CE, barring a few intervals of independence. This volume also tells how the people of Giao Châu came out of this long period to become an independent nation and why they did not want to become part of dynastic China.

This is Volume Two of the book series, “A Traveller’s Story of Vietnam’s Past”; it continues where Volume One, “The Bronze Drums and The Earrings”, ends. The book contains 73 figures and illustrations. It tells the stories of familiar Vietnamese heroes like the Trưng sisters, Lady Triệu, the Black Emperor and Ngô Quyền. It also discusses the beginning of Buddhism in Vietnam and the stories of Shi Xie’s clan. The stories of Linyi’s kings and how the bloodthirsty Fan Wen and his successors prevented the Northern Dynasties from going beyond the Ngang pass are also explained. The expansion of the Funan territory from southern Vietnam to the Malay Peninsula by Fan Shiman is included. The little-known Nanzhao-An Nam War is also told with some details. The battle of the Bạch Đằng river in 938, when Giao Châu (Vietnam) gained independence, is recounted.

Like Volume One, many places associated with historical events are also described in the book, including the sanctuary of Mỹ Sơn and its donation by King Bhavavarman.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 315Kio Publishing
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9780473635275

Book preview

Volume Two of A Traveller’s Story of Vietnam’s Past

From 2nd century BCE to 10th century CE

One Thousand Years

The Stories of Giao Châu, the Kingdoms of Linyi, Funan and Zhenla

© 2022 Tan Pham

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or modified in any form, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, 315Kio Publishing.

First edition 2022

For inquiries, please email: [e-mail]

Edited by Paul LitterickDesigned by Son La Pham and Holly Zeng

Typeset in Fournier with Vietnamese language support provided by Seb McLauchlan

Published by 315Kio Publishing

eISBN: 978-0-473-63527-5

ONE THOUSAND YEARS

The Stories of Giao Châu, the Kingdoms

of Linyi, Funan and Zhenla

Volume Two of A Traveller’s Story of Vietnam’s Past

FROM 2ND CENTURY BCE TO 10TH CENTURY CE

TAN PHAM

Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 – A summary of this book

1.1 – Three regions and four polities

Giao Châu

Linyi

Funan/Zhenla

Conclusions

1.2 – Story timeline

1.3 – Mountains in Southern China

Chapter 2 – Under the Han (III BCE – 220 CE) - Giao Châu I

2.1 – Circuit, provinces, and commanderies

2.2 – The Trưng sisters -"as easy as turning over their hands" (Years 40-43)

The event

The causes

The scale of the revolt

The aftermath

Ma Yuan’s bronze pillars

The Zhuang people (Zhuangzu)

2.3 – The ancient citadel of Luy Lâu (Thành cổ Luy Lâu, first century to the sixth)

A discovery

Luy Lâu today

An archaeology story of Luy Lâu

Chapter 3 – Shi Xie and the beginning of Buddhism in Vietnam - Lady Triệu rebellion - Giao Châu II

3.1 – Shi Xie (136-226)

The early years

Sĩ Vương or King Sĩ - a Vietnamese king

The Shi clan

The peaceful and majestic years

A bloody end

3.2 – Men of Hu and the oldest pagodas in Vietnam - the coming of Buddhism (second to third centuries)

The tale of Man Nương - a pregnant orphan and the four statues

The belief of four Pháp

The four statues - Cloud, Rain, Thunder and Lightning

Vietnamese Buddhism and monks from Southern India

3.3 – Lady Triệu rebellion (third century)

Cửu Chân - A rebellious prefecture

Chapter 4 – A forest town - the kingdom of Linyi (Lâm Ấp) and the Fans - A Generation of Raiders - Linyi I

4.1 – Southern rebellions

Year 100

Year 137

Years 144, 157

Years 178, 184

4.2 – A new kingdom in the south

Year 192

The name of Linyi

4.3 – Where was Linyi?

4.4 – The people of that country are aggressive.

The Fans

Sources of information

Austronesian and Mon-Khmer languages

4.5 – Fan Xiong (Phạm Hùng, 270-280) and Fan Yi (Phạm Dật, 280-336)

Tao Huang - a stubborn and cowardly horse

Year 248

Fan Yi

4.6 – The slave king

Fan Wen (Phạm Văn, 336-349) - A royal usurper

The battle of Cửa Lô Dung

In remembrance of Fan Wen

4.7 – Khu Túc - The elusive capital

4.8 – Cao Lao Hạ - A citadel in a paddy field

4.9 – The citadel of Thành Lồi

Chapter 5 – One hundred years of raids and plunders (336 – 446) - Linyi II

5.1 – Fan Fo (or Fu, Phạm Phật, 349-380) - Like father like son

Year 351 campaign - against Yang Ping/Deng Zhun - Version 1

Year 351 campaign - against Guan Cui/Deng Zhun - Version 2

Year 351 campaign - against Yang Ping/Guan Cui/Deng Zhun - Version 3

Year 353 campaign - against Yuan Fu

Year 359 campaign - against Wen Fangzhi

5.2 – Fan Huda or Houta (Phạm Hồ Đạt, 380-413) - The man who laid siege to Long Biên

Year 399 campaign

Year 407 campaign

Year 420 invasion of Linyi

5.3 – Fan Yangmai (or Yan Mah, Phạm Dương Mại, c. 425-446) - The Golden Prince

The Golden Prince

Year 431 campaigns

River fighting in the dark

5.4 – The destruction of Linyi’s capital in 446

Tan Hezhi and Zong Que

An attempt to negotiate

First battle at Khu Túc

Second battle at Điển Xung

They all died

5.5 – Điển Xung – catches the winds

5.6 – Trà Kiệu - An ancient ruin of sandstone dancers

5.7 – Of gold and fragrant wood

Chapter 6 – The End of Linyi - Linyi III

6.1 – Fan Fanzhi (Phạm Phan Chí) - Southern pillage

A shameful event

The campaign

A heavy price

War elephants

Three new names

6.2 – Fan Touli (Phạm Đầu Lê) - A beautiful king and a talking parrot

6.3 – Fan Zhenlong (Phạm Trấn Long) - End of the line

6.4 – The kingdom of Huanwang (757-859)

Chapter 7 – The inscriptions and the Varman’s - Linyi IV

7.1 – C.40 - Võ Cạnh - the oldest Sanskrit inscription in Vietnam.

The location

The content

The debate

7.2 – A valley of kings - Mỹ Sơn

The discovery

The three deities

C. 72 - The donation of lands

7.3 – C. 96 - A genealogy of kings

7.4 – C. 111 - A mutilated stele

7.5 – The Varman’s and the Fans

Who is king Bhadravarman?

C. 105 - Carved in rocks

Gone to India

The return of an exile from Zhenla

7.6 – The coming of Champa

Campapura

Zhanbulao, Zhanpo and Zhancheng (Chiêm Thành)

Chapter 8 – The Roman medals and the Óc Eo culture - Funan/Zhenla I

8.1 – The monsoon trader

8.2 – Óc Eo - A trading and jewellery manufacturing hub

The location

The discovery

The excavation

A traveller’s destination

8.3 – The Óc Eo culture and archaeological sites

Buddha statues

Hindu statues

Chapter 9 – The Kingdoms of Funan and Zhenla - Funan/Zhenla II

9.1 – Funan - the Chinese records

9.2 – The founding legend

9.3 – The Huns and the Fans - Interfamily killings

Fan Shiman – the great king (early third century)

Fan Zhan - West to India (c.230-c.243?)

Fan Xun - North to China (245/250-287)

Chu Zhantan

Liutuobamo - the last recorded king of Funan

9.4 – Funan - A widely spread South-East Asia kingdom

9.5 – The people of Funan - the men are all ugly and black with curly hair.

9.6 – Funan and Linyi

9.7 – The end of Funan - the coming of Zhenla

Sui shu

Jiu Tang shu and the two Zhenlas

Xin Tang shu and the two Zhenlas

Location of two Zhenlas

Zhenla and Giao Châu

Chapter 10 – Pre-Angkor Inscriptions and three Khmer towers - Funan/Zhenla III

10.1 – Geographical distribution

10.2 – Funan - the inscriptions

K. 5 - A noble and intelligent prince

K. 40 - An inscription on the door lintel

10.3 – Zhenla - the inscriptions

K. 53 - The list of kings

K. 213 and K. 978 - Bhavavarman

K. 363 - The mount of the kingdom

K. 604 and K. 438 - Sambor Prei Kuk

10.4 – The pre-Angkor inscriptions found in southern Vietnam

K. 1 - Vat ThLen, or Vat Thling

K. 3 - Linh Sơn Tự, also known as Phnom Bathê.

K. 5 - Tháp Mười, Prasat Pram Loveng

K. 6, K. 7, K. 8 - Tháp Mười, Prasat Pram Loveng

K. 9 - Phú Hựu

Other pre-Angkor inscriptions

10.5 – Three oldest towers in southern Vietnam

The tower of Chóp Mạt

The tower of Bình Thạnh

The tower of Vĩnh Hưng

10.6 – The Angkor-period inscriptions in southern Vietnam

Chapter 11 – Ten thousand springs or Vạn Xuân (542-602) - Giao Châu III

11.1 – The Former Lý Nam Đế (Lý, Emperor of the South)

Early life

The revolt

Fought off a two-prong attack by imperial troops

Helped by a disease that decimated the second imperial campaign

Successfully fought off a southern raid by Linyi

Ten Thousand Life Spans

Up against a future emperor, 546-548

11.2 – King of the Night Marsh

The marsh of Dạ Trạch - The first guerrilla

The betrayal

11.3 – The Later Lý Nam Đế - facing the wrong way

A peaceful reign

The empire came south

Coming from the rear

The legacy

Chapter 12 – The Black Emperor - The Great Father and Mother King or Bố Cái Đại Vương (seventh and eighth centuries) - Giao Châu IV

12.1 – The Black Emperor - Mai Thúc Loan and the Hoan Châu Uprising

Early life

The alliance

12.2 – The Imperial Consort, the lychees and other historical revisions

The lychees

Size of the rebellion

Duration

12.3 – A mound of dead bodies

12.4 – The Great Father and Mother King or Bố Cái Đại Vương

Đường Lâm commune

Vietnamese Atlas

Death from acute anxiety

A seven-year reign

A peaceful transfer of power

Chapter 13 – Surrounded by rivers - A city of lakes: Hanoi, a nation capital - Giao Châu V

13.1 – Đông Kinh - a 15th-century capital

Tô Lịch river

Kim Ngưu river

A city of lakes

13.2 – Hanoi citadel - a 19th-century Vauban-designed fortress

13.3 – Of Thành and Zheng

13.4 – Tử Thành citadel

13.5 – The mountains or Núi of Hanoi

Núi Sưa

Núi Nùng

Núi Vạn Bảo, Núi Cung, Núi Thái Hòa, Núi Voi, Núi Khán Sơn

13.6 – La Thành citadel

13.7 – Đại La Thành - a citadel with 6.5-metre-tall walls

13.8 – A headquarters north of the river

13.9 – Gao Pian’s La Thành - back to where it all started

An ancient dyke

Chapter 14 – The Nanzhao-An Nam war - Giao Châu VI

14.1 – Nanzhao – a country of cunning and dangerous people

14.2 – Prelude to a war - A greedy and violent duhu

A river route to the north-west

One speck of salt for one horse

The Peach-Flower people

14.3 – The killing Đỗ Tồn Thành.

14.4 – Wang Shi and the thorny bamboos

14.5 – The first sacking of La Thành (Hanoi) in 860.

Li Hu - an ambitious duhu

14.6 – The second sacking of La Thành - the war of 862-863

Wang Kuang - appeasement to buy time

The attack

The elite forces - Luojuzi

14.7 – The empire struck back - The arrival of Gao Pian, a prince general

Government in exile

The first victory

Reinforcements and the reverse of roles

An escape and the final victory

14.8 – The aftermath - a dying empire

A Peaceful Sea Military District

Another invasion

The burning of the imperial capital of Chang’an

The Kingdom of Dachannghe

14.9 – A historical footnote on the Đỗ

Chapter 15 – Prelude to independence - Giao Châu VII

15.1 – The Khúc family (906-930) - the first native jiedushi

Khúc Thừa Dụ - the founder

The family village

Khúc Hạo – the reformer

Khúc Thừa Mỹ - died in exile

15.2 – Dương Đình Nghệ - A general from Ái.

Victory in 931

The pattern was broken

Temples

Chapter 16 – The Dawn of Independence - Giao Châu VIII

16.1 – The betrayal

16.2 – The revenge

16.3 – Battle of the Bạch Đằng river

The tides

The trap

The battle

The painting

The archaeological evidence

An amazing feat

16.4 – Aftermath of the battle

Declaration as king

The killing of brothers

Chapter 17 – Conclusions

17.1 – The river trips

In the north

In the north-central

In the Mekong Delta

17.2 – The inscriptions and monuments

17.3 – The independence question

Corrupted officials

Historians’ views

A contemporary historian

A contribution

Appendices

1. Sources of Vietnamese history in the Chinese language used in this book

2. Sources of Vietnamese history by Vietnamese authors written before the 19th century

3. Names in Pinyin Chinese, English, and Vietnamese

4. Polities under the Northern Rule period

5. Giao Ch ỉ , Giao Châu, Luy Lâu and Long Biên

6. List of Governors, Prefects, Protectorate Generals, Governor Generals, Military Commissioners during the Northern Rule period

7. In Search of ancient Hanoi

8. Ma Yuan’s expeditions (41-44)

9. The Kings of Linyi

10. The Kings of Funan and Zhenla

11. The land that was Linyi

12. Citadels of blood and gold - Khu Túc (Qusu), Đi ể n Xung (Dian Chong) and other battlefields

13. An eyewitness account of the Nanzhao-An Nam war

14. The population question

15. Of li, bu, chi, liang, and jin – Chinese units of measurements

16. Museums in southern Vietnam with exhibits of the Óc Eo civilisation

Endnotes

Bibliography

List of Tables

Table 1 – A timeline of Vietnamese history from 111 BCE to the fourth century CE.

Table 2 – A timeline of Vietnamese history from the fifth to the 10th centuries.

Table 3 – Four statues and their locations.

Table 4 – A timeline of Funan, Zhenla and Kambuja.

Table 5 – Comparisons between citadels in the vicinity of Hanoi from the sixth to the 19th centuries.

Table 6 – A timeline of the Nanzhao-An Nam war.

Table 7 – Polities in three regions of Vietnam from the first to the 10th centuries.

Table 8 – A summary of Giao Chỉ, Giao Châu, Luy Lâu, and Long Biên.

Table 9 – Cishis and taishous of Giao Châu under the Han dynasty.

Table 10 – Cishis and taishous of Giao Châu under the Eastern Wu and Shu Han kingdoms.

Table 11 – Cishis and taishous of Giao Châu under the Jin dynasty.

Table 12 – Cishis and taishous of Giao Châu under the Southern Dynasties.

Table 13 – List A of cishis, taishous of Giao Châu under the Tang dynasty.

Table 14 – List B of cishis, taishous of Giao Châu under the Tang dynasty.

Table 15 – Cishis and taishous of Giao Châu under the Tang dynasty and Southern Han.

Table 16 – The kings of Linyi from the second to the fifth centuries.

Table 17 – The kings of Linyi from the sixth to the eighth centuries.

Table 18 – The kings, based on inscriptions from the fourth to the eighth centuries.

Table 19 – The kings of Funan based on Chinese records.

Table 20 – The kings, based on pre-Angkor inscriptions.

Table 21 – The list of the main rivers in north-central Vietnam.

Table 22 – Northern Champa prefectures.

Table 23 – Gnomon measurements.

Table 24 – Latitudes of places in Vietnam checked against historical gnomon measurements.

Table 25 – The distribution of five prefectures in Nhật Nam from different sources (from north to south).

Table 26 – Routes taken in the 1069 campaign by Đại Việt against Champa.

Table 27 – Details of Jia Dan’s trip in the eighth century.

Table 28 – The number of mouths (or heads) in the commanderies (and zhou).

Table 29 – The number of households (or hearths) in the commanderies (and zhou).

Table 30 – The number of registered taxpayers and population of some of the provinces in Central Vietnam.

Table 31 – The Chinese unit of measurements (length).

Table 32 – The Chinese unit of measurements (weight).

Table 33 – Museums in 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta.

Table 34 – Museums in six provinces around Ho Chi Minh City.

List of Figures

Figure 1 – Timeline showing the eight periods of Vietnamese history.

Figure 2 – Indicative positions of Giao Châu, Linyi, and Funan on the map of Vietnam.

Figure 3 – Contemporary China, showing the features associated with Vietnamese history.

Figure 4 – Commanderies under the Former Han dynasty as of 108 BCE.

Figure 5 – Đông Hồ painting of the Trưng sisters’ rebellion.

Figure 6 – The annual remembrance on the 6th day of Tết, Vietnamese Lunar New Year of the Trưng sisters at Mê Linh, Hanoi.

Figure 7 – The ancient citadel of Luy Lâu.

Figure 8 – View toward the corner between the northern and eastern ramparts of Luy Lâu.

Figure 9 – The base of the northern outer rampart of Luy Lâu.

Figure 10 – Shi Xie’s temple (formerly residence) at Luy Lâu.

Figure 11 – The gateway to the temple and tomb of Shi Xie at Tam Á.

Figure 12 – A stone sheep in front of Shi Xie’s tomb.

Figure 13 – Warlords at the end of the Later Han, circa 195.

Figure 14 – The Shi family tree - circa 140-230.

Figure 15 – Lady Dàn (Lightning, Pháp Lôi) without the ceremonial costume.

Figure 16 – The statue of Lady Dâu at the Dâu pagoda.

Figure 17 – Dâu pagoda, also known as Pháp Vân (cloud) or Diên Ứng.

Figure 18 – Hòa Phong tower at Dâu pagoda.

Figure 19 – The statue of Lady Triệu at her temple.

Figure 20 – Lady Triệu temple at Triệu Lộc commune, Hậu Lộc district, Thanh Hóa province.

Figure 21 – Ba Đồn town (1), Thọ Linh (2), Cao Lao Hạ citadel (3), and the Gianh river (4).

Figure 22 – Thành Lồi in Huế.

Figure 23 – The southern rampart, inside the citadel, off Huyền Trân Công Chúa street, Huế.

Figure 24 – View of the western rampart, from outside the citadel on Long Thọ street.

Figure 25 – A sketch of Điển Xung based on TKCS.

Figure 26 – The Linyi and Champa citadel of Trà Kiệu.

Figure 27 – The Asparas, Trà Kiệu style, 10th century, sandstone, Museum of Cham Sculpture.

Figure 28 – Dancer, Trà Kiệu, 10th century, sandstone, Museum of Vietnamese History.

Figure 29 – The Võ Cạnh stele (or block).

Figure 30 – The stone stele inscription of C.96 (dated 657) by Mỹ Sơn B6.

Figure 31 – The stele of Dinh Thị, C. 111, Huế.

Figure 32 – View of Ba Thê mountain from Gò Cây Thị road.

Figure 33 – Some archaeological sites of the Óc Eo civilisation and the three towers.

Figure 34 – A statue of Tháp Mười wooden Buddha (Museum code BTLS 1615).

Figure 35 – A Buddha in Meditation, sandstone.

Figure 36 – A statue of Brahma (sixth/seventh century), found in 1981 at Giồng Xoài.

Figure 37 – A statue of Vishnu - Trung Điền - Vĩnh Long - Museum of History - Ho Chi Minh City.

Figure 38 – Locations related to the stories of Funan.

Figure 39 – The distribution of pre-Angkor (before 802) inscriptions.

Figure 40 – The Four-arm Buddha at Linh Sơn Ba Thê pagoda.

Figure 41 – The tower of Chóp Mạt (seventh/eighth century), Tây Ninh province, Vietnam.

Figure 42 – The tower of Bình Thạnh, (seventh/eighth century), Tây Ninh province, Vietnam.

Figure 43 – The tower of Vĩnh Hưng (seventh century), Bạc Liêu province, Vietnam.

Figure 44 – A painting of the Former Lý Nam Đế and his Queen.

Figure 45 – Trấn Quốc Pagoda – Hanoi.

Figure 46 – Key locations during the reign of Lý Bí.

Figure 47 – A very small area in the vicinity of the Dạ Trạch marsh.

Figure 48 – Buildings at the Dạ Trạch temple for Chử Đồng Tử.

Figure 49 – Key locations under the reign of Lý Phật Tử, not including 2, 4, and 8.

Figure 50 – The temple and tomb of the Black Emperor Mai Hắc Đế.

Figure 51 – The temple of Phùng Hưng.

Figure 52 – The map of Đông Kinh (or Trung Đô – the Middle Capital) – 1490.

Figure 53 – Details of the Đông Kinh map showing the Inner Wall.

Figure 54 – Outline of the Đông Kinh map imposed on the map of contemporary Hanoi.

Figure 55 – The map of Hanoi circa 1873.

Figure 56 – Núi Sưa in Hanoi Botanic Garden.

Figure 57 – A photo of the Yi minority in Shilin (Kunming, Yunnan, China).

Figure 58 – Key locations related to Nanzhao.

Figure 59 – A painting of the bare-footed soldiers – possibly the Luojuzi.

Figure 60 – The Thanh Mai bronze bell.

Figure 61 – A map of China around 926, Dachanghe is the successor of the Nanzhao kingdom.

Figure 62 – Battle of the Bạch Đằng river, National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi.

Figure 63 – Locations where stakes were found at the Bạch Đằng river.

Figure 64 – Mobilisation of the Later Han armies under Ma Yuan to Hepu and the sea routes to Mê Linh.

Figure 65 – Possible routes of Ma Yuan expedition into Cửu Chân (43-44).

Figure 66 – Family tree of the kings of Linyi from the middle of the sixth century to the middle of the seventh based on Chinese annals.

Figure 67 – Family tree of the kings of Linyi, based on C.96 inscriptions.

Figure 68 – The map of some of the main rivers in north-central Vietnam.

Figure 69 – A 15th-century map of Thuận Hóa (contemporary Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Trị provinces).

Figure 70 – Locations of Linyi and Champa citadels.

Figure 71 – An illustration of the gnomon latitude during the summer solstice.

Figure 72 – Estimated positions of Jia Dan's trip.

Figure 73 – The Lô Dung river as described in TKCS.

PREFACE

This volume is the second in a number of books on Vietnamese history that I am writing. As a methodology, I have selected and approached the stories from a traveller’s perspective, which explains the series title, "A Traveller’s Story of Vietnam’s Past". My aim is simply to fix a historical site in time, to the period of history this place belongs, and in space; where it is located, why it is there and how it is connected to other historical locations. However, my books are not travel guides; readers will not find standard details, such as where to stay, or travel particulars, but where appropriate I include notes of my visits to the sites as mentioned in the books. In time, barring ongoing pandemic restrictions, I plan to visit these sites for a deeper appreciation of their stories.

My primary objective is to seek an understanding of the stories, their meanings and the interconnections between the historical events and the historical sites I have visited in Vietnam. Such information exists, but is dispersed in many different books at varying levels of complexity, and in different languages. My work attempts to gather the stories in one place by making geography the common thread.

Figure 1 – Timeline showing eight periods of Vietnamese history.

Note 1: The thousand-year period mainly addresses the land north of Ngang pass. Immediately south, the territory became autonomous from around the third century. The southern border marks the extent of Northern Rule, which kept changing from Ngang to Hải Vân passes; from the fifth century, it settled at Ngang pass.⁴,⁵ The kingdoms to the south, Linyi/Champa and Funan/Zhenla, ruled themselves.

Eight periods of history

I have divided the history of Vietnam into eight periods, based on the major events that marked key turning points in the story of Vietnam, and altered the course of its history. The selection of these eight periods is mine and not necessarily based on the historical timeline I was taught at school, where I had to memorise the story of one king and one battle following another king and another battle, often against foreign invaders; it was difficult to remember them all.

In broad terms, Period I covers the ancient times to 111 BCE (BCE=Before Common Era, same as BC=Before Christ) when the people of present-day Vietnam ruled themselves. My first published volume, Volume One, entitled "The Bronze Drums and The Earrings" deals with this period.¹ In the following millennium, Period II, the land of northern and north-central Vietnam was ruled by various Chinese dynasties barring a few years of Vietnamese autonomy. The country gained independence in 938 at the beginning of the second millennium in the 10th century CE (CE=Common Era, same as AD=Anno Domini, the year of our Lord); hence the title of my Volume Two, "One Thousand Years - The Stories of Giao Châu, the Kingdoms of Linyi, Funan and Zhenla". The names refer to different political entities which existed in the land of present-day Vietnam over that time.

From 938 until the present time – barring a few episodes of foreign rule, divisions and shedding of much blood – the country was once again autonomous, with its land area more than double that of the previous millennium. I have divided this second millennium into periods III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII.

Period III lasted for around 600 years from the 10th to 16th centuries, when there were three polities in Vietnam: Đại Việt (formerly Giao Châu) in the north, Champa (formerly Linyi) in the central, and part of the Khmer Empire in the south.² This southern region was called Zhenla and Funan before that.

Period IV followed period III when Champa lost most of its land to Đại Việt, but Đại Việt itself was divided; and ruled by two different lords for around 200 years from the early 17th century until the end of the 18th century.

Following a thirty-year civil war at the end of the 18th century, Đại Việt was united, expanded its territory south and west, absorbed Champa and southern Vietnam to become what is Vietnam. This is Period V, a brief time of around 60 years in the first half of the 19th century.

The expansion ended when the French arrived in the middle of the 19th century until they were driven out nearly a century later. This is Period VI.

In Period VII, Vietnam was once again divided and at war for another 21 years until its unification in 1975.

Period VIII covers Vietnam from 1975 to the present time.

The eight periods are summarised in Figure 1.

My volumes to come cover the following four periods, III, IV, V and VI, until 1954, when the French finally departed from the country after first bombarding and landing in Touraine (Đà Nẵng) in 1858. I will limit my contribution up to the year 1954, as there are already many history books covering Period VII, and Period VIII is too recent to be of interest to a historical traveller.

To avoid repeating my introduction from Volume One, I have simplified both the introduction and description of the eight periods of history, but the content of Volume Two is unique to this book.

Reading this book

Since there are many stories to tell, readers may find this book a little overwhelming, so to help make it easier to read, I have included a summary at the beginning of each chapter. Readers may choose to read these summaries on their first read and dwell on the details at a later date. Similarly, I have labelled each chapter with the name of the polities the chapter is about, such as Linyi I, Linyi II, etc. While there are some links between the stories of the polities, in general, these polities are relatively independent of each other, so readers may choose to read the stories of each polity separately. Each chapter also has a list of locations of interest relevant to the chapter so that a traveller can work out an itinerary for the visits.

Convention and references

As a matter of convention, I use the local spelling for names of people and locations in their respective countries. Vietnamese names and places are written with accents; Pinyin Chinese is used rather than Wade-Giles Chinese. For example: Giao Chỉ instead of Jiaozhi, Guangdong instead of Quảng Đông, Shi Xie and not Sĩ Nhiếp. I have applied this convention where possible, but there are exceptions, such as Vietnam instead of Việt Nam and Hanoi instead of Hà Nội since these names are very familiar to readers in either language. Similarly, I use Linyi instead of Lâm Ấp and Champa instead of Chiêm Thành, as these are terms English readers more familiar with. However, to assist those readers more familiar with the names in Vietnamese, I have included a translation list in Appendix 3. As to official titles, to avoid confusion, given there are several English translations of the Chinese originals, I have opted to keep Pinyin Chinese where applicable, e.g. cishi and taishou instead of Inspector and Governor.

The written language of Linyi, Funan, and Zhenla is Sanskrit – as well as Chamic and Khmer – so where possible, I have reproduced the names with the Sanskrit alphabet as given in the references.³ For example, Mahārāja instead of Maharaja.

Similarly, these kingdoms adopted the Indian Śaka calendar when year 0 in this calendar was year 78 in CE (Common Era). We can thus derive the CE year by adding 78 to the Śaka year when the latter is clearly stated on the artefact. However, when it is not, and an estimate has to be made of the age, it can be problematic. This is because a fifth century Śaka could be a fifth or sixth century CE depending on whether the estimate is in the early or late of the Śaka century. To avoid confusion, I have not made the conversion in such cases.

The dates mentioned in Chinese and early Vietnamese texts are based on the lunar calendar, which is 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. To avoid any inaccuracy in the conversion, I have used the lunar dates as noted in the original texts. However, as a rough estimate, a lunar month is one month behind; for example, March 2022 is the second lunar month of the same year.

As to references, I have included both English and Vietnamese sources, acknowledging that the latter would mean little to those who do not read the language, but I would be remiss not to include them as there are readers who may and do find these helpful.

The Appendixes and End Notes provide many details and reference sources I have used to construct the stories. Such information may not appeal to the average reader, but others may wish to look them up for their research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank my wife, Mỹ Thành, my son, Sonla Pham, and my daughter Mai-Linh Pham, who have each given me much encouragement and support for this book. I am grateful to Biện Công Danh, Nguyễn Minh Long, Nguyễn Lê Việt Dũng, Võ Phú Thanh and Chris Hawley who have taken time out of their busy lives to read and comment on my draft. I am also grateful for the editing by Paul Litterick and the encouragement of Phạm Phan Long and Dương Vân Tuyết. My thanks also go to Nguyễn Hải Yến, Nguyễn Văn Thăng and Nguyễn Phạm Phúc Nhân for their help with the site visits. My appreciation also to Google Maps for their permission to use.

CHAPTER 1

A SUMMARY OF THIS BOOK

Volume One, "The Bronze Drums and The Earrings", of this book series tells the stories of the ancient Vietnamese: the Lac people in the northern part of the country and the Sa Huỳnh people in the central region. They were independent people until the Lạc fell under the rule of the Han dynasty in 111 BCE. Meanwhile, the Sa Huỳnh people went on to establish Linyi at the end of the second century.¹ This book, Volume Two, continues the stories of how both people evolved over the following one thousand years to the 10th century until the Lạc were able to rule themselves again; Linyi then became Huanwang in the eighth century and Champa from the ninth century. It also tells the stories of the people who lived in southern Vietnam around the Mekong Delta and how their history developed over this period.

For centuries, the people of these kingdoms inhabited the land south of Ngang pass, around 60 per cent of the area of Vietnam, but most people either have not heard or only possessed a vague idea about them.² I hope my contribution to the subject will aid in filling a vacuum that a prominent 20th-century Vietnamese historian, Phan Huy Lê, lamented regarding the number of people who asked him when the history of southern Vietnam began, who resided there before the Vietnamese migrated south, and how such histories relate to the history of Vietnam.³

1.1 – Three regions and four polities

During the thousand-year period covered in this volume, modern Vietnam existed in three/four separate polities: that north of Ngang pass was ruled by different Chinese dynasties; the land south of Ngang pass, from at least the third century to possibly Nha Trang, belonged to Linyi and its successors. Further south, from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the region was under the successive rule of Funan and Zhenla kingdoms. Zhenla then fell under the control of the Khmer (or Angkorian) empire from the ninth to the 15th centuries. Since the stories of Funan, Zhenla and Khmer are also parts of the history of Cambodia, to keep them within the scope of this book, I will limit my narrative to locations within the Vietnamese border with Cambodia.

The approximate locations of these kingdoms are marked in Figure 2. I have not included Zhenla in this figure as it did not exist at the same time as Funan. However, Zhenla was where Funan is shown but also extended to most of eastern Cambodia, including southern Laos. Similarly, I have not shown the extent of Funan, which reaches south Cambodia and the Malay Peninsula.

This book is about the stories, historic locations and associated polities in these three regions. Over the thousand years, the region north of Ngang pass had several names at different times covered by this book: Giao Chỉ, Giao Châu, and An Nam. In this book, for simplicity, I have used Giao Châu in the title to represent both Giao Chỉ and An Nam, acknowledging it is not strictly correct: the names were different at different times, as discussed in Appendix 4. I should also point out that the name An Nam (or Annan in Pinyin Chinese which means Pacified South) used in the following chapters is not the same as Annam, used during the French colonial period to designate central Vietnam.

Until I began research for this volume, my knowledge of the polities south of Ngang pass was sketchy; in my school history lessons, these polities were treated as foreign countries with minimal impact on Vietnam. Now that I have had the opportunity to study the subject more closely, it has become clear to me that these kingdoms are as important to the understanding of Vietnamese history as the battle of the Bạch Đằng river in 938, where Ngô Quyền defeated an armada from Southern Han and established an independent nation. I have therefore devoted a few chapters to these kingdoms, which were roughly located in central and south Vietnam.

Figure 2 – Indicative positions of Giao Châu, Linyi, and Funan on the map of Vietnam (offshore islands not shown).⁴

I have set out this book – broadly in chronological order – from the first century to the 10th, beginning with the fall of Nan-yue to the Former Han dynasty in 111 BCE to the battle of the Bạch Đằng river by the coastal city of Hải Phòng in 938. Nan-yue was a kingdom that once included southern China, and northern Vietnam, extending as far south as Hải Vân pass. Its story is discussed in my Volume One.

GIAO CHÂU

Over the thousand-year period, there were a number of rebellions against the northern rulers. The major revolts were the Trưng sisters in the first century, Lady Triệu in the third, the Lý in the sixth, the Black Emperor in the eighth, the Great Father and Mother King also in the eighth, and culminating in Ngô Quyền’s victorious naval battle in the 10th century. Historians have mentioned two other rebellions of Lý Tự Tiên - Đinh Kiến (687) and Dương Thanh (819-820) in the official list of revolts against Northern Rule, but I have not described them in detail as they were relatively obscure and not related to any significant landmarks.⁵,⁶

These rebellions are discussed in Chapters 2, 3, 11 and 12.

Buddhism came from India to Vietnam in the second century at a place named Luy Lâu east of Hanoi. The story of Luy Lâu or Long Biên and the early monks is recounted in Chapter 3.

In the ninth century, northern Vietnam was invaded by troops from Nanzhao, a kingdom located in modern Yunnan province of China, northwest of the border between Vietnam and China – an event that, to some historians, prompted an avalanche of rebellions that brought down the Tang dynasty (618-906) in China, and accelerated Vietnam’s independence. Like Linyi and Funan, this war has been cursorily covered by Vietnamese historians, but I found it fascinating, so I have therefore allocated a few pages in Chapter 14 to discuss it, including an eyewitness account.

Between stories of rebellions, I include older maps of Hanoi, the current capital, within the narrative. This city has occupied a significant role in the historical development of Vietnam, beginning in the middle of the sixth century, and a discussion of its evolution aids us in gaining a deeper understanding of Vietnamese history. I have devoted significant time tracing the city’s development through the use of maps so that a traveller can explore its history, from at least the sixth to the 10th centuries. The story of this city, which I term a ‘City of Lakes’, is told in Chapter 13.

Events that led the Lạc people to move out of the Northern Rule and ushered in an independent Vietnam are described in Chapters 15 and 16, including the battle of the Bạch Đằng river in 938.

LINYI

South of Ngang pass, the stories of the kingdom of Linyi – founded at the end of the second century – and its kings, the Fans, particularly the bloodthirsty Fan Wen, are described in some detail in Chapter 4. Places associated with Linyi such as Thành Lồi, Cao Lao Hạ, Trà Kiệu and Mỹ Sơn are also included. Sadly, one of the most famous cities in Linyi history, Khu Túc, remained elusive to historians despite their best attempts to unearth traces of the past. The results of my attempt, using the mathematics of gnomon measurements recorded in Chinese annals related to Khu Túc, are explained in Appendix 11.

The Fans lineage ended in the middle of the seventh century, and Linyi was no longer cited in Chinese annals from the middle of the eighth century. By that time, another kingdom, Huanwang, had taken its place. The decline of Linyi and the story of Huanwang is told in Chapter 6.

After the year 938, the Vietnamese (the Lạc) began to move beyond Ngang pass and pushed the successors of Linyi, by then called Champa, south. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the Linyi kings and their army of raiders were the aggressors against those living in the northern region beyond Ngang pass. There was also cooperation between Linyi, Zhenla, and the Vietnamese Black Emperor in the revolt against the local Tang’s administration in the eighth century.

Most historians believe Linyi became Indianised around the fourth century when Hindu gods were worshipped and Indian scripts were used; this is demonstrated by a letter from Fan Wen, a Linyi king, to imperial court written in a south Indian script. The names of Linyi, Huanwang, and associated stories only appeared in Chinese dynastic annals. Inscriptions, in both Chamic and Sanskrit languages, engraved on stone steles and rocks found in what is believed to be Linyi territory, do not mention these names, nor those of the Fans.

In effect, we have two sources of information on Linyi: Chinese annals and the inscriptions. The name of Huanwang was recorded in Chinese annals for around 100 years, but from the ninth century, another kingdom appeared in the annals, called Champa. This name was first mentioned in inscriptions made in the seventh century.

The content and location of some of these inscriptions are discussed in Chapter 7.

FUNAN/ZHENLA

Further south, just beyond Ho Chi Minh City, Chinese envoys first reported a kingdom called Funan around the third century. This kingdom left behind many artefacts found in the 20th century. It was overtaken by Zhenla, which in turn was absorbed into the Khmer Empire in the ninth century. The stories of Funan and the associated civilisation, named Óc Eo, are told in Chapters 8 and 9.

Like Linyi and Champa, Funan was Hinduised in the fourth century; like the Chams, the people of Funan and Zhenla left behind inscriptions in Khmer and Sanskrit languages. The stories of these pre-Angkor inscriptions (made before 802 when the Khmer or Angkorian empire began) are told in Chapter 10.

To help those readers who want to take a more in-depth interest in the stories, I have included the names of the governors appointed by the northern dynasties, the kings of Linyi, Funan, and Zhenla in Appendixes 6, 9, and 10.

CONCLUSIONS

One can draw different conclusions from the stories told in this volume, and I have settled on three topics. The first is about the river trips I wish to take, the second is about the inscriptions, and the third is about the question of how the Vietnamese managed to emerge from the Northern Rule and gain independence after one thousand years. The conclusions are in Chapter 17.

1.2 – Story timeline

The 15th-century historian Ngô Sĩ Liên commented on the surrender of the Vietnamese king, Lý Phật Tử, in 602 to the Sui general as follows:⁷

South-North, strong and weak, there are moments. When the North is weak, we are strong; the North is strong, we become weak. The great world is like that.

North refers to the northern dynasties, and South refers to Đại Việt.

From 111 BCE to 938 CE, one thousand and forty-nine years, is a long time in human history. Given that a millennium holds a substantial trove of stories, I have generally followed four-time spans based on the timeline of Chinese history to make sense of this vast period. This choice has been inspired by Ngô Sĩ Liên’s remark, as many major events in Vietnam during the Northern Rule generally occurred during a period of major upheaval in China.⁸ The four-time spans are:⁹

•DYNASTIC UNITY : Former (or Western) Han (202 BCE-8 CE), Xin (9-23), and Later (or Eastern) Han (25 -220).

•DYNASTIC BREAK-UP : Six Dynasties (220-589). ¹⁰

•DYNASTIC UNITY : Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-906).

•DYNASTIC BREAK-UP : Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960). ¹¹

However, it is worth noting that Vietnamese historians typically use the brief years of Vietnamese independence as milestones and thus divide these 1,000 years into three eras of "Bắc thuộc"; first (111 BCE-39 CE), second (43-544) and third (602-939). Bắc thuộc is loosely translated as A colony of the north or belonging to the north.¹² My equivalent term for this period is "Northern Rule".

While I have no issue with such a division as a framework to study Vietnamese history from the first to the 10th century, I have opted for the above dynastic timeline instead. Further, while the stories in this volume include key characters from the rebellions, in my view, the dynastic timeline provides a more useful framework to examine the nature of such events as rebellions and so forth and their impacts on Vietnamese history overall.

Tables 1 and 2 show a summary of this book based on these periods. However, I will limit my stories of Linyi, Funan, Zhenla to the beginning of Champa and the Khmer Empire. The history of Champa will be told in Volume Three of this book series.

1.3 – Mountains in Southern China

Interactions between Vietnam and its neighbour to the north, China, have significantly shaped the history of Vietnam. Many stories in early Vietnamese history refer to locations in China, so it is helpful to briefly address the geography of China to identify these sites. Figure 3 shows the topography of China where the three major rivers flow from its hinterland in the west to the sea in the east; the Yellow (Huang He) river in the north; the Yangtze (or Yangzi) river in the centre; and the Pearl (Zhu Jiang or Xujiang or Xi) river in the south.

Figure 3 – Contemporary China, showing the features associated with Vietnamese history.¹³ Key: 1. Wuling, 2. Wuyi.

The relevant locations to Vietnamese history are mostly located south of the Yangtze river. Those of interest are along the south-eastern coast of China and immediately north of the current border, as shown in Figure 3.

The map shows the border of the two southern provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong; the immediate northern neighbours of Hunan, and Jiangxi. This border is where a mountain range called Nanling (also known as Wuling), literally translates as Southern (or Five) Mountains.¹⁴ This mountain range, stretching some 1,400 kilometres from west to east, separates the Pearl river Basin from the Yangtze Valley, and serves as the dividing line between the south and central subtropical zones.¹⁵

Similarly, the border between Jiangxi and Fujian provinces is formed by another mountain range, Wuyi or Wuyishan, south of Shanghai, which runs approximately in the north-south direction. It also extends in the north-east direction into Zhejiang province. Knowledge of these ranges aids in understanding the stories within this volume.

Table 1 – A timeline of Vietnamese history from 111 BCE to the fourth century CE.

Table 2 – A timeline of Vietnamese history from the fifth to the 10th centuries.

CHAPTER 2

UNDER THE HAN (III BCE – 220 CE)

GIAO CHÂU I

STORY TIMELINE: Second century BCE to second century CE.

STORY LOCATION: North Vietnam.

KEY CHARACTERS: The Trưng sisters: led the rebellion against Su Ding and the Han rulers, Su Ding: Han’s governor of Giao Châu, Ma Yuan: Han’s general, suppressed the rebellion.

LOCATIONS OF INTEREST: Trưng sisters’ temple. Luy Lâu citadel.

Chapter Summary

Our stories begin in the first three centuries following the conquest of Nan-yue by the Han empire and its absorption into contemporary north and north-central Vietnam. The region is shown in Figure 4.

For the first 150 years or so, the Han generally left the local people to be governed by their chieftains, which had been local practice for centuries. However, at the beginning of the first century, the first Han dynasty (known as the Former Han: 202 BCE-8 CE) was overthrown by a major rebellion.¹ The upheaval created many refugees who escaped to the Red River Delta. This pattern was repeated many times in the history of Vietnam until the 18th century. Red River Delta is furthest from the imperial capital, but is accessible by boat using coastal and river routes. During a time of crisis, one might imagine it made more sense for former members of the ruling regime or wealthy elites from the imperial capital to escape by boats to the sea and head south, rather than take the land route to other areas of the empire. This was arguably safer and quicker, with little risk of capture en route.

In any case, historians have suggested the large number of northern refugees combined with the change in policy—the new regime sought more direct control—severely strained the relationship between imperial officials and local chieftains. In 40 CE, the actions of a greedy cishi (Inspector) who sought to make local chieftains comply with new legislation sparked a widespread rebellion led by two sisters, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, or Vietnamese Hai Bà Trưng. Today, a traveller to Vietnam will likely find streets and temples named Hai Bà Trưng in most cities. Other than the legendary Hùng kings, the first kings of Vietnam before the Han arrived, the Trưng sisters are the nation’s foremost Vietnamese heroes.

But the Trưng sisters’ reign was not to last. A Han general named Ma Yuan led a force of 10,000 (or 20,000 as per Appendix 8) who marched down from southern China in 41 and ended their rule. Ma Yuan decimated the local ruling class, taking 300 chieftains as prisoners to China, melting the bronze drums– a symbol of local power – to cast a horse and instigating changes to local laws in alignment with Han laws. Further, he is said to have erected two bronze pillars to mark the southernmost border of the empire. Their whereabouts are unknown, but my research has found that their original location is probably at Chân Mây bay, north of Hải Vân pass (Appendix 11).

There were three administrative centres or provincial capitals in north Vietnam during Han rule. Luy Lâu – also known as Long Biên – remained a provincial capital for nearly five centuries until the middle of the sixth century. It then disappeared from history until it was located on the eastern side of Hanoi by a French resident in 1933. Today, one can spend a day or two wandering its remaining ramparts and visiting nearby pagodas and temples. The two other provincial centres were to the west of contemporary Hanoi: one was at Mê Linh, while the other remains a mystery.

Luy Lâu was a major centre of Buddhism in the northern empire. This story, and that of the Shi family who ruled northern Vietnam and southern China for nearly 90 years, is discussed in Chapter 3. In the same chapter, the rebellion of Lady Triệu in the middle of the third century is also told.

2.1 – Circuit, provinces, and commanderies

One night in the winter of 111 BCE, the Former Han army surrounded and burned Panyu, the capital of Nan-yue, near modern-day Guangzhou, 140 kilometres inland from Hong Kong. By the early morning, Nan-yue surrendered; its chancellor and king fled and were captured.²

Nan-yue was one of several independent kingdoms in the south of China that the Former Han dynasty eventually absorbed into its empire, including today’s Hainan Island. The region was divided into nine commanderies. Four were in southern China: Nan-hai (Guangzhou), Yulin (Guilin), Cangwu (near Wuzhou) and Hepu (near Beihai). Three were in northern Vietnam: Giao Chỉ (Jiaozhi), Cửu Chân (Jiuzhen) and Nhật Nam (Rinan). Hainan island also became part of the Han empire and was divided into two counties: Zhuya and Dan’er.

Figure 4 – Commanderies under the Former Han dynasty as of 108 BCE.³,⁴

In the dying days of Nan-yue, two envoys from Giao Chỉ and Cửu Chân, which once belonged to Nan-yue, submitted to the Former Han general, Lu Bode, and were awarded the taishou (Governor or Administrator) positions of their commanderies.⁵ By all accounts, these officials continued the tradition set during the Nan-yue time, whereby they acted as imperial representatives and left the day-to-day governing of the people to the local indigenous chiefs or Lạc Tướng (Lạc, or Luo, general).⁶

During this time, until around year 106 or over two centuries