Here's my old project on vietnam hope you can find something on it :)
Vietnam is situated between the eighth and 24th parallel, north of the equator. The shape of the country is long and narrow; it is more than 1,600 kilometres in length with an area spanning almost 330,000 square kilometres. Vietnam has an extensive coastline on the South China Sea and also shares land borders with China, Laos and Cambodia
There are several major river systems, which the Vietnamese people rely on for water, transport and irrigation. The two largest river systems are the Mekong in the south and the Red River in the north. The lower reaches of these rivers fan into large deltas and coastal plains. With their water and fertile soil, these deltas are home to most of the nation’s agricultural production.
Rice is Vietnam’s most significant crop, in fact, it is the world’s second-largest rice exporter. Though rice is grown everywhere, the vast majority is produced in the fertile floodplains of the Mekong Delta.
Vietnamese civilisation
Human civilisation in Vietnam dates back to ancient times. Several ethnic groups have shaped and contributed to Vietnamese society. The earliest human migrations and settlements in Vietnam are thought to have come from the north. Archaeological studies in northern Vietnam have turned up artefacts and utensils of Chinese manufacture.
Vietnam’s broad coastline and accessibility by sea have also allowed frequent visits and settlement from many seafaring peoples, including the Khmer (Cambodians), Malay, Javanese, Indians and others. By its medieval period, Vietnam was something of a ‘melting pot’, containing different ethnicities and languages and great diversity in social, religious and cultural values.
Later, Vietnam’s prominent position in the South China Sea saw it become an important stop for ships plying the maritime ‘Silk Route’ between east and west.
Viet kingdoms
medieval vietnam
Hoa Lu, the medieval capital of Vietnam, in the Red River delta region
Vietnam before French colonisation was already centuries old. During its medieval period, Vietnam evolved into two separate kingdoms: Bac Bo and Champa.
Bac Bo was the northernmost region, named for the Gulf of Tonkin. By around 300 BC, this area had become known as Nam Viet; its inhabitants were called the Lac Viet. They were mostly rice farmers, cattle herders and fishermen, though many Lac Viet were also skilled at bronze working, ceramics and weaving.
In 111 BC, northern Vietnam was occupied by the Chinese Han Empire, which called the region Annam and claimed it as a southern province of China. The Han sent in their own governors, bureaucrats and generals to manage the region and transform it into a Chinese province. These officials demanded high taxes and ordered reforms to agriculture; they also suppressed Viet language and education and imposed Chinese social, cultural and religious values.
Chinese domination
vietnam confucius
The Chinese philosopher Kong Fuzi, or Confucius
This long period of domination led to Chinese belief systems becoming entrenched in medieval Vietnam. The most prominent of these was Confucianism, a philosophy and system of ethics based on the teachings of Chinese philosopher Kong Fuzi or Confucius (551-478BC).
Confucianism was not a religion but more a philosophy and code of conduct; it stressed morality, self-discipline, loyalty and obedience to one’s elders and superiors, as well as humaneness and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. Though not developed for conquest, Confucian teachings about obedience and loyalty proved useful to the Chinese, as they imposed control over Bac Bo.
By around 200 AD Buddhism, imported by traders and travellers from southern India, had also taken root in Vietnam. Several emperors of the medieval period were raised as Buddhists. It would eventually be endorsed as a state religion in Vietnam.
In time, Buddhism became the popular religion of the peasant classes while Confucianism was practised largely by the middle classes, royal officials and the wealthy.
Peasants and feudalism
It was during the era of Chinese domination that Vietnam’s feudal social structure took shape. Most lands were owned by the emperor and his family, high-ranking mandarins or Buddhist monasteries. The vast majority of the Lac Viet lived as peasants, working for and paying tribute to their landowner. Most were taxed heavily and obliged to perform unpaid work on roads, temples or the landlord’s own buildings.
The heavy exploitation of the peasantry fuelled regular rebellions and uprisings, though they were usually small and locally-organised, and thus easily defeated. Rebellions led by warlords or nobles were less common but more successful. Some of these uprisings resulted in the restoration of Viet independence, such as an insurrection led by the Trung sisters (40-43AD). But they were usually short-lived: the Chinese would return in great numbers and regain control.