Ta thường nghe: Kỷ Tín đem mình chết thay, cứu thoát cho Cao Ðế; Do Vu chìa lưng chịu giáo, che chở cho cho Chiêu Vương; Dự Nhượng nuốt than, báo thù cho chủ; Thân Khoái chặt tay để cứu nạn cho nước. Kính Ðức một chàng tuổi trẻ, thân phò Thái Tông thoát khỏi vòng vây Thái Sung; Cảo Khanh một bầy tôi xa, miệng mắng Lộc Sơn, không theo mưu kế nghịch tặc. Từ xưa các bậc trung thần nghĩa sĩ, bỏ mình vì nước, đời nào chẳng có? Ví thử mấy người đó cứ khư khư theo thói nhi nữ thường tình thì cũng đến chết hoài ở xó cửa, sao có thể lưu danh sử sách cùng trời đất muôn đời bất hủ được?
Các ngươi vốn dòng võ tướng, không hiểu văn nghĩa, nghe những chuyện ấy nửa tin nửa ngờ. Thôi việc đời trước hẵng tạm không bàn. Nay ta lấy chuyện Tống, Nguyên mà nói: Vương Công Kiên là người thế nào? Nguyễn Văn Lập, tỳ tướng của ông lại là người thế nào? Vậy mà đem thành Ðiếu Ngư nhỏ tày cái đấu đương đầu với quân Mông Kha đường đường trăm vạn, khiến cho sinh linh nhà Tống đến nay còn đội ơn sâu! Cốt Ðãi Ngột Lang là người thế nào? Xích Tu Tư tỳ tướng của ông lại là người thế nào? Vậy mà xông vào chốn lam chướng xa xôi muôn dặm đánh quỵ quân Nam Chiếu trong khoảng vài tuần, khiến cho quân trưởng người Thát đến nay còn lưu tiếng tốt!
Huống chi, ta cùng các ngươi sinh ra phải thời loạn lạc, lớn lên gặp buổi gian nan. Lén nhìn sứ ngụy đi lại nghênh ngang ngoài đường, uốn tấc lưỡi cú diều mà lăng nhục triều đình; đem tấm thân dê chó mà khinh rẻ tổ phụ. Ỷ mệnh Hốt Tất Liệt mà đòi ngọc lụa để phụng sự lòng tham khôn cùng; khoác hiệu Vân Nam Vương mà hạch bạc vàng, để vét kiệt của kho có hạn. Thật khác nào đem thịt ném cho hổ đói, tránh sao khỏi tai họa về sau.
Ta thường tới bữa quên ăn, nửa đêm vỗ gối, ruột đau như cắt, nước mắt đầm đìa; chỉ giận chưa thể xả thịt, lột da, ăn gan, uống máu quân thù; dẫu cho trăm thân ta phơi ngoài nội cỏ, nghìn thây ta bọc trong da ngựa, cũng nguyện xin làm.
Các ngươi ở lâu dưới trướng, nắm giữ binh quyền, không có mặc thì ta cho áo; không có ăn thì ta cho cơm. Quan thấp thì ta thăng tước; lộc ít thì ta cấp lương. Ði thủy thì ta cho thuyền; đi bộ thì ta cho ngựa. Lâm trận mạc thì cùng nhau sống chết; được nhàn hạ thì cùng nhau vui cười. So với Công Kiên đãi kẻ tỳ tướng, Ngột Lang đãi người phụ tá, nào có kém gì?
Nay các ngươi ngồi nhìn chủ nhục mà không biết lo; thân chịu quốc sỉ mà không biết thẹn. Làm tướng triều đình đứng hầu quân man mà không biết tức; nghe nhạc thái thường đãi yến sứ ngụy mà không biết căm. Có kẻ lấy việc chọi gà làm vui; có kẻ lấy việc cờ bạc làm thích. Có kẻ chăm lo vườn ruộng để cung phụng gia đình; có kẻ quyến luyến vợ con để thỏa lòng vị kỷ. Có kẻ tính đường sản nghiệp mà quên việc nước; có kẻ ham trò săn bắn mà trễ việc quân. Có kẻ thích rượu ngon; có kẻ mê giọng nhảm. Nếu bất chợt có giặc Mông Thát tràn sang thì cựa gà trống không đủ đâm thủng áo giáp của giặc; mẹo cờ bạc không đủ thi hành mưu lược nhà binh. Vườn ruộng nhiều không chuộc nổi tấm thân ngàn vàng; vợ con bận không ích gì cho việc quân quốc. Tiền của dẫu lắm không mua được đầu giặc; chó săn tuy hay không đuổi được quân thù. Chén rượu ngọt ngon không làm giặc say chết; giọng hát réo rắt không làm giặc điếc tai. Lúc bấy giờ chúa tôi nhà ta đều bị bắt, đau xót biết chừng nào! Chẳng những thái ấp của ta không còn mà bổng lộc các ngươi cũng thuộc về tay kẻ khác; chẳng những gia quyến của ta bị đuổi mà vợ con các ngươi cũng bị kẻ khác bắt đi; chẳng những xã tắc tổ tông ta bị kẻ khác giày xéo mà phần mộ cha ông các ngươi cũng bị kẻ khác bới đào; chẳng những thân ta kiếp này chịu nhục đến trăm năm sau tiếng nhơ khôn rửa, tên xấu còn lưu, mà gia thanh các ngươi cũng không khỏi mang danh là tướng bại trận. Lúc bấy giờ, dẫu các ngươi muốn vui chơi thỏa thích, phỏng có được chăng?
Nay ta bảo thật các ngươi: nên lấy việc đặt mồi lửa dưới đống củi nỏ làm nguy; nên lấy điều kiềng canh nóng mà thổi rau nguội làm sợ. Phải huấn luyện quân sĩ, tập dượt cung tên, khiến cho ai nấy đều giỏi như Bàng Mông, mọi người đều tài như Hậu Nghệ, có thể bêu đầu Hốt Tất Liệt dưới cửa khuyết, làm rữa thịt Vân Nam Vương ở Cảo Nhaị Như thế chẳng những thái ấp của ta mãi mãi vững bền mà bổng lộc các ngươi cũng suốt đời tận hưởng; chẳng những gia thuộc ta được ấm êm giường nệm, mà vợ con các ngươi cũng trăm tuổi sum vầy; chẳng những tông miếu ta được hương khói nghìn thu mà tổ tiên các ngươi cũng được bốn mùa thờ cúng; chẳng những thân ta kiếp này thỏa chí, mà đến các ngươi, trăm đời sau còn để tiếng thơm; chẳng những thụy hiệu ta không hề mai một, mà tên họ các ngươi cũng sử sách lưu truyền. Lúc bấy giờ, dẫu các ngươi không muốn vui chơi, phỏng có được không?
Nay ta chọn lọc binh pháp các nhà hợp thành một tuyển, gọi là Binh Thư Yếu Lược. Nếu các ngươi biết chuyên tập sách này, theo lời ta dạy bảo, thì trọn đời là thần tử; nhược bằng khinh bỏ sách này, trái lời ta dạy bảo thì trọn đời là nghịch thù.
Vì sao vậy? Giặc Mông Thát với ta là kẻ thù không đội trời chung, mà các ngươi cứ điềm nhiên không muốn rửa nhục, không lo trừ hung, lại không dạy quân sĩ, chẳng khác nào quay mũi giáo mà xin đầu hàng, giơ tay không mà chịu thua giặc. Nếu vậy, rồi đây, sau khi dẹp yên nghịch tặc, để thẹn muôn đời, há còn mặt mũi nào đứng trong cõi trời che đất chở này nữa?
Cho nên ta viết bài hịch này để các ngươi hiểu rõ bụng ta."
Chú thích
· Kỷ Tín: tướng của Hán Cao Tổ Lưu Bang. Khi Lưu Bang bị Hạng Vũ vây ở Huỳnh Dương, Kỷ Tín giả làm Hán Cao Tổ ra hàng, bị Hạng Vũ thiêu chết. Hán Cao Tổ nhờ thế mới thoát được.
· Do Vu: tướng của Sở Chiêu Vương thời Xuân Thu. Theo Tả Truyện, Sở Chiêu Vương bị nước Ngô đánh phải lánh sang phương Ðông, một đêm bị cướp vây đánh. Do Vu đã chìa lưng ra đỡ giáo cho vua mình.
· Dự Nhượng: gia thần của Trí Bá thời Chiến Quốc. Trí Bá bị Triệu Tương Tử giết, Dự Nhượng bèn nuốt than cho khác giọng đi, giả làm hành khất, mưu giết Tương Tử để báo thù cho chủ.
· Thân Khoái: quan giữ ao cá của Tề Trang Công thời Xuân Thu. Trang Công bị Thôi Trữ giết, Thân Khoái bèn chết theo chủ.
· Kính Ðức: tức Uất Trì Cung đời Ðường. Khi Ðường Thái Tông (bấy giờ còn là Tần Vương Lý Thế Dân) bị Vương Thế Sung vây, ông đã lấy mình che chở, hộ vệ cho Thái Tông chạy thoát.
· Cảo Khanh: họ Nhan, một bề tôi trung của nhà Ðường. Khi An Lộc Sơn nổi loạn, đánh đuổi Ðường Huyền Tông và Dương Quý Phi, ông đã cả gan chưởi mắng An Lộc Sơn và bị cắt lưỡi.
· Vương Công Kiên: tướng tài nhà Tống, giữ Hợp Châu, lãnh đạo quân dân Tống cầm cự với quân Mông Cổ do Mông Kha chỉ huy ở núi Ðiếu Ngư suốt bốn tháng trời. Mông Kha cuối cùng bị loạn tên chết, quân Mông Cổ đành phải rút lui.
· Ðiếu Ngư: tên ngọn núi hiểm trở ở Tứ Xuyên, ba mặt nhìn xuống sông. Ðời Tống, Dư Giới đắp thành ở đó.
· Mông Kha: tức Mongka, anh của Nguyên Thế Tổ Hốt Tất Liệt, làm Ðại Hãn Mông Cổ từ năm 1251. Mông Kha trực tiếp chỉ huy cuộc viễn chinh sang Trung Quốc và các nước phía Ðông. Ông bị tử trận năm 1259 dưới chân thành Ðiếu Ngư trong cuộc vây hãm đội quân Tống do Vương Công Kiên chỉ huy.
· Cốt Ðãi Ngột Lang: tức Uriyangqadai, tướng giỏi của Mông Cổ, con của viên tướng nổi tiếng Subutai. Cốt Ðãi Ngột Lang nhận lệnh của Mông Kha, cùng Hốt Tất Liệt đánh chiếm nước Nam Chiếu. Cốt Ðãi Ngột Lang cũng là viên tướng chỉ huy đạo quân Mông Cổ xâm lược Ðại Việt lần thứ nhất (1258).
· Xích Tu Tư: chép Xích theo Hoàng Việt Văn Tuyển. Ðại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư chép Cân. Hai chữ gần giống nhau, không biết quyển nào chép nhầm. Hiện nay, chưa có tài liệu nào nói gì về viên tướng này, và việc khôi phục lại tên Mông Cổ từ Hán tự cũng không phải là chuyện đơn giản.
· Nam Chiếu: nước nhỏ nằm ở khoảng giữa tỉnh Tứ Xuyên và Vân Nam ngày nay; thủ đô là Ðại Lý, thuộc Vân Nam.
· Hốt Tất Liệt: tức Qubilai, em ruột và là tướng của Mông Kha. Sau khi Mông Kha tử trận ở Ðiếu Ngư, Hốt Tất Liệt tự xưng làm Ðại Hãn ở Khai Bình, khiến xảy ra cuộc nội chiến tranh giành ngôi báu với em ruột là Ariq-Buka. Năm 1264, Ariq-Buka đầu hàng, Hốt Tất Liệt bèn dời đô về Yên Kinh (tức Bắc Kinh ngày nay), xưng Nguyên Thế Tổ, lập nên nhà Nguyên.
· Vân Nam Vương: tức Hugaci hay Thoát Hoan, con ruột Hốt Tất Liệt, được phong làm Vân Nam Vương năm 1267 với nhiệm vụ khống chế các dân tộc thiểu số vùng này cũng như mở rộng biên cương nhà Nguyên về phía Nam. Thoát Hoan là người chỉ huy quân Nguyên xâm lược Ðại Việt lần thứ hai năm 1285 và lần thứ ba năm 1287-1288.
· Nghìn thây ta bọc trong da ngựa: điển tích lấy từ câu nói của viên tướng khét tiếng Mã Viện đời Hán chép trong Hậu Hán Thư (Ðại trượng phu dương tử ư cương trường, dĩ mã cách khỏa thi nhĩ: Bậc đại trượng phu nên chết ở giữa chiến trường, lấy da ngựa mà bọc thây.)
· Thái thường: tên loại nhạc triều đình dùng trong những buổi tế lễ quan trọng ở tông miếu. Bấy giờ là thời kỳ ngoại giao căng thẳng giữa ta và quân Nguyên, trong những buổi yến tiệc tiếp sứ Nguyên, triều đình nhà Trần nhiều khi phải buộc dùng đến nhạc thái thường để mua vui cho sứ giả. Trần Quốc Tuấn xem đó là một điều nhục nhã.
· Thái ấp: phần đất vua Trần phong cho các vương hầu.
· Ðặt mồi lửa dưới đống củi nỏ: từ câu văn trong Hán Thư (phù bão hỏa, thố chi tích tân chi hạ nhi tẩm kỳ thượng, hỏa vị cập nhiên nhân vị chi an. Ôm mồi lửa, đặt dưới đống củi rồi nằm lên trên, lửa chưa kịp cháy vẫn cho là yên.)
· Kiềng canh nóng mà thổi rau nguội: xuất xứ từ một câu văn trong Sở Từ trừng ư canh nhi xuy tê hề. Người bị bỏng vì canh nóng, trong lòng đã e sợ sẵn, dù gặp rau nguội đi nữa, cũng vẫn thổi như thường.
· Bàng Mông: danh tướng đời nhà Hạ, có tài bắn cung trăm phát trăm trúng.
· Hậu Nghệ: một nhân vật bắn cung giỏi nữa trong thần thoại Trung Quốc.
· Cảo Nhai: nơi trú ngụ của các vua chư hầu khi vào chầu vua Hán ở Trường An.
· Mãi mãi vững bền: nguyên văn chữ Hán là vĩnh vi thanh chiên. Sách Thế Thuyết chép chuyện Vương Tử Kính đêm nằm ngủ thấy bọn trộm vào nhà sạch sành sanh vét mọi vật. Ông từ tốn bảo chúng rằng: cái nệm xanh (thanh chiên) này là đồ cũ của nhà ta, các ngươi làm ơn để lại. Tác giả dùng điển tích này để chỉ những của cải được lưu truyền từ đời này sang đời khác.
· Binh Thư Yếu Lược: tức Binh Gia Diệu Lý Yếu Lược, nay đã thất truyền. Tác phẩm với đầu đề tương tự được lưu truyền hiện nay không phải là văn bản thực thụ, trong đó có vài đoạn chép các trận đánh thời Lê Nguyễn sau này.
· Dẹp yên nghịch tặc: nguyên văn chữ Hán là bình lỗ chi hậụ Các dịch giả Dương Quảng Hàm, Trần Trọng Kim đoán Bình Lỗ là tên đất ở đâu đó vùng Phù Lỗ thuộc tỉnh Vĩnh Phú ngày nay. Ở đây, chúng tôi theo Ngô Tất Tố và Phan Kế Bính dịch thoát là bình định nghịch tặc nói chung.
Chủ Nhật, 6 tháng 1, 2008
Paracel and Spratly
HISTORY OF CHINESE IMPERIALISM IN VIETNAM
Vietnam and the Vietnamese People fought with China for independence for 1,200 years and continue to resist Chinese imperialism even to this day! The reason is simple. Vietnamese people live by the words of Lady Trieu: "I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales in the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused."
208 BC: Trieu Da, a turncoat Chinese general, conquers a domain in the northern mountains of Vietnam. He defied the decadent Ch'in dynasty, built his capital at Canton, and declared himself emperor of Nam Viet "Land of the Southern Viet" which reached as far south as the present city of Danang.
111 BC: The Nam Viet kingdom (spreading from the Red River delta to north of Canton) is annexed by the Han and becomes the Chinese district of Giao-chi.
40 AD: Trung Sisters Rebellion. Lady Trung Trac, avenging the murder of her dissident husband by a Chinese commander, leads the first major revolt against China. She and her sister, Trung Nhi, mustered other restive nobles and their vassals, including another woman, Phung Thi Chinh, who supposedly gave birth to a baby in the middle of the battle but continued to fight with the infant strapped to her back. They vanquished the Chinese in 40 AD and, with the Trung sisters as Queens, set up an independent state which stretched from Hue into southern China.
43 AD: Chinese conquer the Trung Sisters who committed suicide - in aristocratic style - by throwing themselves into a river. The Vietnamese still venerate them at temples in Hanoi and Sontay.
248 AD: Lady Trieu Au launches a revolt wearing golden armor and riding an elephant as she leads a thousand men into battle. Gloriously defeated at the age of 23, she committed suicide rather than suffer the shame of surrender. Like the Trung sisters she is remembered by a temple and by her words of defiance: "I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales in the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused."
The Chinese conquerors referred to Vietnam as Annam, the "pacified south." But it was far from peaceful. Resistance against China persisted. Revolts recurred chronically, and dissident nobles gradually perceived the need to mobilize peasant support. They broadened their movements and stressed that Vietnam's customs, practices, and interests differed from those of China.
542-545 AD: Ly Bon takes action, organizes and leads a rebellion against the Chinese presence in Vietnam. The struggle was a difficult one, not only because of the advantages possessed by the Chinese in men and material but also due to a war with the Champa Kingdom in the south that broke out at the same time. All might have gone very badly, but the amount of oppression endured under the rule of China ensured that Ly Bon had massive public support in Vietnam. As many others would find out, no enemy, no matter how strong, can hold dominion over the common people of Vietnam for very long. Finally, in 544 Ly Bon succeeds in over-throwing the hated Chinese government and established the independent nation of 10,000 Springs (Van Xuan). Using the name instituted by the earlier Trieu Da Dynasty he was proclaimed Emperor Ly Bon of Nam Viet. He established his ruling city at Gia Ninh, at the bottom of Mt. Tam Dao, near present day Hanoi. Once secure in his position as Emperor, Ly Bon launched military expeditions to unite the Vietnamese people. Eventually he secured control of most of the cultural lands of Vietnam as well as the northern Champa territories. However, while Emperor Ly Bon was engaged in battle, in 545 the Liang Dynasty sent an attack force against him. While Ly Bon was fighting in the south Ch'en captured his city of Gia Ninh. The Emperor managed to evade Ch'en's forces and handed most of his authority over to the general Trieu Quang Phuc to stop the invader. However, shortly thereafter Emperor Ly Bon was assassinated by the unpredictable mountain tribes and without his leadership the nation of Van Xuan fell apart. However, Ly Bon's example inspired resistance against the Chinese for many years to come.
602 AD: Chinese rule is now a protectorate, the capital being Dai La Thanh (Hanoi)
938 AD: Ngo Quyen vanquishes the Chinese. China had deployed fresh forces in Vietnam, some arriving by sea. In 938 AD, as a large flotilla of armed Chinese junks approached the Bach Dang River - a tidal waterway near Haiphong, Ngo Quyen resorted to a clever strategem. He ordered his men to drive iron-tipped spikes into the riverbed, their points concealed below the water's surface. Then, at high tide, he engaged the Chinese, his own vessels retreating as the tide ebbed. The pursuing Chinese ships became impaled, and Ngo Quyen turned back to destroy them.
967 AD: Dinh Bo Linh ascends the throne calling his state Dai Co Viet, "The Kingdom of the Watchful Hawk." The son of an official, he had organized a peasant army commanded by urban intellectuals. His dynasty won recognition of Vietnam's independence from China in exchange for regular payments of tribute. The tributary arrangement, which was typical of Chinese relations with other states of Southeast Asia, endured for centuries. The capital moves to Hoa Lu with the Dinh and first Le dynasties.
1075-1077 AD: General Ly Thuong Kiet successfully repells continuous attacks from China.
1226: Tran dynasty comes to power.
1257: General Tran Hung Dao leads the Vietnamese armies to resist the first Mongol invasion. The Mongol armies of Kublai Khan invaded Vietnam who had anticipated their attacks and evacuated the city beforehand. Disease, shortage of supplies, the climate, and the Vietnamese strategy of harassment and scorchedearth tactics foiled their invasions.
1285: Second Mongol invasion. Kublai Khan demanded passage through the Kingdom of Dai Viet (in northern Vietnam) for his Yuan army on their invasion of the kingdom of Champa. When Dai Viet’s Emperor Tran Nhan Tong refused, the Mongol army, led by Prince Toghan, attacked Dai Viet and seized the capital Thang Long (modern day Hanoi). The Vietnamese retreated to the south after burning off most of their crops and facilities. Tran Hung Dao and other generals escorted the Royal Court, staying just ahead of the Mongol army in hot pursuit. When the Mongol army had been worn down with tropical diseases and lack of supplies, Tran Hung Dao launched a counter-offensive. Most of the battles were on the waterfronts, where the Mongols could not use their cavalry strength. Mongol commander Sogetu of the southern front was killed in the battle. In their withdrawal from Dai Viet, the Mongols were also attacked by the Hmong and Yao minorities in the northern regions.
1287: Third Mongol invasion. The third Mongol invasion, of 300,000 men and a vast fleet, was also defeated by the Vietnamese under the leadership of General Tran Hung Dao. Borrowing a tactic used by Ngo Quyen in 938 to defeat an invading Chinese fleet, the Vietnamese drove iron-tipped stakes into the bed of the Bach Dang River (located in northern Vietnam in present-day Ha Bac, Hai Hung, and Quang Ninh provinces), and then, with a small Vietnamese flotilla, lured the Mongol fleet into the river just as the tide was starting to ebb. Trapped or impaled by the iron-tipped stakes, the entire Mongol fleet of 400 craft was sunk, captured, or burned by Vietnamese fire arrows. The Mongol army retreated to China, harassed enroute by Tran Hung Dao's troops. The entire Mongol fleet was destroyed, and Omar, the Mongol fleet admiral was captured and executed. The ground force of Prince Toghan was more fortunate. They were ambushed along the road through Noi Bang, but managed to escape back to China by dividing their forces into smaller retreating groups.
Vietnam is the only nation to defeat the Mongols, who at their peak swept out of remote northern Asia on horse cavalry and conquered China, much of Southeast Asia, Russia, and on into present day Poland and Germany.
1407: Chinese occupation again. Their brief rule was the harshest in their history. Chinese forced Vietnamese peasants to mine for gold and other ores, cut rare woods, and grow spices, all to be exported to China along with elephants tusks, rhinoceros horns, pearls, and precious stones. They drastically imposed Chinese culture, confiscated Vietnamese literature, compelled schools to teach in Chinese, suppressed Vietnamese cults, and permitted only the worship of Chinese gods. They ordered Chinese dress for women and prohibited men from cutting their hair. This last rule was to facilitate the beheading of any outspoken Vietnamese male, who could easily be seized by the hair and decapitated. They even outlawed betel nut. They issued identity cards and collected heavy taxes from all. The Vietnamese undoubtedly will not let themselves be subjected to this kind of rule long.
1418: Le Loi leads Vietnamese rebellion. Proclaiming himself the Prince of Pacification, Le Loi raised the banner of revolt. He withdrew to the mountains near his home and rallied relatives, friends, villagers, and even local bandits to his cause. He taught them the guerrilla tactics that had worked for Tran Hung Dao, who had vanquished the Mongols. The Chinese became increasingly insecure as the insurrection spread. They clung to the towns, venturing out only by day, their big battalions sticking only to the roads. The Chinese adopted a method of defense by building fortified towers along main routes. Gradually, as the balance of forces tilted his way, Le Loi struck at the Chinese directly in 1426, deploying platoons of elephants against their horse cavalry. Fighting in rain and mud west of Hanoi the Vietnamese routed the Chinese. At the surrender, the Chinese recognized Vietnam's independence, and Le Loi generously furnished the Chinese with 500 junks and thousands of horses to get them home.
1428: After his victory against the Chinese armies, with the aid of Nguyen Trai, Le Loi begins the second Le dynasty. Le Loi established his capital at Hanoi. He distributed land to poor peasants, rewarded nobles with large estates, and set up agencies to build dikes, dams, irrigation systems and projects to increase agricultural production. This political structure served Vietnam for the next 400 years until the French disrupted life there in the nineteenth century.
1771: The Tay Son brothers start a rebellion causing heavy warfare in the next thirty years.
1788: China attempts to attack Vietnam once more but was defeated by the Vietnamese army led by Nguyen Hue (Quang Trung) in 1789 at Dong Da (inner Hanoi).
1802: After pushing back the Tay Son with the help of French mercenaries recruited by Jesuit Pigneau de Behaine, Nguyen Anh (the only survivor from the massacre of the Nguyens by the Tay Son brothers) changes his name to Gia Long and starts the Nguyen dynasty. The capital of the unified country is now Hue.
1858-1954: French imperialism (with Japanese imperialism in 1945).
1909- : China comes interested in the Paracel Islands of Vietnam for strategic reasons. At first, it declared these islands had no owner, and eventually declared the archipelago as part of China’s Quang Dong Province.
29/4/1932: France sends official letter of protest to China with evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty of the Paracels. France proposed to take the matter to international court. China objected to this idea immediately.
26/10/1954: Taking advantage of the Vietnamese forces preoccupied in the battle against French colonialism, China sends fleets to occupy Paracel and Spratly archipelagos illegally.
4/1950: China withdraws all of its forces from the Spratly, then the Paracel archipelagos.
1954: Vietnam divided into North and South at the 17th parallel as determined at the Geneva Conference. The North becomes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a communist state supported by China and the USSR. The strict communist ideology began to prevail at the 2nd congress of the Vietnamese labor party in 1951. In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem becomes president of the Republic of South Vietnam with backing from the West.
1956: China launches naval units to the islands and took a portion of the Paracels.
4/9/1958: China declares that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos are within its sea territories even though at that time, South Vietnam had already claimed control over these islands.
19/1/1974: China invades the Paracels and a battle takes place between Chinese and South Vietnamese forces. All of Paracels fell into the hands of China. One warship was sunk, while two others were heavily damaged on the Chinese side. Vietnam also lost a warship with two others damaged, along with the lives of 70 fighters. From this year on, China began to build infrastructure on the Paracel islands including air strip, and conducting military exercises.
1975: Fall of South Vietnam to Communist North.
1976: Reunification officially proclaimed. The country is called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
17/2/1979: China invades Vietnam as a retaliatory act for putting an end to the murderous China supported Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. China was repelled after a month of fighting.
30/7/1979: China releases documents that claim that Vietnam supposedly “admmited” Chinese sovereignty over the islands to the protest of Hanoi on 7/8/1979.
1980: China releases the White Papers with various ill-founded reasons for while the archipelagos belonged to China after Vietnam released its White Papers in 1979.
1/6/1984: China sets up administrative area of Hainan which includes Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
10/11/1987: Chinese forces make their way onto the Louisa Reef in the Spratly islands. China conducted naval patrols and established a permanent base on the Spratly islands.
1-4/1988: Chinese forces take over more features on the Spratly Islands. China and Vietnam ships clashed over Johnson Reef. Chinese forces prevailed and retained control of the area. Infrastructural projects began on these islands by China until today.
5/1989: Chinese forces continue their conquest of more features.
1992: China continued to take control of more features on the Spratly islands.
1994: China signs a contract with Crestones (US) to conduct oil exploration in the area of the Spratly islands.
30/12/1999: 800km2 territorial land along the border line of the two provinces of Cao Bang and Lang Son was annexed by China.
25/12/2000: Hanoi is forced to concede more territories to China. The Vietnamese - Sino Territorial Waters Treaty on Tonkin Bay and the provisions that defined by regulations on fishing between the two countries, indicates that Vietnam's sovereignty is 53.23% and of China, 46.77% over the territorial waters of Tonkin Bay, instead of 62% for Vietnam, referred to in the France - Sh'ing China Territorial Waters Treaty, 1887. This means Vietnam lost to China 11,000km2 of its territorial waters from Tonkin Bay southward to the Spratleys where potentials of sea products, gas, oil reserves are reported.
2004: Chinese boats make illegal incursions into Vietnamese waters 1,107 times (Vietnamese coastguard).
12/2004: China detains 80 Vietnamese fisherment in that month (Reuters).
11/11-31/12/2004: China bring drilling platform Katan 3 into Vietnam's territorial waters to explore oil and gas. The site of the exploration was located 63 miles from the Vietnamese coastline and 67 miles from Hai Nam Island.
8/1/2005: Chinese navy fires at Vietnamese fishing boats killing 9, injuring 7 more, and 8 were kidnapped. The incident took place in Vietnamese territorial waters (Gulf of Tonkin), 10 miles west of the nearest border mark of the common fishing area between Vietnam and China.
7/2007: Chinese navy shot at Vietnamese fishing boats and injured 5 Vietnamese fishermen in the Paracel islands area.
16-23/11/2007: Chinese forces carry out military exercises on the Paracel islands.
11/2007: China ratifies a plan to create a symbolic 2.6 million square km county-level city called Sansha to manage three archipelagos, including the Paracels and the Spratlys.
9/12/2007: Hundreds of Vietnamese people, mostly students, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City conduct protests in front of the Chinese embassy and consulate to protest the Chinese decision.
10/2007: China opens tours for Chinese people to the Paracels.
11/12/2007: Chinese Foreign Spokesperson Qin Gang condescendingly remarks: “We are deeply concerned over recent developments in Vietnam which will undermine the friendly relations between China and Vietnam. We hope that the Vietnamese Government would take a responsible attitude and adopt effective measures to prevent the situation from further developing and the bilateral relations being undermined.”
16/12/2007: Second protests take place in these two cities. Other protests against Chinese expansionism into Vietnam took place in France, Great Britain, Poland, Norway and various cities in the United States, etc.. in the days following.
2008 - ? The struggle to resist Chinese imperialism continues.
Compiled by L.D.
Vietnam and the Vietnamese People fought with China for independence for 1,200 years and continue to resist Chinese imperialism even to this day! The reason is simple. Vietnamese people live by the words of Lady Trieu: "I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales in the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused."
208 BC: Trieu Da, a turncoat Chinese general, conquers a domain in the northern mountains of Vietnam. He defied the decadent Ch'in dynasty, built his capital at Canton, and declared himself emperor of Nam Viet "Land of the Southern Viet" which reached as far south as the present city of Danang.
111 BC: The Nam Viet kingdom (spreading from the Red River delta to north of Canton) is annexed by the Han and becomes the Chinese district of Giao-chi.
40 AD: Trung Sisters Rebellion. Lady Trung Trac, avenging the murder of her dissident husband by a Chinese commander, leads the first major revolt against China. She and her sister, Trung Nhi, mustered other restive nobles and their vassals, including another woman, Phung Thi Chinh, who supposedly gave birth to a baby in the middle of the battle but continued to fight with the infant strapped to her back. They vanquished the Chinese in 40 AD and, with the Trung sisters as Queens, set up an independent state which stretched from Hue into southern China.
43 AD: Chinese conquer the Trung Sisters who committed suicide - in aristocratic style - by throwing themselves into a river. The Vietnamese still venerate them at temples in Hanoi and Sontay.
248 AD: Lady Trieu Au launches a revolt wearing golden armor and riding an elephant as she leads a thousand men into battle. Gloriously defeated at the age of 23, she committed suicide rather than suffer the shame of surrender. Like the Trung sisters she is remembered by a temple and by her words of defiance: "I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales in the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused."
The Chinese conquerors referred to Vietnam as Annam, the "pacified south." But it was far from peaceful. Resistance against China persisted. Revolts recurred chronically, and dissident nobles gradually perceived the need to mobilize peasant support. They broadened their movements and stressed that Vietnam's customs, practices, and interests differed from those of China.
542-545 AD: Ly Bon takes action, organizes and leads a rebellion against the Chinese presence in Vietnam. The struggle was a difficult one, not only because of the advantages possessed by the Chinese in men and material but also due to a war with the Champa Kingdom in the south that broke out at the same time. All might have gone very badly, but the amount of oppression endured under the rule of China ensured that Ly Bon had massive public support in Vietnam. As many others would find out, no enemy, no matter how strong, can hold dominion over the common people of Vietnam for very long. Finally, in 544 Ly Bon succeeds in over-throwing the hated Chinese government and established the independent nation of 10,000 Springs (Van Xuan). Using the name instituted by the earlier Trieu Da Dynasty he was proclaimed Emperor Ly Bon of Nam Viet. He established his ruling city at Gia Ninh, at the bottom of Mt. Tam Dao, near present day Hanoi. Once secure in his position as Emperor, Ly Bon launched military expeditions to unite the Vietnamese people. Eventually he secured control of most of the cultural lands of Vietnam as well as the northern Champa territories. However, while Emperor Ly Bon was engaged in battle, in 545 the Liang Dynasty sent an attack force against him. While Ly Bon was fighting in the south Ch'en captured his city of Gia Ninh. The Emperor managed to evade Ch'en's forces and handed most of his authority over to the general Trieu Quang Phuc to stop the invader. However, shortly thereafter Emperor Ly Bon was assassinated by the unpredictable mountain tribes and without his leadership the nation of Van Xuan fell apart. However, Ly Bon's example inspired resistance against the Chinese for many years to come.
602 AD: Chinese rule is now a protectorate, the capital being Dai La Thanh (Hanoi)
938 AD: Ngo Quyen vanquishes the Chinese. China had deployed fresh forces in Vietnam, some arriving by sea. In 938 AD, as a large flotilla of armed Chinese junks approached the Bach Dang River - a tidal waterway near Haiphong, Ngo Quyen resorted to a clever strategem. He ordered his men to drive iron-tipped spikes into the riverbed, their points concealed below the water's surface. Then, at high tide, he engaged the Chinese, his own vessels retreating as the tide ebbed. The pursuing Chinese ships became impaled, and Ngo Quyen turned back to destroy them.
967 AD: Dinh Bo Linh ascends the throne calling his state Dai Co Viet, "The Kingdom of the Watchful Hawk." The son of an official, he had organized a peasant army commanded by urban intellectuals. His dynasty won recognition of Vietnam's independence from China in exchange for regular payments of tribute. The tributary arrangement, which was typical of Chinese relations with other states of Southeast Asia, endured for centuries. The capital moves to Hoa Lu with the Dinh and first Le dynasties.
1075-1077 AD: General Ly Thuong Kiet successfully repells continuous attacks from China.
1226: Tran dynasty comes to power.
1257: General Tran Hung Dao leads the Vietnamese armies to resist the first Mongol invasion. The Mongol armies of Kublai Khan invaded Vietnam who had anticipated their attacks and evacuated the city beforehand. Disease, shortage of supplies, the climate, and the Vietnamese strategy of harassment and scorchedearth tactics foiled their invasions.
1285: Second Mongol invasion. Kublai Khan demanded passage through the Kingdom of Dai Viet (in northern Vietnam) for his Yuan army on their invasion of the kingdom of Champa. When Dai Viet’s Emperor Tran Nhan Tong refused, the Mongol army, led by Prince Toghan, attacked Dai Viet and seized the capital Thang Long (modern day Hanoi). The Vietnamese retreated to the south after burning off most of their crops and facilities. Tran Hung Dao and other generals escorted the Royal Court, staying just ahead of the Mongol army in hot pursuit. When the Mongol army had been worn down with tropical diseases and lack of supplies, Tran Hung Dao launched a counter-offensive. Most of the battles were on the waterfronts, where the Mongols could not use their cavalry strength. Mongol commander Sogetu of the southern front was killed in the battle. In their withdrawal from Dai Viet, the Mongols were also attacked by the Hmong and Yao minorities in the northern regions.
1287: Third Mongol invasion. The third Mongol invasion, of 300,000 men and a vast fleet, was also defeated by the Vietnamese under the leadership of General Tran Hung Dao. Borrowing a tactic used by Ngo Quyen in 938 to defeat an invading Chinese fleet, the Vietnamese drove iron-tipped stakes into the bed of the Bach Dang River (located in northern Vietnam in present-day Ha Bac, Hai Hung, and Quang Ninh provinces), and then, with a small Vietnamese flotilla, lured the Mongol fleet into the river just as the tide was starting to ebb. Trapped or impaled by the iron-tipped stakes, the entire Mongol fleet of 400 craft was sunk, captured, or burned by Vietnamese fire arrows. The Mongol army retreated to China, harassed enroute by Tran Hung Dao's troops. The entire Mongol fleet was destroyed, and Omar, the Mongol fleet admiral was captured and executed. The ground force of Prince Toghan was more fortunate. They were ambushed along the road through Noi Bang, but managed to escape back to China by dividing their forces into smaller retreating groups.
Vietnam is the only nation to defeat the Mongols, who at their peak swept out of remote northern Asia on horse cavalry and conquered China, much of Southeast Asia, Russia, and on into present day Poland and Germany.
1407: Chinese occupation again. Their brief rule was the harshest in their history. Chinese forced Vietnamese peasants to mine for gold and other ores, cut rare woods, and grow spices, all to be exported to China along with elephants tusks, rhinoceros horns, pearls, and precious stones. They drastically imposed Chinese culture, confiscated Vietnamese literature, compelled schools to teach in Chinese, suppressed Vietnamese cults, and permitted only the worship of Chinese gods. They ordered Chinese dress for women and prohibited men from cutting their hair. This last rule was to facilitate the beheading of any outspoken Vietnamese male, who could easily be seized by the hair and decapitated. They even outlawed betel nut. They issued identity cards and collected heavy taxes from all. The Vietnamese undoubtedly will not let themselves be subjected to this kind of rule long.
1418: Le Loi leads Vietnamese rebellion. Proclaiming himself the Prince of Pacification, Le Loi raised the banner of revolt. He withdrew to the mountains near his home and rallied relatives, friends, villagers, and even local bandits to his cause. He taught them the guerrilla tactics that had worked for Tran Hung Dao, who had vanquished the Mongols. The Chinese became increasingly insecure as the insurrection spread. They clung to the towns, venturing out only by day, their big battalions sticking only to the roads. The Chinese adopted a method of defense by building fortified towers along main routes. Gradually, as the balance of forces tilted his way, Le Loi struck at the Chinese directly in 1426, deploying platoons of elephants against their horse cavalry. Fighting in rain and mud west of Hanoi the Vietnamese routed the Chinese. At the surrender, the Chinese recognized Vietnam's independence, and Le Loi generously furnished the Chinese with 500 junks and thousands of horses to get them home.
1428: After his victory against the Chinese armies, with the aid of Nguyen Trai, Le Loi begins the second Le dynasty. Le Loi established his capital at Hanoi. He distributed land to poor peasants, rewarded nobles with large estates, and set up agencies to build dikes, dams, irrigation systems and projects to increase agricultural production. This political structure served Vietnam for the next 400 years until the French disrupted life there in the nineteenth century.
1771: The Tay Son brothers start a rebellion causing heavy warfare in the next thirty years.
1788: China attempts to attack Vietnam once more but was defeated by the Vietnamese army led by Nguyen Hue (Quang Trung) in 1789 at Dong Da (inner Hanoi).
1802: After pushing back the Tay Son with the help of French mercenaries recruited by Jesuit Pigneau de Behaine, Nguyen Anh (the only survivor from the massacre of the Nguyens by the Tay Son brothers) changes his name to Gia Long and starts the Nguyen dynasty. The capital of the unified country is now Hue.
1858-1954: French imperialism (with Japanese imperialism in 1945).
1909- : China comes interested in the Paracel Islands of Vietnam for strategic reasons. At first, it declared these islands had no owner, and eventually declared the archipelago as part of China’s Quang Dong Province.
29/4/1932: France sends official letter of protest to China with evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty of the Paracels. France proposed to take the matter to international court. China objected to this idea immediately.
26/10/1954: Taking advantage of the Vietnamese forces preoccupied in the battle against French colonialism, China sends fleets to occupy Paracel and Spratly archipelagos illegally.
4/1950: China withdraws all of its forces from the Spratly, then the Paracel archipelagos.
1954: Vietnam divided into North and South at the 17th parallel as determined at the Geneva Conference. The North becomes the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a communist state supported by China and the USSR. The strict communist ideology began to prevail at the 2nd congress of the Vietnamese labor party in 1951. In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem becomes president of the Republic of South Vietnam with backing from the West.
1956: China launches naval units to the islands and took a portion of the Paracels.
4/9/1958: China declares that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos are within its sea territories even though at that time, South Vietnam had already claimed control over these islands.
19/1/1974: China invades the Paracels and a battle takes place between Chinese and South Vietnamese forces. All of Paracels fell into the hands of China. One warship was sunk, while two others were heavily damaged on the Chinese side. Vietnam also lost a warship with two others damaged, along with the lives of 70 fighters. From this year on, China began to build infrastructure on the Paracel islands including air strip, and conducting military exercises.
1975: Fall of South Vietnam to Communist North.
1976: Reunification officially proclaimed. The country is called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
17/2/1979: China invades Vietnam as a retaliatory act for putting an end to the murderous China supported Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. China was repelled after a month of fighting.
30/7/1979: China releases documents that claim that Vietnam supposedly “admmited” Chinese sovereignty over the islands to the protest of Hanoi on 7/8/1979.
1980: China releases the White Papers with various ill-founded reasons for while the archipelagos belonged to China after Vietnam released its White Papers in 1979.
1/6/1984: China sets up administrative area of Hainan which includes Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
10/11/1987: Chinese forces make their way onto the Louisa Reef in the Spratly islands. China conducted naval patrols and established a permanent base on the Spratly islands.
1-4/1988: Chinese forces take over more features on the Spratly Islands. China and Vietnam ships clashed over Johnson Reef. Chinese forces prevailed and retained control of the area. Infrastructural projects began on these islands by China until today.
5/1989: Chinese forces continue their conquest of more features.
1992: China continued to take control of more features on the Spratly islands.
1994: China signs a contract with Crestones (US) to conduct oil exploration in the area of the Spratly islands.
30/12/1999: 800km2 territorial land along the border line of the two provinces of Cao Bang and Lang Son was annexed by China.
25/12/2000: Hanoi is forced to concede more territories to China. The Vietnamese - Sino Territorial Waters Treaty on Tonkin Bay and the provisions that defined by regulations on fishing between the two countries, indicates that Vietnam's sovereignty is 53.23% and of China, 46.77% over the territorial waters of Tonkin Bay, instead of 62% for Vietnam, referred to in the France - Sh'ing China Territorial Waters Treaty, 1887. This means Vietnam lost to China 11,000km2 of its territorial waters from Tonkin Bay southward to the Spratleys where potentials of sea products, gas, oil reserves are reported.
2004: Chinese boats make illegal incursions into Vietnamese waters 1,107 times (Vietnamese coastguard).
12/2004: China detains 80 Vietnamese fisherment in that month (Reuters).
11/11-31/12/2004: China bring drilling platform Katan 3 into Vietnam's territorial waters to explore oil and gas. The site of the exploration was located 63 miles from the Vietnamese coastline and 67 miles from Hai Nam Island.
8/1/2005: Chinese navy fires at Vietnamese fishing boats killing 9, injuring 7 more, and 8 were kidnapped. The incident took place in Vietnamese territorial waters (Gulf of Tonkin), 10 miles west of the nearest border mark of the common fishing area between Vietnam and China.
7/2007: Chinese navy shot at Vietnamese fishing boats and injured 5 Vietnamese fishermen in the Paracel islands area.
16-23/11/2007: Chinese forces carry out military exercises on the Paracel islands.
11/2007: China ratifies a plan to create a symbolic 2.6 million square km county-level city called Sansha to manage three archipelagos, including the Paracels and the Spratlys.
9/12/2007: Hundreds of Vietnamese people, mostly students, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City conduct protests in front of the Chinese embassy and consulate to protest the Chinese decision.
10/2007: China opens tours for Chinese people to the Paracels.
11/12/2007: Chinese Foreign Spokesperson Qin Gang condescendingly remarks: “We are deeply concerned over recent developments in Vietnam which will undermine the friendly relations between China and Vietnam. We hope that the Vietnamese Government would take a responsible attitude and adopt effective measures to prevent the situation from further developing and the bilateral relations being undermined.”
16/12/2007: Second protests take place in these two cities. Other protests against Chinese expansionism into Vietnam took place in France, Great Britain, Poland, Norway and various cities in the United States, etc.. in the days following.
2008 - ? The struggle to resist Chinese imperialism continues.
Compiled by L.D.
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