Third Chinese domination of Vietnam

The third Chinese domination refers to the time in Vietnam from the end of the Anterior Lý Dynasty in 602 to the rise of the Khúc family by Khúc Thừa Dụ in 905 or until 938, following the expulsion of the Southern Han invaders by Ngô Quyền. This period saw two Chinese imperial dynasties rule over an area of northern Vietnam roughly corresponding to the modern Hanoi region. From 602–618, this area was under the late Sui Dynasty, under three districts in the Red River Delta. From 618 to 905, the Tang Dynasty became the new Chinese rulers of Vietnam.

Names

During this time, Vietnam was known as:

• Giao Châu (Jiaozhou) (602–679)
• An Nam (Annam) (679–757)
• Trấn Nam (757–766)
• An Nam (766–866)
• Tĩnh Hải quân (866–967)

Revolts

The Tang Dynasty quelled three revolts in northern Vietnam between 722 and 728, using an army of natives pressed into service under the leadership of Chinese generals. The generals were particularly brutal in suppressing the insurrection: one ordered the decapitated bodies of 80,000 scalped and flayed rebels stacked into a pyramid. Although Chinese governors were sent to rule over Annam, a series of local emperors were unofficial rulers under Chinese control:

• Lê Ngọc led a rebellion in the early 7th century,
• Lý Tự Tiên and Đinh Kiến in 687,
• Mai Hắc Đế or Mai Thúc Loan (Mai the Black Emperor) on 722
• Mai Thiếu Đế 722–723? - referred to as the Juvenile Emperor, he was the son of Mai Hắc Đế and ruled only briefly following his father's death and overrun by the 100,000 men strong Tang army,
• Bố Cái Đại Vương or Phùng Hưng 791–799 - called the The Great Father King
• Phùng An 799–802 - son of Phùng Hưng and was defeated by the Tang army,
• Vương Quý Nguyên led a rebellion in 803,
• Dương Thanh led a rebellion in 819–820,

Restored autonomy

Main articles: Khúc family, Dương Đình Nghệ, Kiều Công Tiễn, and Ngô Quyền

Taking advantage of the disturbances in the Tang Empire, a notable from Cuc Bo (in the present-day Hải Dương Province), Khúc Thừa Dụ, made himself governor in 905, and in 906 the Tang court had to recognize this fait accompli. Khúc Thừa Dụ was a rich man who was admired by people, and he pushed out the Tang from the region, but later worked with the Tang to establish himself as the first Vietnamese governor who ended the practice of Chinese governorships in the region.

Khuc Thua Du's son, Khúc Hạo, tried to set up a national administration; in 930 the Southern Han dynasty, which had taken power in southern China, again invaded the country. In 931, however, Dương Đình Nghệ took up the fight and made himself governor. After Dương Đình Nghệ was murdered by one of his aides (Kiều Công Tiễn), the fight was led by Ngô Quyền, who in 938 clashed with a Southern Han expeditionary corps approaching by sea. The Southern Han fleet entered Vietnam via the Bạch Đằng estuary (mouth of the river which flows into Hạ Long Bay) where iron-tipped stakes had been sunk into the riverbed by Ngô Quyền. At high-tide a Vietnamese flotilla attacked the enemy then, pretending to escape, lured the Southern Han boats into the estuary beyond the stakes still covered by the tide. At low-tide, the entire Vietnamese fleet counter-attacked, forcing the enemy to flee and sink, impaled on the barrage of stakes.

The Bạch Đằng victory in 938 put an end to the period of Chinese imperial domination. In 939 Ngô Quyền proclaimed himself king, established the Ngô Dynasty and his capital at Cổ Loa (previously a capital in the 3rd century BC) and set up a centralized government.

References

Preceded by Early Lý Dynasty

Dynasty of Vietnam 602–905/938

Succeeded by Khúc family/Ngô Dynasty