An Dương Vương

An Dương Vương 安陽王
Statue of An Dương Vương in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
King of Âu Lạc
Reign	257–208 BC or 208–179 BC
Predecessor	Hùng Duệ Vương of Văn Lang
Successor	Dynasty collapsed Triệu Đà of Nanyue
Born	unknown
Died	180 BCE
Issue	Mỵ Châu
Names Thục Phán (蜀泮)
Father	Thục Chế 蜀制 (in Tày people's legend)

An Dương Vương
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	An Dương Vương
Hán-Nôm	安陽王

Birth name
Vietnamese alphabet	Thục Phán
Hán-Nôm	蜀泮

An Dương Vương (Vietnamese: [ʔaːn zɨəŋ vɨəŋ]) was the king and the only ruler of the kingdom of Âu Lạc, a classical antiquity state centered in the Red River Delta. As the leader of the Âu Việt tribes, he defeated the last Hùng king of the state of Văn Lang and united its people – known as the Lạc Việt – with his people, the Âu Việt. An Dương Vương fled and committed suicide after the war with Nanyue forces in 179 BCE.

Biography

Origin and foundation of Âu Lạc

The antecedents of this figure are "cloudy" since the only information provided by written accounts is his name, which appears to associate him with the ancient state of Shu in what is now Sichuan, conquered by King Huiwen of Qin in 316 BCE. This was also the traditional view of Chinese and Vietnamese historians. However, there are some problems inherent in accepting this traditional view. Many chronicles including Records of the Outer Territories of the Jiao province, Đại Việt sử lược, Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư stated that he was Shu prince (ms. "蜀王子", literal meaning: "son of the Shu king"), but they were unable to describe precisely his origin. Later historians had a more nuanced view. In Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương mục, the writers expressed doubts about King An Dương Vương's origin, claiming it was impossible for a Shu prince to cross thousands of miles, through forests, many states to invade Văn Lang. In 1963, an oral tradition of Tày people in Cao Bằng titled "Cẩu chủa cheng vùa" was recorded. According to this account, at the end of Hồng Bàng dynasty, there was a kingdom called Nam Cương (lit. "southern border") in modern-day Cao Bằng and Guangxi. It consisted of 10 regions, in which the King resided in the central one (present-day Cao Bằng Province).The other nine regions were under the control of nine lords. While King An Dương's father (Thục Chế 蜀制) died, he was still a child; yet, his intelligence enabled him to retain the throne and all the lords surrendered. Nam Cương became more and more powerful while Văn Lang became weak. Subsequently, he invaded Văn Lang and founded the state of Âu Lạc in approximately 257 BCE, proclaiming himself King An Dương (An Dương Vương).

Construction of Cổ Loa Citadel

See also: Cổ Loa Citadel

King An Dương established the capital of Âu Lạc in Tây Vu, where a fortified citadel is constructed, known to history as Cổ Loa. It was the first political center of the Vietnamese civilization pre-Sinitic era, with an outer embankment covering 600 hectares, one of the largest prehistoric settlement sites of Southeast Asia.

The events associated with the construction of this spiral-shaped citadel have been remembered in the legend of the golden turtle Kim Quy. According to this legend, when the citadel was being built, all the work done during the day was mysteriously undone during the night by a group of spirits seeking to avenge for the son of the previous king. The local spirits were led by a thousand-year-old white chicken perched on nearby Mount Tam Đảo. The King then burnt incense, prayed, and evoked the gods to help him. In answer to his plea, a giant golden turtle suddenly emerged from the water, subdued the white chicken, and protected him until the citadel's completion. When he departed, he gave one of his claws and instructed the King to use it as a trigger of a crossbow, with the assurance that with it he could be invincible.

King An Dương commissioned Cao Lỗ (or Cao Thông) to construct a crossbow and named it "Godly Crossbow with Spiritually Luminous Golden Claw" (靈光金爪神弩; SV: Linh Quang Kim Trảo Thần Nỏ), whose one shot could kill 300 men.

War with Nanyue

In 204 BCE, in Panyu (now Guangzhou), Zhao Tuo established the kingdom of Nanyue. Taylor (1983) believed that when Nanyue and Âu Lạc co-existed, Âu Lạc temporarily acknowledged Nanyue to show their mutual anti-Han sentiment, and this did not imply that Nanyue exerted any real authority over Âu Lạc. Nanyue's influence over Âu Lạc waned after relationship with Han dynasty become normal. The army Zhao Tuo had created to oppose the Han was now available to deploy against the Âu Lạc.

Details of the campaign are not authentically recorded. Zhao Tuo's early setbacks and eventual victory against King An Dương were mentioned in Record of the Outer Territory of Jiao Region (交州外域記) and Records of the Taikang Era of the Jin (晉太康記). Records of the Grand Historian mentioned neither King An Duong nor Zhao Tuo's military conquest of Âu Lạc only that after Empress Lü's death (180 BCE), Zhao Tuo used his troops to menace and his wealth to bribe the Minyue, the Western Ou, and the Luo into submission. However, the campaign inspired a legend whose theme is the transfer of the turtle claw-triggered crossbow from King An Duong to Zhao Tuo. According to the myth, ownership of the crossbow conferred political power: "He who is able to hold this crossbow rules the realm; he who is not able to hold this crossbow will perish."

Unsuccessful on the battlefield, Zhao Tuo asked for a truce and sent his son Zhong Shi to submit to King An Dương and serve him. There, he and King An Duong’s daughter, Mỵ Châu, fell in love and were married. A vestige of the matrilocal organization required the husband to live in the residence of his wife’s family. As a result, they resided at An Duong’s court until Zhong Shi discovered the secrets and strategies of King An Dương. Meanwhile, King An Duong mistreated Cao Lỗ, and he left.

Zhong Shi had Mỵ Châu showed him the crossbow, at which point he secretly changed its trigger, neutralizing its special powers and rendering it useless. He then asked to return to his father, who thereupon launched a new attack on Âu Lạc and this time defeated King An Dương. History records that, with his defeat, the King was told by the turtle about his daughter's betrayal and killed his daughter for her treachery before going into the watery realm.

Legacy

Vietnamese historians typically view the main events of this era as having roots in historical fact. However interpretation and reconciliation of the history of the period has been set in, and sometimes against, the history of Soviet interpretation of history. The capital of King An Dương, Cổ Loa, was the first political center of the Vietnamese civilization pre-Sinitic era. The site consists of two outer sets of ramparts and a citadel on the inside, of rectangular shape. The moats consist of a series of streams, including the Hoang Giang River and a network of lakes that provided Cổ Loa with protection and navigation. Kim estimated the population of Cổ Loa possibly ranged from 5,000 to around 10,000 inhabitants.

See also

• Đông Sơn culture
• History of Vietnam
• Hồng Bàng dynasty
• Lạc Việt
• Âu Việt
• Nam Việt
• Triệu dynasty
• Triệu Đà
• Phiên Ngung
• Trọng Thuỷ
• Âu Lạc
• Cổ Loa Citadel
• Tây Vu Vương
• Bách Việt

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External links

• An Duong Vuong Dynasty