Hong Bang dynasty

"Hồng Bàng" redirects here. For other uses, see Hồng Bàng (disambiguation).

Hong Bang Period → Hong Bang Dynasty Hồng Bàng
Confederacy, Kingdom
← 2879 BC–258 BC →
Map of Văn Lang in 500 BC.
Capital		Phong Châu (modern Phú Thọ)
Languages		Proto-Vietnamese language
Government		Chiefdom, Monarchy, Feudalism
Historical era		Ancient history, Bronze Age, Iron Age
-	Establishing of the Xích Quỷ confederacy by Kinh Dương Vương	2879 BC
-	Conquered by Thục Phán	258 BC

History of Vietnam

2879–0258 Hồng Bàng Dynasty 2879–1913 • Early Hồng Bàng 1912–1055 • Mid-Hồng Bàng 1054–258 • Late Hồng Bàng 257–207 Thục Dynasty 207–111 Triệu Dynasty 111–40 1st Chinese domination 40–43 Trưng Sisters 43–544 2nd Chinese domination 544–602 Early Lý Dynasty 602–938 3rd Chinese domination 939–967 Ngô Dynasty 968–980 Đinh Dynasty 980–1009 Early Lê Dynasty 1009–1225 Later Lý Dynasty 1225–1400 Trần Dynasty 1400–1407 Hồ Dynasty 1407–1427 4th Chinese domination 1428–1788 Later Lê Dynasty 1527–1592 • Mạc Dynasty 1545–1787 • Trịnh Lords 1558–1777 • Nguyễn Lords 1778–1802 Tây Sơn Dynasty 1802–1945 Nguyễn Dynasty 1858–1945 • French imperialism from 1945 Republic Further subjects Champa Dynasties 192–1832 Historical capitals Prehistoric cultures List of monarchs Country's names Economic history Military history

Hồng Bàng, also called the Hồng Bàng Dynasty, was a period in Vietnamese history spanning from the political union in 2879 BC of many tribes of the northern Red River Valley to the conquest by An Dương Vương in 258 BC.

It began with Kinh Dương Vương and the title Hùng Vương is used in many modern discussions of the ancient Vietnamese rulers of this period. The Hùng Vương was the absolute monarch of the country (then known as Xích Quỷ and later Văn Lang) and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. There are many legends surrounding it, but little verifiable historical information is known about this dynasty.

History

Predynastic stage

Vietnam, a country situated along the eastern coast of mainland Southeast Asia, has had a long and turbulent history. The Vietnamese people represent a fusion of races, languages, and cultures, the elements of which are still being sorted out by ethnologists, linguists, and archaeologists. The Vietnamese language provides some clues to the cultural mixture of the Vietnamese people.

The area now known as Vietnam has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, with some archaeological sites in Thanh Hóa Province reportedly dating back several hundred thousand years. Around 3000 BC, northern Vietnam was a place with mountains, forests, and rivers. Most ancient peoples lived around the Hồng River and the Mã River.

Prior to the beginning of the Hồng Bàng period, the land was settled by autonomous villages. Vietnamese predynastic society was anarchic and did not have any management mechanism. They lived together in groups as tribes. Archaeologists have found many images on the wall of caves which showed the daily living of ancient people. In primitive age, people live in matriarchal society, similar to many others in Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands at the time.

First Hùng Vương

According to the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, more than 1000 years after pre-historical inhabitants (Neolithic), tribal populations grew and spread throughout Vietnam. Near the Hồng River, Cả River and Mã rivers, were 15 Vietnamese tribes. The 15 Vietnamese tribes were the primary tribes at this time. Their territory included the Hồng River to the foot of the Ba Mountain to the foot of the Tam Bao Mountain. An early tribal leader consolidated the other tribes to became leader of the 15 tribes. He declared himself "king" and took the title Hùng Vương, creating the first Vietnamese dynasty known as Hồng Bàng. He is considered a Vietnamese cultural hero who is credited with teaching his people how to cultivate rice. Hùng Vương was the first king in Vietnam (2879 BC) and the founding father of the country. King Hùng has named his Kingdom "Văn Lang" (that means Vietnam in the present), and set up the capital at Phong Châu (Việt Trì, Phu Tho Province) on the cross-point of three rivers where the Red River Delta begins from the foot of mountains.

Rule was passed to Hùng Vương's male heirs which formed the Hùng Dynasty. The Hồng Bàng period consisted of 18 successive lines of kings (although only names of the first king of each line were recovered). Numerous wars were fought in the late period of the dynasty.

The Hùng Vương era was thriving along with the water-rice civilization in the Red River Delta, at the mid-Bronze Age.

Early Hồng Bàng

The process of making silk has had been known by the Vietnamese since 2000 BC.

Final moments

Main articles: Hùng Duệ Vương, Cao Lỗ, and An Dương Vương

The Hùng Dynasty was dethroned in the middle of the third century BC on the advent of the military leader Thục Phán's conquest of Văn Lang. Thục Phán (An Dương Vương), the ruler of the neighboring upland Âu Việt tribes, overthrew the last Hùng Vương in 258 BC. After conquered Văn Lang, Thục Phán united the Lạc Việt tribes with the Âu Việt ones to form a new kingdom of Âu Lạc, building his capital and citadel at Cổ Loa, thirty-five kilometers north of present-day Hanoi.

Government and economy

Organization

The first Hùng Vương (English: Hùng King) established the first Vietnamese state in responding the needs of co-operation in constructing hydraulic systems, and in struggle against the enemies. This is a very primitive form of a State with the Hùng Vương on top, under him is a Court consisted of advisors - the Lạc Hầu. The country composes of 15 Bộ (region), each ruled by a Lạc Tướng, usually Lạc Tướng was a member of Hùng Vương's family. Bộ comprised the agricultural hamlets and villages based on a matriarchal clan relationship and headed by Bộ Chính (usually a male tribal elder).

The east border of the country was to the Pacific Ocean, the north to Dongting Lake, and the south to present-day Hà Tĩnh Province, that including modern Kwangsi, Kwangtung, and Northern Vietnam.

Agriculture

The economy was based mainly on rice paddy cultivation, and in addition were handicrafts, hunting and gathering, husbandry and fishing. Especially, the skill of bronze casting was at high level. The famous relics are Đông Sơn Bronze Drums on which depicted house models, clothing, custom, habits, and cultural activities of the Hùng era.

The Hùng Vươngs ruled Văn Lang in feudal fashion with the aid of the Lạc Tướng, who controlled the communal settlements around each irrigated area, organized construction and maintenance of the dikes, and regulated the supply of water. Besides cultivating rice, the people of Văn Lang grew other grains and beans and raised stock, mainly buffaloes, chickens, and pigs. Pottery-making and bamboo-working were highly developed crafts, as were basketry, leather-working, and the weaving of hemp, jute, and silk. Both transport and communication were provided by dugout canoes, which plied the network of rivers and canals.

Culture

Art

Pottery

The time between the end of the third millennium and the middle of the first millennium BC contained the increasingly sophisticated pottery of the pre-Dong Son cultures of northern Viet Nam and the pre-Sa Huỳnh cultures of southern Viet Nam. This period saw the appearance of wheel-made pottery, although the use of the paddle and anvil remained significant in manufacture. Vessel surfaces are usually smooth, often polished, and red slipping is common. Cord-marking is present in all cultures and forms a fairly high percentage of sherdage. Complex incised decoration also developed with rich ornamental designs, and it is on the basis of incised decoration that Vietnamese archaeologists distinguish the different cultures and phases one from another.

The pottery from the successive cultural developments in the Red River Valley is the most well known. Vietnamese archaeologists here discern three pre-Dong Son cultures: Phùng Nguyên, Đồng Đậu, and Gò Mun. The pottery of these three cultures, despite the use of different decorative styles, has features that suggest a continuity of cultural development in the Red River Valley. In the Ma River Valley in Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnamese archaeologists also recognize three pre-Dong Son periods of cultural development: Con Chan Tien, Dong Khoi (Bai Man) and Quy Chu. In the areas stretching from the Red to the Lam river valleys, all the local cultures eventually developed into the Đông Sơn culture, which expanded over an area much larger than that of any previous culture and Vietnamese archaeologists believe that it had multiple regional sources. For instance, while Đông Sơn bronzes are much the same in different regions of northern Viet Nam, the regional characters of the pottery are fairly marked. On the whole, Đông Sơn pottery has a high firing temperature and is varied in form, but decorative patterns are much reduced in comparison with preceding periods, and consist mainly of impressions from cord-wrapped or carved paddles. Incised decoration is virtually absent.

Late ancient Vietnamese pottery bears many features akin to those of other pottery complexes in Mainland and Maritime Southeast Asia. For instance, the decorative style peculiar to the Phung Nguyen pottery (small regular punctations impressed by combs or roulettes within incised lines) also occurs at the site of Gua Cha in West Malaysia and at Samrong Sen in Cambodia. A number of vessels from Non Nok Tha in Thailand are also close to the Phung Nguyen pottery in decorative style and motif. The patterns which occur in other pottery complexes in Viet Nam, such as Go Mun, Hoa Loc, and early Dong Nai, are also paralleled in other Southeast Asian sites including Samrong Sen, Mlu Prei and Laang Spean in Cambodia, Kalumpang in Sulawesi, and Tres Reyes and Batungan in the Philippines. In terms of vessel shape there are also similarities between late ancient Vietnamese wares and other pottery complexes in Southeast Asia.

Demographics

Ethnic minorities

Contemporary Vietnamese historians have accredited the existence of various ethnic minorities now living in the highlands of North and Central Vietnam during the early phase of the Hồng Bàng Dynasty.

Technology

Bronze tools

Further information: Đông Sơn culture

Image on the Ngoc Lu bronze drum's surface

By about 1200 BC., the development of wet-rice cultivation and bronze casting in the Mã River and Red River plains led to the development of the Đông Sơn culture, notable for its elaborate bronze drums. The bronze weapons, tools, and drums of Đông Sơn sites show a Southeast Asian influence that indicates an indigenous origin for the bronze-casting technology. Many small, ancient copper mine sites have been found in northern Vietnam. Some of the similarities between the Đông Sơn sites and other Southeast Asian sites include the presence of boat-shaped coffins and burial jars, stilt dwellings, and evidence of the customs of betel-nut-chewing and teeth-blackening.

Canals and dikes

An important advancement occurred by the 6th century BC: the irrigation of rice fields (lac dien) through an elaborate system of canals and dikes. This type of sophisticated farming system would come to define Vietnamese society. It required tight-knit village communities to collectively manage their irrigation systems. These systems in turn produced crop yields that could sustain much higher population densities than competing methods of food production.

List of Hùng Vương lines

There were eighteen consecutive lines of Hùng Vươngs handing down from generation to generation. Eighteen titles of all Hùng Vươngs in each line are as the following:

	Line	Title	Real name	Year of birth	Reign
1	Càn line	Lục Dương Vương	Lộc Tục	2919 BC	2879-2794 BC
2	Khảm line	Hùng Hiền Vương	Sùng Lãm	2825 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Hiền Vương during the period from 2793-2525 BC
3	Cấn line	Hùng Quốc Vương	Lân Lang	2541 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Quốc Vương during the period from 2524-2253 BC
4	Chấn line	Hùng Diệp Vương	Bảo Lang		Many kings named themselves Hùng Diệp Vương during the period from 2254-1913 BC
5	Tốn line	Hùng Hy Vương	Viên Lang	1970 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Hy Vương during the period from 1912-1713 BC
6	Ly line	Hùng Huy Vương	Pháp Hải Lang	1740 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Huy Vương during the period from 1712-1632 BC
7	Khôn line	Hùng Chiêu Vương	Lang Liêu	1648 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Chiêu Vương during the period from 1631-1432 BC
8	Đoài line	Hùng Vi Vương	Thừa Vân Lang	1466 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Vi Vương during the period from 1431-1332 BC
9	Giáp line	Hùng Định Vương	Quân Lang	1375 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Định Vương during the period from 1331-1252 BC
10	Ất line	Hùng Nghi Vương	Hùng Hải Lang	1287 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Nghi Vương during the period from 1251-1162 BC
11	Bính line	Hùng Trinh Vương	Hưng Đức Lang	1211 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Trinh Vương during the period from 1161-1055 BC
12	Đinh line	Hùng Vũ Vương	Đức Hiền Lang	1105 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Vũ Vương during the period from 1054-969 BC
13	Mậu line	Hùng Việt Vương	Tuấn Lang	990 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Việt Vương during the period from 968-854 BC
14	Kỷ line	Hùng Anh Vương	Chân Nhân Lang	894 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Anh Vương during the period from 853-755 BC
15	Canh line	Hùng Triệu Vương	Cảnh Chiêu Lang	745 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Triệu Vương during the period from 754-661 BC
16	Tân line	Hùng Tạo Vương	Đúc Quân Lang	712 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Tạo Vương during the period from 660-569 BC
17	Nhâm line	Hùng Nghi Vương	Bảo Quang Lang	576 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Nghi Vương during the period from 568-409 BC
18	Quý line	Hùng Duệ Vương	Huệ Lang	421 BC	Many kings named themselves Hùng Duệ Vương during the period from 408-258 BC

References

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• Heekeren, H. R. van. 1972. The Stone Age of Indonesia. The Hague: Nijhoff.
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• Mourer, R. 1977. Laang Spean and the prehistory of Cambodia. MQRSEA 3:29-56.
• Peacock, B. A. V. 1959. A short description of Malayan prehistoric pottery. AP 3 (2): 121-156.
• Pelley, Patricia M. Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past 2002.
• Phan Huy Lê, Trần Quốc Vượng, Hà Văn Tấn, Lương Ninh (1991), Lịch sử Việt Nam, volume 1.
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• Solheim II, W. G.
  • 1959. Further notes on the Kalanay pottery complex in the Philippines. AP 3 (2): 157-166.
  • 1964. The Archaeology of Central Philippines: A Study Chiefly of the Iron Age and its Relationships. Manila: Monograph of the National Institute of Science and Technology No. 10.
  • 1968. The Batungan Cave sites, Masbate, Philippines, in Anthropology at the Eight Pacific Science Congress: 21-62, ed. W. G. Solheim II. Honolulu: Asian and Pacific Archaeology Series No. 2, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii.
  • 1970a. Prehistoric archaeology in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia and the Philippines. AP 13:47-58.
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External links

• "Đồ đồng cổ Đông Sơn" [Đông Sơn ancient bronze tools] (in Vietnamese). 
• "Ánh sáng mới trên một quá khứ lãng quên" [New Light on a Forgotten Past] (in Vietnamese). 

Preceded by New creation

Dynasty of Vietnam 2879 – 258 BC

Succeeded by Thục Dynasty