The decisive factor was the Viet Minh Front which led and coordinated all the actions nationwide.

On August 13,  following the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army by the Soviet Army and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, Japan surrendered. The same day, the Communist Party of Indochina, met at a national congress and decided to adopt the following slogans:

- End foreign aggression;

- Seize back national independence; and

- Found the people's power.

Orders were given to combine political and military action to agitate and to demoralize the enemy,  to force them to surrender before an attack, and to focus on the most important targets.

On August 16, the Viet Minh convened a National Congress bringing together delegates from many parties, organizations, and ethnic and religious groups. The congress decided on the following resolution:

"To seize power from the hands of the Japanese and puppet government before the arrival of Allied troops in Indochina and receive in our capacity, as masters of the country, the troops which come to disarm the Japanese".

The problem was pre-emptying the "Allies" (Chiang Kai-shek, British, French and American) who all wanted to occupy Indochina in their own interests.

The Congress adopted a 10-point program:

Seize power and found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on the basis of total independence; Arm the people. Strengthen the Liberation Army;

Confiscate the property of the imperialists and traitors, and depending on circumstances, nationalize it or share it out among the poor;

Abolish the taxes imposed by the French and Japanese, and replace them with a just and non-punitive budget system;

Guarantee the fundamental rights of the people:

- Human rights,

- Right to private ownership,

- Civil rights : universal suffrage, democratic freedoms, equality among ethnic groups, and between men and women;

Share out communal land fairly, reduce land rent and loan interest rates, postpone repayment of debts, and provide relief to victims of natural disasters;

Introduce labour legislation : an eight-hour workday, minimum salary, national insurance;

Build in independent national economy, develop agriculture, and set up a national bank;

Develop a national education system : fight illiteracy, and introduce compulsory elementary education. Build a new culture;

Establish friendly relations with the Allies and countries struggling for independence.

A National Committee for Liberation was elected, with the functions of at provisional government, headed by Ho Chi Minh. He soon made a moving appeal to the nation:

"This hour is a decisive one for our nation's destiny. Let us all stand up and fight tenaciously  for our own liberation. Many peoples of the world are rising up to regain their independence. We cannot lag behind. Forward! Under the Viet Minh banner, let us march courageously forward"

The Liberation Army promptly liberated the town of Thai Nguyen. Everywhere mass organizations and guerrilla and self defense units swung into action. A tidal wave swept the country;  in every village and every town between August 14 and 25, large crowds backed by armed groups laid siege to administrative offices. The local authorities fled or handed power over to the revolutionaries. Most of the garrisons of demoralized Japanese or puppet troops allowed themselves to be disarmed. Only a few cities remained under occupation : Lai Chau, then occupied by a large French column returning from China where it had taken refuge during the Japanese putsch of March 9, 1945, and Mong, Cai, Hit Giang and Lao Cai on the Sino-Vietnamese border, then occupied by Chiang Kai-slick's troops.

In the three major cities of Hanoi. Hue and Saigon, the swift victory won by the uprising was of paramount importance. In Hanoi. pro-Japanese agents trying to stem the revolutionary tide, set up a National Salvation Committee which failed to rally the masses. On August 17, a rally called by the Federation of Functionaries in support of the puppet government was turned into a huge demonstration in favour of the Viet Minh by an enthusiastic crowd. A general strike was launched. On August 19, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the streets, and the puppet government was forced to resign and hand over power to the revolutionaries.

Hue was the royal capital and seat of the pro-Japanese puppet government. The Viet Minh, to avoid bloodshed, tried to persuade Bao Dai to abdicate and his prime minister, Tran Trong Kim to resign. The reactionaries, wanting to hang on to power, were planning to ask the Japanese command for a 5,000 strong guard, but in order to prevent this, the people of Hue and surrounding villages, accompanied by armed groups, took to the streets to demonstrate and occupy various ministries. On August 23, Bao Dai agreed to abdicate, and the Tran Trong Kim government collapsed. On the 25th, a delegation from the people's government in Hanoi led by Tran Huy Lieu received the dynastic seal and sword, the symbols of royal power, from Bao Dai. Bao Dai became citizens Vinh Thuy.

In Cochinchina, on August 14, pro-Japanese elements formed a united National Front.  The king's envoy from Hue, Nguyen Van Sam, asked the Japanese to arm the members of this front. However, he was enable to withstand popular pressure. On August 25, one million people from Saigon and neighbouring areas, protected by armed groups, marched through the city and established the revolutionary power..

The insurrection had won complete victory throughout the country.

The August Revolution of 1945 put an end to 80 years of French colonial domination, abolished the monarchy and reestablished Vietnam as an independent nation.

The revolution dealt a severe blow to the colonial system, and along with other movements throughout the world, ushered in the dismantling of colonial empires.

The August Revolution was characterized by a sound combination of political and armed struggles, one supporting the other, the importance attributed to either varying with the circumstances. It showed the political maturity as well as the capacity for action of the masses and the leadership ability of the Viet Minh Front and Communist Party. Victory was achieved thanks to its leadership that had called for the right action at the right moment, and identified forms of action appropriate to each movement and each locality. It was also the product of long preparation, both political and military, that began at the start of the Second World War, and which ended in creating a strong national union on the basis of a close alliance between the workers and peasants, and succeeded in inspiring the masses with a courage that could be held out against all challenges.

The Founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945-1946)

When World War II ended and Japan surrendered, the Vietnamese were successful in gaining independence in the August 1945 Revolution. President Ho Chi Minh read the Independence Manifesto to declare the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at Ba Dinh Square on September 2, 1945.

French Aggression in  Nam Bo

In the summer of 1945, the French government took a series of urgent measures aimed at re-establishing French sovereignty in Indochina following Japan's defeat. On  August 16, France dispatched the Mass Unit and the 9th Colonial Infantry Division with General Leelere as commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Corps and Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu, a Catholic, as High Commissioner for France in Indochina.

On August 23, French troops, among them Cedile, a delegate from the High Commissioner, were parachuted into Nam Bo (southern Vietnam). On August 29, Cedile made contact with members of the Nam Bo Revolutionary Committee and told them France recognized neither Vietnam's Independence nor its unity. The committee told him that independence and unity had already been achieved, and that the Vietnamese people would not recognize any form of colonial administration. On September 2, during a huge demonstration in favour of independence, French colonialists and their agents, hiding in church, opened fire on the crowd, killing and injuring 47 people.

On the night of September 22, French troops attacked Saigon. The war for reconquest had begun. The Nam Bo committee immediately called on the people to fight back. The slogan "independence or death" appeared every where. On  September 26, president Ho Chi Minh made the following proclamation.

"Let the Government and our people throughout the country do all they can for the combatants and people of the south who are valiantly fighting their lives to safeguard the independence of the homeland."

Units of the People's Army immediately began the march towards the south.

At the end of January 1946, deploying their armored vehicles and navy, the French occupied Nam Bo's main cities and communication routes and those of the southern part of Trung Bo and the Central Highlands. After an unequal fight, the Vietnamese force pulled out of the cities to begin organizing the resistance in rural areas. The main resistance bases were situated in the Plain of Reeds, the Thanh Phu region, Ben Tre Province, the swampy region of U Minh and the western provinces of Nam Bo, Vietnam's central government considered that the main task at that time was to strengthen the resistance in the south as much as possible.

This task provoked incidents in Vietnam's capital city. On  December17, an attack by French troops on Hang Bun Street killed a hundred people. On  December 18, the French Troops occupied the Ministries of Finance and Communications, and increased their provocation in the streets. On  December 19, the French command sent an ultimatum to the Vietnamese government demanding the demolition of barricades, the disarming of self-defense forces, and handing over to French troops of the right to keep order in the Vietnamese capital.

On the evening of  December 19 1946, President Ho Chi Minh made an appeal to the nation:

" Compatriots'

We want peace, and we have made concessions. But the more concessions we make, the more the French colonialists use them to encroach upon our rights. They are determined to reconquer our country.

No. We would rather sacrifice all than lose our independence and be enslaved. All of you, men and women, young and old, what ever your region, ethnic origin, or political opinion, arise to struggle against French colonialism and save the homeland. Let those who have guns use their guns, those who have swords use their swords, those have neither guns nor swords use hoes, pick-axes, and sticks. Let all arise to oppose colonialism and defend our homeland.... Our people will win".

The war of resistance, until then limited to the south, spread across the country. The newly born Democratic Republic of Vietnam was confronted with a decisive challenge, a war against a heavily armed imperialist power far superior in strength in the technical and economic fields.

The First War of Resistance (1945-1954)

The war of resistance against French colonialist aggression which broke out on September 25 1945 in Nam Bo, and spread throughout the country after December 19 1946, marked a decisive stage in an almost century-long struggle to regain the nation's independence and democratize the country. While armed struggle came ahead of all other concerns, economic reconstruction, educational advancement, and the establishing of new administrative structures remained as the major tasks. While national liberation was the prime objective, the democratic objectives were no less important, all the more so since the struggle was led by a party of the working class and the fact that the worker-peasant alliance constituted the very foundations of the united national front.

Dien Bien Phu

Under the leadership of the Indochina Communist Party and President Ho, the Vietnamese carried out a resistance struggle to protect their independence. The victory of Dien Bien Phu ended the Vietnamese resistance war, liberating half of the country.

It was in this revolutionary atmosphere that the Vietnamese command decided its plans for the winter-spring campaign of 1953-1954. As had been foreseen, the fierce assaults launched by the enemy into the liberated areas at Lang Son and Ninh Binh brought poor results, and the French forces soon withdrew after sustaining heavy losses. Throughout the 1953-1954 winter-spring campaign, fighting had been fierce on all fronts.

The defeats at Dien Bien Phu and in the winter-spring campaign completed the French government to sue for peace.

The Geneva Conference

The Geneva Conference on Korea and Indochina opened on   April 26. Eight states participated in the conference: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, France, the Soviet Union,  Britain, the People's Republic of China, the United States, Cambodia and Laos, plus the Bao Dai government.

The principal negotiators were France, Vietnam and China. The US was there primarily to try to sabotage the conference.

The signed agreements included military and political provisions. Militarily, it was decided that the forces from each side would be regrouped into two different zones, north and south of the 17th parallel, so as to separate the armies which, given the special nature of the war, had been interlocked like "two combs". A 300 days deadline was agreed on for achieving this re-groupment.

Politically, the agreements recognized the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the three countries of Indochina. In no way was the demarcation line along the 17th parallel to be considered as a political frontier. In July 1956, at the latest, free general elections with secret ballots would give Vietnam a unified government.

Pending reunification, Vietnam's two zones would refrain from joining any military alliance. No foreign military bases could be set up and no new foreign military equipment or personnel could be brought in either.

Building the initial foundations of socialism and the struggle against U.S. Neo-Colonialism (1954-1973)

The agreement stipulated that the southern half of Vietnam would be handed over to a provisional administration after two years at the most, and that general elections in 1956 at the latest, would give a united Vietnam a single government.

However, soon after the agreement were signed, Washington, with French government consent, set up a neo-colonialist regime in southern Vietnam with specific counter-revolutionary aims: liquidate the national revolutionary movement in southern Vietnam, turn the latter into a military base and colony of the US and set up a military and police apparatus to serve as an instrument for the enslavement of the south and reconquest of the north.

The North was led by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam where the reconstruction of the nation would start. In the South, the war for national liberation was still going on, which lasted for 20 years.

There were three definable stages during the period 1954-1975

- 1954-1965: the establishment of the initial foundations of socialism in the north, and the southern Vietnamese people's struggle against repression and the neo-colonialist war;

- 1965-1973: the all-out struggle by north and south against direct US aggression, which ended with the signing of the Paris Agreements of January 1973;

- 1973-1975: the collapse of the neo-colonialist regime in the south.

The Great Spring 1975 Victory

The General Assault of Ho Chi Minh's Campaign overthrew the Saigon Government on the evening of April  30, 1975.

On May 1, 1975, the workers and citizens of Vietnam, from North to South, were able to celebrate May Day in a completely liberated country for the first time ever.

Vietnam has been unified since that time. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with Hanoi as the capital, was born.

Since Reunification

Faced with French invasion, the Vietnamese side split into two opposing parties, one arguing for compromise and the other for resistance. The king and high-ranking court dignitaries were afraid of the modern weapons used by the French. They were also misled as to the objectives of the French, believing that the French, having come from so far away, were thinking less about conquering the country than of obtaining trade concessions. Moreover, the Nguyen monarchy, constantly suppressing internal revolts, neither wanted to nor was able to mobilize all the nation's energies to oppose the aggression. All this prompted the king and court dignitaries to implement a policy of hoa nghi (peace and negotiation).

The French government sanctioned the decision to conquer Vietnam in 1857. However, due to resistance by Vietnamese patriots, it took the French 30 years to establish their domination over the country

In 1887, in compliance with the decree of the French King, Indochina, consisting of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, was established. At that time, French social and economic policies were expedited on a small scale, and a policy on the exploitation of colonies was imposed on a larger scale at the beginning of the 20th century. French economic and social activities boosted the country in many ways. The French concentrated investments in the mining industry, as well as several other industries. A number of large plantations, apart from rice, appeared and economical crops, such as tea, coffee, and rubber, were developed. Agricultural products were being considered as commodities. These changes in the economy resulted in a division between   the Vietnamese bourgeoisie and  the working class.

The education system was also modified. Three levels of general education, infant, primary, and secondary, were established. The old examination system was abolished in 1915, and schools for training administrative officers in the French style were officially launched in 1917.

The Governor General of Indochina decreed to restructure the mechanism of village organization in 1904. This brought a strong resistance to the French who wanted to create a new class of French style landlords. The French colonialists imposed an austere policy for the working class, especially for tillers, and high taxes were imposed on farmers. The French colonialists practiced a policy of obscurantism.

Vietnamese patriots with different ideologies struggled to liberalize the country. One movement was the Dong Du  led by Phan Boi Chau. Those who followed the policy of raising intellectual standards included Phan Chu Trinh and the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Group. Nguyen Thai Hoc and his fellows were sentenced to death as a result of these protests. Nguyen Ai Quoc (or Ho Chi Minh) founded Vietnam's Communist Party (or the Indochinese Communist Party) in 1930. From this point, Communist were the primary leaders of the national liberation movement.

While seeking to maximize the use of Indochina's natural resources and manpower to fight the war, France cracked down on all patriotic mass movements in Vietnam. Indochina, mainly Vietnam, had to provide France with 50,000 soldiers and 49,000 workers, who were forcibly drafted from the villages to serve on the French battlefront. Indochina also contributed 184 million piastres in the form of loans and 336,000 tonnes of food. These burdens proved all the heavier as agriculture was hard hit by natural disasters from 1914 to 1917.

Lacking a unified nationwide organization, the Vietnamese national movement, though still vigorous, failed to take advantage of the difficulties France was experiencing as a result of war to stage any significant uprisings. The scholars' movement had declined while new social forces were not yet strong enough to promote large-scale campaigns.

The Quang Phuc movement had planned to seize Hanoi through the combined action of patriots within the country and a revolutionary army trained abroad. The secret operation was betrayed, however, and many members of the movement were arrested. Other members joined different organizations, armed themselves with rudimentary weapons, and sought to bring soldiers from the local militia over to their side. On  January 6, 1919, 150 armed patriots attacked the garrison at Phu Tho. Meanwhile, enemy posts in other provinces, such as Nho Quan in Ninh Binh and Mong Cai near the Chinese border, were besieged. However, the attacks failed. The Quang Phuc had the intention of launching a series of attacks against many military and administrative centers in Tonkin, but the plan was not implemented.

Again in Tonkin, on August 31, 1917, soldiers of the Thai Nguyen garrison held a mutiny under the leadership of Sergeant Trinh Van Can, a former partisan of Hoang Hoa Tham, and Luong Ngoc Quyen, a member of the Quang Phuc movement. Joined by many soldiers, the insurgents killed the French commander, seized a large load of arms and munitions, and liberated many political prisoners who then joined the ranks of the combatants. The town of Thai Nguyen was liberated. The insurgents, after a series of discussions, gave up their plans for extending their activities to other provinces. Instead, they dug in at Thai Nguyen in the hope of consolidating their strength. On September 4, the French retook the town, forcing the insurgents to leave. Scattered in the mountainous region around Thai Nguyen, the rebels continued their struggle against 2,000 French troops for another six months.

In annam, the most important event was the call for an uprising made by King Duy Tan, who was enthroned in 1907, at the age of seven, by the instigation of patriotic mandarins and scholars, particularly Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van. The principal forces on which King Duy relied were the soldiers who were gathered in the thousands in Hue and about to leave for France. The signal for the start of the revolt should have been given on May 3, 1916. Unfortunately, the secret was leaked and the French disarmed the soldiers before the day of their departure. Duy Tan attempted to flee the capital but was captured and exiled to the Island of Reunion. Scattered armed groups were rapidly eliminated by the French, and the patriots Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van were executed.

In Cochinchina, patriotic activity manifested itself in the early years of the century by the creation of underground societies. The most important of which was the Thien Dia Hoi (Heaven and Earth Association) whose branches covered many provinces around Saigon. These associations often took the form of political-religious organizations, and one of their main activities was to punish traitors in the pay of the French.

 Connected to these secret societies, a movement led by a former bonze, Phan Xich Long, was organized in 1913. Its members, wearing white clothes and turbans, attacked the cities with primitive weapons. Phan Xich Long was eventually captured and executed by the French. In 1916, underground societies in Cochinchina tried to attack several administrative centers, including the central prison in Saigon and the residence of the local French governor. On the night of   February14, 1916, thousands of people armed with knives and wearing amulets infiltrated Saigon and fought French police and troops who succeeded in defeating them.

The colonial administration, while harshly suppressing the national movement, sought to appease the elite by introducing a few paltry reforms, with promises of important postwar reforms from the more generous "liberal" governors. These promises were never fulfilled. The fact that France succeeded in holding on to Vietnam during the war years was mainly due to the weakness of the national movement. There were of' course patriots to carry on the fight for national independence, but the new and still embryonic social forces failed to give the movement the necessary vigor and direction. Not until these forces had  further developed over subsequent decades was the national movement able to be revitalized.

VietnamTourism.com

Nguyen Anh Gia Long took the throne in 1802 and founded the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Gia Long and Minh Mang, the first kings of the Nguyen Dynasty, unified the country and set up a healthy state. In regards to the internal policy, the Kings Nguyen cleared land for cultivation, encouraging irrigation. In regards to the external policy, kings Minh Mang and Thieu Tri sent merchant ships to trade with France, England, Indonesia, and India.

After achieving victory, Le Loi ordered the confiscation of all lands belonging to Ming functionaries, traitors and Tran princes and dignitaries who had died or left. State land was utilized in part by the administration itself and partly distributed to dignitaries and mandarins. In contrast to the Tran estate owners, the benefiting mandarins could only collect land rent, but not do as they pleased with the peasants themselves, who were subject to the direct authority of the state. Administrative centralization was thus promoted and the status of the peasants improved.

Le Loi in 1429 and then Le Thanh Tong in 1477, regulated and improved the distribution of communal rice fields based on the following principles:

- All were entitled to distribution according to respective title and rank;

- Distribution was to take place every six years;

- Rent was paid to the state and was generally lower than that demanded by the landlords.

The distribution of communal lands had been a practice since far back in time, but it was the first time that the monarchical state had intervened so directly in communal affairs. Given that the area covered by such lands was significant, the regulations resulted in increased production.

The kings Le paid great attention to the development of agricultural production. Lands left fallow during war time were quickly brought into cultivation, while the state set up state farms on uncultivated land so as to, in the words of King Le Thanh Tong, "concentrate our strength in agriculture and increase our potential". Individuals were also encouraged to cultivate virgin lands. New areas were thus cleared, both in the highlands and reclaimed coastal regions. Dykes were kept in good repair and in emergencies, students and soldiers were mobilized in order to repair them. Soldiers and palace staff were sent in turn to the fields to work. Harvests and cattle were given particular attention.

This policy greatly encouraged agricultural production, and no serious famines occurred during the 15th century.

Handicrafts were still a subsidiary activity. However, they were widely practiced, and many villages came to specialize in certain occupations such as silk weaving, wine making, pottery or porcelain making, lime burning, etc. Leather processing was introduced from China. In towns, particularly in the capital Thang Long, craftsmen lived in certain quarters and were grouped in guilds with strict rules. Silver, tin, iron, lead, gold and copper mines were opened.

Royal workshops were run by a special royal department and produced items needed at court, not to be sold on the market. They also minted coins. The personnel comprised craftsmen forced into service and slaves. This did not favour the progress in handicrafts.

The development of trade was encouraged by the spread of regional markets. Le Loi abolished the paper currency issued by Ho Quy Ly, ordered the use of copper coins and had units of measurement (length, weight, volume, and area) and the sizes of certain goods (fabrics and paper) standardized. Foreign trade was strictly controlled by the state; transactions could be conducted only with government authorization and in specified places. Many foreign trading vessels were banned from entering port. This restriction on foreign trade remained one of the main characteristics of feudal monarchy.

Administrative, military and judicial organization

With the disappearance of large estates, administrative centralization reached its peak. The court was reorganized with six ministries; the posts of prime minister and general were abolished, these functions being taken over by the king himself. Provincial and regional administration was handled by the mandarin bureaucracy. Functionaries were appointed to head villages in numbers which varied according to population. The establishment of new villages and the election of notables became subject to detailed regulations. In 1467, Le Thanh Tong ordered maps of all villages and one of the whole country, the first ever to be drawn up. The country was divided into regions (dao), provinces, districts, and villages.

The army, 250,000 strong towards the end of the war of liberation, was reduced to 100,000 and divided into five sections which took turns doing military service and agricultural work. The peasant-soldier system inaugurated under the Ly was thus maintained. Besides conscripts there were also reservists.

The mandarin bureaucracy enjoyed special privileges - land, houses and special attire - but were no longer entitled to own large estates with serfs and have their own armed forces as in the time of the Tran. Members of the royal family enjoyed even more privileges, but not to the extent of being allowed to participate in the nation's leadership or administer important provinces, as had occurred under the Tran.

The legislative apparatus was streamlined to serve the centralized administration and evolving society. In 1483, the Hong Duc Code was promulgated, grouping the rules and regulations already in forte in a systematic way; this was the most complete code to be drawn up in traditional Vietnam and remained in force until the end of the 18th century. Completed under subsequent reigns, it comprised 721 articles and was divided into six books.

The Hong Duc Code sought in particular to safeguard ownership of land by the state and landlords, and ensure the authority of the father, first wife, and eldest son. It also determined the rites of marriage and mourning. The "ten capital crimes" were severely punished, especially rebellion and neglect of filial duties. Feudal and Confucian in inspiration, the Hong Duc Code was, however, progressive in several respects. The rights of the woman were protected; she could have her own property and share equally with men in inheritance. Where there was no male offspring, daughters could inherit the whole family fortune. A wife could repudiate her husband if he had abandoned her for a certain time. All these points were to be suppressed in its most reactionary form. The Hong Duc Code was specific to the Vietnamese society of the time and showed no Chinese influence.

With the first kings Le, Le Thanh Tong in particular, the feudal monarchy in Vietnam reached its peak; for some more time, the monarchical regime and mandarin bureaucracy were to play a positive role in the history of Vietnam.

Ethnic minority policy

Vietnam comprises many ethnic groups; minority groups live in mountainous regions, while the majority group, the Kinh (Viet), are plain-dwellers.

During the insurrection against the Ming, ethnic minorities living in the highlands allied themselves with the Kinh to fight the occupiers. After liberation, the feudalists in the delta resumed their policy of exploitation and oppression vis-a-vis the minorities. The Le monarchy ruled over the highlands through tribal chieftains upon whom the monarchy bestowed mandarin titles. These chieftains collected taxes. Control over mountainous regions was tighter than under the Tran. The Kinh mandarins ruling over the uplands also sought to exploit the ethnic minorities.

This policy provoked frequent revolts among the mountain dwelling minorities, which was for centuries one of the weak points of the feudal monarchy. The Thai of the northwest rose in revolt in Lai Chau in 1432, in Son La in 1439 and in Thuan Chau in 1440; the Tay of Lang Son, Cao Bang and Tuyen Quang also did so on many occasions. In the western part of Nghe An, the head of the Cam family succeeded in holding out from 1428 to 1437.

All these revolts were firmly suppressed by the Le troops. The secession advocated by the rebel chiefs also ran counter to historical trends of the deltas and highlands being complementary economically. But antagonism among ethnic groups was to disappear only with the advent of socialism.

Cultural development in the 15th-17th centuries  

While the plastic arts and architecture made little progress compared with the Ly-Tran period, literature flourished. Buddhism was relegated to second place. Confucianism becoming the official ideology inspiring mandarin competitions and national literature.

Confucianism and the scholar

The high-ranking officials were all Chinese; only subaltern posts were given to "natives". A general census revealed that there were 3,129,500 inhabitants and 2,087,500 man (barbarians) from mountain-dwelling tribes, i.e. a total of more than 5.2 million. But many doubtless evaded the census. "Order" was maintained throughout the country by large military garrisons, joined by a tight network of relays. All opposition was harshly suppressed.

There was a very heavy system of taxation, which included land tax on rice fields and mulberry fields, and a poll-tax. The occupiers held a monopoly over the salt trade. All able-bodied people, aged 16 to 60, were subject to military service and multiple corvee: road-building, mining, pearl-oyster fishing, hunting, etc. In 1419, family records were made obligatory for control over the population.

Thousands of skilled craftsmen and intellectuals were taken to China, among them Nguyen An, who was to become the architect of the Imperial City in Beijing. The Ming also confiscated personal property, animals (elephants, buffaloes and horses) and other valuables.

The people were forced to adopt the Chinese style of dress and Chinese ways and customs. Ming troops sought to destroy all traces of the nation's culture, they burned oconfiscated books that were specifically Vietnamese. This was a true cultural disaster; almost all literary works from before the 15th century were destroyed.

Lam Son Insurrection and the war of independence

Le Loi, a land-owner from Lam Son in Thanh Hoa Province was born in 1385. Before launching the insurrection against the Ming, he gathered about 1000 followers around him. On February 7, 1418 in Lam Son, he proclaimed himself king under the name Binh Dinh Vuong, and began gathering under his banner anyone who oppose Ming domination. Nguyen Trai, a famous scholar, became his closest adviser on strategy and politics. Working together, the two men brought the insurrection to victory after long years of struggle.

At first Le Loi launched guerrilla operations in mountainous area of Thanh Hoa. Although he inflicted losses to the Ming, he often found himself in a critical, even desperate situation. However, his forces held out thanks to the courage of the men, the resolve of the leaders, and the dedication of the officers. Other popular uprisings in various provinces helped loosen Ming pressure on Le Loi. In 1420, his troops were able to camp on the banks of the Ma River and threaten the capital of Thanh Hoa Province. A Ming counter-attack, however, drove them back to the mountains in 1423. But the Ming troops were also worn out, and their command agreed to a truce proposed by Le Loi, who resolutely resisted all attempts to buy him off with promises of riches and honours. In 1424, the Ming again attacked, but the insurgents had time to strengthen their position.

On the advice of Nguyen Chich, Le Loi took his troops to Nghe An and turned it into a resistance base. The insurgents were enthusiastically welcomed by the local people. Fortified enemy positions fell one after another, and soon the whole province was in Le Loi's hands. Next came Thanh Hoa, then provinces south of Nghe An. By the end of 1425, the whole southern part of the country had been liberated, with the exception of the Nghe An and Tay Do (Thanh Hoa) citadels. A vast rear base had thus been created for the war of national liberation. In 1426, Le Loi was in a position to launch a counter-offensive.

The Ming sent 50,000 reinforcements from China under the command of Vuong Thong. Even before they arrived, Le Loi had started his offensive to seize back the Red River Delta. In September 1426, he dispatched three armies northward; one was to interceept Ming reinforcements coming from Yunnan, the second comming through Lang Son, and the last was to march on the capital. Everywhere the people rallied to his banner with enthusiasm, while panic-stricken Ming troops withdrew into their citadels and tried to hold out until the reinforcements arrived.

In November, Vuong Thong's troops joined the Ming troops who had shut themselves up behind the walls of the capital, bringing their strength to 100,000. They thought they were now in a position to counter-attack, but instead they suffered a crushing defeat at Tot Dong (west of the capital) and again had to withdraw into the citadel. The Vietnamese troops had gained control of the area. Le Loi left Thanh Hoa and concentrated his forces round the capital. Vuong Thong proposed a truce. In a letter to the Ming general, Nguyen Trai said that the Vietnamese command would agree to a truce if Vuong Thong were to withdraw his troops from the country, thus "sparing our people the ravages of war and the Chinese troops the sufferings of battle".

But for Vuong Thong the truce was just a strategy to gain time and obtain more reinforcements. While maintaining the siege and eliminating isolated outposts, the Vietnamese Command, on Nguyen Trai's recommendation, conducted a campaign of political persuasion directed at the Ming troops, driving home to them the inevitability of defeat, the strength of the Vietnamese national movement and the vulnerability of the Ming Empire. This seriously demoralized them.

In October 1427, Ming reinforcements came in two columns: one was 100,000 strong and led by Lieu Thang through the Lang Son pass; the other, 50,000 strong, was led by Moc Thanh via the Red River valley. The Vietnamese command decided to destroy the more important army. Lieu Thang's troops, overconfident about their strength, were ambushed and routed at the Chi Lang Defile. The commander was killed and several generals captured together with 30,000 men. The other Ming column was filled with panic on hearing of this disaster and fled in disorder pursued by Le Loi's troops.

After the destruction of these reinforcement, Vuong Thong who was besieged in the capital, was forced to sue for peace. His request was granted by Le Loi, who gave the Ming troops the necessary food supplies and means of transport to get home. It was December 29, 1427.

The war of independence led by Le Loi and Nguyen Trai had lasted ten years. Starting with few resources, the movement had expanded, gradually establishing powerful bases and forces, and eventually destroying huge enemy armies. The command had combined guerrilla warfare with mobile warfare and attacks on fortified position, political struggle with military action, and had shown kindness toward the enemy and avoided pointless massacres. Le Loi, from the land-owning class rather than the landed aristocracy, and Nguyen Trai, a Confucian scholar with an encyclopaedic knowledge, had succeeded in bringing about national unity and inspiring patriotism. As well, they had shown resolve and wisdom at critical and decisive moments. The war was both national and popular in nature and conducted with appropriate strategy and tactics. Never again would the Ming try to reconquer Dai Viet. The following period of peace between China and Dai Viet was to last for over three centuries.

In late 1408, his army marched on the capital, attracting enthusiastic crowds of supporters along the way. Gian Dinh defeated the Ming forces at Bo Co in Nam Dinh Province, but the resistance was weakened by internal dissension due to the murder by Gian Dinh of his able lieutenants Dang Tat and Nguyen Canh Chan, whose sons and followers rallied around another Tran prince, Quy Khoang, in 1409. Starting from Ha Tinh, the movement then spread to other provinces.

Meanwhile, 47,000 reinforcements allowed the Ming general Truong Phu to launch an offensive and push the insurgents back to Nghe An. In 1410, hostilities between the Ming court and Mongols made it possible for Quy Khoang to reoccupy Thanh Hoa; however, in 1411, having defeated the Mongols, the Ming counter-attacked and in 1413 drove the insurgents back to the southern provinces. Early in 1411, the latter's leaders were captured. The Tran princes and aristocrats had proved themselves incapable of providing effective leadership for the resistance, which finally achieved victory under the leadership of a commoner, Le Loi.

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The struggle launched by peasants, serfs and slaves in the later half of the 14^th century weakened the Tran. Ho Quy Ly was descendant of a high-ranking mandarin of the Le family. He was talented and, as his two aunts married the king, he soon became one of the high-ranking mandarins of the Court. Using clever tactics Ho Quy Ly quickly climbed to the highest position in the Court.

Ho Quy Ly reorganised the rank of military officials and grasped all political and military power in his hands. Having founded a firm position, he decided on a number of reforms to rescue the shaky State.

Ho citadel-The famous work under Ho dynasty

In 1396, he had paper money issued and the circulation of bronze coins banned. In 1397, he had the policy on land limits promulgated, stipulating the area of land to be owned by aristocrats, mandarins and landlords. The land in excess would be given to the State.

In the next year, he ordered the measurement of land in localities and, at the same time, reorganised the court examination system, developed education, and reduced the number of monks.

In 1400, Ho Quy Ly dethroned the King Tran and declared himself king. Thus the Ho was founded. In subsequent years, he promulgated policies on the limit of serfs (providing the number of serfs to be owned by certain people in society) and new taxation methods, etc.

Ho Quy Ly also had a new population census conducted to serve as a basis for troop recruitment and labour mobilisation to build projects for national defence. The Ho Court was resolute in opposing acts of aggression of the Ming invaders.

Ho Quy Ly’s reforms had far-reaching impacts on most social circles and activities politically, militarily, culturally and educationally. These reforms, more or less, limited the concentration of land in the hands of the aristocrats and landlords, and weakened the power of the Tran family. The incomes of the central government increased considerably.

However, these reforms did not resolve the imperative demand of the people’s lives and freedom. Serfs and slaves who had been privately owned now belonged to the State. Peasants had to contribute more than before while agriculture declined.

Appanages and domains greatly increased in number under the Tran, when nobles and dignitaries endeavoured to reclaim new lands, then taking possession of them. Some used their power to seize land belonging to villages and individuals. On these appanages and domains, the peasants were in reality serfs, while the lords kept a large number of domestic slaves. The Ly had forbidden the traffic of young men to be used as slaves, but the order was rescinded under the Tran.

The slaves comprised former criminals, insolvent debtors, and prisoners of war. During periods of famine, children were sold by their parents as slaves. Some lords owned thousands of serfs and slaves. These could not own property or gain access to public positions. Under the Tran in particular, the nobles had their own armed forces.

Buddhist monasteries also constituted large domains with serfs and slaves.

The great societal movement for the liberation of these serfs and slaves was to shake the regime to its foundations.

The larger part of the land, however, belonged to the villages, which paid rent and taxes to the royal administration. The village population was periodically required to provide labour for the construction of roads, dykes and canals, and to do military service. Communal land was periodically distributed among the villagers, under the direction of notables, naturally in a manner profitable to the notables.

Land appropriation by individuals became increasingly frequent under the Le; as early as the 11th century, the Ly had to promulgate legislation on the sale and purchase of land. A class of peasant-owners thus appeared to challenge the lords with their larger domains.

On several occasions, the Tran had dykes repaired and canals dredged. In 1382, they ordered the digging of several canals in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, and in 1390 the Thien Duc Canal, now the Song Duong. Dykes were built along the Red, Thai Binh, Ma and Chu rivers, and every year, following the harvest, the mandarins responsible inspected the dykes and directed maintenance and repair work. In August 1315, when the waters rose to a dangerous level, King Tran Minh Tong personally directed the work. A mandarin advised him against such work, saying that "it becomes a king to show great virtue, not to devote himself to small things"; but another dignitary retorted, "When the country is threatened by a major flood or severe drought, it is a king's duty to directly take part in carrying out the necessary measures. This is the best way to show great Virtue".

Dykes were also built along the coast so as to bring new land formed by silt accumulating at the mouths of rivers into production.

With administrative centralization, internal peace and the safeguarding of national independence, agriculture, the cornerstone of the economy, was able to develop further. Historical records note few severe famines. The kings sometimes decreed a reduction in taxes to encourage the peasants.

Handicrafts also saw rapid development. Cotton, silk and brocade weaving reached a high level. Multi-coloured brocades were exported or presented to the Chinese imperial court. The development of silver, gold, tin and lead mining gave birth to numerous metal-working trades and jewelry-making. The state minted copper coins and set up workshops for the manufacture of weapons, religious objects and court attire. Bronze smelting, for the making of bells in particular, and pottery with high-quality enamels made great progress. The bricks, tiles, and ceramic statues made in the Le period were famous.

Printing from engraved wooden plates contributed to the development of education and the dissemination of Buddhist literature.

The development of handicrafts led the Tran kings to divide the capital into districts, each of which specialized in a particular trade. In the 13th century, the capital had 61 districts, each of which was occupied by a guild.

The growing shipbuilding industry was able to produce large junks with as many as one hundred oars. The capital Thang Long became the country's great commercial centre, and markets were established in many places. A Mongolian ambassador who visited the country in the 13th century wrote that village markets were held twice a month, with "plenty of goods", and on the highways a market was situated every five miles. There were also inns established by the authorities where travelers could rest.

Trading between the delta and mountainous regions flourished. The plains exchanging salt and iron tools for forest products. Trade with China was effected at special places near the frontier or the ports. In exchange for fabrics, the Chinese obtained essential bibs, ivory, salt and other minerals. The silk trade was subject to rigorous regulation by the state, which itself sometimes engaged in commercial operations. Japanese and Siamese vessels came to the port of Van Don to buy Vietnamese goods.

In 1280, King Tran Nhan Ton instituted a uniform unit of measurement for wood and textiles.

Commerce thus began to develop, but merchants were not held in high esteem, and external trade was tightly controlled by the state. In 1242, a village administrative apparatus was instituted by the Tran. Up to that time, the royal administration had covered only province and district levels.

The monarchy gave special attention to the building of a powerful army. Serfs were not recruited into the army, and positions of command were reserved for members of aristocratic families, with the highest posts reserved for members of the royal family. There was a special guard for the protection of the king and the royal palace. Military service was extended to cover the whole population except serfs. Conscripts underwent a period of training, then returned to their villages to continue their work in the fields. This peasant-soldier policy made the mobilization of large forces possible whenever necessary. Training was undertaken regularly and, according to a Chinese ambassador of the time, was of a high level. Under the Tran, the princes and lords who owned large domains had their own armies made up of serfs and slaves. The sons of prominent families were trained in the art of war in a military school. Tran Hung Dao, who defeated the Mongols, wrote a handbook on military tactics for the use of his officers.

Glorious Resistance against the Mongols

At the beginning of the 13th century, Gengis Khan, having unified Mongolia, started a war of conquest against China. In 1253, Kubilai conquered the Dai Ly kingdom (now Yunnan Province), thus reaching the Vietnamese frontier. The Mongols demanded passage through Dai Viet in order to attack the Sung from the south (1257), but the Tran refused. A Mongol army invaded Dai Viet, smashed its defences, and seized the capital Thang Long, which was put to the sword and burnt to the ground. The King Tran left the capital, which was also abandoned by its inhabitants. The Mongol army were not able to obtain food and fared badly in the tropical climate. A Vietnamese counter-offensive drove the Mongols out of the capital. In retreat, the enemy was attacked by local partisans from an ethnic minority group living in the Phu Tho region.

This was the first Mongol defeat.

Once they had become the overlords of China, the Mongols grew more and more demanding towards Dai Viet. Despite concession, by the Tran, the Mongol court remained intransigent, dreaming of conquering both Dai Viet and Champa. Relations between the two countries remained tense, and Mongols envoys behaved with arrogance at the Tran court. The Tran were not inactive, but rather made serious preparations for the country's defence.

In 1281, Tran Di Ai, a member of the royal family, was sent as an envoy to China. The Mongols persuaded him to accept his investiture by them as king of Dai Viet. He returned to the country with an escort of 1,000 soldiers to ascend the throne. However, the Mongol escort was beaten and he was captured.

In the meantime, the Mongols had completed preparations for an expedition by sea against Champa. At the end of 1282, a Mongol general, Toa Do (Gogetu), landed in Champa and seized its capital in 1281. But Cham resistance decimated the Mongol army. In 1284, Toa Do began withdrawing his troops, regrouping them in the northern part of Champa near the Vietnamese frontier, and awaiting further developments.

Kuhilai had been making preparations for a powerful expedition against Dai Viet and Champa; under the command of his son Thoat Hoan (Toghan), 500,000 cavalrymen and infantrymen were to rush southward to push the frontiers of the Mongol empire to the southernmost part of the Indochina peninsula.

King Tran Nhan Tong was aware of the enemy's strategy. As early as 1282, he had assembled and consulted all the princes and high-ranking dignitaries on the action to be taken; their unanimous response was to fight. Tran Quoc Toan, only 16 years old, recruited a guard of 1,000 men to go to the front. At the close of 1283, all the princes and dignitaries were ordered to put their troops under the supreme command of Tran Hung Dao. A congress of village elders from all over the country was convened and the following question put to them: "Should we capitulate or fight?" A great cry rose from the assembly: "Fight!"

The Mongols demanded that their troops be allowed to pass through Dai Viet territory for the invasion of Champa. At the close of 1284, they crossed the frontier. The Vietnamese force, totaling a mere 200,000 men, was unable to withstand the first onslaught. Tran Hung Dao ordered the evacuation of the capital and was asked by the king: "The enemy is so strong that a protracted War might bring terrible destruction down upon the people. Wouldn't it be better to lay down our arms to save the population?" The general answered: "I understand Your Majesty's humane feelings perfectly, but what would become of our ancestors' land, of our forefathers' temples? If you want to surrender, please have my head cut off first". The king was rcassurcd. Hung Dao wrote a handbook on military strategy for his officers' use and issued a famous appeal which so inspired his men that they all had "Death to the Mongols!" tattooed on their arms. In the villages placards were put up enjoining the population to resist the invader by every possible means and, if necessary, to take refuge in the forests and mountains and continue the struggle.

In early 1285, the Mongols captured several posts, crossed the Red River and entered Thang Long. The capital was ransacked and its inhabitants massacred. General Tran Binh Trong was taken prisoner. When the enemy tried to win him over he said: "I would rather be a ghost in the south than a prince in the north", and was subsequently executed. The Mongol general Toa Do left Champa to join up with the army led by his colleague O Ma Nhi (Omar). A Vietnamese army under the command of Tran Quang Khai was beaten off when it tried to block his way in Nghe An Province. The Mongol fleet was sailing up the Red River. Many princes and nobles, among them LeTac and Tran Ich Tac, betrayed their country. The Tran court had to take refuge in Thanh Hoa Province. The Mongols controlled the greater part of the Red River Delta and Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, i.e. the majority of the country's territory.

However, in the process the Mongols were forced to distribute their forces among a multitude of vulnerable posts and patrols whose task was to keep communications open. In the first months of 1285, local chiefs in the uplands inficted losses on the Mongols, while in the delta the population, leaving a vacuum before the enemy, denied them all access to supplies and put them in a most difficult position. The determination of the Tran command was thus able to be brought into full play.

From Nghe An Province, Toa Do's troops, harassed by guerrillas, tried to move up the Red River and join the Mongol army stationed farther north. The Trap sent 50,000 men to intercept them, and the Mongols suffered an overwhelming defeat at Ham Tu (Hung Yen Province). Fired up by this victory, Tran Hung Dao's troops dashed towards the capital. Chuong Duong, an outpost 20 km south of Thang Long, was taken. And when the King Tran with his troops left their Thanh Hoa refuge to advance toward the capital, the population rose up, harassing the rearguard of the Mongol armies. Enemy troops evacuated Thang Long and withdrew north of the Red River. The bulk of the Vietnamese forces threw themselves into battle against Toa Do's army, which was crushed at Tay Ket in July 1285; the Mongol general was killed and 50,000 of his men captured.

After posting troops along the route taken by the enemy as they retreated towards China, Hung Dao staged a frontal attack on the Mongol army. As the latter drew back, it fell into ambushes. Thoat Hoan, the Mongol commander-in-chief, escaped by hiding in a bronze cask. By August 1285, the whole country had been liberated, and the Mongol army of half a million strong defeated.

Kubilai was forced to abandon plans for an invasion of Japan in order to make preparations for a revenge expedition against Dai Viet. As the Tran princes sought to recruit new troops, General Tran Hung Dao said to them: "The strength of an army lies in its quality, not numbers". And to the anxious king he said, "Our troops are now better trained, while the enemy, having suffered a defeat, has lost morale. Victory will be easier".

In late 1287, Thoat Hoan again crossed the frontier with 300,000 men while a Mongol fleet of 500 vessels headed for the Vietnamese coast. The King Tran again left the capital. The Mongol general O Ma Nhi sent him this warning: "Even if you fled to the sky I'd go after you. I'd pursue you to the bottom of the seas, to the heart of the forests, if necessary!" The Mongols sought to occupy more and more territory, but found only deserted areas around them. The Yuan (name of the Mongol dynasty) annals relate: "The Chiao Chih (Dai Viet) population hid their rice and fled". The invading army ran short of supplies. Thoat Hoan ordered the capital set on fire, then withdrew north of the Red River; during that time, his troops were constantly harassed by the Tran army and the population.

At Van Don on the coast (near present-day Halong), General Tran Khanh Du kept a close watch on Mongol supply convoys. He caught the enemy fleet unawares, destroyed it and seized the cargoes of food. The enemy was greatly demoralized on hearing the news. The Mongols pillaged the countryside, but the population put up a heroic resistance. Thoat Hoan was told by his generals: "We have no more citadels left, no more food; the strategic passes have been lost, and summer will soon come with its retinue of diseases. We'd better withdraw". The Mongol retreat was effected by land through Lang Son and by sea, the fleet sailing down the Bach Dang River.

Tran Hung Dao used Ngo Quyen's old stratagem, iron-tipped stakes planted at the mouth of the river. General Pham Ngu Lao was sent to Lang Son to guard the mountain passes. Tran Hung Dao himself took the bulk of the troops across the Hoa River (Kien An Province) and launched a big offensive. When crossing the river, Hung Dao publicly swore the following oath: "If the Mongols are not defeated, we will not recross this river".

At high tide, the Mongol fleet sailing down the Bach Dang was engaged by a small Vietnamese fleet which soon retreated. O Ma Nhi's forces were pursuing it when Tran Hung Dao's army turned up. The Mongol fleet beat a hasty retreat, but by this time the tide was ebbing and the Mongol junks broke up on the iron-tipped stakes. O Ma Nhi was taken prisoner and 100 of his junks were destroyed and another 400 captured (April 3, 1288).

Thoat Hoan was terrified on learning the news, and hurriedly withdrew. His troops were decimated during their retreat, the third Mongol defeat. In late 1288, the King Tran wisely sent a mission to China to negotiate, offering tribute to the Mongol court. In 1289, he handed over the captured Mongol generals and officers. The Chinese court wanted more than this formal recognition of suzerainty but its demands were not accepted. In 1293, the Mongols began organizing another expedition but Kubilai died in 1294 and his son Timour abandoned the project. The new ruler established friendly relations with Dai Viet, which continued to pay tribute annually to the Mongol court.

The principal reason for the victory over the Mongols was the strength of the socioeconomic system established under the Ly and Tran, and the successful military policy followed by the Tran command. The monarchy and nobles had promoted the development of agriculture and instituted a peasant-soldier system so that when a war occurred, the whole nation united around its chiefs, each man becoming a combatant. Ethnic minority chieftains in mountainous regions also contributed to victory. National unity became a reality. National consciousness, moulded over the course of many centuries of struggle against foreign aggressors and consolidated by the establishment of stable centralized power had been considerably strengthened. General Tran Hung Dao never failed to seek the support of the population in his fight against an enemy superior in numbers and armaments, and he used appropriate strategies and tactics. He willingly left towns, and even the capital where necessary, avoided combat when the enemy was too strong, resorted to guerrilla harassment, and resolutely took the offensive whenever the circumstances were favorable. The fierce determination of his command galvanized the men.

On a visit to Tran Hung Dao shortly before died in 1300, King Tran Anh Tong asked him, "What should we do in the event of a new invasion from the north?" Hung Dao replied, "The enemy relies on numbers. To oppose the long with the short - therein lies our skill. If the enemy makes a violent rush forward, like fire and tempest, it is easy to defeat him. But if he shows patience, like the silkworm nibbling at the mulberry leaf, if he proceeds without haste, refrains from pillaging, and does not seek a quick victory, then we must choose the best generals and effective tactics, as in a chess game, the army must be united and of one mind, like father and son. It is essential to treat the people with humanity, so as to strike deep roots and ensure a lasting base". Ever since then, the memory of Tran Hung Dao has been honored at the Kiep Bac Temple.

After his victory over the Mongols, King Tran Nhan Tong gave up the throne in 1293, retired to the monastery and together with two other bonzes founded the Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) sect. A doctrinal work from the Tran period, the Khoa Hit Litc, has been preserved with the following lines:

Nothing, is born,

Nothing dies.

When this has been understood

The Buddha appears,

The round of avatars ends.

King Tran Thai Tong, who reigned from 1225 to 1258, described in tile foreword to a doctrinal work how he had sought the monastic life:

"Ever since the king, my father, handed over the kingdom to me, then only a child, I have never been free from care. I told myself: 'My Parents are no long here to give me advice; it will be very difficult for me to win the people's confidence. What should I do?' After thinking deeply, I came to the conclusion that to retire into the mountains, to seek the Buddha's teachings in order to know the reasons for life and death and to pay homage to my parents would be the best way. I decided to leave. On the third day of the fourth month of the fifth Year of Thien Ung's reign, I dressed as a commoner and left the palace. To the guards I said,' I want to mix with the people, learn about their hardships, and know their thoughts'. Seven or eight men followed me; when the hoi hour had passed, I crossed the river then told the truth to the guards, who burst into tears. The next day, while passing the Pha Lai Ferry, I hid my face in order not to be recognized. We spent the night at Gia Chanh Pagoda. The next day, we went straight to the top of the mountain on which the Great Master Truc Lam resided. Overjoyed, the Great Master greeted me with these words:

'The old bonze that I am, who has retired into the midst of forest, whose body is nothing but skin and bone, who lives on wild herbs and berries, drinks from the stream and wanders among the trees, has a heart as light as the clouds and unburdened like the wind. Your Majesty has left Your sumptuous palace to come to this remote place. May I ask you what compelling need has prompted you to make this journey? With tears in my eyes, I replied:

'I am very young, my parents are no longer in this world and here I am, alone, reigning over the people, without any support. I think that thrones have always been fragile and so I have come to these mountains with my only desire that of becoming, a Buddha.' The Great Master replied, 'No, the Buddha is not to be found in these mountains, he is in our hearts. When the heart is at peace and lucid the Buddha is there. If Your Majesty has an enlightened hear, you immediately become the Buddha; why then seek else where?

(The Court came to beseech the king, to return and the prime minister threatened to commit suicide if the king refused).

"The Great Master took my hand and said, ' Since you are king, the will of the kingdom must also be your will, the heart of the kingdom must also be your heart. The whole kingdom is now asking you to return, how can you refuse? There is however one important thing you should not forget when you are back in your palace: studying the sacred books'. I returned to the palace, and against my will, remained on the throne for several decades. In my leisure time I would gather together eminent old men for the study of the Thien doctrine (Dhyana) and of the sacred books, none of which was omitted. When studying the Diamond sutra, I often stopped at the sentence: ' Never let your heart cling to any fixed thing'. I would then close the book, and remain along time in meditation. Enlightenment came to me and I composed the initiation to the Thien…"

It would be naïve to think that during this period Buddhism confined itself to these purely spiritual exercises. It was the state religion with all its pomp and vigour; it provided people with spiritual consolation, the ruling class with divine prestige, and some minds with a means of escape; it was imbued with superstition in many of its manifestations and with Taoism in its doctrine. It left a lasting imprint on the Vietnamese soul. However, as the monarchical order was gradually consolidated, the social hierarchy became increasingly complex, and the royal administration extended its power to the detriment of the aristocracy. Buddhism was no longer enough.

Confucian culture grew in importance under the Tran: the competitions were better codified and held more regularly. The title of "doctor" was bestowed, enhancing the prestige of Confucian literature. Institutes were created in the capital for the study of Confucian literature, subjects in the competitions comprised in particular the composition of poems, royal ordinances and proclamations, and essays on classical literature. As well as public schools, private schools also appeared under the direction of famous people, the most prominent of these being Chu Van An. In the field of culture, Buddhist bonzes were increasingly eclipsed by Confucian scholars; in 1243, the title of doctor was awarded to Le Van Huu, who was to become Vietnam's first great historian.

Confucian scholars monopolized more and more positions in public life, displacing Buddhist bonzes and nobles of military origin, who were often uneducated. In the 13th century, the ideological struggle between Buddhism and Confucianism became increasingly acute, a struggle which reflected the antagonism facing the nobles, owners of great domains, from the fast-growing class of peasant owners of lowly origin. The great domains were also shaken by revolts among serfs and domestic slaves at the close of the 13th century. Thus, divisions appeared between the aristocracy and Buddhist clergy on one side, and on the other side, the class of peasant-owners allied with the serfs and slaves with Confucian scholars as their spokesmen in the field of ideology.

"In face of Buddhism which affirmed the vanity, even the unreality of this world, preached renunciation, and directed men's minds towards other worldly aspirations, Confucianism taught that man is essentially a social being bound by social obligations. To serve one's king, honour one's parents, remain loyal to one's spouse until death, manage one's family affairs, participate in the administration of one's country, contribute to safeguarding the peace of the world - such were the duties prescribed by Confucianism for all. To educate oneself, to improve oneself so as to be able to assume all these tasks, this should be the fundamental preoccupation of all men, from the Emperor, Son of Heaven, down to the humblest commoner.

The scholars directed their attacks not only agaisnt Buddhist beliefs, but also against the place granted to them by the State and society. The historian Le Van Huu wrote:

"The first King Ly , hardly two years after his accession to the throne, at a time when the ancestral temples of the dynasty had not yet been consolidated, had already had eight pagodas built in Thien Duc district, and many others restored in different provinces; he kept more than a thousand bonzes in the capital; much wealth and labour had thus been wasted! These riches had not fallen from the sky, this labour had not been supplied by the gods; to do such things was to drain the blood and sweat of the people."

The scholar Le Quat lamented:

"To implore the Buddha's blessing, to dread his malediction- how had such beliefs become so deeply rooted in the hearts of men ? Princes of the blood and common people alike squandered their possessions in venerating the Buddha, quite happy to give them away to pagodas, as if they had been given a guarantee for life in the other world. Wherever there was a house, one was sure to find a pagoda next to it; a crumbling pagoda was soon replaced by a new one; bells, pagodas, drums, towers - half the population were engaged in making these things."

Truong Han Sieu also made a direct attack on the bonzes:

"Scoundrels who lost all notion of Buddhist asceticism only thought of taking possession of beautiful monasteries and gardens, building for themselves luxurious residences, and surrounding themselves with a host of servants… People became monks by the thousand so as to get food without having to plough and clothes without having to weave. They deceived the people, undermined morality, squandered riches, were found everywhere, followed by numerous believers, very few of them were not real bandits."

But several centuries were to pass before Buddhism was eliminated from the scene, at least from public office, and Confucianism could stand alone. Competitions in the three doctrines (Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism) still took place under the Kings Tran. No war of religion ever broke out in Vietnam. By the 14th century, however, Confucianism had risen to pre-eminence.

The Birth of a National Literature

With the recovering independence, a national literature took shape and gradually developed. Popular and oral literature in the national language became ever richer, but it is difficult to date most of the works, songs and stories handed down from generation to generation. In the l0th century, a scholarly literature appeared in classical Chinese, the common language of the culture of the Far East, using Chinese characters. However, more and more a need for the development of a script for the Vietnamese language was felt; the nom script, derived from Chinese, was thus created. The exact date of its creation is not known, but the first works written in nom appeared in the 14th century.

The first works in classical Chinese were mostly Buddhist texts expounding the doctrine or expressing the bonzes' reactions to certain events, for example a poem by the bonze Van Hanh, who died in 1018:

Mail is a shadow, gone as soon as born,

The trees, so green in spring, are bare in autumn.

Greatness and decline, why, should we care?

The destiny of men and empires is like a dew-drop on a grass leaf.

The bonze Vien Chieu (98-1090) was also it poet who wrote:

Escorted by the wind, the sound of the horn slips through the bamboo grove,

With the moon rising behind, the shadows of mountains climb the ramparts.

With the consolidation of the kingdom, Buddhist inspiration on the evanescence of things gave way to the contemplation of nature; then with the struggle for national independence, patriotism prevailed in the writings. The same men who in peace time sang of the beauty of the land took up their pens at critical moments to exalt the nation's struggle.

King Tran Nhan Tong, the victor over the Mongols left this twilight landscape:

Villages grow dim in the mist,

They now vanish, now reappear in the sunset.

Buffalo-herds blowing their horns take their cattle home,

A flock of white egrets swoop down oil the fields.

When the country was invaded by the Mongols, General Tran Hung Dao, wrote a proclamation to the army which is one of the jewels in the treasury of our national literature:

I can neither eat nor sleep, my heart aches, and tears trickle down from my eyes; I am enraged at being unable yet to tear the enemy to pieces, pluck out his liver, taste his blood. But you are neither disturbed nor ashamed by the humiliation suffered by your king and your fatherland. You who are officers and generals of our royal army, how can you serve the enemy without feeling hatred? How can you listen to the music greeting enemy envoys without choking with anger? You spend your time watching cock fights, gambling, tending your gardens, looking after your wives and children. You are busy making money and forget about state affairs. The pleasures of hunting prevail in your minds over your military preoccupations. You are absorbed in wine and song. If the country were invaded by the Mongols, your cock's spurs would not be able to pierce their armour, your gambling tricks could not replace military strategy. You may possess immense gardens and fields but even a thousand taels of gold could not redeem your lives. Your wives and children would only encumber you; all the gold in the world could not buy the enemy's head, Your hunting dogs could not drive him away, your wine could not intoxicate him to death, sweet songs could not seduce him. Then both You and I would be in the enemy's clutches. Not only could I no longer enjoy my appanages, but you too would lose all your privileges; not only would my family be broken up, woe would also befall your wives and children; both royal ancestral temples and your own ancestors' graves would be trampled upon; dishonour would stain both my name and yours, not only during our lifetime, but for centuries to come. Would you then persist in pleasure-seeking?"

Among the author who left great literary works were Mac Dinh Chi (died in 1346), Truong Han Sieu (died in 1354), Chu Van An (died in 1370), Nguyen Trung Ngan (1289-1370), Pham Su Manh who in 1345 led a mission to China, and Le Quat. Truong Han Sieu glorified the two victories won in 939 and 1288 on the Bach Dang River, in a famous poem ending with these verses:

The enemy has fled, peace is restored for centuries to come,

Terrain played no role, noble virtues were decisive.

Of this period two works of religious tendency remain: Viet Dien U Linh, a collection of texts on genii, divinities, and deified famous men, which was attributed to Ly Te Xuyen, and Thien Uyen Tap Anh, a collection of texts and biographies of bonzes up to the Tran Dynasty.

Literature in nom appeared in the l4th century with Nguyen Thuyen and Nguyen Si Co whose works, though mentioned in the annals, have not survived. Tradition has it that when King Tran Nhan Tong married Princess Huyen Tran to the king of Champa in exchange for the O and Ly districts, this act was severely criticized in satirical poems written in nom. The appearance of poems in nom was an important landmark in the development of a national literature. By the end of the 13th century, Ho Quy Ly had translated the Kinh Thi (Book of Poems), a Confucian classic, into nom.

An annals department was created under the Tran. Tran Tan wrote Viet Chi, a monograph which the great historian Le Van Huu often referred to in 1272 when he compiled the Dai Viet Su Ky (History of Dai Viet) in 30 chapters covering the period from Trieu Da to the end of the Ly dynasty. Le Van Huu's work was also lost, but it was the major inspiration for the complete history of Dai Viet written later by Ngo Si Lien. At the close of the Tran Dynasty, the Dai Viet Su Luoc (Short History) was written by an anonymous author. This book was to be reprinted in China in the 18th century. It is reported in the annals that Ho Ton Thoc wrote two historical chronicles, the Viet Su Cuong Muc and Nam Viet The Chi. Both these works have been lost. Under the Tran, chronicles were also written describing military exploits in the wars against the Mongols and the kingdom of Ai Lao. Le Tac, who had taken refuge in China, wrote the An Nam Chi Luoc at the beginning of the 14th century.

According to the An Nam Chi Luoc, in Tran times "people played small cylindrical drum, introduced from Champa, which had a clear, pure sound. This drum was used in the great music play only for the king; even princes and dignitaries were not allowed to play great music, except at ceremonies. Guitars - cam, tranh, ti ba with seven or two strings, and flutes of various kinds could be used by all nobles or commoners, Countless pieces were played".

The art of the Tran period continued that of the Ly Palaces and royal mausoleums continued to be built. Pho Minh Tower, built in 1305, is 14 stories high with the lowest two levels made of stone and the rest of brick. The base was shaped like a gigantic lotus flower emerging from the water. The Binh Son tower still stands to this day, leaning slightly with its remaining 12 storeys totalling 15 metres in height. The whole construction is of terra-cotta and the surfaces arc richly decorated with lotus and other flowers, dragons, lions, and leaves of the bo tree. The dragons have lost their "natural" look and the S-shaped decoration on their heads. Remarkable wood carvings have survived from the Tran period. This art form appeared during a much earlier period, but the works have suffered badly from the ravages of climate and insects. Wood carving also used all the above-mentioned motifs and themes.

Among the great monuments from the Tran period are the Tay Do citadel, built by Ho Quy Ly in Thanh Hoa Province in 1397, and which served as a capital for a short time. Rectangular in shape, 900 meters long and 700 metres wide, with 6 metre-high ramparts, it was built of large stone blocks, some of them 6 metres long, 1.7 metres wide and 1.2 metres high and weighing 16 tons. Of the ancient palaces, only a few traces have survived,such as stone dragons decorating flights of steps. The arched porticoes were built from huge stone blocks.

Architecture had thus reached a high level. Among other forms of technology was the casting of cannon. Ho Nguyen Trung, taken prisoner by the Ming, was entrusted by the Chinese emperor to make cannons for the Chinese army. Astronomy also developed to some extent. It is recorded in the annals that the mandarin Dang Lo, in charge of astrology under the Tran, invented an instrument used to observe celestial phenomena.

During the reign of Tran Due Tong (1341-1369), lived the famous physician Tue Tinh who made a special study of the healing properties of local plants and herbs. In 1352, he was invited to China to attend the Chinese empress. He left several medical treatises, the most famous of which is the Nam Duoc Than Hieu (About the Marvelous Effects of National Medicines).

Source : Vietnamtourism.com

However, before a well organized monarchical state could be set up, the country went through a period of instability during which tendencies towards feudal domination still persisted. It was only with the establishment of the Ly dynasty in 1009 that the monarchy was able to gain a secure hold on power.

In 1010, after his accession to the throne, Ly Cong Uan, whose royal name was Ly Thai To, ordered the transfer of the capital to Thang Long, the site of present-day Hanoi. Thang Long was to remain the capital until the 19th century. Ly Thai To decreed a general amnesty for prisoners and the destruction of all instruments of torture. In 1054, his successor, Ly Thanh Ton, renamed the country Dai Viet

The king owned all the land by right. The state, however, directly utilized only a small portion of this land, some of which was distributed to members of the royal family and high-ranking dignitaries as fiefdoms and personal domains. Taxes were levied on land owned by villages and individuals. There was thus an agrarian regime with several sectors:

- Land used by the state;

- Fiefdoms and domains;

- Communal land; and

- Private land.

There were two categories of land distributed to nobles and high-ranking dignitaries. There were fiefdoms whose beneficiaries had both the land and people at their disposal; the peasants had obligations only to their local lord, and were not required to pay taxes or provide labour to the state. In the great domains, the peasants paid rent and taxes to the owner and at the same time had obligations to the state, and remained directly subject to the monarchy. Marshal Ly Thuong Kiet, for instance, received in appanage 4,000 peasant households, but his domain comprised another 10,000 households. Appanages and domains remained the property of the king. When a lord died, his heirs could inherit his land but could also be dispossessed by the king.

Kings Ly attached great importance to agriculture. At the beginning of each year, continuing a tradition inaugurated by Le Hoan, the king himself made a symbolic gesture by ploughing a plot of land, following a ceremony in honour of the god of agriculture. In 1038, when King Ly Thai Ton was advised by a mandarin not to demean himself through such an action, he said: "If I myself do not do some ploughing as an offering to the god, how can I set an example for the entire people?".

Ly Thuong Kiet temple-(Ly Thuong Kiet) the talented general under Ly dynasty

Those who stole or killed buffaloes were severely punished under the law.

The dykes were given particular attention and mandarins were held responsible for their maintenance. The construction of numerous dykes and other hydraulic works is recorded in the annals, for instance the Co Xa dyke in 1108, and the digging of the Dau Nai canal in 1029, the Lam Canal in 1050, and the Lanh Kinh Canal in 1089.

From the beginning of their reign, the Ly endeavoured to consolidate the state apparatus. The country was divided into 24 provinces entrusted to close relations of the royal family. The centralized monarchy governed with the assistance of this aristocracy. Princes of the blood had their personal appanages and their own armed forces. The court hierarchy was a strict one with a twin body of civil and military mandarins. These mandarins received no salaries and lived on the money from rent and taxes paid by the population under their administration. But a mandarin bureaucracy gradually came into being, paid by the monarchy through taxes on landholdings, handicrafts, forest products, and market sales. Little by little, the administration lost its family-based character.

Bonzes played an important role as advisers to the king. The founder of the Ly dynasty was put on the throne with the help of a prominent bonze superior, Van Hanh. The bonze Vien Thong received honours reserved for the heir to the throne.

The Ly also introduced written laws. In 1042, King Ly Thai Tong ordered his mandarins to "amend the laws and regulation so as to adapt them to the present circumstances, to classify them, to compile them into a penal code that can be easily understood by all". It is reported in the annals that the code, when completed and made known to the population, was welcomed by all. The rehabilitation of delinquents and criminals was instituted; very severe punishment was decreed for the "ten capital crimes", particularly that of rebellion. Under the Ly, it was forbidden to sell 18-year-olds as slaves; there were laws for the protection of draught animals and on the mortgaging of land. Penalties were prescribed against piracy and extortion by mandarins. This legislation was perfected by the Tran. It should be noted that the law paid special attention to the prevention of rebellion. While the delta had a homogeneous Viet (or kinh) population, the mountainous regions were inhabited by numerous ethnic groups, and the relationship between the central government and these mountain populations constituted a particularly difficult issue for the monarchy. The historical relationship between the Viet majority and minority groups was one of both integration and antagonism. On the one hand, the delta and highlands were integrated economically and needed each other; they were also closely bound by the need for mutual defence against foreign aggressors. The different groups were therefore moving towards progressively uniting as a single nation. On the other hand, the Viet feudalists, particularly the monarchy and mandarins, sought to exploit and oppress the minorities, leading to frequent revolts and the ensuing reprisals.
In the 11th century, when the Ly dynasty was founded, the frontiers of Dai Viet in the north and northwest had not yet been clearly delimited. Particularly important was the frontier with China in the north and northeast; these regions were inhabited by Tay and Nung people whose allegiance was of prime importance for the Dai Viet kingdom. It was vital to incorporate them into the nation.

The Ly king often sought alliances with local chiefs by giving them princesses in marriage or by marrying their daughters.

At the Chinese court, there still existed a faction which advocated the reconquest of Dai Viet. In 1069, in an attempt to find the remedy to a serious economic and social crisis, the Sung emperor gave full powers to a bold reformer named Wang Nganche. When the reforms proved a disappointment, Wang Nganche, to save the Sung's prestige and seize Dai Viet's wealth, decided to send a great expedition against the Ly. In 1074, the provinces of southern China received the order to strengthen their armies, arm combat junks, and stop trading with Dai Viet.

At the Ly court, given that the reigning king was only ten years old, all power was concentrated in the hands of General Ly Thuong Kiet, who decided to take the offensive in order to forestall the Sung.

Two army corps totalling 100,000 men were sent to China in 1075, one overland under the command of Tong Dan, a Nung chief, the other by sea, under the command of Ly Thuong Kiet himself. The latter cleverly exploited the discontent of the Chinese population with Wang Nganche's reforms, and appeared as the liberator of the peoples of southern China. Placards were put up denouncing the reformer and proclaiming that Ly Thuong Kiet's only desire was to ensure the welfare of the people. The Ly troops were enthusiastically welcomed by the population and easily occupied many localities. The general attacked the Yung chow stronghold which fell after a siege lasting 43 days on March 1, 1076. The citadel was razed to the ground; other strongholds suffered the same fate.

Temple of Literature (Van Mieu)- The famous work under Ly dynasty

The Sung prepared for a counter-offensive by forming a coalition with the Champa and the Khmer kingdom. In April 1076, having attained his objective to destroy the Chinese staging posts, Ly Thuong Kiet withdrew his troops from Chinese territory. Early in 1077, the Sung troops, having forced their way through the frontier passes, were facing the Ly army across the Nhu Nguyet River (now the Cau). Fierce fighting ensued and the Sung army was unable to cross the river. It was in the-course of this battle that Ly Thuong Kiet composed a poem and had it recited during the night, making his men believe that the river god was speaking:

Over the southern mountains and rivers, the Emperor of the South shall reign

This was written down in the Book of Heaven.

How dare those barbarians invade our soil?

They will surely meet with defeat.

Its morale higher than ever, the Ly army repelled the attackers, who were also being decimated by disease. Ly Thuong Kiet then made a peace proposal, which included the ceding of five frontier districts (now Cao Bang and Lang Son provinces). The Sung accepted. This was in 1077. Two years later through negotiations, the Ly recovered the ceded territory.

Ly Thuong Kiet was the architect of the victory. An outstanding strategist, he was also a great politician who knew how to win the hearts of the people and inspire his troops with enthusiasm. The stability of the regime established by the Ly was confirmed by this brilliant victory over the Chinese imperial armies. The Tran further strengthened the country's armed voices, enabling them to repel a Mongol invasion two centuries later.

Buddhism was at its peak under the Ly, whose accession to the throne had been favored by the Buddhist clergy. In return, the latter received the highest privileges. The kings themselves were interested in the study of doctrine and often took bonzes as advisers. The pagodas owned large domains worked by serfs, and bonzes were exempt from taxes and military service. Kings and princes had large numbers of pagodas built and bells cast, and promoted the dissemination of sacred books. In 1018 King Thai To sent a mission to China to gather texts of the Tam Tang: in 1068, King Thai Tong oversaw the creation of the Thao Duong sect, and several kings became patriarchies of Buddhist sects. Princes and nobles followed their example. Beautiful pagodas were built under the Ly, some of them preserved up to the present day, such as Quan Thanh in Hanoi built in 1102, Dien Huu (1041), Bao Thien (1050), and Keo Pagoda in Thai Binh Province. Queen Y Lan, accused of ordering the assassination of one of her rivals, spent the rest of her life building 100 pagodas to redeem herself. Vietnamese Buddhist Sects and schools were founded.

In a society whose members had to unite in the face of great natural calamities and the permanent danger of foreign invasion, and who came under the absolute power of a monarch governing through a complex mandarin bureaucrecy, a doctrine was needed to direct the mind of each individual towards his social obligations, obedience and loyalty to the monarch, and unconditional respect for the social hierarchy. Since the Han, Chinese imperial dynasties made Confucianism the state doctrine; the Vietnamese monarchy gradually adopted it.

In 1070, Ly Thanh Tong had the "Temple of Literature" built. This was a school dedicated to Confucius and his disciples and was where the sons of high-ranking dignitaries received moral education and training in administration. In 1075, the first mandarin competitions took place, through which Confucian scholars could accede to public office; the competitions were only open to the sons of aristocratic families. In 1080, competitions were held to recruit members of an "Academy", whose task was to preserve the archives and write royal edicts. In 1089, the mandarin hierarchy began to be strictly organized. The appearance of Confucianism on the scene was the consequence of a dual phenomenon: on one hand was the necessity of creating a mandarin bureaucracy and on the other, there was the increasing accession of educated commoners to public office. At first, these men were given only subaltern positions, higher offices being reserved for members of the royal family and of the aristocracy.

The Ly period also saw the appearance of the first historical works. Under the Ly Dynasty, Do Thien compiled a history of the country which, now lost, was mentioned in Viet Dien U Linh and Linh Nam Chich Quai.

Cheo popular theatre, which first appeared in the 10th century, continued its development. A prisoner captured during the Mongol Invasion, Ly Nguyen Cat, made a notable contribution to tuong Classical theatre.

It was architecture and ceramics that reached a level of excellence during the Ly period. With the spread of Buddhism, many pagodas were built. Some of the most famous have been preserved. Unfortunately, however, the ravages of war and climate have destroyed the majority of the works of art from this period. What remains can only give us an idea of what was achieved at that time. Some works from the Ly period have been erroneously classified by French historians as being from an earlier period, that of Dai La (9th century).

On the stele of Linh Xung, erected in 1126, an inscription records that "wherever there was beautiful scenery a pagodas was built ". One of the essential characteristics of these pagodas was harmony with the surrounding landscapes, the building nestling amidst trees, and the gardens and ponds, an integral part of the construction; most often, the background was a hill or winding stream, and the slow ringing of bells in the calm morning or evening seemed part of nature itself.

Some pagodas had to be of significant size, since they would accommodate thousands of pilgrims coming to take part in great celebrations. Dien Huu Pagoda, commonly known as the One-Pillar Pagoda and built in 1049, is a graceful pavilion built on a stone pillar standing in the middle of a pond, the whole complex resembling a lotus flower in bloom.

The lotus flower motif often appears on monuments. The flower symbolizes beauty and purity, for "though springing from mud it is free from the stench of mud". Stone pillars, some of significant size, often rest on "lotus flowers"; the remains of a pillar in Giam Pagoda, built in 1086, has a base measuring 4.5 metres in diameter and is over 3.5 metres in circumference. At the foot of some of these pillars are carved stones representing waves, and the columns seem to emerge from a stormy sea. A couple of dragons climb the pillar, forming graceful but complex spirals.

The pagodas have curved roofs and often comprise a tower with as many as 12 storeys. These pagodas are noted for their architecture, statues and sculptures.

At Phat Tich Pagoda, the bases of pillars have stone sculptures representing the bodhi tree (of Buddhist enlightenment) in the center with two worshippers presenting offerings and behind them. four musicians dancing and playing various instruments. The ground is littered with flowers. The atmosphere is joyful and the gestures graceful, far from Buddhist meditation on the unreality of this world.

Relic found in the northwestern suburbs of Hanoi, where the palace of the Ly was located, show it great variety of sculpture, statues and decorative motifs on ceramics. A frequent motif is that of the crocodile, with head raised, protruding eyes looking to the right and to the left, and quivering nostrils; the body is lithe and the beast standing on its hind legs seems ready to spring. Stylized lions on ceramics have also been found.

Excavations in 1965 on the site of the Chuong Son Pagoda built in 1105 unearthed images of birds with human bodies among other motifs -chrysanthemums, phoenixes and dragons - all frequently found on the works of the period. There is a great variety of products: articles for both daily use and decoration, and pottery and porcelain ware with fine enamel. Among the most beautiful enamels are the opalescent-green and brown-grey ones with a low shine and in various shades. The decoration is varied - flowers, dragons, lotuses, birds, and where the surface permits, frescoes and landscapes with human figures. The drawings and bas-reliefs always have a natural look with graceful lines and a cheerful environment: the movements of birds, elephants and dancers, harmonize with flowers in bloom or contrast with the antics of warriors. Particularly remarkable are the richly decorated porcelain items. Ceramics were sent as far as China to be sold or presented to the imperial court. Under the Ly dynasty this art reached its peak. 

Source : VietnamTourism