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Pho Hien (today called Hung Yen) was a major port in northern Vietnam ([[Tonkin]]) in the 16th to 17th centuries. The town is located roughly 50 km southeast of [[Hanoi]] (Thang Long), and sits on the east bank of the Red River.
Eleven [[red seal ships]] licenses were issued between [[1606]] and [[1614]] by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] for Japanese, Chinese, and European merchants based in Japan to trade with northern Vietnam, then under the control of the [[Trinh lords|lords of the Trinh family]]. By [[1634]], this number had risen to a total of 35 licenses. Like [[Hoi An]] in [[Quang Nam|central Vietnam]], and other ports in the region, the main export was [[silk]], and the main import [[silver]].
War broke out between the Trinh and the [[Nguyen lords]] of central Vietnam in [[1627]], and the Nguyen successfully petitioned the Tokugawa to sever formal ties with the Trinh, and to restrict trade with northern Vietnam. As a result, Japanese trade activity in northern Vietnam declined considerably, though by the late 1630s, only a decade later, the shogunate's policy of [[maritime restrictions]] would cause Japanese trade in Southeast Asia to decline almost entirely.