Changes

Renewed independence from the Ming marked the beginning of the Lê Dynasty, which lasted from 1428 until [[1788]]. Still, in contrast to the Ly-Tran eras which came before, the Lê dynasty was comparatively Sinic, or Sinophilic, in its political cultural leanings. Vietnam remained a loyal tributary to the Ming, and later the Qing, however, for the remainder of the early modern period. Vietnamese officials were thus regularly seen in [[Beijing]], and a small number of young Vietnamese scholar-bureaucrats studied at Beijing's [[National Academy]], alongside Korean, Ryûkyûan, and mostly Chinese students.

Renewed independence from the Ming marked the beginning of the Lê Dynasty, which lasted from 1428 until [[1788]]. Still, in contrast to the Ly-Tran eras which came before, the Lê dynasty was comparatively Sinic, or Sinophilic, in its political cultural leanings. Vietnam remained a loyal tributary to the Ming, and later the Qing, however, for the remainder of the early modern period. Vietnamese officials were thus regularly seen in [[Beijing]], and a small number of young Vietnamese scholar-bureaucrats studied at Beijing's [[National Academy]], alongside Korean, Ryûkyûan, and mostly Chinese students.

The Lê Dynasty, along with the Nguyễn Dynasty which followed, observed a stance of ''trong de ngoai vuong'' - literally, "inside emperor, outside king" - in its interactions with China. Each Vietnamese ruler's first act was typically to declare himself emperor, and his second, to seek investiture as "king" from China. In a sense, this resembles the [[omote and uchi|''omote'' and ''uchi'']] pattern of domestic politics in [[Edo period|Tokugawa Japan]], in which ''daimyô'' considered themselves near-sovereign within their respective "countries," but when interacting with Tokugawa authorities, were merely loyal vassals, retainers, invested in their feudal holdings. Sino-Vietnamese relations during the Ming and Qing dynasties were also characterized by a relationship as unequal empires, with the Chinese emphasizing that the two were "unequal," and the Vietnamese emphasizing that they were both "empires." Vietnamese rulers also asserted their independence, even as they continued to pay tribute & to receive investiture, by occasionally having their envoys refuse to perform the full [[kowtow]]; when China demanded the king then appear at the Chinese capital in person to personally express his apologies, the Vietnamese ruler almost without exception refused. The only time a ruler of Vietnam visited China was in [[1790]], and even then, Vietnamese records claim that he did not travel there, but sent a double. Similarly, when Chinese envoys traveled to Vietnam, Chinese protocol dictated that the Imperial envoy sit facing south, with the Vietnamese king in the subordinate southerly position; with the exception of only one occasion, Vietnamese rulers insisted on instead sitting facing east and west, a position of equality with the Chinese envoy.<ref>Vuving, 81-82.</ref>

The Lê Dynasty, along with the Nguyễn Dynasty which followed, observed a stance of ''trong de ngoai vuong'' - literally, "inside emperor, outside king" - in its interactions with China. Each Vietnamese ruler's first act was typically to declare himself emperor, and his second, to seek [[investiture]] as "king" from China. In a sense, this resembles the [[omote and uchi|''omote'' and ''uchi'']] pattern of domestic politics in [[Edo period|Tokugawa Japan]], in which ''daimyô'' considered themselves near-sovereign within their respective "countries," but when interacting with Tokugawa authorities, were merely loyal vassals, retainers, invested in their feudal holdings. Sino-Vietnamese relations during the Ming and Qing dynasties were also characterized by a relationship as unequal empires, with the Chinese emphasizing that the two were "unequal," and the Vietnamese emphasizing that they were both "empires." Vietnamese rulers also asserted their independence, even as they continued to pay tribute & to receive investiture, by occasionally having their envoys refuse to perform the full [[kowtow]]; when China demanded the king then appear at the Chinese capital in person to personally express his apologies, the Vietnamese ruler almost without exception refused. The only time a ruler of Vietnam visited China was in [[1790]], and even then, Vietnamese records claim that he did not travel there, but sent a double. Similarly, when Chinese envoys traveled to Vietnam, Chinese protocol dictated that the Imperial envoy sit facing south, with the Vietnamese king in the subordinate southerly position; with the exception of only one occasion, Vietnamese rulers insisted on instead sitting facing east and west, a position of equality with the Chinese envoy.<ref>Vuving, 81-82.</ref>

The Vietnamese made their first contacts with the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] around 1480; the ''[[Rekidai Hoan|Rekidai Hôan]]'' records an exchange around that time in which a minister of Malacca informed the king of Ryûkyû that a number of Ryukyuans had become shipwrecked or castaway in Vietnam, and a violent clash had erupted. The first formal relations between Vietnam and Ryûkyû were established, however, some 30 years later, in [[1509]], when a Ryukyuan representative first formally visited Vietnam.<ref>Hoang Anh Tuan, "Vietnamese-Japanese Diplomatic and Commercial Relations in the Seventeenth Century," Institute for Cultural Interaction Studies, Kansai University, ''The International Academic Forum for the Next Generation Series'', vol. 1 (March 2010), 20-21.</ref>

The Vietnamese made their first contacts with the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] around 1480; the ''[[Rekidai Hoan|Rekidai Hôan]]'' records an exchange around that time in which a minister of Malacca informed the king of Ryûkyû that a number of Ryukyuans had become shipwrecked or castaway in Vietnam, and a violent clash had erupted. The first formal relations between Vietnam and Ryûkyû were established, however, some 30 years later, in [[1509]], when a Ryukyuan representative first formally visited Vietnam.<ref>Hoang Anh Tuan, "Vietnamese-Japanese Diplomatic and Commercial Relations in the Seventeenth Century," Institute for Cultural Interaction Studies, Kansai University, ''The International Academic Forum for the Next Generation Series'', vol. 1 (March 2010), 20-21.</ref>