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Vietnam, also known as Dai Viet and Annam at various times historically, is a Southeast Asian country which runs largely along the coast, facing the South China Sea to its east. It borders [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]] to the west, and China's [[Yunnan province|Yunnan]] and [[Guangxi province]]s to the north.

Vietnam, also known as Dai Viet and Annam at various times historically, is a Southeast Asian country which runs largely along the coast, facing the South China Sea to its east. It borders [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]] to the west, and China's [[Yunnan province|Yunnan]] and [[Guangxi province]]s to the north.

Vietnam is the sole "Sinicized" Southeast Asian country with a strong connection to Chinese Buddhist and Confucian culture, in contrast to the more "Indic" or "Sanskritic" cultures of [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], Laos, Cambodia, and [[Indonesia]]. The territory of Vietnam was controlled by China for nearly one thousand years in the first half of the Common Era, before gaining independence in [[939]], amidst the fall of the [[Tang Dynasty]]. Though controlled by various independent Vietnamese dynasties & polities for nearly its entire history after that, Vietnam remained a loyal [[tribute|tributary]] to the Chinese court, particularly during the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing Dynasty|Qing Dynasties]]; Vietnamese elites engaged in Chinese cultural practices such as [[literati painting]] and calligraphy, and all Vietnamese writing employed Chinese characters up until the early 20th century - Vietnamese is now written in a romanization form devised by the French.

Vietnam is the sole "Sinicized" Southeast Asian country with a strong connection to Chinese Buddhist and Confucian culture, in contrast to the more "Indic" or "Sanskritic" cultures of [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], Laos, Cambodia, and [[Indonesia]]. The territory of Vietnam was controlled by China for nearly one thousand years in the first half of the Common Era, before gaining independence in [[939]], amidst the fall of the [[Tang Dynasty]]. Though controlled by various independent Vietnamese dynasties & polities for nearly its entire history after that, Chinese cultural influences remained quite fundamental to Vietnamese political culture, literary culture, worldview, and arts. Vietnam remained a loyal [[tribute|tributary]] to the Chinese court, particularly during the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing Dynasty|Qing Dynasties]]; Vietnamese elites engaged in Chinese cultural practices such as [[literati painting]] and calligraphy, and all Vietnamese writing employed Chinese characters up until the early 20th century - Vietnamese is now written in a romanization form devised by the French.

==History==

==History==

Vietnam was conquered by the [[Han Dynasty|Han Chinese Empire]] in 111 BCE, and remained under Chinese control in one form or another through China's various periods of disunity, for over a thousand years, until 939 CE. Towards the end of this period, Japanese had at least some kind of experience of Vietnam at least as early as the 8th century, when on two occasions [[kentoshi|official missions]] to [[Tang Dynasty]] China got blown off-course and shipwrecked in Vietnam.  

Vietnam was conquered by the [[Han Dynasty|Han Chinese Empire]] in 111 BCE, and remained under Chinese control in one form or another through China's various periods of disunity, for over a thousand years, until 939 CE. Towards the end of this period, Japanese had at least some kind of experience of Vietnam at least as early as the 8th century, when on two occasions [[kentoshi|official missions]] to [[Tang Dynasty]] China got blown off-course and shipwrecked in Vietnam.

The [[Mongol Empire]] may have established a colony of some sort in [[Champa]] in the 1290s or so, but it was embattled; a mission had to be sent in [[1295]] to ascertain what had happened to generals and senior officials dispatched there, from whom there had been no communication. This mission, which continued on to Cambodia, included [[Zhou Daguan]], whose diaries are a valuable resource for historians today.<ref>Zhou Daguan, Peter Harris (trans.), ''A Record of Cambodia - The Land and its People'', Silkworm Books (2007), 44-85. </ref>

The [[Mongol Empire]] may have established a colony of some sort in [[Champa]] in the 1290s or so, but it was embattled; a mission had to be sent in [[1295]] to ascertain what had happened to generals and senior officials dispatched there, from whom there had been no communication. This mission, which continued on to Cambodia, included [[Zhou Daguan]], whose diaries are a valuable resource for historians today.<ref>Zhou Daguan, Peter Harris (trans.), ''A Record of Cambodia - The Land and its People'', Silkworm Books (2007), 44-85. </ref>