At the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Eight Banners Army was wrapped in a large number of troops and descended all the way: the Central Plains, Guanzhong, Jiangnan, and Sichuan were gradually included in the territory. The rugged southeast coast of the sea and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, separated by mountains and rivers, became a battlefield between the Restoration forces and the Qing Dynasty, and the struggle lasted for more than a decade, during which a large number of Chinese who did not want to submit to foreign rule fled to Southeast Asia. After Zheng Chenggong crossed to Taiwan and Li Dingguo died in Thailand, the rule of the Qing Dynasty became more and more stable, and these exiled Ming remnants could only settle in foreign countries for a long time, and while constantly integrating into the local society, they stubbornly continued the Crown of Daming, and in southern Vietnam, there was even a Chinese autonomous regime that lasted until the nineteenth century - Ha Xian Kingdom.
Vietnamese politics and the remnants of the Ming Dynasty
Among the Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam and China are geographically closest, with convenient land and sea transportation, political and cultural Confucianism, and the closest to Middle-earth, so it is also a major destination for overseas immigrants. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many Chinese merchants who moved to Vietnam, after the Longqing switch, southeast Asia and south China coastal trade exchanges became more and more prosperous, at that time Southeast Asian local commerce was not developed, trade was mainly controlled by Western colonists and Chinese maritime merchants. Due to the needs of commercial operation and management, some Chinese merchants settled in the local area for a long time, and the local rulers also treated Chinese merchants very favorably, And Chinese merchants could establish towns and enjoy full autonomy rights, and Chinese merchant communities had already appeared in vietnam's large ports in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. According to the archives of the Dutch East India Company, there were 4,000 to 5,000 Chinese merchants in Hoi An, Vietnam in 1642.
With the entry of the Manchu Qing into the Central Plains, the war on the southeast coast continued, and many Ming remnants were unwilling to yield and crossed the sea to immigrate. During this period, Vietnam was in the midst of a period of division between the Tran group and the Nguyen group, which was the result of the long-term evolution of various forces in Vietnam. As early as 1428, when the Ming Dynasty was in full swing, Li Li, who rebelled against the Ming invasion, established the Li Dynasty, which was usurped by the powerful minister Mo Dengyong in 1527. After Mo Dengyong came to power, he decided to gain the support of the suzerainty and increase his legitimacy in the face of strong opposition forces at home, so he was very obedient to the Ming Dynasty in the north. In 1540, Mo Dengyong personally went to Nanguan Pass on the Sino-Vietnamese border to meet the Ming envoys, surrendered and confessed their sins and paid tribute by cutting off the land. Because of his weakness to the Ming Dynasty, he was regarded as a "traitor" by later Vietnamese historians, and he was saddled with insults throughout the ages.
This picture is from the "Annam Laiwei Atlas", painted by the Ming Dynasty, which calls Dengyong "False King Mo Dengyong"
The Mo Dynasty failed to establish a limited rule over the country, instead confronting the Li Dynasty from north to south.
The purple is the Mo Dynasty, the yellow is the Li Dynasty, and the green is champa
In the south, the Lê Dynasty also quickly rose to power, namely the Tần and Nguyễn Nguyễn, after driving the Mo Dynasty to the Sino-Vietnamese border, the Tần and Nguyễn Nguyễn were known as the two major forces of Vietnam, with the Trần clan still controlling the king of the Lê Dynasty as a puppet, while the Nguyễn clan in the south established itself as the state of Quang Nam. From 1627 to 1672, the northern Trần and the Nguyễn nguyễn in the south fought seven large-scale wars, with the two sides evenly matched, and finally formed two confrontational regimes bounded by the Lingjiang River.
Map of the situation in Vietnam during the Tran Nguyen confrontation
For the arrival of the Chinese, Zheng and Nguyen have a very different attitude. The Zheng clan in the north was a submissive vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and because of the fear of accepting the remnants of the Ming Dynasty and causing the Qing Dynasty to intervene, they held a hostile attitude toward the Chinese from the south, demanding that the Chinese "follow the customs of our country in speech and clothing, and must not be arbitrarily dressed in different ways", such a strict assimilation policy made the Chinese immigrants to the north very limited. On the contrary, the Nguyen clan in the south was not recognized by the Qing Dynasty and did not border it, so there was no need to think too much about the attitude of the Qing Dynasty, and more importantly, the southern region was less developed than the north, requiring a lot of labor to reclaim the wilderness. The Nguyen regime was unable to defeat the Khun Thiễng Tuo territory to the north, and had to actively develop south in order to gain more room for survival.
At this time, the arrival of a large number of Chinese who could bring advanced production technology and wealth could be described as a blessing in disguise for the Nguyen regime. Immigrants are mostly men, after arriving in Vietnam, they usually marry locals, and the children born of marriage are commonly known as "Ming Xiang", and the Nguyen regime allows Chinese immigrants to establish their own autonomous organization "Ming Heung She" (later renamed "Ming Xiang She"), and give tax preferences, which makes more and more Chinese emigrate to South Vietnam.
There were two main forces on which Nguyen relied on the southward advance: immigrants and the army. Immigrants refer to northern displaced people and criminals, including Zheng Jun's captives and Chinese immigrants, who were mainly engaged in pioneering work in the early stages. Once this initial development was completed, Nguyen would send his army south and set up camps in the area. In 1653, the Taikang Camp (Pingkang Camp) was established. In 1697, Nguyen Phuc withered binh Thuan Camp (Trần Town). In 1700, the town camp was established, and at the same time, the original town border camp was moved to Fulong County, Luye. In 1732, Nguyen Phuc Shu established the Long Vueu Battalion. The territory of Quang Nam State expanded step by step to the south with the setup of these camp towns.
Schematic map of the whole territory of Quang Nam in 1771
Tough self-reliance between the cracks
In 1671, a 17-year-old boy named Mo Jiu in Leizhou, Guangdong Province, because he was dissatisfied with the Qing court's policy of shaving his hair and changing clothes, boarded a ship with his fellow villagers and fled south, and he chose Chenla as a foothold. At that time, many of the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia were not good at business, and Chinese immigrants often monopolized local overseas trade, and Mo Jiu also gained the favor of King Chenla and was in charge of the country's trade. Later, Mo Jiu obtained the right to develop the southeast coastal area of Chenla by bribing the king's cronies, because the local river has the legend of immortals, so this land is also called "river fairy". The area of Ha Tien is roughly the area around the Cam Ou Peninsula, the southernmost tip of today's Vietnam.
In the early Chenla territory, Chenla was the predecessor of Cambodia, and in ancient Chinese texts, the geographical scope of Chenla was far greater than that of today's Cambodian territory. The blue circle part is the approximate range of the river fairy
This area was originally a vacuum that was not reached by all sides, a desert, and pirates were infested. Under the management of Mo Jiu, it soon prospered. Mo Jiu's business policy is quite unique. He first recruited displaced people to cultivate in the local area, and after harvesting the property, he opened a port to trade and attract people. With the flow of people brought by trade, he further started a gambling business and extracted taxes from it. Later, silver mines were found in the local area, and Mo Jiu suddenly became rich. Mo Jiu also formed an independent army in Hexian and established a walled city to protect himself. He also set up a civil and military official office, like a prince of the party, and at this time he was just a teenager in his twenties.
In just a few years, Ha Xian has gone from an inaccessible wilderness to a major commercial port in the area. Merchant ships from various countries that had originally sailed to the upper mekong river turned to haxian as a trade destination. HaXian has the reputation of "Little Canton", and the Frenchman Bovey, who visited Vietnam in the 18th century, once recorded this: "Its territory has become a place for diligent people to live and work in peace, and its seaport is open to Chinese and foreign merchants." Soon, the forest was cut down and the wasteland became fertile land..."
At this time, Ha Trang was still attached to Chenla, but Chenla had declined, internal strife was constant, and external invasions by Siam and Vietnam were repeated. Ha Xian is located at the mouth of the Mekong River, is a commercial hub location, but it is not easy to defend, as long as the enemy attack by water, Ha Xian immediately suffered from all sides.
In 1679, the Siamese invasion of Chenla and the ha xian, Mo Jiu was defeated and captured by the Siamese army, stayed in Siam for many years, until 1688 to take advantage of the Siamese civil unrest to escape, and Chenla wandered for many years to return to Ha Xian. In 1700, Mo Jiu was already a middle-aged man of nearly half a hundred years old, and when he returned to the river immortals that had become ruins, the half-life foundation had to start all over again.
Chenla had been weak for a long time and could no longer protect Ha Xian, and Siam had become an old enemy, Mo Jiu weighed the pros and cons, and finally, at the suggestion of the counselor Su Gong, decided to turn his back on Chenla and turn to the increasingly powerful Quang Nam Nguyen clan. In 1708, Mo Jiu personally went to Quang Nam to pay tribute to Lord Nguyen and was given the title of Commander-in-Chief of Ha Tien Town. "The king of the Southern Dynasty saw his appearance, and he was cautious in his retreat, loyal to him, and promised to be a vassal state. The town is named Haxian .jpg At the same time, Mo Jiu changed his surname to "鄚" to distinguish him from the usurper Mo Deng Ngoc Ngėng in Vietnamese history. (Hereinafter referred to as 鄚)
The statue of Mo Jiu in Ha Tien City, Vietnam, is still worshipped by locals
Juan Jiu spent 60 years running Hexian and died of illness in 1735 at the age of 81. The Nguyễn regime posthumously awarded him the title of "Grand General Wu Yi of the Pillar State of Kai Zhen". After Hexian succeeded to the throne, Hexian's son Juan Tianxi ushered in a heyday, and in 1739, Chenla sent an army to attack Hexian but was defeated by Juan Tianci, and could only abandon his territorial claims to Hexian. The status of the Ha Xian regime also increased, becoming a buffer between the three kingdoms of Quang Nam, Chenla, and Siam, and repeatedly taking advantage of the opportunity of median mediation to benefit from the chaos.
The blue circle is the approximate extent of the Ha Sen regime, when Chenla was in decline and Siam and Quang Nam were strong, and Ha Nha Nha's main policy was to help Vietnam control Chenla and resist Siam
In the exotic country of Cape Tianya, the Hexian under the rule of the Yan clan still continued to wear the crown of the Ming Dynasty, recruited scribes, and established Confucianism, according to the "Qing Dynasty Literature Examination": "The port state ... The palace is no different from China, from the royal residence down to the bricks and tiles, the clothing system is like the previous generation. ...... Its customs are heavy on literature and good poetry books. There is a Confucius Temple in the middle of the country, and the king and the people of the country salute it. There are righteous scholars, those who choose the children of the country, and those who are poor and unable to cultivate their deeds. Among them, the Han people who are proud to live in their own land and can read the meaning of the text are extended to be teachers, and their children are polite. ”
The second ruler, Juan Tianxi, did not change the taste of the Middle-earth literati, recruited scribes to chant the beauty of hexian and compiled a collection of poems into the "Ten Yin of Hexian".
However, in the midst of prosperity and serenity, the disaster of the River Immortal Kingdom is coming again, and this time it is a double blow.
Return to silence
The crisis first came from siam, an old enemy, and on April 7, 1767, burmese troops captured the Siamese capital and destroyed the Ayutthaya dynasty. The last prince went out to the river fairy to seek refuge, and Yu Tianci did not give up the opportunity to profit from it, and the chaos of his old enemy Siam was undoubtedly a good thing for him. But things did not go as planned, and Zheng Xin, a descendant of the Teochew Chinese, rose rapidly in Siam, established a powerful Thonburi dynasty, and began to expand everywhere. Hexian, who took in the former dynasty prince, became the focus of the conquest, and several confrontations with Zheng Xin did not take advantage of the River Immortals, but suffered heavy losses, and both sides were able to contact the local Chinese community as helpers, especially the Chaoshan Chinese almost all fell to Zheng Xin, causing rebellion within Hexian to rise.
The statue of Zheng Xin in Thailand, Zheng Xin is also known as Zheng Zhao (昭 means "King"), and the Siamese name is Taksin (Taksin). The Vietnamese side, who called him "Marsh the Great" or "Thonburi the Great", called him Pi YaXin, Zheng Xin, etc
In 1771, the Thonburi Dynasty sent troops to attack Ha Trang mainland, and Thien Thiồi rushed to the Nguyen army for help, but the Nguyen army did not save the troops, resulting in the fall of Ha Trang. The Siamese army leveled ha sen chengchi, and the people fled in all directions, leaving only a scorched earth. The river fairy, which had flourished for nearly a hundred years, has since collapsed and has never been able to restore its former grandeur. The intrusion from the west had just receded, and the always safe rear of Quang Nam had changed again.
In the same year, a large-scale Xishan uprising broke out in Vietnam, and the Quang Nam Nguyen clan was caught in the wind and rain under the attack of the Xi Shan rebel army and the Zheng clan in the north, and almost destroyed the country. Tianci personally led the remnants of the army to serve the king, but the battle situation was still unfavorable, at the critical jun, the monarch wept, and Lord Ruan's heart was like ashes: "Now that thieves are rampant and difficult to refuse, and my territory is ten to seven or eight, can An try to recover again?" If you first find a clean place to die, you will not be harmed by the thieves. Yu Tianci was still loyal and earnest, prostrating his head and weeping: "The difficulties of the country have existed since ancient times, and I hope that the emperor will be relieved in order to achieve great things." He even offered to help Lord Ruan take refuge in the Qing Dynasty and borrow troops to restore the country. But before the trip could be completed, Lord Nguyen was captured and killed. Most of the territory of the Yan clan was occupied by the Xishan rebel army, and Juan Tianci was cornered and had to turn to his sworn enemy Zheng Xin, who was counter-calculated by the Xishan army and suspected that he was secretly communicating with Guangnan, and the 81-year-old Yan Tianci had to commit suicide, most of his descendants were killed by Zhu Lian, and only a few descendants survived. Later, Nguyen Phuc Anh was restored, the Bangkok Dynasty replaced the Thun Li Vu Dynasty, the Indochina Peninsula was restored to tranquility, and the town of Ha Tien was jointly appointed by the two countries, and the Đồi was like a puppet. With the approval of siam and the Nguyễn Dynasty, Tan Zi Feng, Yu Gong Guan, and Yu Zi Tian successively served as the guards of Ha Tien Town. With the unification of Vietnam by the Nguyen Dynasty, Nam Kyi was also developed, and there was no need for an autonomous regime in Ha Tien to exist.
The blue part is the Southern Part of Vietnam, which was the last land acquired in Vietnamese expansion, and before the French colonization, the Southern Part also included part of the territory of present-day Cambodia
After the death of Đại Đồng In 1832, the town of Hexian was changed to Hexian Province, the town guard and the town of Xie were abolished, and the posts of inspector and envoy were set up instead, and the Hexian regime of the Yan clan came to the end of history, and hexian also lost its former prosperity and became an ordinary small port.
Nguyen Phuc Anh, a descendant of the Nguyễn clan in Quang Nam, later destroyed the Nguyễn Nguyễn clan in Tay Son to re-establish a unified Vietnamese state. In the process of his restoration, he received great assistance from the Chinese and also used the power of French colonists
Since the 17th century, the overseas Chinese in Vietnam have sought survival while being driven by the Nguyen regime and have also served as the vanguard of the invasion of Chenla. Immigrants led by the Đại family developed Ha Thiên, expanding and laying the foundation for the territory of southwestern Vietnam. The Ha Tien Chinese retained a "double identity" with their homeland, the Ming Dynasty, and the Nguyen Dynasty, a diaspora, and in the whirlpool of history, they eventually integrated into Vietnamese society like the entire "Ming Huong" group.
bibliography:
"Ming Dynasty on the Sea": The Chinese Characteristics of the Hexian Regime of the Yu Dynasty_Li Qingxin
The Hexian regime (the "port state") and the situation in the Indochina Peninsula in the 18th century Li Qingxin
Hexian Town Yezhen Yan Family Tree Wu Shi Ying
Foreign Relations of the Nguyen Regime of Vietnam (1600-1802) By Hsu Fong Yah
17th-18th century overseas Chinese and Vietnamese Nguyen dynasty Qu Feng Mei