Vietnam, with an area of 330,000 square kilometers, is close to the area of Yunnan Province. However, from the map, Vietnam looks very narrow. The country is only 50 kilometers at its narrowest point from east to west, and its length from north to south is as long as 1,600 kilometers, which is equivalent to the distance from Xi'an to Shanghai. Why did Vietnam form such strange narrow terrain?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" >, why is Vietnam expanding south? </h1>
Vietnam was originally the southern frontier of China. As early as the Qin Dynasty, Xiang County was set up in the Red River Delta. Since the Han Dynasty, Jiaotong County has been set up here, so "Jiaotoe" has become the most commonly used name in Vietnamese history. During the Tang Dynasty, the Annam Protectorate was set up in Jiaotong, and "Annam" also began to become a synonym for Vietnam. By the Time of the Five Dynasties, Vietnam had broken away from the Southern Han dynasty and began to move towards independence. In 968, Ding Bu established a new dynasty, with the name of "Da qu Yue" and officially declared independence from China.
After Vietnam's independence, it embarked on the road of expansion. Turning over the topographic map, we will find that the western part of the Red River Delta is a narrow mountain range that hinders Vietnam's expansion into the interior of the Indochina Peninsula. To its north is the Liangguang region of China, and to its south is the Champa Kingdom. Initially, Vietnam chose to expand northward in an attempt to occupy the two Guangdong regions of China.
Historically, the southeast coastal area of China belonged to the Baiyue ethnic activity area, according to the "Book of Han And Geography" recorded that Baiyue "from the toe to the Huiji 78,000 miles, the hundred and more miscellaneous places, each with its own caste." Among them, the crossed toe belongs to Luo Yue. At the turn of the Qin and Han Dynasties, Zhao Tuo, the military commander of Nanhai County, conquered the three counties of Nanyue and established the "State of South Vietnam", and ancient Vietnam regarded Zhao Tuo as the founding prince of Vietnam and recorded it in the "History of Great Yue". Vietnam tried to send troops to Liangguang, but also wanted to rebuild "South Vietnam".
In 1075, the former Lê Dynasty of Vietnam began to wage war against the Northern Song Dynasty, sending troops to capture Guangxi. At that time, when Wang Anshi changed the law, the military strength of the Northern Song Dynasty reached its peak. In the same year, Wang Anshi dispatched 50,000 troops to the south, not only recovering the lost land, but also marching to the banks of the Red River, forcing Vietnam to claim subjection, cut land, and seek peace. The failure made Vietnam realize that northward expansion was impossible, so it turned to southward expansion. This expansion is almost 800 years old.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" > two, Champa, gradually became a vassal</h1>
Champa City, also known as Champa, Chinese history books called Xianglin, Linyi, Huan Kingdom and so on. During the Han Dynasty, China once set up Xianglin County here, which belonged to Nichinan County. In 137, Ou Kui, the son of Gong Cao of Xianglin County, proclaimed himself king and founded the Champa State. The country was not incorporated into the East Asian Confucian cultural circle, but instead embraced Indian Buddhism and Brahmanism, adopting a caste system. In fact, most of southeast Asia belongs to the Indian cultural circle.
After the establishment of the Champa State, it repeatedly sent troops north to attack China's southern frontier, and was once defeated by the Sui Dynasty and tang Dynasty. In 877, another powerful state was established in Southeast Asia, the Angkor Dynasty. Champa was constantly at war with the Angkor Dynasty, which severely depleted its own power and began to decline. A hundred years later, Vietnam became independent again, and Champa was attacked on both sides.
The conflict between Vietnam and Champa began in 982. In this year, the Vietnamese Lê Dynasty sent envoys to Champa, but they were detained by Champa City, so Lê Huan personally conquered Champa City, and the Champa King Polo Mishou Ravarman I was also killed, and his capital Indra Tira was razed to the ground. After that, Champa had to move its capital to Vijaya. During the Li Dynasty, Li Taizong personally conquered Champa and killed the Champa king, forcing Champa to pay tribute. In 1068, King Dharavarman III of Champa wanted to retake Indra, so he began to conquer Vietnam, but it was attacked by Vietnam, and Champa was forced to cede the three prefectures of Dili, Maling, and Buzheng, which are now the provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Jeong in Vietnam.
After several major defeats, the war between Champa and Vietnam stopped for some time. However, Champa did not regain its own strength, but became more and more decayed under the invasion of other countries. From the 11th to the 12th century, the Angkor Dynasty continued to attack Champa, and the capital of Champa was repeatedly captured, and even became part of the Angkor Dynasty. It was not until 1220 that Champa regained its independence. In 1282, the Yuan Dynasty again occupied Champa City.
At the same time as the Yuan Dynasty launched a war against Vietnam, under the jurisdiction of the Cold Tooth, relations between Vietnam and Champa were eased. In 1306, the Vietnamese Tran Dynasty and Champa City achieved a marriage, as a dowry, the Champa King Jaya Sanghavarma III assigned the two prefectures of U and Li to Vietnam, which was later changed to ShunZhou and HuaZhou, collectively known as "Hue". After the death of Jaya Sanghavarma III, the new king Jaya Sanghavarma IV made a northern expedition to Vietnam in order to regain Uri II, but was again defeated by Vietnam and himself was taken prisoner. Soon, Emperor Tran Yingzong made Tuo Po a puppet king, and from then on, Champa became a vassal of Vietnam.
Hue
In the early expansion process, Champa and Vietnam were in full swing. Champa wanted to go north to annex the newly established Vietnam, and Vietnam used Champa's belligerent psychology to create a war pretext, increase the scale of the counterattack, and constantly erode the land of Champa in the counterattack. Eventually, after 200 years of confrontation, Champa was largely controlled by Vietnam.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > three, the complete destruction of Champa</h1>
In 1360, Pobinasor succeeded to the throne of Champa. In order to recover the lost land, he trained the new army and designed a new formation. During this period, Vietnam went into decline and Champa showed a revival. The Champa general Phong E had three Northern Expeditions, all of which broke through the Vietnamese capital Thang Long, giving Vietnam a serious sense of crisis.
However, the good times were short-lived. In 1400, the Vietnamese Tran Dynasty ended and the emerging Hu Dynasty was established. In 1402, Hu Jiyi captured the capital of Champa and the King of Champa had to appeal to the Ming Dynasty for help. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty saw that Vietnam had changed dynasties and decided to send troops to Vietnam. In 1407, the Ming Dynasty sent a large army to the south to occupy Vietnam, and the crisis of the annihilation of Champa was contacted.
However, Champa did not stop the foreign war, but instead joined forces with Siam to wage war against Chenla in the absence of worries in the north. Vietnam, on the other hand, also succeeded in gaining independence from the Ming Dynasty in 1428 and establishing the Later Lê Dynasty. In 1446, the Vietnamese invaded The City of Champa and attacked its capital, Vijaya, and the King of Champa was again captured. In 1470, the vietnamese Le Shengzong personally marched, and the new king of Champa was forced to ask Chenla for help, but Chenla was resentful of the previous attacks on Champa and refused to send troops to the rescue. In the same year, the Vietnamese again attacked Vijaya, capturing King Pan luo cha quan and his subjects of more than 30,000 people, and killing more than 40,000 people.
After this battle, most of the territory of Champa fell and was on the verge of extinction. Vietnam also established the royal family Jai Ya Ma Fu Nunnery as a puppet king, and only had Bin Tong Long a place.
By the 17th century, Vietnam was divided into a confrontation between the two major forces of the Tran and Nguyễn, and it was eventually the Nguyễn who completed the unification and established the Nguyễn Dynasty. In 1692, Champa rebelled against the Nguyen clan and was defeated. In 1697, the Champa State was renamed "Shun Town". In 1712, the King of Champa was crowned the "King of Town", and the Champa State was effectively extinct. In 1832, the Nguyễn Dynasty promoted the "reform of land and return to the stream", abolished the town of Shun, and the Champa state was completely destroyed.
After the destruction of Champa, Vietnam and Cambodia allied together against Siam (Thailand) and gradually swallowed up the Mekong Delta, gaining a second core area. As a result, Vietnam became the narrowest country in Asia.