I hope I don't offend anyone when I say this - my family doesn't like China very much. It's likely a function of my grandparents and parents growing up in Vietnam, seeing the effects of the Vietnam War, hearing from their family about Chinese influence on Vietnam - honestly, I'm kind of making up reasons why I think this might be. I should ask them when I go home next.
While I've known that - in general - there is some negative sentiment towards China by many Vietnamese Americans that I know, I didn't know the extent to which China has shaped Vietnamese history until I completed this project - nearly half of Vietnam's history has been entirely under Chinese control.
China invaded Vietnam in the 2nd century B.C., and successfully captured the territory of Northern Vietnam in 111 B.C. It wouldn't be until 939 A.D., almost 1,000 years later, that Vietnam would be free fully from Chinese control.
During the early years, the Lac rulers of Vietnam were given semi-autonomy, which helped to keep Vietnamese culture intact. While the Chinese clamped down on Vietnamese rulership after a rebellion in 40-42 A.D., Vietnamese culture was able to persist, albeit with some Chinese influence as Han Chinese moved into the area.
While the characterization of a "Sinicized society" in Vietnam is inaccurate, China's presence in Vietnam definitely had some influence on cultural practices, namely bringing Buddhism to Vietnmam, which remains the main religion of Vietnamese people today.
Today, Vietnam is its own country with a solid border from China, but there still remains Chinese influence on the country. As I mentioned, Vietnamese people were formerly known as the "Lac"; the Chinese name for the people of Vietnamese territory was "Yueh," which translates to "Viet" in Vietnamese. While the name Vietnam (Viet Nam) has changed in direct meaning, as it was reclaimed by the Vietnamese after independence, I think that as long as the country keeps this name, there will always be an indication of how much China has been involved in Vietnam's past.
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