What ordinary Vietnamese and high-level intellectuals think about China
The average Vietnamese believes that China is Vietnam’s enemy, while the high-level intellectual class tends to believe that China is the ancient Rome of East Asia, which has shaped them. Vietnam has been ruled by China three times in history, which is generally called the Northern period. During these times, in their view, China’s rule was somewhat similar to the role of the Romans in Europe. China conquered Vietnam by force, and then immigrated and imported Chinese culture to carry out cultural conquest. In ancient times, China was the cultural core of East Asia and regarded itself as Huaxia, while Vietnam was a barbarian land.
After ruling for thousands of years, a large number of Han people integrated into Vietnam, which especially profoundly affected the Vietnamese (Kinh people) living in the central area, and also changed and shaped Vietnam’s culture. Although the Vietnamese have preserved their language, they are also greatly influenced by Chinese and borrowed words. After Vietnam became independent, they continued to conquer south in Southeast Asia, even borrowing the name Huaxia from China to convert Xia into barbarians. First, they destroyed Champa, and later conquered what is now Cambodia for a time, promoting comprehensive Chineseization.
Vietnam gradually became the little overlord in Southeast Asia and formed a unique Vietnamese culture. Since then, it has become increasingly difficult for the Central Plains dynasty to conquer it. The Ming Dynasty once conquered and established Jiaozhi Province, but it did not last long. In fact, from the perspective of the Vietnamese, it is impossible for China to conquer Vietnam.
One of the Vietnamese scholars, Hoang Van Chi, put forward a point of view in his book “From Colonialism to Communism”.
“…China and Vietnam are geographically similar to the image of a huge funnel, with the cone being the Chinese mainland and Vietnam being the long and narrow nozzle. This analogy is of historical significance because throughout history, the Chinese have tried to funnel through it many times. Via the Vietnam Corridor, the only land route to the rice-growing plains of Southeast Asia…”
“…On the other hand, Chinese culture seeped through the filter that hindered their military advance and found its way through the long pipes of Vietnam. The Vietnamese people eagerly absorbed this culture and forged a weapon out of it to At the expense of the Champa Kingdom, it serves its own southward expansion…”
In essence, Vietnam was born out of Chinese culture, and at the same time digested and absorbed Chinese culture to form its own independent entity. To this day, many Europeans and Americans still cannot distinguish between Chinese culture and Vietnamese culture. After all, this country is the foreign country most like China. For the majority of Vietnamese, China is a cultural motherland that makes them very entangled, and at the same time, they must always be on guard against it.
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