Nguyen Dynasty Relations: Eastern Opposition

In the exhibition Nguyen Dynasty Diplomacy: Between the East-West Winds (organized by National Archives Center 1 from August 22), we can see two trends of Vietnamese diplomacy in the first 50 years of independence and autonomy under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1858), before the French colonialists invaded our country.

Close West

A passage from Crawfurd's report published in the exhibition on the state of the kingdom of Annam assessed, "this place possesses excellent commercial advantages, both by its central position and by its navigable rivers and its numerous excellent ports."

Franco-Spanish Mission

A document shows that a French ship arrived at Can Gio and asked to go to Han port to trade. Also from the document, information shows that "a Hong Mao (British) ship anchored at Tra Son. That ship carried weapons and goods, and entered voluntarily to trade in the province"... All of this shows that Westerners recognized the advantageous geographical position of our country.

However, the Nguyen Dynasty was quite "closed" to relations with the West. The document published at the exhibition stated: "All Western merchant ships coming to trade are only allowed to go to the Da Nang seaport", or "Must be on guard to protect the border".

However, according to National Archives Center 1, the Nguyen Dynasty sent delegations to examine the situation in the West, buy essential goods and guns from the West, learn about science and technology... Some Confucian scholars, such as Nguyen Truong To, also submitted a petition to propose "friendly relations" with the West.

Open East

According to National Archives Center 1, the Nguyen Dynasty kings prioritized developing relations with Eastern countries such as Cambodia, Vientiane, Siam, Nam Chuong, Thuy Xa, Hoa Xa..., especially with neighboring China.

Map of the diplomatic mission to China during the Minh Mang period (1825)

On the one hand, the Nguyen Dynasty received tribute from other countries. The exhibition documents say: "Yes, this year, Cambodia is paying tribute. The King of that country has chosen to send an envoy to bring gifts to express gratitude according to the ritual and a letter to the capital to pay tribute." The Nguyen Dynasty also provided economic support for other countries when they had crop failures. Another activity to support other countries was sending troops to protect them.

On display are also a number of major documents dealing with diplomatic relations with China. Among these are documents about tribute requests and changes in national names.

The center also published documents about how in 1838, without consulting the Qing Dynasty, King Minh Mang decided to change the country's name from Vietnam to Dai Nam with the meaning of a strong Southern country. From then on, the country's name was called Dai Nam, all titles, documents, even diplomatic documents had to follow it, "absolutely not to say the two words Dai Viet again". This was considered a "centrifugal" move to change the country's position.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bang-giao-trieu-nguyen-doi-lap-dong-tay-185240824205520792.htm