1. Many of you are probably familiar with the weekly "talks" of the "Saturday Coffee" club founded by musician Duong Thu. I was fortunate enough to have spoken there twice. The first time was three years ago, at the suggestion of Professor Tran Xuan Hoai. The second time was exactly one year ago, when Duong Thu messaged me again suggesting I talk about Dong Son culture in preparation for the 100th anniversary of its discovery and research. I happily accepted because I also wanted to initiate a re-evaluation of Dong Son culture after 100 years, with a topic worthy of attention: "Historical Events During the Existence of Dong Son Culture in Vietnam."
The historical events of the Dong Son culture are closely linked to major upheavals in East Asia, culminating in the end of the Warring States period and the rise of the Qin Empire in ancient China (5th-3rd centuries BC). The southern vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty, located along the most fertile parts of the Yangtze River basin – Shu, Chu, Wu, Yue – were successively destroyed or annihilated one another, creating a period of continuous warfare that directly affected the non-Hua Xia world in the Lingnan region (collectively known as Bai Yue) and the Southwest Yi (Bai Bo). This period began with the disintegration of the ancient Shu state in the mid-5th century due to the invasion by the Qin Dynasty.
Images of Dong Son warriors. Left: Male warrior carrying a battle axe on a dagger handle (Dong Son Drum Restaurant collection, Hanoi ). Right: Warrior wearing a dagger, with an enemy skull hanging from his back (Pham collection, Paris, France).
The Shu Kingdom was a "non-Hua Xia" state that had reached a very high level of culture, such as the Three Star Crossing and Golden Sands. Most of the defeated Shu nobles migrated westward and southward, forming new small kingdoms in the Southwest Yi region with local tribal leaders. A "Shu Prince" named Shu Phan established the Au Lac kingdom in this context. The Chu, Wu, and Yue kingdoms, which had alternately dominated the Yangtze River region, also disintegrated in the following centuries. The Chu, Wu, and Yue nobles, not of the same Hua Xia origin, migrated southward to the Bai Yue region after their defeat and eastward to Korea and Japan.
The Qin Dynasty unified China in the late 3rd century BC, lasting only a few decades but creating a tightly unified core of the Han Chinese empire. They mobilized 500,000 troops to conquer the smaller Vietnamese-origin states in the south, primarily the Lingnan region, and seized the lower Pearl River Delta, encompassing present-day Guangdong and the eastern half of Guangxi, establishing their capital in Panyu (present-day Guangzhou).
A major war arrived in Dong Son, and historical records document the resistance of the Viet Tay Au people against the Qin army, killing the Qin general Tu Thu.
Around the same time as the major Warring States events in Central China, fierce warfare also took place between the nomadic Dian tribes in Yunnan and the rice-farming Dong Son and Tay Au tribes in the Red River basin and the upper Chau Giang River. Ultimately, part of northwestern Dong Son and Tay Au became dependent on the Dian kingdom, while the remaining Tay Au tribe merged with the Lac Viet leaders to form the Au Lac state, headed by the Tay Au leader Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong.
After the Han-Chu alliance overthrew the Qin dynasty, the Central Plains war unfolded between the Han and Chu forces, resulting in the defeat of the Chu nobility led by Xiang Yu and Xiang Ji. The Han dynasty was established at the end of the 3rd century BC, along with the emergence of the Nanyue kingdom from the remnants of the Qin dynasty, initiated by Ren Ao and Zhao Tuo, and supported by the indigenous Vietnamese nobility of Lingnan.
2. According to archaeological evidence, the characteristic and representative bronze artifacts of the Dong Son culture were produced in large quantities in the 4th-2nd centuries BC, corresponding to the wars of the Tay Au and Lac Viet tribes: firstly, against the invasion of the Qin army at the end of the 3rd century BC; secondly, against the nomadic Dian tribes in Yunnan; and thirdly, against the Nam Viet army in Guangxi and Guangdong (present-day China). Statistics show that bronze weapons and ceremonial objects, as well as aristocratic burial items in the tombs, have skyrocketed compared to the pre-Dong Son period, from about 0.3% to 50-60%.
In the first half of the 2nd century BC, the Nanyue Kingdom aspired to expand into an empire to counter the encroaching ambitions of the Western Han Dynasty. Zhao Tuo sought to seize Au Lac (to the west and south), Duong Viet (to the northwest), and Min Viet (to the northeast). Sima Qian, a historian living in the latter half of the 2nd century BC, recorded in his Records of the Grand Historian the annexation of Au Lac into Nanyue as follows: "Zhao Tuo brought troops to the border, using wealth to subdue the Western Au Lac and Min Viet."
In 2008, I discovered a Dong Son jar with an inscription related to Trieu Da. This jar was as large and beautiful as the one buried in the tomb of Emperor Van De Trieu Mat in Guangzhou. Trieu Mat was the second emperor of Nam Viet (the second son of Trong Thuy, grandson of Trieu Da, ascended the throne in 137 BC and died in 122 BC at the age of 42). Tracing the origins of the jar with the inscription related to Trieu Da, I learned that it was buried in a tomb in Xuan Lap (Tho Xuan, Thanh Hoa ) - where there is a large burial site containing many valuable Dong Son artifacts in the Western European style.
While presenting this jar, I suspect it was one of the "wealth" that Trieu Da used to bribe and subdue the generals of Au Lac. After the annexation of Au Lac and Nam Viet, the territory of Nam Viet was divided into two large regions: Giao Chi and Cuu Chan. The Lac lords and Lac generals continued to oversee and regulate Au Lac society as before, with the exception of two marquis-ranked historians appointed by Trieu Da to compile tax records according to Nam Viet law. The "Tu Pho Marquis Seal" I mentioned in the previous article probably belonged to the marquis who was in charge of tax collection in Cuu Chan, Tu Pho at that time.
The image on the left shows a common scene on the body of a Dong Son bronze vessel and drum: a warship with a war drum in the center, a helmsman and archers behind, and an axe-wielding, spear-wielding warrior holding an enemy skull in the front (reproduction of a Dong Son bronze vessel pattern from the CQK collection, California, USA). The image on the right shows a Dong Son warship on a bronze vessel with an inscription related to Trieu Da, currently on display at the Barbier-Muehler Museum, Geneva, Switzerland.
3. In 111 BC, a major war took place in the Dong Son territory – then an important part of the Nanyue state. The Western Han dynasty sent a large army led by General Lu Bo De, in coordination with reinforcements from the Yelang kingdom, to attack Panyu – the capital of Nanyue. The Nanyue court collapsed. Internal conflicts and infighting also broke out within Nanyue, with many former Au Lac generals participating in the fighting. At the end of the war, the two Nanyue envoys in Giao Chi and Cuu Chan brought cattle, wine, and household registration books to Lu Bo De in exchange for continuing to serve as envoys for these two districts for the Han dynasty.
From 110 BC, the Dong Son culture was part of the Han dynasty's administrative system of districts and counties under the name Giao Chau, comprising 9 districts, the southernmost of which was Nhat Nam district, stretching from Deo Ngang Pass to the present-day Quang Nam region.
From the latter half of the 1st century BC, when the Western Han dynasty began to increase migration and appoint Han officials to govern Giao Chau more strictly, the people rose up in rebellions, such as the attacks on Cuu Chan from the south, forcing Nham Dien to make concessions and seek peace.
The largest rebellion was that of the Trung Sisters, who rallied 65 cities across the districts of Giao Chau, drove out and killed the Han governor, and seized power for three to four years (39-43 AD). The Han dynasty sent Ma Yuan and Doan Chi to suppress the rebellion, driving the rebels as far as what is now central Vietnam. Following this were the rebellion of Khu Lien in Nhat Nam district, who seized power in the 2nd century AD, and the rebellion of the Trieu brothers in Cuu Chan in the early 3rd century AD…
The political and social situation of the Dong Son culture is closely linked to the innovation and diversity in its artifacts, especially the hand weapons, clothing, and aristocratic ceremonial objects. Much evidence of warriors and warfare has been left in the Dong Son cultural artifacts. However, while listing major political events that occurred quite rapidly over about seven centuries, in reality, periods of peace in Dong Son still accounted for a larger proportion than periods of war. Therefore, war and peace are two intertwined elements that create the very unique archaeological characteristics of the Dong Son culture.
Dr. Nguyen Viet
Source: https://baotanglichsu.vn/vi/Articles/3101/75341/van-hoa-djong-son-chien-tranh-va-hoa-binh.html
Comment (0)