27
Mar
2020
24
Nov
2021
Angkor Travel Information
Posted by: admin /1190
Most visitors to Angkor arrive by air as the large number of international and domestic carriers servicing the country make flying a comfortable and viable option. Local as well as long-distance buses from Vietnam and Thailand provide an affordable alterna tive. However, though the highway from Phnom Penh has improv ed, the poor condition of […]
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01
Dec
2021
Shi Xie and the rise of the great families
Posted by: admin /1240
For fifty years after Ma Yuan’s expedition, Han power was at its peak. Very little information about the southern frontier during this time was recorded by imper- ial historians, which may be taken as an indication that, in the wake of Ma Yuan’s frontier sojourn, the situation was relatively calm. When events began to be […]
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24
Nov
2021
Vietnam Through The Year
Posted by: admin /1240
Most traditional festivals in vietnam have close links with chinese cultural traditions, and follow the lunar calendar, which has only 29.5 days a month. accordingly, the solar dates change annually, and festivals do not fall on fixed dates. Secular holidays, by contrast, are fixed to the Western calendar, and often associated with the country’s recent […]
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01
Dec
2021
A historic watershed
Posted by: admin /1200
By mid 1407 the Ming announced that the Tran family was extinct and, report- edly in response to petitions from local leaders and elders, proceeded to organize the imperial province of Giao Chi. Huang Fu, the senior civil official, immedi- ately began to establish a structure of government staffed by both local men and men […]
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22
Nov
2021
Hoi An
Posted by: admin /1300
Located on the north bank of the Thu Bon River, the picturesque historic town of Hoi An was an important trading port from the 16th to the 18th century. Attracting traders from China, Japan, and even Europe, the town acquired a rich cultural heritage, rivaled by few other cities in Vietnam. Designated a UNESCO World […]
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01
Dec
2021
Resurgence of the Nguyen Phuc and decline of the Trinh
Posted by: admin /1210
In the spring of 1777, Nguyen Nhac sent Nguyen Hue to Saigon with a large seaborne expedition. In a six-month campaign, Nguyen Hue defeated all the Nguyen Phuc armies, including those of Mac Thien Tu and reinforcements from Phu Yen. Nguyen Phuc Thuan, Nguyen Phuc Duong, and most of the Nguyen Phuc princes were captured […]
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01
Dec
2021
Minh Mang’s centralizing policies
Posted by: admin /1220
Gia Long’s confidence in his fourth son as a man with his own mind was well placed. Minh Mang was an intelligent and active ruler with definite ideas about how to govern. Unlike his successors, historians have never viewed him as being manipulated by others. On the other hand, My Duong, the royal grandson who […]
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01
Dec
2021
Le Tu Thanh as teacher
Posted by: admin /1080
In 1442, only fourteen days before the death of his father Le Nguyen Long, Le Tu Thanh was born in the countryside where his mother had found refuge from homicidal intrigues in the palace. After three years, he was brought to the palace to be educated with his three elder brothers, all being about the […]
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22
Nov
2021
Exploring Mekong Delta and Southern Vietnam
Posted by: admin /1180
The Mekong Delta is a unique region where life on the water has remained unchanged for centuries. Closest to Ho Chi Minh City, My Tho is known as a launching pad for boat tours, as is Vinh Long, which lies to its south. Can Tho, the delta’s largest city has several lively floating markets in […]
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01
Dec
2021
Agrarian unrest, Tran Hao, and Nhat Le
Posted by: admin /1120
While royalty and literati maintained the forms of dynastic rule, an undercurrent of agrarian distress gathered momentum. The post-war famine of 1290–1292 had initiated a pattern of land being absorbed into the estates of royal family members and of peasants shifting into the status of royal slaves. Land once transferred to royal estates was never […]
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01
Dec
2021
Literature
Posted by: admin /1240
Gia Long’s reign became famous in Vietnamese literary history because of three poets who have remained popular to the present time. One of them, Nguyen Du (1765–1820), came from a prominent family from Nghi Xuan district in Nghe An, near the coast just south of the Ca River. His father, Nguyen Nghiem (1708– 1775), was […]
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01
Dec
2021
Farewell to tattoos
Posted by: admin /1340
In late 1288, tax exemptions were published proportional to wartime damages. But there were also long-term economic and social effects of the war. By autumn of 1290, a famine began that lasted for two years, causing taxes to be cancelled entirely. The Tran court distributed food to the poor for a time until overwhelmed by […]
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24
Nov
2021
Le Van Duyet Temple
Posted by: admin /1180
Dedicated to General Le Van Duyet (1763–1831), this is perhaps the best example of a temple devoted to a national hero rather than to a deity or religion. Le Van Duyet helped suppress the Tay Son Rebellion, and was lauded by Emperor Gia Long. After Van Duyet’s death, he was repudi- ated by Emperor Minh […]
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24
Nov
2021
Phung Son Pagoda
Posted by: admin /1230
Also known as Go Pagoda, the present complex was built between 1802 and 1820 on the remains of an ancient site. Local lore and, more recently, archaeological findings suggest that this was once the site of a complex belonging to the Funan Empire. According to legend, at one time the temple was to be moved […]
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