Overview
Vietnamese history begins with the legendary Hong Bang kings (traditional founding 2879 BC) and the bronze-drum Dong Son culture of the river deltas. Certain continuities run through every era: the wet-rice civilization of the deltas; selective absorption of Chinese institutions — examinations, Confucianism — alongside fierce political independence; and a script history running from classical Chinese through the demotic Nom characters to today’s romanized quoc ngu.
The major eras
Han conquest in 111 BC opened a millennium under Chinese rule, ended by Ngo Quyen in 938. Nine centuries of independent dynasties followed — Ly, Tran, Le, Nguyen — building the state called Dai Viet and expanding it southward. French colonization (from 1858) ended with the August Revolution of 1945; three decades of war came next — against France, then in the American war — before reunification (1976) and the Doi Moi reforms (1986) that opened today’s fast-growing Vietnam.