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VIETNAM HISTORY:
Ancient Vietnam - About 2,000 years ago people in North Vietnam began growing rice in the Red River Delta. To irrigate their crops they built dykes and dug canals. They were forced to work together and so an organised kingdom emerged called Van Lang. However in the 2nd century BC the Chinese conquered the area.
The Chinese ruled northern Vietnam for more than 1,000 years and Chinese civilization had a great impact on the Vietnamese. However in South Vietnam there was Indian influence. From the 1st century to the 6th century AD the southernmost part of Vietnam was part of a state called Funan. In the middle of Vietnam an Indian influenced state called Champa arose in the 2nd century AD.
In North Vietnam the people resented Chinese rule and in 40 AD the Trung sisters led a rebellion. They formed an independent state. However in 43 AD the Chinese crushed the rebellion and the sisters killed themselves. The Chinese continued to rule North Vietnam until the 10th century. Finally in 938 a leader named Ngo Quyen defeated the Chinese at the battle of Bach Dang River and North Vietnam became an independent state.
In the 13th century the Mongols invaded Vietnam three times. In 1257 and 1284 they captured the capital but each time they soon withdrew. Then in 1288 the Vietnamese leader Tran Hung Dao routed the Mongols at the Bach Dang River.
In the early 15th century China tried to regain control of North Vietnam. In 1407 they occupied the country but their rule was resisted. In 1418 Le Loi began the Lam Son Uprising. By 1428 the Chinese were driven out and Le Loi became the Emperor Le Thai To. Under his successors the central Vietnamese state of Champa became a vassal state of North Vietnam.
In the early 16th century the power of the Le dynasty declined. During the 17th and 18th centuries two rival families effectively held power, the Trinh in the north and the Nguyen in the south. The Nguyen family conquered the Mekong Delta from the Khmer Empire.
In the 1770s a rebellion began in the town of Tay Son. Three brothers called Nguyen led it. Gradually they took territory from the Nguyen lords in the south and the Trinh lords in the north. By 1786 they were in control of the whole of Vietnam and one brother, Nguyen Hue made himself Emperor Quang Trung. In 1788 the Chinese intervened in Vietnam but the Vietnamese defeated them at Dong Da.
However a Nguyen lord named Nguyen Anh escaped. He raised an army and from 1789 he pushed back the rebels. Nguyen Anh took Hanoi in 1802 and made himself Emperor Gia Long. Under him Vietnam became a strong united kingdom.
Meanwhile the Portuguese reached Vietnam by sea in 1516. In their wake came missionaries, first Dominicans then Jesuits and the Roman Catholic Church made some headway in Vietnam.
The French in Vietnam - In the late 19th century Vietnam became a French colony. However the French took over Vietnam in stages. In 1859 they captured Saigon. Finally in 1883 North and Central Vietnam was forced to become a French protectorate. The French built infrastructure in Vietnam such as the Saigon to Hanoi railway. They also built roads and bridges. However the building was funded by heavy taxation. Naturally the Vietnamese wanted independence. The Communists spearheaded the struggle for independence. Ho Chi Minh founded the Revolutionary Youth League from the safety of China in 1925. In 1930 it became the Vietnamese Communist party.
In 1940 the Germans defeated France. Japan decided to take advantage of French weakness and they forced the French government to allow Japanese troops to occupy French Indo-China, although they left the French administration in place.
The Vietnamese Communists or Viet Minh fought the Japanese and by 1945 they controlled parts of North Vietnam. Meanwhile in March 1945 the Japanese took control of the administration of Vietnam and when Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 they left a power vacuum. Ho Chi Minh moved quickly to fill the vacuum. He called for an uprising called the August Revolution and the Viet Minh took control of most of Vietnam. On 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent.
However the great powers ignored the Vietnamese demand for independence. Under the terms of the Potsdam Conference Japanese troops south of the 16th parallel surrendered to the British. Those to the north surrendered to the Nationalist Chinese. The French army soon arrived in the south to take control from the British. In the north Chinese troops moved in. However Ho Chi Minh soon decided that the French were the lesser of two evils and he signed a treaty, which said that French troops should replace Chinese troops in North Vietnam for 5 years. In return the French promised to recognized Vietnam as a 'free state'. However it soon became clear the French had no intention of giving up power in Vietnam and fighting broke out between them and the Viet Minh.
For eight years the Viet Minh fought a guerrilla war against the French. Finally in 1954 they surrounded a French army at Dien Bien Phu. After a siege lasting 57 days the French were forced to surrender. By then it was clear that the French could not win the war and both sides met at the Geneva Conference to end the war. They agreed that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel and elections would be held by 20 July 1956. However no elections were held and the division of Vietnam became permanent.
Modern Vietnam - In the north Ho Chi Minh introduced a Communist regime while in the south Ngo Dinh Diem became ruler. However in the early 1960s South Vietnam was rocked by demonstrations and in 1963 Diem was ousted in a coup. Meanwhile in 1959 the North Vietnamese began a long guerrilla war to reunite Vietnam under Communist rule. The Northern Guerrillas were known as the Vietcong. Gradually the USA became involved in the Vietnam War. As early as 1950 the US sent military advisers to South Vietnam. Financially they supported the French and later the South Vietnamese government.
Then in 1964 two US ships were supposedly subject to 'unprovoked' attacks by the North Vietnamese. First the Maddox was attacked. Two days later the Maddox and a ship called the C Turner Joy claimed they were both attacked. (It is doubtful if this attack ever took place).
The Americans then bombed the north and Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution allowing the president to take 'all necessary measures' to prevent 'further aggression'. As a result by December 1965 there were 183,000 US soldiers in Vietnam and by the end of 1967 there were nearly half a million. However the Vietcong continued their guerrilla war.
In January 1968 the Vietcong launched the Tet offensive in towns and cities across South Vietnam. They suffered heavy losses but afterwards the Americans gradually withdrew from Vietnam. In January 1973 they signed a ceasefire and the remaining American troops withdrew. The South Vietnamese continued to fight the Vietcong alone. However in the early months of 1975 South Vietnamese resistance collapsed and on 30 April 1975 the North Vietnamese captured Saigon. Vietnam was reunited under Communist rule.
Then in the late 1970s the Khmer Rouge made attacks on Vietnam. So in 1978 the Vietnamese occupied Cambodia. They stayed until 1989.
Meanwhile in 1986 the Vietnamese government introduced market reforms. As a result the Vietnamese economy began to grow rapidly. In 1994 the USA lifted an economic embargo on Vietnam and in 1995 diplomatic relations were restored.
Today the Vietnamese economy is booming and Vietnam is becoming more and more prosperous. Tourism is an important industry in Vietnam. Furthermore a stock exchange opened in Vietnam in 2000.
RELIGIONS:
The major religious traditions in Vietnam are Buddhism (which fuses forms of Taoism and Confucianism), Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), Islam, Caodaism and the Hoa Hao sect.
Buddhism: Buddhism was first introduced to Vietnam in the 2nd century and reached its peak during the Ly dynasty (11th century). It was then regarded as the official religion dominating court affairs. Buddhism was preached broadly among the population and enjoyed a profound influence on people's daily life. Its influence also left marks in various areas of traditional literature and architecture. As such, many pagodas and temples were built during this time. At the end of the 14th century, Buddhism began to show signs of decline. The ideological influence of Buddhism, however, remained very strong in social and cultural life. Presently, over 70% of the population of Vietnam is either Buddhist or strongly influenced by Buddhist practices.
Catholicism: Catholicism was introduced to Vietnam in the 17th century. At present the most densely-populated Catholic areas are Bui Chu-Phat Diem in the northern province of Ninh Binh and Ho Nai-Bien Hoa in Dong Nai Province to the South. About 10% of the population is considered Catholic.
Protestantism: Protestantism was introduced to Vietnam at about the same time as Catholicism. Protestantism, however, remains an obscure religion. At present most Protestants live in the Central Highlands. There still remains a Protestant church on Hang Da Street in Hanoi. The number of Protestants living in Vietnam is estimated at 400,000.
Islam: Islamic followers in Vietnam are primarily from the Cham ethnic minority group living in the central part of the central coast. The number of Islamic followers in Vietnam totals about 50,000.
Caodaism: Caodaism was first introduced to the country in 1926. Settlements of the Cao Dai followers in South Vietnam are located near the Church in Tay Ninh. The number of followers of this sect is estimated at 2 million.
Hoa Hao Sect: The Hoa Hao Sect was first introduced to Vietnam in 1939. More than 1 million Vietnamese are followers of this sect with most living in southwest Vietnam.
Mother Worship: Researchers describe the Vietnamese mother-worship cult as a primitive religion. Mother, Me in the Vietnamese language, is pronounced mau in Sino--script. The mother worship cult might be originated from the cult of the Goddess in ancient ages. In the Middle Ages, the Mother was worshipped in temples and palaces. Due to the fact that it is a worshipping custom and not a religion, the Mother worshipping cult has not been organised as Buddhism and Catholicism have. As a result, the different affiliations of the cult have yet to be consistent and different places still have different customs. The custom of Mother capital letter originated from the north. In the south, the religion has integrated the local goddesses such as Thien Y A Na (Hue) and Linh Son (Tay Ninh). In fact, the Mother worship cult was influenced by other religions, mainly Taoism.
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Testimonials
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Show moreMai Chau - Pu LuongThuy Pham was very knowledge about the tour and super organized to ensure that I have the best experience from the tour. Mai Chau - Pu Luong was amazing with all the nature scenes and the friendly Thai minority in the village. I got to learn a lot of cultures in the area and how they are similar and different from the rest of other Vietnamese in the country...Mr. Tai Trinh - USAReview submitted on Jun 2022
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Show moreEinfach KlasseIch bin selbe Vietnamesen, und auch sehr oft nach Vietnam reisen. Aber erstes Mal ein Tour von Reisefirma buchen. Erstaunlich, es war viel besser als erwartet. Zuerst, wir können richtig gut essen, zweite, wir bleiben immer fit mit sehr gute Zeitplannung. Ich muss noch mal Danke sagen und bis bald Vietsensetravel.Herzlichen GrüsseAntrus Duong - Germany
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Show moreExcellent organizationWe made trip for 25pax with VietSense Travel. From the first email we understood that it is our company, our friends and our Vietnamese guides to history, sense and soul of this country.We traveled for 8 days from North to South trough the country, made best points of view with great gastronomic accents and nice hotels. The program was made for us individually according to our wishes and budget.VietSence Travel is the team of professionals - reliable, friendly and always ready to help in any issue. Surely recommend if you want to get great travel experience in Vietnam!Anastasiya Popovich - Ukraine
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Show moreTrip in VietnamWow. A trip of a lifetime, we closed the trip six months before they took care of all the details even the smallest, their drivers are careful, the excellent guides explained everything to us with a smile and patience. We were taken to clean restaurants. Thank you so much from Israel.Sheli Golan - Israel
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Show moreMy visit was from 6/1/2019 to 6/6/2019...My family of three really liked the tours Halong & Ninh Bình 2019 from Vietsense Travel. Travel consultant Thuy Pham, tour guides Viet & Dung gave us great experiences from these tours. The sight seeing were beautiful and amazing. We loved the foods, places that we had seen. They treated us so nice. Also, the drivers, boat guides were great. We will recommend these tours from Vietsense Travel. If we ever come back to Hanoi, we definitely will book tours from Vietsense Travel again...Chinh Vo - United States
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Show moreFive Star Tour Agency with Excellent Service from Ms.Thuy Pham, Travel Advisor...Words simply cannot express the awesome job Ms.Thuy Pham did in planning every detail personally. She gave us more than 100% of her attention before the trip and during our time. We shared almost a personal relationship during the process that we even met for lunch in Hanoi! Thuy took the time to share our travel experiences mid-way through the trip. That gave us a true feeling of “Vietnam Hospitality”...Gloriacappo - North Chicago, Illinois
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