Andrew Dang
HSE Officer (2012–present)Updated 11mo

Do people know that China tried to make Vietnam a province during the Ming dynasty and burned all of Vietnam's books?

Originally Answered: Do the Chinese know that China tried to make Vietnam a province during the Ming dynasty and burned all of Vietnam's books?
Yes, actually many Chinese people knew about it, but they “pretend” to know nothing about what China did to other neighbors.

The Ming - Ho war (1406–1407) which led to the Fourth Chinese dominion of Vietnam (1407–1427) was actually a WAR OF GENOCIDE, in terms of both ethnic, economic and cultural cleaning.

The Official Historical Records of Dai Viet (Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu - 大越史記全書) described the killing methods of Ming troops as follows:

“…輔所至多行殺戮，或積屍爲山，或抽腸繫樹，或煎肉取䐧，或炮烙爲戲，至有剖胎為二馘以應令者...”

English translation:

“Whenever General Zhang Fu (張輔) mobilized his troops, they massacred lots of people. Sometimes they cut the bowel out of the victim’s body, tied it to the tree, or make the fried meat ! Some of these soldiers even disemboweled the body of a (female) pregnant victim and chop off the head of her child !”

Vietnamese version:

“Phụ đi đến đâu, giết chóc rất nhiều, có nơi thây chất thành núi, có chỗ moi ruột quấn vào cây, hoặc rán thịt lấy mỡ, hoặc nướng đốt làm trò, thậm chí có đưá mổ bụng lấy thai, cắt lấy hai cái tai để nộp theo lệnh”.

On the other hand, the CULTURAL GENOCIDE was escalated rapidly. Hundreds of precious books written by Vietnamese people were taken away from Royal Court as well as from private libraries, to be burnt at all !

Thanks to the works of Vietnamese
during 1930s, the previous book named “越嶠書” (Việt Kiệu Thư) written by the author Li Wenfeng (李文鳳) was finally discovered and brought to the light. Inside this old book there was an official decree from Ming Emperor Yongle announced that:
“…兵 入 。除 釋 道 經 板 經 文 不 燬 。外 一 切 書 板 文 字 以 至 俚 俗 童 蒙 所 習 。如 上 大 人 丘 乙 已 之 類 。片 紙 隻 字 悉 皆 燬 之 。其 境 內 中 國 所 立 碑 刻 則 存 之 。 但 是 安 南 所 立 者 悉 壞 之 。 一 字 不 存…”

English translation:

“Whenever your army enter Annam, except Buddhist and Taoist text, all written and printed materials of Annam must be burnt. The stelae erected by China during the previous time have to be protected carefully. On the contrary, those stelae erected by Annamese must be completely annihilated, not a single character left”.

Ming troops and generals strictly followed this policy, and they worked very very well ! They confisticated most of Vietnamese books at that time (to make the Vietnamese be illiterate and forget their ancestor’s history), destroyed nearly all every temples in the area of North Vietnam today (For example, The Four Great Treasures of Annam, 安南四大器, or An Nam Tứ Đại Khí (Báo Thiên Tower, Phổ Minh Caldron, Quy Điền Bell & Buddha Statues of Quỳnh Lâm Temple), were subsequently demolished.

Moreover, to wipe out and destroy all everything in Vietnam effectively, economic exploitation (in fact ECONOMIC GENOCIDE) policies were promulgated and strongly emphasized by Ming Emperor Yongle as well as his henchmen and generals. The Official Records of Ming dynasty, or the Ming shi lu, “proudly” announced the “achievements”: As a result of the war, 13.6 million piculs of grain were obtained, 230,590 elephants, horses and cattle, 8,677 ships, and 2.5 million military weapons were “confiscated” from Vietnam.

Twenty years of bloody and devasting war in Annam (1407–1427) also costed the Ming Dynasty heavy prices: hundred thousands of their troops died in vain in Annam, especially during decisive battles of 1408 (Battle of Bô Cô), 1426 (Battle of Tốt Động - Chúc Động, 崒洞祝洞之戰) & 1427 (Battle of Chi Lăng - Xương Giang, 支棱昌江之戰). The success of Lam Sơn Uprising (起義藍山) finally ended the Fourth Chinese Domination of Vietnam and subsequently led to the establishment of one of the most powerful Vietnamese dynasties - the LÊ DYNASTY.