Battle of Bạch Đằng (938)

At the Battle of Bạch Đằng River in 938 near Hạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam, the military force of the Viet-ruled domain of Tĩnh Hải quân, led by Ngô Quyền, a Viet lord, defeated the invading forces of the Chinese state of Southern Han and put an end to the Third Era of Northern Domination (Chinese ruled Vietnam).[3] It was considered the turning point in Vietnamese history.[4]

For other articles of the same title, see Battle of Bạch Đằng.
Battle of Bạch Đằng (938)

Map of
  Tĩnh Hải quân tiết độ sứ (靜海軍節度使)
and
  Southern Han (南漢)
DateAutumn 938
Location
Bạch Đằng River, Vietnam 20.8442°N 106.6317°E / 20.8442; 106.6317
Result Viet victory
Belligerents
Tĩnh Hải quân Southern Han
Commanders and leaders
Ngô Quyền Liu Yan
Liu Hongcao †
Strength
unknown 20,000[1]
Casualties and losses
unknown 10,000[2]

Background

In October 930, Southern Han, a Chinese state in southern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, launched an attack on the Jinghai circuit, which at the time was a Viet principality controlled by the Khúc clan. The leader of the Khuc, Khúc Thừa Mỹ, was taken prisoner by the Southern Han emperor Liu Yan.[5] In 931, the local general Dương Đình Nghệ raised a 3,000-men army of retainers and drove the Southern Han back to the borders of the Jinghai Circuit.[6]

In 937, Đình Nghệ was assassinated by Kiều Công Tiễn, a military officer.[7][8] Đình Nghệ's son in law and also his general, Ngô Quyền, mobilized his army to overthrow Kiều Công Tiễn. Công Tiễn asked Liu Yan for support. Liu Yan dispatched his son Liu Hongcao in command of the expedition fleet, which sailed to the Gulf of Tonkin and headed inland up Bạch Đằng River. Liu Yan led an additional force following his son's fleet.[6][9]

Battle

In late 938, the Southern Han fleet led by Liu Hongcao met Ngô Quyền's fleet on the gate of the Bạch Đằng River. The Southern Han fleet consisted fast warships carrying fifty men on each–twenty sailors, twenty five warriors, and two crossbowmen.[4] Ngô Quyền and his force had set up massive stakes tipped with iron foiled points on the river bed.[6] When the river tide rose, the sharpened stakes were covered by water. As the Southern Han sailed into the estuary, Viets in smaller crafts went down and harassed the Southern Han warships, luring them to follow upstream. When the tide fell, Ngô Quyền's force counterattacked and pushed the enemy fleet back to the sea. The Southern Han ships were immobilized by the stakes.[4] Half of the Han army died, either killed or drowned, including Liu Hongcao.[6][10][11] When the news of the defeat reached Liu Yan on the sea, he retreated back to Guangzhou.[12]

Đông Hồ woodblock depiction of Ngô Quyền leading his troops against Southern Han forces on the Bạch Đằng River, 938 AD

Aftermath

In spring 939, Ngô Quyền proclaimed himself king and chose the town of Co Loa as the capital.[13][14] This battle has been described as the point when Vietnamese history came into its own as the Jinghai Circuit achieved de facto independence.[15]

See also

References

Citations
  1. "Người kết thúc hơn một nghìn năm Bắc thuộc". baodanang.vn (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  2. Bằng chứng cuộc sống: Suy ngẫm về phát triển bền vững Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). Nhà xuất bản Chính trị Quốc gia Sự Thật. 26 November 2015. ISBN 9786045720264., p. 8
  3. Womack 2006, p. 113.
  4. Paine 2013, p. 314.
  5. Taylor 1983, p. 263.
  6. Kiernan 2019, p. 127.
  7. Taylor 1983, p. 266.
  8. Hall 1981, p. 215.
  9. Taylor 1983, p. 268.
  10. Ouyang 1995, p. 813.
  11. Miksic & Yian 2016, p. 346.
  12. Taylor 1983, p. 269.
  13. Coedes 2015, p. 80.
  14. Kiernan 2019, p. 139.
  15. Kiernan 2019, p. 131.

Bibliography
  • Coedes, George (2015). The Making of South East Asia (RLE Modern East and South East Asia). Taylor & Francis.
  • Elleman, Bruce A. (2019), The Making of the Modern Chinese Navy: Special Historical Characteristics, U.S. Naval War College: Anthem Press, ISBN 978-1-78527-101-4
  • Hall, Daniel George Edward (1981), History of South East Asia, Macmillan Education, Limited
  • Kiernan, Ben (2019). Việt Nam: a history from earliest time to the present. Oxford University Press.
  • Miksic, John Norman; Yian, Go Geok (2016). Ancient Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis.
  • Ouyang, Xiu (1995). Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 978-7-101-00322-2.
  • Paine, Lincoln (2013), The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World, United States of America: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Taylor, Keith Weller (1983), The Birth of the Vietnam, University of California Press
  • Womack, Brantly (2006), China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymmetry, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-5216-1834-7
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