Brush and Ship: The Southern Chinese Diaspora and Literati in Ðại Việt during the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

Abstract

What relationship developed between the new realm of Ðại Việt (northern Vietnam) and the growing southeast coast of China in the early second millennium C.E.? Fan Chengda's report of the 1170s on the Vietnamese spoke of a strong interaction between the two regions, of Min Chinese moving into Ðại Việt. This note looks at commercial and educational developments on the southeast coast of China and relates these developments to the emerging Trần dynasty and the increased significance of literati in Ðại Việt.