Originally posted by milty
Well, the Viets definately had atleast an ethnic identity, if not a national identity. Not many cultures had a definate "national" identity in which they recognize and establish their boundaries, maintain relations with other "nations", and have the idea of citizenry.
Ethnic identity shldn't be confused with cultural and national identity.
Ethnically I am closer to the Vietnamese (as with most of the South Chinese), rather than the North Chinese (more like the Mongols, Manchus, Koreans etc), and yet I considered myself to be as Chinese as any other Chinese. Even if my first language is English.
Take Americans for example. There're Americans of every race, ethnic group and etc under the sun, yet they considered themselves to be Americans and culturally so.
The Vietnamese ethnic identity is very strong, and if they thought of themselves as Chinese, then why do they resist Chinese rule so vehemently. Northern Vietnam, also known as Jiao Zi (named after one of the central provinces on the Hung river valley), was designated a Han province by Ma Yuen, but his rule there was hated, and I believe Han rule quickly deteriorated after Ma left. This may lead to Vietnam being technically a Han province but not in actuality. This of course leaves out Champa, who survives until the 11th-13th century I think.
This was cos the Vietnamese had developed their national consciousness during the 10-11th centuries AD. The Ming under Yung Lo then conquered and ruled them for 2 decades (and retried a few times) before being thrown out. Hence Vietnamese vehemence for Chinese rule and invasion.
In the 5-6th century AD, the Vietnamese, led by a Chinese failed scholar, broke off and formed their own state. At this time, the area was still Chinese. Then as the centuries rolled by, the Vietnamese got used to having their own state and so didn't return to the Chinese political sphere.
The Vietnamese got on very well with the Qing though (cos they didn't invade). The Qing even sent troops to help the Vietnamese in 1885 when the French encroached into Indo-China.
The Chinese didn't expand into Champa cos of its jungles and climate. They believed any army sent there would be decimated by disease and the climate.
As to ethnic identity, one of the strongest cultural legends were the Phung sisters that resisted Han rule, so they had atleast an identity of rebelliousness and yearning for freedom ever since the Han. As to the name Viet, they didn't use that name until later, because they thought it was a derogatory term given by the Chinese. They thought of themselves as the Lac, named after Lac Long-quan the dragon lord. The earliest period known in history about Vietnam was in the Lac Lords period where there were individual tribes.
Myths make for poor history though....
You'll have to remember - the Han armies conquered all of South China and turned the entire population Chinese. Vietnam was the one that got away a few centuries later.
Even so, they were culturally very close to the Chinese. Esp the South Chinese. Vietnamese sounds much like any of the S Chinese dialects, even today.