The Bình Ngô Đại Cáo Series
The Bình Ngô Đại Cáo Series
I wrote about the Bình Ngô Đại Cáo numerous times in the early years of this blog. That topic always attracts discussion.
I wrote this series in an attempt to deal with the topic in a more holistic manner. Again, there were some great comments. Thank you to the readers who offered their ideas!
12. The BNĐC Series: A Conclusion of Sorts
In the 1950s, students in America were taught that Thomas Jefferson was a great man because he wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all
11. The BNĐC Series: Wang Tong, Ngô and Levels of Politeness
The term “Ngô” is one which scholars have long debated about. As we saw earlier, Ưng Quả explained the term “Ngô” as a general name
10. The BNĐC Series: Lương Nhữ Hốt and Heaven’s Delineation of South and North
So Nguyễn Trãi wrote about “southern people” and “northern people” in a letter to the Ming officers who were occupying Bắc Giang citadel. He then
9. The BNĐC Series: Cai Fu, the Fall of Bắc Giang Citadel and the Complexity of Southern-Northern Relations
In the previous post we saw that Nguyễn Trãi wrote to the Ming soldiers who were defending Bắc Giang citadel 北昌城 (also referred to as
8. The BNĐC Series: Southern People, Northern People, Customs and Civility
In the opening passage of the “Bình Ngô đại cáo” there is a section which states that: “Our kingdom of Đại Việt is truly a
7. The BNĐC Series: The South and North Issue
Because I’ve always realized that the history of the Ming occupation of Đại Việt is not a simple story of “the Vietnamese” fighting “the Chinese,”
6. The BNĐC Series: Lê Lợi’s Legitimacy Problem
After defeating the Ming army that had occupied Đại Việt for some 20 years, Lê Lợi faced a new problem, one that he was unprepared
5. The BNĐC Series: What is a Đại Cáo/Dagao?
Shortly before he died in 1043 BC, King Wu of the Zhou (周武王 Zhou Wuwang) succeeded in overthrowing the Shang Dynasty and establishing a new
4. The BNĐC Series: Multiple Discourses and No Independence
Does the “Bình Ngô đại cáo” represent a decision to break away from an empire and to enter “a pre-existing international order” as “equal to
3. The BNĐC Series: Who Were the Representatives of the People in the “Bình Ngô đại cáo”?
Let’s now look at the “Bình Ngô đại cáo” to see to what extent we can find evidence that it was created by “representatives of
2. The BNĐC Series: Declarations of Independence
On July 4, 1776 a group of representatives from thirteen British colonies in North America, known collectively as the Continental Congress, met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1. The BNĐC (Bình Ngô đại cáo) Series: Introduction
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I’ve written many posts over the years about a fifteenth-century Vietnamese document known as the “Bình Ngô đại
