I’ve seen it written countless times before that after the Han Dynasty extended its empire into into the area of what is now Vietnam, that “the Chinese” tried to Sinicize (Hán hóa) or assimilate (đồng hóa) “the Vietnamese.”
One of the ways that people say this happened was through education.
Let’s think about that.
The information that we have about education in Han Dynasty Vietnam comes from one brief phrase in the History of the Later Han. That phrase says that two Han Dynasty administrators in the early first century AD “established schools” and that certain people “were guided by ritual propriety” (kiến lập học hiệu, đạo chi lễ nghĩa; 建立學校，導之禮義).
I have left the word “people” out of my translation because in the original classical Chinese text it is not clear who was guided by the ritual propriety (lễ nghĩa 禮義) that was learned through education. The object of this phrase is “chi” (之), a character than can mean, “he/him,” “she/her,” “it” or “they/them.”
In other words, this phrase indicates that schools were established in Han Dynasty Vietnam so that “chi” could be guided by ritual propriety, but we do not know who “chi” refers to. Was it “the Vietnamese”? How can we know?
One way to try to figure out who “chi” referred to is to look at evidence of other schools that were set up around that time.
One of the two Han Dynasty officials who reportedly established schools (or a school) at this time was a man by the name of Ren Yan (Nhâm Diên 任延), who was appointed in 25 AD to govern over the area of what is now Thanh Hóa.
The History of the Later Han does not say anything about the school (or a school) that he set up, but it does provide some details about a school he established later in his career when he was appointed to govern over Wuwei 武威 , an area in what is today Gansu Province, and which was then in the northwestern periphery of the Han Dynasty empire.
Just as Thanh Hóa was home to many peoples whom Han administrators like Ren Yan viewed as “barbarians,” so was Wuwei an area that was inhabited by non-Han peoples such as the Xiongnu and Qiang.
In this region on the edge of the Han Dynasty empire, Ren Yan reportedly established a school. This is what is recorded in the History of the Later Han:
“He also established a school [the text literally says school “official” but in the context, “school” makes more sense]. The sons and grandsons of [his] clerks were all ordered to attend and study, and they were excused from corvée labor duties. As they became proficient in reading texts, they were all promoted. The commandery thereupon had its own cultivated scholars.”
(又造立校官，自掾吏子孫，皆令詣學受業，復其傜役。章句既通，悉顯拔榮進之。郡遂有儒雅之士。 )
One thing that we can immediately see is that this school was not for “the people.” It was for the offspring of the clerks who worked for the Han Dynasty administrator appointed to the region. Therefore, the number of children that such a school educated must have been very limited.
Were the clerks Han or non-Han? It’s not clear. In another passage, it seems that Ren Yan put together in Wuwei a militia that may have consisted of local non-Han people. It is therefore possible that some of his clerks were non-Han as well, but if they were, they must have been able to read and write classical Chinese, which means that they must have been acculturated Han ways to a certain degree.
Let us return to the area of what is now Vietnam and think about the passage in the History of the Later Han that says that Ren Yan and another official “established schools” and that “chi” “were guided by ritual propriety” (建立學校，導之禮義).
From the other example, we now know who “chi” here most likely refers to. As was the case in Wuwei, it was also most likely the case in the area of Vietnam that the schools that were set up during the Han Dynasty period were for the sons of the clerks that worked for the Han Dynasty administrators who were appointed to the region.
Therefore, while many people have argued that “the Chinese” tried to Sinicize (Hán hóa) or assimilate (đồng hóa) “the Vietnamese” during the Han Dynasty period, from what we can learn about the role of schools in the peripheral regions of the Han Dynasty empire that was clearly not the case.
Perhaps there were a few clerks who originally came from the indigenous population, and yes, those people were definitely “Sinicized” to some degree, but their numbers must have been very limited. As for the rest of the “the people,” I think all of the evidence points to one fact: Han Dynasty officials were simply not interested in them.
As we saw in the previous two posts, Han Dynasty officials established themselves along rivers and resided in houses that were walled-off from “the people” like small fortresses. Given how deliberately they separated themselves from “the people,” it is not surprising that the schools they set up had nothing to do with “the people” either.
Han Dynasty officials did not Sinicize “the people,” nor did they try to assimilate them either. They did not try to change “the people” because they didn’t need to. And that is a point that we’ll address in a future post.
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之 chi has multiple meanings , depending also on context .I’m not sure but it never means he/him , she /her .
Here I think it is a verb , meaning arrive
_ 導 đạo = lead to , teach
_ 導之禮義 = lead to arrive ( to reach ) to rituals and duties
Definition #4: substitutes for a person (or people) or an object
1) 助词，表示领有、连属关系：赤子～心。
2) 助词，表示修饰关系：缓兵～计。不速～客。莫逆～交。
3) 用在主谓结构之间，使成为句子成分：“大道～行也，天下为公”。
4) 代词，代替人或事物：置～度外。等闲视～。
5) 代词，这，那：“～二虫，又何知”。
6) 虚用，无所指：久而久～。
7) 往，到：“吾欲～南海
Pr Kelley writes [ Han Dynasty officials did not Sinicize “the people,” nor did they try to assimilate them either. They did not try to change “the people” because they didn’t need to ]
History repeats itself , as one can see in this post : https://leminhkhai.blog/revisiting-the-vietnamese-annexation-of-cambodia-5-clothing/
French colonialiists did try to destroy VN culture by phasing out Han characters but they did not force Vietnamese to wear occidental attire , nor take up marriage rituals or dress : formerly , according to East asian cosmology , white is the color of old age or mourning ; yet , since the 1900s , all VN brides dress for civil marriage in white ( which , I think , is the occidental symbol of virginity ) . I am in advaced age and I wince every time I see such things .
When they go before the ancestors’altar , most get dressed in VN attire
Yes, I think you’re right. At the end of the day, I think it relates to power or perceptions of power. People work with (or “collaborate”) the Han or French as they see it as a way to access power, and dressing/eating/living like the powerful is part of the game. Then other people look at their compatriots who are working with the powerful outsiders, and start to emulate them as well when they have the means to do so. In the 20th century, many more people had the means to do that then was probably the case 2,000 years earlier, but the phenomenon was probably the same.
That’s it : perceptions of power : opportunistic colonized people mimick their masters , in order to get power or money . In the 4 aspects of culture , quan , hôn , tang tê’ , VN has changed up to 3 fourths : cut their hair , got married in white , wear black in mourning , low observance of rites ( tê’ ) , they assimilate themselves , they take the same outer
appearance , they dress in the same feathers of the peacock , hoping so to appropriate themselves of riches or power .
At the start of Deng siao Ping ‘s opening , I once saw a picture of a Chinese eating by Mc donald some kind of fast food ;the heir of the first cuisine in the world eats junk food , in the hope of … ; I was flabbergasted !
After 1975 , I met a VN fresh off the boat ; he was interested in gay magazines although he was heterosexual , he heard that most people in power has gay leanings , so he was ready to make ” sacrifices ”
After just 80 years of french rule , VN had been assimilated , mostly voluntarily, up to 75 % into western culture , but they faithfully repeat their holy mantra : despite 1000 years , VN has not been assimilated , we have kept oour original culture