Văn Lang

A hypothetical rendering of Văn Lang in the early 3rd century BC

History of Vietnam (geographical renaming)

2879–2524 BC Xích Quỷ 2524–258 BC Văn Lang 257–179 BC Âu Lạc 207–111 BC Nam Việt 111 BC – 40 AD Giao Chỉ 40–43 Lĩnh Nam 43–299 Giao Chỉ 299–544 Giao Châu 544–602 Vạn Xuân 602–679 Giao Châu/An Nam 679–757 An Nam 757–766 Trấn Nam 766–866 An Nam 866–967 Tĩnh Hải quân 968–1054 Đại Cồ Việt 1054–1400 Đại Việt 1400–1407 Đại Ngu 1407–1427 Giao Chỉ 1428–1804 Đại Việt 1804–1839 Việt Nam 1839–1887 Đại Nam 1887–1945 French Indochina (Tonkin, Annam, & Cochinchina) from 1945 Việt Nam Main template {{History of Vietnam}}

Văn Lang (Chinese: 文郎) was the first semi-legendary nation of the ancient Vietnamese people. It was ruled by the Hùng Kings of the Hồng Bàng dynasty. Hùng Vương as the title of a line of kings and the Văn Lang kingdom's existence are attested in Qin and Tang-era sources.^[1] The people of Văn Lang were referred to as the Lạc Việt or sometimes simply as the Lạc.

According to the 15th-century book Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Đại Việt Complete History), the nation had its capital at Phong Châu in present-day Phú Thọ Province. It was bordered to the east by the South China Sea, to the west by Ba Thục (present-day Sichuan), to the north by Dongting Lake (Hunan), and to the south by Champa. According to Trần Trọng Kim's book, Việt Nam sử lược (A Brief History of Vietnam), the country was divided into 15 regions as in the table below:^[2]

Regions of Văn Lang

Name	Present-day location
Phong Châu (King's capital)	Phú Thọ Province
Châu Diên	Sơn Tây Province
Phúc Lộc	Sơn Tây Province
Tân Hưng	Hưng Hóa (part of Phú Thọ Province) and Tuyên Quang Province
Vũ Định	Thái Nguyên Province and Cao Bằng Province
Vũ Ninh	Bắc Ninh Province
Lục Hải	Lạng Sơn Province
Ninh Hải	Quảng Yên (a part of Quảng Ninh Province)
Dương Tuyên	Hải Dương Province
Giao Chỉ	Hà Nội, Hưng Yên Province, Nam Định Province and Ninh Bình Province
Cửu Chân	Thanh Hóa Province
Hoài Hoan	Nghệ An Province
Việt Thường	Quảng Bình Province and Quảng Trị Province
Cửu Đức	Hà Tĩnh Province
Bình Văn	unknown

Việt Sử Lược (Việt Brief History) notes that Văn Lang consisted of 15 regions: in it there are 10 names recorded similar to those given in Đại Việt Complete History (Giao Chỉ, Vũ Ninh, Việt Thường, Ninh Hải, Lục Hải, Hoài Hoan, Cửu Chân, Bình Văn, Cửu Đức, and Văn Lang), and five regions with different names (Quân Ninh, Gia Ninh, Thang Tuyền, Tân Xương, and Nhật Nam). The founder of Văn Lang was Hùng Vương (King Hùng). The Hùng Vương throne was hereditary. The Hùng Kings were military commanders and religious leaders at the same time. Văn Lang was supposedly ruled by 88 Hùng Kings, but only 18 names are recorded (or, according to recent research, 18 names of 18 Dynasties, like Ancient Egyptian):

1. Hùng Dương (Lộc Tục)
2. Hùng Hiền (Lạc Long Quân)
3. Hùng Lân (vua)
4. Hùng Việp
5. Hùng Hy
6. Hùng Huy
7. Hùng Chiêu
8. Hùng Vỹ
9. Hùng Định
10. Hùng Hy
11. Hùng Trinh
12. Hùng Võ
13. Hùng Việt
14. Hùng Anh
15. Hùng Triều
16. Hùng Tạo
17. Hùng Nghị
18. Hùng Duệ

Văn Lang ended c. 258 BC when the Âu invaded under their Shu prince Thục Phán. Thục defeated the last Hùng Vương, united the kingdoms as Âu Lạc, and proclaimed himself An Dương Vương.^[3]

References

1. Keith Taylor, The Birth of Vietnam, Appendix A, Appendix B and C.
2. Trần Trọng Kim (2005). Việt Nam sử lược (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House. p. 18.
3. Chapuis, Oscar (1995). A History of Vietnam: From Hong Bang to Tu Duc. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 13, 14. ISBN 0-313-29622-7.

See also

• Văn Lang University
• Hồng Bàng dynasty
• Việt Nam sử lược
• Đông Sơn culture