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Tonkin, also spelledTongkin,Tonquin orTongking, is anexonym referring to the area surrounding theRed River Delta of Northern Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ofĐàng Ngoài, under the control of theTrịnh lords, encompassing both theNorthern andThanh–Nghệ regions, north of theGianh River at the 17.7th parallel. From 1884 to early 1945, the term referred to theFrench protectorate of Tonkin, which comprised only the Northern region, approximately north of the 20th parallel.
"Tonkin" is a Western rendition of 東京Đông Kinh, meaning 'Eastern Capital'. This was the name of the capital of theLê dynasty (present-dayHanoi). Locally, Tonkin is nowadays known asmiền Bắc, orBắc Bộ, meaning 'Northern Region'.[citation needed]
The name was used from 1883 to 1945 for theFrench protectorate of Tonkin (Vietnamese:Bắc Kỳ 北圻), a constituent territory ofFrench Indochina.[citation needed]
It is located south ofYunnan (Vân Nam) andGuangxi (Quảng Tây) inChina, east of northernLaos, west of theGulf of Tonkin and north ofThanh Hóa province.
Being on a fertiledelta by theRed River, Tonkin is rich inrice production.
The area was calledVăn Lang from around 2000−200 BC. Evidence of the earliest established society in northern Vietnam, along with theĐông Sơn culture, was discovered in theCổ Loa Citadel area, located near present-dayHanoi (the capital city of Vietnam).[citation needed]
According toVietnamese myths the first Vietnamese peoples descended from the Dragon LordLạc Long Quân and the Immortal GoddessÂu Cơ. Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ had 100 sons before they decided to part ways. 50 of the children went with their mother to the mountains, and the other 50 went with their father to the sea. The eldest son became the first in a line of earliest Vietnamese kings, collectively known as theHùng kings of theHồng Bàng dynasty. The country was called Văn Lang and its people were referred to as theLạc Việt.
By the 3rd century BC, another Viet group, theÂu Việt, emigrated to the Red River delta and mixed with the indigenous population. A new kingdom,Âu Lạc, emerged as the union of the Âu Việt and the Lạc Việt, with Thục Phán proclaiming himselfAn Dương Vương.
Âu Lạc was annexed intoNam Việt kingdom ofTriệu Đà. After theTriệu dynasty, this region started to be officiallyunder Chinese rule. In pre-Tang times Tonkin was the port of call for ships on theSouth China Sea, though the center of commerce later moved north toGuangdong.[1]
The victory ofNgô Quyền at theBattle of Bạch Đằng in 938 ushered a new era of independence of Vietnam. TheNgô dynasty was followed by theĐinh,Early Lê,Lý,Trần, andHồ.
Lê Lợi (reigned 1428–1433), a notable landowner in the Lam Sơn region, had a following of more than 1,000 people before rising up againstrule of the ChineseMing dynasty. Following his victory he mounted the throne and established himself in the city of Thăng Long ('Ascending Dragon'), presentHà Nội. Thăng Long was also calledĐông Kinh東京, meaning 'Eastern Capital' (東京 is identical in meaning and written form in Chinese characters to that ofTokyo).[2][3]
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Westerners commonly used the name Tonkin (fromĐông Kinh) to refer toĐàng Ngoài in the North, ruled by theTrịnh lords.Đàng Ngoài, orBắc Hà, included not only the delta of the Red River, but also the deltas of theMã River andCả River. Meanwhile,Cochinchina or Quinan was used to refer toĐàng Trong in the South, ruled by theNguyễn lords; andAnnam, from the name of theformer Chinese province, was used to refer to Vietnam as a whole.[4]
AfterFrench assistance to Nguyễn Ánh to unify Vietnam under theNguyễn dynasty, theFrench Navy began its heavy presence inLower Cochinchina, includingSaigon, and later colonized the whole of this southern third of Vietnam in 1867.[citation needed]
During theSino-French War (1884–1885), Tonkin, then considered a crucial foothold in Southeast Asia and a key to the Chinese market, was invaded by the French in theTonkin Campaign. It was colonized as theFrench protectorate of Tonkin, and was gradually separated from theFrench protectorate of Annam, with Vietnam being effectively separated into three parts.[5]
During French colonial rule withinFrench Indochina,Hanoi was the capital of Tonkin protectorate, and in 1901 became the capital of all French Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam). French colonial administration ruled until 9 March 1945, including 1941–1945 during theWorld War IIJapanese occupation of Vietnam. French administration was allowed by the Japanese as a puppet government. Japan briefly took full control of Vietnam in March 1945, as theEmpire of Vietnam. Tonkin became a site of theVietnamese famine of 1944–1945 during this period.[6]
After the end of World War II, French rule returned over French Indochina. The Northern part of Vietnam became a stronghold for the communistViet Minh. Hanoi was later reoccupied by the French and conflict between the Viet Minh and France broke out into theFirst Indochina War. In 1949 it came under the authority of theState of Vietnam, a newassociated state of theFrench Union.[citation needed]
After the French defeat at theBattle of Dien Bien Phu in western Tonkin, and signature ofGeneva accords in 1954, the communist nation ofNorth Vietnam was formed, consisting of Tonkin and northern Annam. The State of Vietnam's territory was reduced to the southern half of the country, becomingSouth Vietnam.[citation needed]
In 1964, the US and North Vietnamese were involved in a battle off the coast, known as theGulf of Tonkin Incident.[7]
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The American mid-20th-century musical drama South Pacific includes a duet by the lead couple. It describes their nostalgia for their respective lives in theUnited States; their exposure to use of theTonkinese language (or dialect) seems to stand out, among the particulars of their displacement from their respective roots.
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Media related toTonkin at Wikimedia Commons
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