Early Mentions Numerous Chinese sources, dated to the
Spring & Autumn and
Warring States periods, mentioned a place called
Jiao(zhi) to the south of
Ancient China. Book of Rites is the earliest extant source to associate the name Jiaozhi with the
Nanman. However, Vietnamese historian
Đào Duy Anh locates Jiaozhi (which was mentioned in ancient texts) only south of Mount Heng (衡山) (aka 霍山 Mount Huo or 天柱山
Mount Tianzhu), within the lower part of
Yangtze's drainage basin, and nowhere farther than today
Anhui province in China (i.e. not in today
northern Vietnam); accordingly, Đào defines
Jiao(zhi) as "lands in the south which bordered [ancient Chinese's] territories".
Van Lang The native state of
Văn Lang is not well attested, but much later sources name as one of the realm's districts (''''). Its territory purportedly comprised present-day
Hanoi and the land on the right bank of the
Red River. According to tradition, the
Hung kings directly ruled Mê Linh while other areas were ruled by dependent Lac lords. The Van Lang kingdom fell to the
Âu under prince
Thục Phán around 258 BC.
Âu Lạc Thục Phán established his capital at
Co Loa in Hanoi's
Dong Anh district. The citadel was taken around 208 BC by the
Qin general
Zhao Tuo.
Nanyue Zhao Tuo declared his independent kingdom of
Nanyue in 204 and organized his Vietnamese territory as the two
commanderies of Jiaozhi and
Jiuzhen (; present-day
Thanh Hóa,
Nghệ An, and
Hà Tĩnh). Following a native coup that killed the Zhao king and his
Chinese mother, the Han launched
two invasions in 112 and 111 BC that razed the Nanyue capital at
Panyu (
Guangzhou). When Han dynasty conquered
Nanyue in 111 BC, the Han court divided it into 9 commanderies, one commandery called Jiaozhi was the center of Han administration and government for all 9 areas. Because of this, the entire areas of 9 commanderies was sometime called Jiaozhi. From Han to Tang, the names Jiaozhi and Jiao county at least was used for a part of the Han-era Jiaozhi. In 670, Jiaozhi was absorbed into a larger administrative called Annan (Pacified South). After this, the name Jiaozhi was applied for the
Red River Delta and most or all of northern Vietnam (Tonkin).
Han dynasty The
Han dynasty received the submission of the Nanyue commanders in Jiaozhi and
Jiuzhen, confirming them in their posts and ushering in the "
First Era of Northern Domination" in
Vietnamese history. These
commanderies were headed by
grand administrators (
taishou) who were later overseen by the inspectors (,
cishi) of
Jiaozhou or (''''), the first of whom was
Shi Dai. Under the Han, the political center of the former Nanyue lands was moved from Panyu (
Guangzhou) south to Jiaozhi. The capital of Jiaozhi was first Mê Linh (Miling) (within modern
Hanoi's
Me Linh district) and then
Luy Lâu, within
Bac Ninh's
Thuan Thanh district. According to the
Book of Han’s "Treatise on Geography", Jiaozhi contained 10
counties:
Leilou (羸𨻻), Anding (安定), Goulou (苟屚), Miling (麊泠), Quyang (曲昜), Beidai (北帶), Jixu (稽徐), Xiyu (西于),
Longbian (龍編), and Zhugou (朱覯).
Đào Duy Anh stated that Jiaozhi's territory contained all of
Tonkin, excluding the regions upstream of the
Black River and
Ma River. The southwest area of present-day
Ninh Bình was the border of Jiuzhen. Later, the Han dynasty created another commandery named
Rinan ('''') located south of Jiuzhen, stretching from the
Ngang Pass to
Quảng Nam Province. One of the Grand Administrators of Jiaozhi was
Su Ding. In AD 39, two sisters
Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị who were daughters of the Lac lord of Mê Linh, led an
uprising that quickly spread to an area stretching approximate modern-day Vietnam (Jiaozhi,
Jiuzhen,
Hepu and
Rinan), forcing Su Ding and the Han army to flee. All of Lac lords submitted to Trưng Trắc and crowned her Queen. In AD 42 the Han empire struck back by sending an reconquest expedition led by
Ma Yuan.
Copper columns of Ma Yuan was supposedly erected by Ma Yuan after he had suppressed the uprising of the
Trưng Sisters in AD 43. Ma Yuan followed his conquest with a brutal course of assimilation, destroying the natives'
bronze drums in order to build the column, on which the inscription "If this bronze column collapses, Jiaozhi will be destroyed" was carved, at the edge of the Chinese empire. Following the defeat of Trưng sisters, thousands of Chinese immigrants (mostly soldiers) arrived and settled in Jiaozhi, adopted surname Ma, and married with local
Lac Viet girls, began the developing of Han-Viet ruling class while local Lac ruling-class families who had submitted to Ma Yuan were used as local functionaries in Han administration and were natural participants in the intermarriage process. In 100,
Cham people in Xianglin county (near modern-day
Huế) revolted against the Han rule due to high taxes. The Cham plundered and burned down the Han centers. The Han respond by putting down the rebellion, executed their leaders and granting Xianglin a two-year tax respite. In 136 and 144, Cham people again launched another two rebellions which provoked mutinies in the Imperial army from Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen, then rebellion in Jiaozhi. The governor of Jiaozhi, according to Kiernan, "lured them to surrender" with "enticing words." In 115, the Wuhu Li of
Cangwu district revolted against the Han. In the following year, thousand of rebels from Yulin and Hepu besieged Cangwu.
Empress Dowager Deng decided to avoid conflict and instead sent attendant censor Ren Chuo with a proclamation to grant them amnesty. In 157, Lac leader
Chu Đạt in Jiuzhen attacked and killed the Chinese magistrate, then marched north with an army of four to five thousand. The governor of Jiuzhen, Ni Shi, was killed. The Han general of Jiuzhen, Wei Lang, gathered an army and defeated Chu Đạt, beheading 2,000 rebels. In 159 and 161, Indian merchants arrived Jiaozhi and paid tributes to the Han government. In 166, a Roman trade mission arrived Jiaozhi, bringing tributes to the Han, which "were likely bought from local markets" of Rinan and Jiaozhi. In 178, Wuhu people under
Liang Long sparked a revolt against the Han in
Hepu and Jiaozhi. Liang Long spread his revolt to all northern Vietnam,
Guangxi and central Vietnam as well, attracting all non-Chinese ethnic groups in Jiaozhi to join. In 181, the Han empire sent general Chu Chuan to deal with the revolt. In June 181 Liang Long was captured and beheaded, and his rebellion was suppressed. In 192,
Cham people in Xianglin county led by
Khu Liên successful revolted against the Han dynasty. Khu Liên found the independent kingdom of
Lâm Ấp. Jiaozhi emerged as the economic center of gravity on the southern coast of the Han empire. In 2 AD, the region reported four times as many households as
Nanhai (modern Guangdong), while its population density is estimated to be 9.6 times larger than that of Guangdong. Jiaozhi was a key supplier of rice and produced prized handicrafts and natural resources. The region's location was highly favorable to trade. Well connected to central China via the
Ling Canal, it formed the nearest connection between the Han court and the
Maritime Silk Road. By the end of the second century AD,
Buddhism (brought from India via sea by Indian Buddhists centuries earlier) had become the most common religion of Jiaozhi.
Three Kingdoms During the
Three Kingdoms period, Jiaozhi's commanders pledged loyalty to
Wu from the year 220. It was administered from
Longbian ('''') by
Shi Xie on behalf of the
Wu. This family controlled several surrounding commanderies, but upon the headman's death
Guangzhou was formed as a separate province from northeastern
Jiaozhou and Shi Xie's son attempted to usurp his father's appointed replacement. In retaliation,
Sun Quan executed the son and most of his brothers, demoting the remainder of the family to common status. A local rebellion shifted control of the province to
Wei and then
Jin from 266271 but Wu
briefly regained control before its complete conquest in 280.
Six Dynasties, Sui, and Tang Under the
Six Dynasties, Jiaozhi generally adhered to the southern dynasties based in
Jiankang (modern
Nanjing). Upon the
Sui conquest of
Chen, it formed part of the Sui and
Tang Empires until it was replaced in 679 by the new administration of Annam, the
Annan Protectorate.
Ming dynasty During the
Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam, the
Ming dynasty revived the historical name Jiaozhi and created the
Jiaozhi Province in northern Vietnam. After repelling the Ming forces,
Lê Lợi dismissed all former administrative structure and divided the nation into 5
dao. Thus, Giao Chỉ and Giao Châu have never been names of official administrative units ever since. ==Sino-Roman contact==