Page 67 - Japan’s Cultural Treasures

National Holidays: Vietnam

In addition to the holidays listed below, =P`YTʭNL_TZY /Ld
Vietnam celebrates a number of national
05/01 Labor Day
holidays that follow a lunar calendar. To
ʭYO Z`_ TQ dZ` bTWW MP _]LaPWTYR O`]TYR _SP^P 09/02 Independence Day
holidays, please visit www.timeanddate.
com/holidays. 12/24 Christmas Eve
01/01 New Year’s Day 12/25 Christmas Day

February Tet Lunar New Year (moves each 12/31 New Year’s Eve
year; see note above)

Historical Overview of Vietnam
Vietnam’s earliest known residents were hunters and farmers who migrated into the area
from the north and south. At the end of the third century B.C., the Red River Delta area and
a portion of southeastern China became a kingdom named Nam Viet. The Chinese conquered
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Jiao Zhi and later, Annam.

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the country Dai Co Viet. The next 900 years saw Dai Co Viet grow into an empire ruled by
powerful family dynasties. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Ly dynasty ruled, the
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175 years.

The army of Dai Co Viet continued to defend the country’s independence, defeating Mongol
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self-rule was the period between 1407 and 1427, when the Chinese again took control. The
Le Dynasty re-established independence from China in 1427, and the country became known
as simply Dai Viet. Though nominally under Le rule, civil war between the Trinh and Nguyen
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the country and named it Vietnam, giving himself the title Emperor Gia Long.

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Roman Catholic missionaries. The Dai Viet rulers eventually felt threatened, and persecuted
the missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries. Seeking to protect the missionaries and to
become a power in the area, French forces entered Vietnam in 1858, taking control of the
country by 1883. Vietnam became part of French Indochina, and remained under French
domination until 1940, when Germany occupied France during World War II and Germany’s
ally Japan took control of Vietnam.

After Japan’s defeat, in September 1945, the communist Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh gained
control of many regions of the country. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent
nation—the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France re-asserted its claim on the region, and

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