Triệu dynasty
| Triệu or Zhào | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | Nam Việt (; pinyin: Nányuè) |
| Titles |
|
| Founded | 207 BC |
| Founder | Triệu Đà (; pinyin: Zhào Tuó) |
| Dissolution | 111 BC |
The Triệu dynasty (Vietnamese: Nhà Triệu; ) ruled the kingdom of Nam Việt ("South Yuè"), which consisted of parts of southern China as well as northern Vietnam. Its capital was Panyu, in modern Guangzhou. The founder of the dynasty, called Triệu Đà or Zhao Tuo, was a military governor for the Qin Empire. He asserted his independence in 207 BC when the Qin collapsed. The ruling elite included both ethnic Chinese and native Yue, with intermarriage and assimilation encouraged. Triệu Đà conquered the Vietnamese state of Âu Lạc and led a coalition of Yuè states in a war against the Han Empire, which had been expanding southward. Subsequent rulers were less successful in asserting their independence and the Han conquered the kingdom in 111 BC.
The scholar Huang Zuo produced the first detailed published history of Nam Việt in the fifteenth century. Chinese historians have generally denounced the Triệu as separatists from the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), but have also praised them as a civilizing force. A particularly strident denunciation was produced by poet Qu Dajun in 1696. Qu praised Qin Shi Huang as a model of how to uphold the purity of Chinese culture, and compared Triệu Đà unfavorably to the emperor. A more positive view of Triệu multiculturalism was presented by Liang Tíngnan in Nányuè Wŭ Wáng Chuán (History of the Five Kings of Nanyue) in 1833. Cantonese refer to themselves as Yuht, the Cantonese pronunciation of Yuè/Việt. In modern times, the character (yuè) refers to Cantonese while (yuè) refers to Vietnamese. But historically, these two characters were interchangeable.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese historians have struggled with the issue of whether to regard the Triệu heroically as founders of Vietnam, or to denounce them as foreign invaders. For centuries afterward, Triệu Đà was a folk hero among the Viets, and was remembered for standing up to the Han Empire. After Lý Bí drove the Chinese out of northern Vietnam, he proclaimed himself "emperor of Nam Việt" (Nam Việt đế) in 544, thus identifying his state as a revival of the Trieu, despite obvious differences in terms of location and ethnic makeup. In the thirteenth century, Lê Văn Hưu wrote a history of Vietnam that used the Triệu as its starting point, with Triệu Đà receiving glowing praise as Vietnam's first emperor. In the 18th century, Ngô Thì Sĩ reevaluated Triệu Đà as a foreign invader. Under the Nguyễn Dynasty, Triệu Đà continued to receive high praise, although it was acknowledged that the original Nam Việt was not in fact a Vietnamese state. The current Communist government of Vietnam portrays Triệu Đà negatively as a foreign invader who vanquished Vietnam's heroic King An Dương. Modern Vietnamese are descended from the ancient Yue of northern Vietnam and western Guangdong, according to Peter Bellwood.
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