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

History of Vietnam (by names of Vietnam)

2879–2524 BC Xích Quỷ (mythological) 2524–258 BC Văn Lang 257–179 BC Âu Lạc 204–111 BC Nam Việt 111 BC – AD 40 Giao Chỉ 40–43 Lĩnh Nam 43–299 Giao Chỉ 299–544 Giao Châu 544–602 Vạn Xuân 602–679 Giao Châu 679–757 An Nam 757–766 Trấn Nam 766–866 An Nam 866–968 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 1839–1945 Đại Nam 1887–1954 Đông Dương from 1945 Việt Nam Main template History of Vietnam

Văn Lang (Chinese: 文郎) was a semi-legendary early state recorded by later historiography. According to these legends, it covered most of modern Northern Vietnam, and 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.

Modern scholarship suggests that Văn Lang emerged as early as the 7th century BC,^[2] contrasting with the legend's claim of its existence dating back thousands years earlier.

French linguist Michel Ferlus (2009)^[3] includes Văn Lang (Old Chinese: ZS *mɯn-raːŋ; B&S *mə[n]-C.rˤaŋ) in the word-family *-ra:ŋ "human being, person" of Southeast Asian ethononyms across three linguistic families, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, together with:

• The ethnonym Maleng of a Vietic people living in Vietnam and Laos; Ferlus suggests that Vietic *m.leŋ is the "iambic late form" of *m.ra:ŋ.
• A kingdom north of today-Cambodia, Chinese: 堂明 Táng-míng in Sānguózhì and later Dào-míng 道明 in Tang documents;
• A kingdom subjected by Jayavarman II in the 8th century, known as Maleṅ [məlɨə̆ŋ] in Pre-Angkorian and Malyaṅ [məlɨə̆ŋ] in Angkorian Khmer; the kingdom's name is phonetically connected with Maleng, yet nothing further is conclusive.
• The ethnonym မြန်မာ Mraṅmā (1342); in Chinese transcription 木浪: OC *moːɡ-raːŋs → MC *muk̚-lɑŋᴴ → Mandarin Mù-làng.
• Malayic *ʔuʀaŋ "human being, person".

There also exists a phonetically similar Proto-Mon-Khmer etymon: *t₂nra:ŋ "man, male".^[4]

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:^[5]

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. Phán defeated the last Hùng Vương, united the kingdoms as Âu Lạc, and proclaimed himself An Dương Vương.^[6]

References

See also

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