Outline of Vietnam
Vietnam was under Chinese control for a thousand years before becoming a nation-state in the 10th century. Successive dynasties flourished along with geographic and political expansion deeper into Southeast Asia, until it was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. Efforts to resist the French eventually led to their expulsion from the country in the mid-20th century, leaving a nation divided politically into two countries. Bitter fighting between the two sides continued during the Vietnam War, ending with a communist victory in 1975.
Hoa people
Chinese economic dominance in Vietnam dates back to 208 B.C., when the renegade Qin Chinese general Zhao Tuo defeated An Dương Vương, the king of Âu Lạc in north Vietnam and conquered the Âu Lạc Kingdom, an ancient Vietnamese state situated in the northern mountains of modern Vietnam populated by the ancient Lạc Việt and Âu Việt. He annexed Âu Lạc into the Qin Empire the following year and declared himself the emperor of Nam Viet. A century later, the powerful Han dynasty annexed Nanyue (which in Chinese translates to "land of the southern barbarians") into the Han Empire and was ruled as a province for the next several hundred years. Sinification of Nanyue was brought about by a combination of Han imperial military power, regular settlement and an influx of Han Chinese refugees, officers and garrisons, merchants, scholars, bureaucrats, fugitives, and prisoners of war. By the end of the 17th century, a distinct Chinese community, known as the Hoa, formed within Vietnamese society. Ethnic Chinese enclaves and small Chinatowns took root in every major Vietnamese city and trading center. Large congregations of Chinese immigrants coupled with their economic power allowed the establishment of insttitions to their regulate business activities and protect their economic interests. Modern Chinese settlement and immigration in Vietnam came about from conducive opportunities for trade and business. Ethnic Chinese businessmen began to visit Hội An from the 16th century onward and initially traded black incense, silk, alum and Chinese medicinal products with the local Vietnamese. Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants who visited Hội An in the 17th century brought high quality European made brass utensils that attracted the attention of the Chinese. In turn, other Hoa manufactured goods such as porcelain, silver bars and various metals were traded. Around this time, the local Chinese community began to establish their own trading and social associations, the latter of which is referred to as "bang" in Vietnamese to protect their own economic interests. The bang also provided various welfare services for new Chinese immigrants, including financial services such as the collection of taxes. As more immigrants poured in the 19th century, the "bang" served as meeting points for Chinese community leaders to band together to pool seed capital and establish their own businesses.