Nam Việt
From Freepedia
Nam Việt or Nanyue (Chinese: 南越; pinyin: nányuè) was an ancient kingdom that consisted much of modern northern Vietnam and the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. It was established by the Chinese general Zhao Tuo (Ch:趙佗, Triệu Đà in Vietnamese) who adopted the customs of the Vietnamese people that he absorbed in his territorry. Its capital was near modern-day Guangzhou (Canton).
Among the Vietnamese, the Triệu Dynasty was a controversial one. Many consider it a period of Chinese domination since it was ruled by a Chinese general, while others consider it a period of independence because he adopted Vietnamese customs and often ruled in defiance of the Han emperor.
南 (nán, nam) means "south", and 越 (yuè, việt) is a variant of 粤 (yuè), the Chinese term that covers the languages and ethnicities of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and surrounding areas. 南越 can therefore be thought of as roughly meaning "southern Cantonese."
After the Han Chinese controlled the Nan-Yue kingdom for nearly 1000 years, the Yue's land has come to shape what is now northern Vietnam. Areas of present-day Guangdong and Guangxi were completly sinicized, while the Kinh (Jing) people of the Yue form the majority of the modern-day ethnic group of Vietnam.
In 111 BC, the army of emperor Han Wudi defeated Zhao Tuo's successor and incorporated Nam Việt into the Han empire.
The modern name "Vietnam" (Việt Nam) is just 南越 (Nam Việt) with an adapted word order.
