This page was created by Michitake Aso. 

Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping Modern East Asian History

Geographies and Cartographies of the Red River Delta

The Red River Delta is considered the cradle of Vietnamese civilization. Lê Bá Thảo, formerly one of the leading geographers of Vietnam, wrote in the 1990s of "the history of the conquest of the Red River delta" that created the "Red River civilization." Thảo continues that the delta is the result "of both the Red River and the Thái Bình river systems, but for reason of convenience and habit, the delta is named after the principal river system (the Red River)." (Thảo, Vietnam: The Country and Its Geographical Regions, 317-18).

Geography of the Red River from Le, Nguyen dynasty sources. Short and swift river, frequently floods. Dike network that helps irrigate, controls floods.


Viewed within a Vietnamese national space, the Red River Delta is one of two baskets (the other being the Mekong Delta) sitting at the end of a long pole. An early representation of this space is this 1838 map (from Jesuits?): 


Yet, before the Mekong Delta was incorporated in Vietnamese national space, the Red River Delta was more often viewed as the southern frontier of Chinese civilization. This view was common among Chinese intellectuals, of course, but also oriented the views of Vietnamese intellectuals and elite. An example of this space is 



Thăng Long, later named Hà Nội, has played a central role in the life of the delta. As Thảo notes, "the geographical space of the Red River delta is not therefore simply a natural geographic region. The very presence of Thăng Long Hanoi with its prevailing zone of influence ... [has] brought about the unity of the Red River delta throughout history." (Thảo, Vietnam: The Country and Its Geographical Regions, 325).


Include Li Tana material.

French colonial maps.

Setting scene for battles/potential biological warfare during 1st Indochina War.

Show Viet Bac, Viet Minh hospital.

Quotes from Hữu Ngọc's Sketches for a Portrait of Vietnamese Culture - literary views.

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Contemporary views of Red River Delta.






 

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