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The proposal was accepted and implemented. Where commanders. A late attempt at reinforcing the colonial
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there were insufficient troops available for a military guard, forces in Jiaozhi was made in 1426, when a further 20,000
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police offices were established. Senior Chinese military troops were dispatched there from various provinces, a
figures would also command roving forces of up to 2,000 further 1,000 tally slips were sent to Jiaozhi for appointing
Vietnamese troops to be sent wherever there was military Vietnamese to military and civil posts, new commanders
service to perform. were dispatched with the orders to recruit 30,000 more
In an attempt to eliminate the cultural basis of the polity, Vietnamese for the military, new firearms were supplied,
the Ming emperor ordered the destruction of Vietnamese and the senior Chinese military commanders already in
books. Some of the secret correspondence contains specific Vietnam were stripped of their ranks and titles and required
sets of orders that Ming commanders and troops were to ‘realise achievements’. But by May 1427 the major
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required to abide by during the military campaign. One of Chinese citadels in Jiaozhi were under attack, and the
these letters contains instructions related to the handling of arriving Chinese reinforcements had been put to flight. By
Vietnamese written works. Issued on 17 August 1406, they the end of 1427, Lê Lợi had sent envoys to the Chinese court
read in part: seeking the Chinese withdrawal, and the Ming had
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With the exception of Buddhist and Taoist texts, all written and recognised the benefits of withdrawal, albeit disguised in
printed materials within Annan are to be burnt. These include claims of benevolence by the Ming court. A process of
anything that promotes Vietnamese rites and customs as well as decolonisation was thus set in train, inevitably involving the
texts used by children, such as those containing the phrase colonial forces. The imperial orders, after requiring that the
shang da ren Qiu Ji Yi. In addition, all stelae from ancient times Vietnamese find themselves a ruler, read:
that are of Chinese origin are to be preserved, but those erected
by Vietnamese should all be destroyed. Not even a single The Chengshan Marquis and Regional Commander Wang
character [from the Vietnamese works] is to be preserved. 50 Tong and so on are to immediately lead the government troops
back to their original guards and battalions. All of the civil and
兵入, 除釋道經板經文不燬外, 一切書板文字, 以至禮俗、童蒙 military officials and clerks, commanders and troops of the
所習, 如 ‘上大人丘乙己’之類片紙隻字, 悉皆燬之。其境內, 凡有 Jiaozhi Regional Military Commission, Provincial
古昔中國所立碑刻,則存之。但是安南所立者, 悉壞之, 一字勿 Administration Commission and provincial Surveillance
存。 Commission as well as of all guards, battalions, prefectures,
subprefectures and counties, are all to return home together
Ong Eng Ann further cites 15th-century Vietnamese with their family members. Also, all of the grand defenders and
sources concerning the Ming destruction and confiscation of eunuch and palace officials who have been sent on official
texts. Hồ Nguyên Trừng (Lê Trừng), eldest son of Hồ Quý duties are to return to the capital.
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Ly, commented: ‘As for the burning of Vietnamese books
during the war [with the Ming], which reduced most of The flood of people and materials northwards out of the
them to ashes causing them to vanish without a single trace, former colony must have made the first few months of 1428 a
I can only express deep regret!’ In a draft memorial on the hugely dislocated period for both Đại Việt and southern
completion of the official chronicle Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn China, and at the speed at which this occurred it was more a
Thư 大越史記全書, presented to the Lê emperor Thánh- flight rather than an organised withdrawal. After some
tông (r. 1460–97) in 1479, the famous historian Ngô Sĩ Liên pretence that a descendant of the Trần dynasty would be
wrote: ‘No [event can be compared to] the invasion of the installed as ruler of the polity, Lê Lợi formally assumed the
fanatical Ming (狂明), [during which] one country’s position in 1428, sending a proxy human figure in gold to the
[Vietnam’s] books and maps [were] reduced to ashes [as a Chinese court. 59
consequence of this] catastrophe’. The unsuccessful attempt by Ming China at colonising
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In order to try to inculcate some loyalty to China, senior Đại Việt thus extended over a period of 21 years from 1406 to
Vietnamese military commanders who gave their allegiance 1428. During this period, a colonial administration was
to the Chinese were sent to the Chinese capital at Nanjing established in Đại Việt and economic exploitation of the
for an audience with the emperor and to receive rewards, region was pursued with vigour. The role of the colonial
and then sent back to serve their masters in Jiaozhi as army, comprising both Chinese and locally recruited
members of the colonial army. The appointment of such persons, was to ensure the security of the colonial
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people to senior posts was also used as a propaganda weapon administrative apparatus. The use of a large number of
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by the colonial authorities. Vietnamese soldiers in the colonial army was eventually to
While reinforcements were dispatched from China to prove a major flaw in the system, as it was they who
meet a renewed military threat from the Vietnamese, the eventually rebelled and drove out the Ming colonialists.
frequency and intensity of the uprisings grew, grain supplies The policies pursued by the Ming in Đại Việt and some
continued to be scant and, in 1422, the Chinese supreme areas of Yunnan over the 15th century suggest that the
military commander Li Bin 李彬 died. The death of the process by which the Ming state expanded into new areas
Yongle emperor two years later also reduced Chinese can be summarised as follows: 1) Validation of a military
enthusiasm for maintaining the troublesome colony. The action was sought out or created; 2) A military expedition
growing power and momentum of Lê Lợi’s opposition in was launched; 3) Assistance of some local leaders was
1425 also presaged the end of the colonial administration. gained; 4) Intimidation by slaughter was conducted; 5) The
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The inefficiency of the Ming military at this time appears to existing leaders were killed or removed elsewise; 6) Orders
have derived from the fact that most military units they were issued locally proclaiming the moral rectitude of the
deployed were Vietnamese, albeit sometimes under Chinese military action and noting that it was conducted to free the

Domination in Four Keys: Ming China and its Southern Neighbours 1400–1450 | 19