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of present-day Vietnam, and then stopped in Qui Nhon,' later to become a major port for logistics and the location of a small base for coastal patrol craft of the United States Navy. With the coming of the southwest monsoon in the spring, these fleets headed back downwind with their cargoes and with tribute-bearing emissaries to pay homage to the Chinese emperor. During these return voyages, the ships made landfall at Cape Varella (Ke Ga) on the coast of Vietnam, and once again put into the harbor at Qui Nhon.

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Vietnam's geography made the area particularly susceptible to the influence of seapower. Even when the many indentations and promontories are not included, the coast measures some 1,500 miles from the Chinese border in the north to Cambodia in the south. As narrow as thirty miles at one point, the S-shaped strip of land that now comprises Vietnam has an average width of only eighty miles. Many rivers wind their way from the mountains down to the sea.

One of these rivers is the mighty Mekong which rises 2,500 miles upstream in the Himalayan Mountains of central Tibet. With a drainage basin larger than the state of Texas, the Mekong proceeds through Yunnan Province of China, forms the border between Laos and Burma and most of Thailand, traverses Cambodia, and at Phnom Penh divides into two arms extending to the South China Sea-the Mekong and the Bassac. Crisscrossed by innumerable waterways, almost the entire region south of Saigon and much of Cambodia consist of a vast delta, the "rice bowl of Asia," formed by the accumulation of silt brought down by the Mekong and its tributaries. Extensive regions of the delta are inundated during the summer months as a result of heavy tropical rains caused by moisture brought from the Indian Ocean by the southwest monsoonal winds. Inland waterways form the main highways in this area for the movement of produce, goods, and

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The Ming fleet is said to have totaled, at its peak, 400 warships, 400 armed "grain-conveyance" ships, 250 great "treasure ships," each carrying 500 men, 3,000 other merchant ships and 2,500 smaller coastal warships. Sixty-two of the ships were reportedly over 500 feet long and 200 feet wide, designed for long voyages with four decks and watertight compartmentation, and equipped with sails which permitted tacking into the wind. Whatever the specifics, these were impressive ships for their day. Charles P. FitzGerald, The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972), pp. 87-126; Clark G. Reynolds, Command of the Sea; The History and Strategy of Maritime Empires (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1974), pp. 102-04.

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* For an account of the expeditions, see Ma Huan, Ying-Yai Sheng-Lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores, trans. by Teng Ch'eng-Chun (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970).

people. Oceangoing ships steam through the delta from the sea to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

In the north, where the northeast monsoon brings the fall-to-spring rainy season, the predominant waterway is the Red River which rises in Yunnan Province and is navigable all the way from the sea to the Chinese border. The rice-rich delta formed by this river and its tributaries is the most densely populated region of North Vietnam and the site of its capital,

Hanoi.

Since the great majority of the inhabitants of Vietnam have lived in the deltas, north and south, and along the coastal lowlands, it was inevitable that inland waterways and their control would, along with maritime influence, play important roles in the history of Vietnam. These roles were in many ways extensions of sea power.

A Divided Land

Future conflict would be influenced by religious, cultural, and political divisions within Vietnam, a country never truly united and under single rule only for brief spans of time. The migration of peoples to Vietnam by sea and inland waters brought additional ethnic strains to those indigenous to the area. Along with traders, missionaries, and conquerors, ships also brought in foreign cultures and religions. The resultant sources of potential conflict between major and minor groupings within the area would persist into the twentieth century. The area where North and South Vietnam would be divided after the French-Viet Minh War was, in particular, the scene of many confrontations and a series of wars spanning the centuries.3

To the northern part of Vietnam, came early inhabitants from China down the Red River and along the coast. The predominant strain was a people known to the Chinese as the Yueh, who occupied river and delta regions in early times along the east coast of Asia. Reputedly, they were hardy seafarers skilled in boat building and navigation. Those occupying southern coastal regions were known by the Chinese as Nan (southern) Yueh (Viet), who spread south to occupy the Red River Delta.*

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* For a comprehensive discussion of Vietnam's history from early times to the establishment of French Indochina, see Joseph Buttinger, The Smaller Dragon: A Political History of Vietnam (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1958).

For overviews of the peopling of Southeast Asia and its early history, see Daniel G.E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia (London: Macmillan and Co., 1964); and FitzGerald, Southern Expansion.

These Nan Yueh in the region later known as Tonkin submitted to the rule of the Ch'in emperor when China became united during the third century B.C., but regained their independence when the dynasty came to an end in 205 B.C. A century later, in 111 B.C., the Han emperor, Wu, conquered Tonkin and Annam. Except for a brief period at the time of Li Bon's revolt in the sixth century A.D., the area would be ruled by China for more than a thousand years. Although the Chinese did not colonize the Red River Delta and the Yueh there were not assimilated to the extent of those further north, the long rule did result in the absorption of Chinese culture and customs, particularly by the political leaders and others of the educated class.

In early history, the area south of Tonkin was the land of the Chams. Largely of Indonesian descent, the inhabitants added cultures and religions imported from India. Controlling regions down to Cam Ranh Bay, the Kingdom of Champa's center of power was near the present city of Danang. To the area that became Cambodia, came people down the Mekong River from the borders of Tibet. As elsewhere in Southeast Asia, seagoing Indonesians, or Malays, began to arrive several centuries before the Christian era. Ships later brought traders from India, followed by priests. Funan, a pre-Khmer kingdom, governed early Malay settlements along the Mekong between the sites of Phnom Penh, later to be the capital of Cambodia, and Chau Doc, in the Vietnam region of the delta. Additional territories were conquered under Funan's "Great King," Fan Shih-man. The fleet he built was said to have dominated the seas. Funan would be absorbed later into Cambodia.

Warfare between the Chams and the Chinese-contesting the territory between the Hai Van Pass (just north of Danang) and the "Gate of Annam" (at the 18th parallel)-is recorded as early as 248 A.D. Joined by Funan, Champa waged a fourteen-year war against the Chinese-ruled north. By 340 Champa was, for a time, in possession of the contested territory.

China brought its influence to bear on Champa by attacks from the sea. One such attack was repulsed in 431, but fifteen years later the Chinese plundered Hue, returning north with booty. This brought Champa and its tribute-bearing embassies in line for a number of years. Champa renewed its attacks in the sixth century. Once again China raided Hue and seized much of great value.

After a major uprising in 722, China maintained a large army in Tonkin

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