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Song–Đại Việt war: A Visual History

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Visual history of a war

Ly Thuong Kiet's pre-emptive strike into China, the Song counter-invasion, and the poem on the Nhu Nguyet river that Vietnamese call their first declaration of independence.

Fought
1075 to 1077
Duration
2 years
Dates
1075 to 1077
Deaths
Perhaps 100,000 or more, including civilians at Yongzhou; the Song lost about half their army to disease and battle
Dai Viet
Ly dynasty under the boy king Ly Nhan Tong and Empress Y Lan; Ly Thuong Kiet; Nung allies
Song
Emperor Shenzong; Guo Kui, Zhao Xie; Champa and Khmer allies
Result
Stalemate; peace of 1077; borders restored

The Song-Dai Viet War (1075-1077) was fought between Song China under Wang Anshi's reformist government and the Vietnamese kingdom of Dai Viet under the Ly dynasty. Learning of Song preparations, the Vietnamese general Ly Thuong Kiet struck first in late 1075, sacking the Chinese prefectures of Qinzhou, Lianzhou and, after a 42-day siege, Yongzhou (Nanning), where tens of thousands were killed. The Song sent an army of about 100,000 under Guo Kui in 1076; it broke through to the Nhu Nguyet (Cau) river north of the capital Thang Long, where the Vietnamese held the line for weeks and inflicted heavy losses. Both sides, exhausted, made peace in 1077 with the border restored, and Dai Viet's independence was confirmed for two centuries.

When it was fought: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Song-Dai Viet War. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

400600800100012001400160018002000Song-Dai Viet War (1075 to 1077)Open: Sui dynastySui dynasty (581 to 618)Open: SrivijayaSrivijaya (650 to 1275)Open: Khmer EmpireKhmer Empire (802 to 1431)Open: Liao dynastyLiao dynasty (916 to 1125)Open: Northern Song dynastyNorthern Song dynasty (960 to 1127)Open: Western XiaWestern Xia (1038 to 1227)Open: Fang La rebellionFang La rebellion (1120 to 1121)Open: Mongol invasions and conquestsMongol invasions and conquests (1206 to 1368)Open: Tay Son warsTay Son wars (1771 to 1802)

Song forces sent against Dai Viet

050100150200Combat troops: 100100Combat troopsPorters and labourers: 200200Porters and labourersLosses to disease and battle: 150150Losses to disease and battlethousands (approximate)

Timeline of the Song-Dai Viet War

  1. 1075
    Vietnamese offensive; Qinzhou and Lianzhou fallOctober to December.
  2. 1076
    Yongzhou stormedMarch.
  3. 1076
    Song invasion; Lang Son fallsLate 1076.
  4. 1077
    Battle of the Nhu Nguyet river; peace
  5. 1084
    Border districts returned by negotiation

Ly Thuong Kiet strikes north

Wang Anshi's New Policies included plans to punish Dai Viet, which had raided the frontier and taken Nung tribes under its protection. Ly Thuong Kiet, a eunuch general, learned of the build-up and led 100,000 troops and Nung auxiliaries into Guangxi and Guangdong by land and sea in October 1075. Qinzhou and Lianzhou fell; Yongzhou resisted under Su Jian for 42 days until earthen ramps let the Vietnamese storm it in March 1076; the garrison and populace, said to number 58,000, were killed and Su Jian burned himself in his house. Ly withdrew before the Song could react.

The Song invasion

Guo Kui and Zhao Xie assembled some 100,000 troops and 200,000 porters, with Champa and the Khmer promising to attack from the south. Advancing through the mountains in late 1076, they took Lang Son and reached the Nhu Nguyet river, where Ly Thuong Kiet had built palisades along the south bank. Song attempts to cross were thrown back; a night raid by Ly's forces reportedly killed thousands, though the Song also mauled a Vietnamese counter-attack. Tropical disease killed perhaps half the Song army.

The poem and the peace

Tradition says Ly Thuong Kiet had a poem recited from a temple by night: 'The southern emperor rules the southern land; so it is written in the book of Heaven; how dare you invaders violate it? You shall be defeated.' Nam Quoc Son Ha is called Vietnam's first declaration of independence. Ly offered talks; the Song, unable to advance and losing men daily, withdrew in early 1077 keeping some border districts, which Dai Viet recovered by diplomacy in 1084. The Song never invaded again.

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8 surprising things about the Song-Dai Viet War

  1. Ly Thuong Kiet was a eunuch and served as commander-in-chief into his eighties, dying in 1105.
  2. The Nam Quoc Son Ha poem is taught to every Vietnamese schoolchild as the first assertion of national sovereignty.
  3. The sack of Yongzhou (Nanning) is one of the few times a Vietnamese army has captured a major Chinese city.
  4. The Song's expected pincer from Champa and the Khmer never materialised.
  5. Wang Anshi's reform government fell partly under criticism for the costly failure.
  6. Empress Y Lan, regent for the boy king, is honoured as one of Vietnam's great female rulers.
  7. The Cau river battlefield is about 30 km north of Hanoi.
  8. The war set a pattern of Vietnamese pre-emption and defence in depth repeated against the Mongols and the Ming.

Sources

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