Đại Việt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Đại Việt (Vietnamese pronunciation: [ɗâjˀ vjə̀t]; Hán tự: 大越; literally "Great Viet") is the official name referring to Vietnamese dynasties beginning with the rule of Lý Thánh Tông (r. 1054-1072), the third king of the Lý Dynasty. Previously, since the rule of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (r. 968-979), the country had been referred to in an official manner as Đại Cồ Việt (大瞿越); cồ (chu Nom: 𡚝) is a synonym of 大. The term "Việt" is cognate with the Chinese word "Yue," and originally referred collectively to the numerous Yue peoples (often referred to in historical texts as the "Hundred Yue"), who comprised the non-Chinese ethnic groups of southern China and northern Vietnam.

In 1400, the founder of the Hồ Dynasty, Hồ Quý Ly, changed the country's name to Đại Ngu (大虞). In 1407, Vietnam fell under Ming Dynasty domination, which lasted until 1427. In 1428, Lê Lợi, the founder of the Lê Dynasty, again renamed the newly liberated country Đại Việt.

When the Nguyễn Dynasty took power, the country's name was officially changed yet again, in 1804, this time to Việt Nam (越南), until emperor Minh Mạng, in 1839, again renamed it Đại Nam (大南, literally "Great South"); it held this official name until 1945.