The Vietnamese first appeared in history as one of the many scattered peoples living in what is now South China and Northern Vietnam; a freedom-loving people who have constantly fought for their independence to be recognized as an independent country. The story of Vietnam is one of an ongoing struggle against foreign domination. As David Marr observed: "The continuity in Vietnamese anti-colonialism is a highly-charged, historically, self-conscious resistance to oppressive, degrading foreign rule. Possessors of a proud cultural and political heritage, many Vietnamese simply refused to be cowed" (SarDesai 43). .
For thousands of years, the Vietnamese have had to fight for their freedom from Chinese and French domination. China and France were very similar, yet very different in their plans and approaches to dominate Vietnam. China and France were very similar with the fact that both nations tried to extinguish the individuality of Vietnam's culture. China felt itself superior to Vietnam and had the same exploitation intentions in mind as the Western imperialists, but did not disrupt Vietnam's social organization, like France whom tried to colonize or westernize Vietnam; taking their land, religion, and culture and trying to mold it into what they wanted it to be.
The "tail of the dragon" is the name sometimes given to Vietnam. China, which borders Vietnam to the North, is the "dragon," and has repeatedly invaded Vietnam for over half of the small country's existence. For most of Vietnam's history, from 111 B.C. to A.D. 939, Vietnam was a directly ruled province of the Chinese Han Empire. The domination lasted over a thousand years, leaving great influence on Vietnam philosophy, culture, religions, and almost every aspect of Vietnamese life. One of the most persistent themes throughout Vietnamese history is a love-hate relationship between China and Vietnam. If the Vietnamese appreciated, admired and adopted Chinese culture, they despised, dreaded, and rejected Chinese political domination.
