Warring Societies of Pre-colonial Southeast Asiawas profoundly involved in state formation, political centralization, and
territorial integration, in Victor Lieberman’s groundbreaking work on
early modern Eurasia and Sun Laichen’s ongoing study of the “century
of warfare” in eastern Eurasia between 1550 and 1683.^91 The distinctive
element of the Vietnamese part of this phenomenon was their early
departure (c. 1520s) and late arrival (1802). Centuries of warfare gave
rise to the new power paradigm in which territorial orientations moved
southward and military campaigns headed northward. The task of unifi-
cation became the responsibility of one man, Nguyen Phuc Anh, whose
mastery of naval combat and powerful fleets not only awarded him with
the crown, but also for the first time presented the space now known as
“Vietnam”.
Author’s NoteThe author would like to thank Professor Michael Charney and Dr
Kathryn Wellen for thoughtful support and insightful comments over
the course of writing and editing this chapter. The errors and deficiencies
are my own.
- Lieberman, Strange Parallels.