Tonkin

Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain Đàng Ngoài under Trịnh lords' control, including both the Northern and Thanh-Nghệ regions, north of the Gianh River.

[citation needed] It is south of Yunnan (Vân Nam) and Guangxi (Quảng Tây) Provinces of China; east of northern Laos and west of the Gulf of Tonkin.

By the 3rd century BC, another Viet group, the Âu Việt, emigrated to the Red River delta and mixed with the indigenous population.

In pre-Tang times Tonkin was the port of call for ships on the South China Sea, though the center of commerce later moved north to Guangdong.

Lê Lợi (reigned 1428–1433), a notable landowner in the Lam Sơn region, had a following of more than 1,000 people before rising up against rule of the Chinese Ming dynasty.

Following his victory he mounted the throne and established himself in the city of Thăng Long ('Ascending Dragon'), present Hà Nội.

[2][3] During the 17th and 18th centuries, Westerners commonly used the name Tonkin (from Đông Kinh) to refer to Đàng Ngoài in the North, ruled by the Trịnh lords.

French colonial administration ruled until 9 March 1945, including 1941-1945 during the World War II Japanese occupation of Vietnam.