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Nam quốc sơn hà

10th-century Vietnamese poem

Field	Value
qn	Nam quốc sơn hà
chuhan	南

Recitation of ''Nam quốc sơn hà'' - 1076 version

Nam quốc sơn hà ({{linktext|南|國|山|河}}, ) is a famous 10th- to 11th-century Vietnamese patriotic poem. Dubbed "Vietnam's first Declaration of Independence", it asserts the sovereignty of Vietnam's rulers over its lands. The poem was first dictated to be read aloud before and during battles to boost army morale and nationalism when Vietnam, under Lê Đại Hành, fought against the Song dynasty's invasion in 981 and later, under Lý Thánh Tông and Lý Thường Kiệt, fought against another Song invasion in 1075–1076. The poem would become became an emblematic hymn in the early independence wars. The poem is one of the best-known pieces of Vietnamese literature.

The poem's exact authorship, origin, and style of writing are still controversial. According to K.W. Taylor, the account of the poem comes from the 14th-century Buddhist scripture Thiền uyển tập anh and if the story of the poem is true, then the poem could not have been sung in the form it currently exists today. The poem is written in Classical Chinese in the form of an oracle following Tang-style rules that would have been hard to understand for Viet soldiers. It would also be the only literary work known to have been written by Lý Thường Kiệt, who was not a literary man. The story of singing in temples to boost military morale prior to battle is plausible, but whether or not it was this specific poem that was sung cannot be answered. It is possible that it was written after the event.

981 version

Lĩnh Nam chích quái ("Selection of Strange Tales from Lingnan") dates this version to the Song–Đại Cồ Việt war:

|南國山河南帝居 |Nam quốc sơn hà Nam đế cư, |The Southern Country's mountains and rivers, the Southern Emperor inhabits.}}

|皇天已定在天書 |Hoàng thiên dĩ định tại thiên thư. |The August Heaven hath willed it so in the Heavenly Book.}}

|如何北虜來侵掠 |Như hà Bắc lỗ lai xâm lược, |How dare [you] Northern barbarians come to invade?}}

|白刃翻成破竹餘 |Bạch nhận phiên thành phá trúc dư. |The white blades will turn you into broken bamboo chips!}}

1076 version

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư ("Complete Historical Annals of Great Viet") dates this version to the Song–Đại Việt war:

Chữ Hán	Sino-Vietnamese	Vietnamese translation	English Literal Translation	English Poetic Translation

Nam quốc sơn hà nam đế cư
Tiệt nhiên định phận tại thiên thư
Như hà nghịch lỗ lai xâm phạm
Nhữ đẳng hành khan thủ bại hư.	Sông núi nước Nam, vua Nam ở,
Rành rành định phận ở sách trời.
Cớ sao lũ giặc sang xâm phạm,
Chúng bây sẽ bị đánh tơi bời.	The Southern country's [quoc] mountain and river the Southern Emperor inhabits.
The separation is natural and allotted in Heaven's Book.
If the bandits come to trespass it,
You shall, in doing that, see yourselves to be handed with failure and shame!	O'er the hills and streams of southern clime [a] southern monarch reigns;
His sov'reign state On bamboo slip engraved by Time [t]he writ of Heav'n ordains
Dare you, 'gainst Fate [t]hrust in, his turbulence to quell?
Beware! - For you will sound the knell.

Popular culture

The poem Nam quốc sơn hà has continuted to inspire various works of Vietnamese culture and art. Its central line declaring Vietnamese sovereignty has been referenced in modern literature, music, and popular media. Several patriotic songs have adapted or echoed the phrase "Nam quốc sơn hà Nam đế cư" to emphasize national identity and resilience.

Notes

References

Lê Văn Quân Ph.D. (2006). "Bài thơ NAM QUỐC SƠN HÀ là bản tuyên ngôn độc lập đầu tiên của nước Việt Nam ta (The Poem 'Southern Country's Mountains and Rivers' is the first declaration of independence of Vietnam our country" ''Tạp chí Hán Nôm (Han-Nom Magazine)'', '''1 (74)'''; p. 3-8. [http://www.hannom.org.vn/detail.asp?param=81&Catid=40 Online version] (in Vietnamese)
Patricia M. Pelley ''Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past'' 2002 Page 268 "The relevant works are Nam quốc sơn ha, Lý Thường Kiệt's famous affirmation of Vietnamese identity; Hịch tướng sĩ, the plea from Trần Hưng Ðạo to fight against the Mongols; Quốc ngữ thi tập, Chu Văn An's collection of poems in the national language..."
Nguyễn Đức Sự ''Some Features on Vietnamese Buddhism in the Lý Dynasty'' Religious Studies Review, No. 02-2010 Institute of Religious Studies, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences 2011 "Besides the well-known works of celebrities and of the Lý court as [[Chiếu dời đô]] (Royal edict on the transfer of the capital), Nam quốc sơn hà (Mountains and Rivers of the empire of the South), Văn lộ bố khi đánh trống, Di chiếu lúc lâm chung (King's last will at point of death), etc. There were many Zen poems in the literature of the Lý dynasty. Almost poets and writers in the Lý dynasty were Zen masters."
''Essays on Literature and Society in Southeast Asia'' 1981 Page 305 "The "Nam-quốc sơn-hà" poem had the form of an oracle"
''LNCQ'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%B6%BA%E5%8D%97%E6%91%AD%E6%80%AA/%E9%BE%8D%E7%9C%BC%E3%80%81%E5%A6%82%E6%9C%88%E4%BA%8C%E7%A5%9E%E5%82%B3 "The Story about the Two Gods Dragon's Eyes and Moonlike"]
''ĐVSKTT'', "Basic Annals - Volume 3 - [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E8%B6%8A%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98%E5%85%A8%E6%9B%B8/%E6%9C%AC%E7%B4%80%E5%8D%B7%E4%B9%8B%E4%B8%89#%E4%BB%81%E5%AE%97%E7%9A%87%E5%B8%9D Emperor Renzong]"
James Anderson ''The Rebel Den of Nùng Trí Cao: Loyalty and Identity'' 2007 Page 214 "The Vietnamese text reads: " , Tiệt nhiên định phận tại thiên thư..."
Trần Nguyên Thạch (2016-2017) "Attempts to re-translate the poem Nam quốc sơn hà" in ''Ho Chi Minh city's Literature and Art Weekly Magazine'', Issue 522. [http://tuanbaovannghetphcm.vn/thu-dich-lai-bai-tho-nam-quoc-son-ha-so-522/ online version] (in Vietnamese)
Vuving, Alexander L.. (June 2000). "The References of Vietnamese States and the Mechanisms of World Formation". Asienkunde.de.
Lyon, Peter. "Government and Revolution in Vietnam". ''Government and Opposition''. vol. 3, no. 3. Summer 1968, p. 392.

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