How did maritime awareness develop in ancient Vietnam? What were the maritime activities in ancient Vietnam!

Today, Bian Xiao takes you to learn how the maritime consciousness of ancient Vietnam was formed. Interested readers can take a look with Bian Xiao.

Vietnam is located in the eastern part of the Central and Southern Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It not only has a superior natural environment on land, but is also close to the vast South China Sea. Up to now, Vietnam gives people the impression that it is an underdeveloped country, so it seems that in ancient times Vietnam did not have much connection with the sea.

In fact, Vietnam has been in contact with the sea since a long time ago. In the course of its history and civilization, Vietnam has produced many works related to the sea and perpetuated belief myths related to the sea. These are the carriers of Vietnam's maritime civilization. From the beginning of Vietnam's contact with the sea to its subsequent maritime civilization and maritime awareness, there has been a certain process of transformation.

It is intriguing to know how Vietnam, a country with a predominantly agrarian civilization, came to have a maritime consciousness. What kind of changes did it bring to the later society?

Vietnam's geographical peninsula, facing the sea, has a long coastline and many ports, so the sea was an indispensable natural condition for Vietnam's development.

Vietnam's land area is small, but it spans from north to south, so it is characterized by diversity in climate. Vietnam is rich in natural resources and has a long coastline. These conditions have brought many advantages to Vietnam's development. Nowadays, Vietnam is rising rapidly and such development cannot be achieved without its natural conditions.

From the climatic conditions of Vietnam, it is located south of the Tropic of Cancer and has a tropical monsoon climate. It is a very warm country with high temperature and heat all year round. Besides, it is adjacent to the sea and under the influence of the sea, so it is humid and rainy. Vietnam has a complex and varied topography with long land borders and coastlines. Vietnam is a country where land and sea interact and influence each other.

Vietnam is more like a peninsula country than a land country facing the sea. It has a long and narrow topography and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. It can be said that most of the country is closely linked to the sea. In addition to the geographical connection, such a close connection with the sea also determines that Vietnam's climate and waters are also closely related to the sea.

Vietnam's mountainous and highland areas account for about three-quarters of the country's land area. Most of its mountain ranges are actually a continuation of China's Hengduan Mountains on the southeastern peninsula, while three mountain ranges in China's Yunnan province, the Wuming, Mourning, and Liuzhao mountains on the border of Yunnan and Guangxi, extend southward to form Vietnam's northern mountain ranges.

Due to the climate, the mountains of northern Vietnam have formed a karst landscape with many hidden rivers flowing along deltas. The most famous mountain range in Vietnam is called the Truong Son Range, which plunges into the ocean from the mainland, making it a very convenient coastal area. As Vietnam is surrounded by mountains and facing the sea, there is a Vietnamese idiom:

"tualungvaoNui, quaymatraBien."

This means "face up to the sky, face to the sea".

Vietnam has many seaports and many harbors are built on the sea. It is because of the many rivers flowing into the sea that Vietnam is closely connected to the sea. This marine environment is very conducive to the aquaculture industry of the Vietnamese people and has a great role in Vietnam's foreign trade. This naturally excellent natural environment has brought great convenience to Vietnam.

The emergence of maritime consciousness in ancient Vietnam not only depended on the natural environment, but various maritime activities were also necessary for the emergence of maritime consciousness in ancient Vietnam.

In ancient times, Vietnam was a society with a predominantly agrarian civilization. People in the inland areas usually had no access to the sea and naturally knew little about it. People living in coastal areas seldom took the initiative to contact the sea because they were usually more keen on farming. These coastal people live in the marine environment all day long, but seldom participate in marine activities, so they have very little awareness of the ocean.

Marine awareness is created by objective conditions and behavioral activities. Even though Vietnam has a very good natural environment, people's participation in marine activities is rare, which does not help the creation of marine consciousness. In other words, only certain marine activities combined with an excellent natural environment can lead to the formation of marine consciousness, and certain marine consciousness can guide marine activities.

Vietnam's marine activities are divided into three main areas.

1. Marine activities in the coastal area

Marine activities in the coastal area are activities such as water conservancy construction and salt production, mainly in agriculture. Because of the short flow of rivers in Vietnam, flooding often occurs. In view of this situation, the ancient Vietnamese said:

"Our country is surrounded by mountains and the sea, vast in the north and south, and contracted in the east and west. The rain is falling and begins to rise to the western mountains, but by evening it has reached the eastern sea. It is not the same for the river to come out of Eshan and enter the sea for 10,000 miles."

This geographical feature led Vietnam to start building dykes and developing water conservancy, and to take a keen interest in water conservation.

In addition to this, the sea brought a wealth to the coastal areas, namely sea salt. Salt was closely related to people's lives. In order to seize this treasure, people in the coastal areas at that time began the activity of sun-baking and boiling salt. In order to expand the area of arable land, people also began to reclaim land and developed and utilized many coastal farmlands, relying on these means to develop rice cultivation.

2. Maritime navigation in various regions, especially on the northern and southern coasts.

The starting and returning points of these voyages were basically the coastal sea ports and sea gates. These navigators also summarized some of their understanding after many long offshore voyages, and many writings about them appeared.

3. Commercial ports and foreign trade in ancient Vietnam.

The two aspects can be linked together. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Vietnam's seafaring technology improved significantly, so the Joseon Dynasty sent people to sail to the Lower Mainland and the Western Ocean. Such voyages brought about close ties between Vietnam and foreign countries, official overseas trade began to increase, and some Western knowledge influenced Vietnam at home.

With socio-economic development, Vietnam's seafaring technology continued to improve and mature, foreign trade became more and more frequent, and Vietnam's ports of entry also developed.

These three aspects of maritime activities were linked to Vietnam's natural environment and became the basis of conditions for Vietnam's maritime consciousness. It is precisely because of Vietnam's growing connection with the sea and its knowledge of the sea that it developed into a maritime consciousness that was extremely beneficial to Vietnam's later development.

Ancient Vietnam's maritime consciousness contained rich connotations, reflecting the social consciousness of ancient Vietnam, which greatly facilitated Vietnam's development.

Consciousness is a reflection of matter, so the maritime consciousness formed in ancient Vietnam also reflected the objective material world at that time. With the development of social civilization, the content of maritime consciousness became richer and richer, and the maritime activities, marine activities and maritime trade that gave rise to this consciousness also showed a trend of becoming more and more conscious. There are five specific levels of later marine consciousness.

1. Consciousness of God

Because the ancient Vietnamese felt unknown and feared the power of nature, many myths and legends emerged. These stories were circulated in the folklore and were loved by the people. In Vietnam's ancient history books, many events related to gods were recorded. For the ancient Vietnamese, these myths have formed a belief, rooted in their nation, as a way to express their reverence for nature. Because of this, it provided the perfect environment for the Neptune consciousness to be communicated.

2. Orientation consciousness

This orientation consciousness represents three aspects: the first is the abstract concept of the sea, i.e., there are four seas in the world, namely, the southeast, the northwest, and the northwest, which refer to the whole world; the second is the orientation of the sea facing Vietnam, such as the "East Sea," "South Sea"; and the third refers to the sea facing Vietnam, such as the "East Sea" and "South Sea. "; the third refers to Vietnam as the center, according to the sea channel connection to determine the direction of east, west, south, north and south.

3. Disaster Awareness

The ancient Vietnamese people's fear of the sea was not only because of the mystery of the sea, but also because of the existence of the Hai Shen Fu, that is to say, the Vietnamese people believed that the Hai Shen Fu would bring disasters to the people. These disasters were mainly hazards caused by heavy rains, floods, inundations and shipping. Whenever these disasters come, they bring great losses and blows to the community.

4. Wealth Consciousness

Besides disasters, the ocean brings income and great convenience to people's lives. By exploiting and utilizing marine resources, establishing aquaculture, acquiring salt, trading at sea, and developing mudflat agriculture, it has brought great profits and wealth to Vietnam.

5. Awareness of sea defense

In ancient times, Vietnam took various actions to defend its coastal areas. In the beginning, it was only to prevent unauthorized access to the sea. Developing later in history, it began to pay special attention to sea defense to protect land reserves against foreign invasion.

In ancient times, Vietnam was a predominantly agricultural country. They had a low level of production and backward production tools, so the first contact with the sea was for agricultural development. Later, with the advancement of history and civilization and the creation of various conditions, Vietnam sprouted a maritime consciousness, which became more and more diverse and rich in content at a later stage.

The formation of maritime consciousness not only promoted the development of agriculture along the coast of Vietnam, but also drove the economic development of Vietnamese society as a whole. Overseas trade, water conservancy construction, salt boiling and tanning and other marine activities have brought greater convenience to Vietnamese society. Ocean awareness has guided the Vietnamese people to better develop and utilize the ocean, laying a solid foundation for Vietnam's future development.