Why doesn't Vietnam join China?  Historically, Vietnam has been part of China and its culture is the same.

为什么越南不加入中国？历史上，越南一直是中国的一部分，有着相同的文化。

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Louise Buscemi

While Vietnam and China do share some historical connections and cultural influences, Vietnam has its own distinct identity and has been an independent country for centuries. Throughout history, Vietnam has maintained its own language, traditions, and governance. It's important to recognize and respect the unique heritage and sovereignty of each country.

虽然越南和中国确实有过一些历史联系和文化影响，但越南有自己独特的文化，几个世纪以来越南一直是一个独立的国家。纵观历史，越南一直保持着自己的语言、传统和统治。承认和尊重每个国家的独特传统和主权，是非常重要的。

Feng Lu

Historically, Vietnam has never been part of China.

Vietnam has a short history as a vassal state of China. It is subservient to China, but remains an independent country.

历史上，越南从来都不是中国的一部分。

越南作为中国附庸国的历史很短。它虽然从属于中国，但仍然是一个独立的国家。

Nguyễn Đình Quý

After reading Bang Na’s answer I decided to write one myself. PLEASE NOTE THAT I’M FROM VIETNAM. I’M A CITY DWELLER OF HANOI, HA DONG DISTRICT, HA CAU WARD, JUST TO PROVE MY NATIONALITY TO SKEPTICAL VIETNAMESE.

The first thing is Vietnam has not been part of China from the BEGINNING. There are Vietnamese ancient kingdoms appearing several hundred years before that in Hanoi, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. And we were independent again in the 10th century. China invaded, for sure. But asking like this takes us to another question: Why doesn’t the British government join England to Italy because England was historically a part of Rome?

看过Bang Na的回答后，我决定自己也动笔回答一下。我来自越南。我是河内河东区的市民，只是为了向怀疑我的越南人证明一下我的国籍。

首先，越南从来都不属于中国。在河内、清化和义安等地，早在几百年前就出现了越南的古代王国。我们在10世纪再次独立。中国在历史上确实入侵过越南。但这样的问题又把我们引向了另一个问题：为什么英国政府不把英格兰并入意大利，因为英格兰在历史上也属于罗马？

The second thing is that Vietnamese culture is not Chinese culture. We have things like Pho, Banh chung, Banh day and our own rich cultural folk tales. Chinese tend to think that Vietnamese steal their culture, but I just don’t understand why they aren’t happy because if culture is stolen then that culture is good and worthy to adopt. We have things China has and we also have things China doesn’t have. That is to learn from other countries. And the proof for our culture being separated is our language. Chinese can’t understand Vietnamese if they do not learn it.

第二，越南文化并不等同于中国文化。我们有越南河粉、越南火锅以及丰富的民间文化故事。中国人总爱说越南窃取了中国文化，但我不明白为什么他们会不高兴，因为如果他们的文化被窃取，那就说明他们的文化很优秀，值得别人学习借鉴。我们有中国有的东西，也有中国没有的东西。那就是向其他国家学习的结果。我们的语言就是两国文化分离的证据。中国人如果不特意学越南语，就压根听不懂。

You have to look at my country from all views. Chinese think that Vietnam is “barbarian” and CHinese brought civilization to the barbarians. Vietnamese think that southern China was part of Vietnam in the past and call China “invaders”. But we have to consider “civilization”. China has all criteria to be an early cradle of civilization. It appeared before Vietnam over 1500 years because of the rich land around the massive Yellow River allowed them to build a strong state earlier than the smaller Red River. Meanwhile, Vietnam appeared in present-day Northern Central Vietnam and some other northern provinces, not in today China.

你们得从各个角度全面地看待我的祖国。中国人认为越南是“野蛮人”，中国人给野蛮人带来了文明。越南人认为中国南方曾是越南的一部分，把中国称为“侵略者”。但我们必须考虑“文明”的因素。中国具备了孕育早期文明摇篮的所有标准。中国比越南早出现了1500多年，因为黄河周围肥沃的土地让他们可以更早地比规模较小的红河建立起一个强大的国家。同时，越南最早出现在今天的越南中北部和其他一些北方省份，但并非是今天的中国。

China invaded us, that is expansion. They killed our ancestors and did other things. But if we use that to condemn China, then it just proves to be useless. Our ancestors after 1000 years still kept some ancient cultures native to Vietnam, BUT THEY’VE ADOPTED CHINESE ELEMENTS. Chinese elements were foreign, but they helped the independent kingdoms of Vietnam to manage the people and establish social order. We had things China had and we also had things China didn’t have. That is to learn from other countries. Vietnam has to build a strong national identity, but that doesn’t mean aggressive attitude towards China. In the past, if China had things worthy to apply to our own country, we applied it. There is nothing called “superior Vietnam which can survive on its own”.  Modelling after successful countries is not a bad idea after all.

中国入侵越南，是扩张行为。他们杀了我们的祖先，还干了别的事。但如果我们因此谴责中国，那也无济于事。我们的祖先在1000年后仍然保留了一些越南本土的古老文化，但他们确实也吸收了中国的文化元素。

中国元素是外来的，但他们帮助越南的独立王国管理百姓、建立社会秩序。我们有中国有的东西，也有中国没有的东西。那就是向其他国家学习的结果。越南必须打造一个强大的国家认同感，但这并不意味着我们需要对中国采取咄咄逼人的态度。

历史上，如果中国有什么闪光点值得借鉴到我们自己的国家，我们就学习借鉴。没有所谓的“优秀到足以独善其身的越南”。毕竟向成功的国家学习，并不是什么坏主意。

Pher Kimhuat

Why don’t you (the questioner) ask : “Why doesn’t Canada join America ? Historically both America and Canada are European cowboys with almost the same warmongering and killer instinct culture, set sail from Europe to reach American continent, rob the lands from the natives, enslave the natives to serve them and become two countries America and Canada instead of one” ?

你(提问者)为什么不问：“为什么加拿大不加入美国呢？从历史上看，美国和加拿大都是欧洲牛仔，都有着几乎相同的好战和杀手的本能文化，从欧洲出发，抵达美洲大陆，从原住民手中掠夺土地，奴役原住民，后来才分别成立了美国和加拿大两个国家。”

Thanh Tung

Vietnam is a country with a thousand-year history of independence. Vietnamese people like independence and freedom and want to have their own country managed by Vietnamese people. Therefore, every military force that invaded Vietnam had to pay a heavy price with bloody battles and eventually they had to withdraw from Vietnam in bitterness. This has happened for thousands of years with many generations of Vietnamese people. There were wars where Vietnamese people lost their population at a very large rate, such as the war against the Ming Dynasty in the early 15th century, but our ancestors still fought and won independence after nearly 20 years of occupation.

越南是一个有着上千年独立历史的国家。越南人喜欢独立和自由，希望自己的国家由越南人自己管理。因此，每一支入侵越南的军队都必须付出沉重的血战代价，最终只得在痛苦中撤出越南。这种情况已经发生了数千年，祖祖辈辈的越南人都是如此。战争爆发时，越南的人口流失速度非常快，比如15世纪初对明朝的战争，但我们的祖先在被占领近20年后仍然坚持战斗并成功赢得了独立。

In the 20th century, Vietnam had to fight with four great powers including France, Japan, America, and China in a bloody, long war (from 1945-1989) that killed more than 20% of the Vietnamese population. In the end, Vietnam was re-independent and unified even though the losses to us and the enemy were huge. Vietnam became the poorest country in the world in 1990 with a GDP per person under 100 USD but we are building the country from the ashes of war. Even in the most difficult times, the Vietnamese people never lost their spirit and still fought persistently with the invader in a war of attrition like our ancestors did.

20世纪，越南被迫跟包括法国、日本、美国和中国在内的四个大国进行长期的浴血战争(从1945年到1989年)，越南损失了超过20%的人口。最后，越南再次独立和统一了，但双方都付出了沉重的代价。越南在1990年成了世界上最贫穷的国家，人均GDP还不到100美元，但我们正在从战争的灰烬中重建我们的祖国。即便在最困难的时候，越南人民也没有失去精气神，我们像祖先一样，坚持不懈地与侵略者进行着消耗战。

A special point is that Vietnamese culture does not hold grudges against enemies. After the war, our ancestors were willing to tribute property to improve relations with Chinese dynasties. Our ancestors know that the great powers are stronger than us, so we should create good relationships with them. On the contrary, the great powers also know that Vietnam is not weak and has a strong fighting spirit. If they are determined to invade Vietnam, they will have to pay a very high price for themselves. In the end, they still had to withdraw from Vietnam after many years of war. The spirit of not being afraid of strong enemies, the policy of not hating former enemies, and the willingness to improve relations with former enemies for common interests have helped Vietnam survive to become an independent, unified country.

很特别的一点在于，越南文化不怨恨敌人。我们的祖先在战后愿意向中国王朝纳贡，修缮与中国的关系。我们的祖先知道大国比我们强大，我们应该与大国建立良好的关系。相反，列强也知道越南不弱，有很强的战斗精神。如果他们想要入侵越南，就不得不付出非常高昂的代价。最后，苦战多年后也不得不从越南撤军。不畏强敌的精神、不恨宿敌的政策以及为了共同利益愿意和宿敌改善关系的意愿，帮助越南成长为独立统一的国家。

Vietnamese people are proud of Vietnam's culture and heroic history. That is the foundation for Vietnam to become an independent country with 100 million people. Vietnam's population ranks 15th in the world and Vietnam is not a small country, only small compared to China, India, and the United States. In the past, Vietnam was a barrier between China and mainland Southeast Asia. If Vietnam cannot withstand invasions from the north, can other smaller Southeast Asian countries exst independently?

越南人民为越南的文化和英雄历史感到自豪。这是越南成为拥有1亿人口的独立国家的基础。越南的人口在世界上排名第15位，越南不是一个小国家，只是比中国、印度和美国小。过去，越南曾是中国与东南亚大陆之间的一道屏障。如果越南无法抵御来自北方的入侵，其他较小的东南亚国家还能独立存在吗？

You should ask yourself: Is there any country with 100 million people having its own language, and a heroic history like Vietnam that wants to become part of another country? Surely the answer is no?

On the contrary, perhaps most Chinese people also do not like Vietnam to be part of them because the Vietnamese will separate and become an independent country when given the opportunity even if we have to wait thousands of years. Therefore, if Vietnam becomes part of China, it will bring instability to China.

你应该问问自己这个问题：这个世界上有哪个国家拥有1亿人口，拥有自己的语言，拥有越南这样的英雄历史，但甘心屈从另一个国家的统治？答案肯定是否定的吧？

相反，也许大多数中国人也不喜欢越南归入中国，因为越南一旦找到机会就会闹独立，成为一个独立的国家，即便要忍耐千年的蛰伏。所以，如果越南真的属于中国，也会给中国带来动荡。

T C Quah

I know Vietnam fairly well — i’ve traveled there a few times, and have many Vietnamese friends, and have also learned about the country and her history.

I think I can understand why Vietnam doesn’t want to join China (I think if this ever happens, there will be more advantages than disadvantages for the country, especially in her economy).

Of the many reasons, i think the two main ones are:

我对越南相当了解—我去过越南几次，结交了很多越南朋友，了解这个国家和她的历史。

我想我能理解为什么越南不想并入中国 (其实在我看来，越南若真的并入中国，结果是利大于弊的，尤其是在经济方面)。

在众多原因中，我认为主要原因有两个：

1 A very different language

Vietnam is not know to have her own writing system, and used both the Chinese (chu han) and modified Chinese (chu Nom); and subsequently the Latin alphabet.

The different language used (even though over the years it has borrowed vocabularies from the Chinese) makes the Vietnamese a rather different people from the Chinese, especially after they abandoned the use of chu han and chu nom.

第一，完全不同的语言

越南其实也有自己的书写系统，使用过中文和修订过的中文(汉喃)，后来开始使用拉丁字母。

两国使用不同语言(尽管多年来，越南语从汉语中借用了许多词汇)，越南人与中国人成了不同的民族。

2. History

A distinct racial identity led to their opposition to occupation by others (Chinese, French, Americans).

As a result, my Vietnamese friends are very proud of their spirit of independence!

They just want to be themselves, though still enjoying Hollywood movies and Chinese TV dramas and pop songs and celebrating “Chinese customs” (Tet, mooncake festivals…..)

第二，历史

不同的种族认同感让越南人十分反感被其他人(中国人、法国人、美国人)统治。

因此，我的越南朋友们都对越南的独立精神感到非常自豪！

他们只想做自己，虽然他们也喜欢好莱坞电影、中国电视剧和流行歌曲，并庆祝“中国习俗”(春节、中秋节.....)。

Eastern Laos Legend

Because we are not Chinese and the Chinese are not us.

Because Vietnam does not belong to China and China does not belong to Vietnam.

Because Chinese language is not Vietnamese and Vietnamese language is not Chinese.

Because Vietnamese culture is not 99% similar to Chinese culture and Chinese culture is not 99% similar to Vietnamese culture

因为我们不是中国人，中国人也不是越南人

因为越南不属于中国，中国也不属于越南

因为汉语不是越南语，越南语也不是汉语

因为越南文化和中国文化并不是99%相似，中国文化和越南文化也不是99%相似。