Vietnam's long coastal and narrowed lands, rugged mountainous terrains, with two major deltas, were soon home to several different ancient cultures and civilizations. In the north, the Đông Sơn culture and its indigenous chiefdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc started to flourish by 500 BC. In Central, Sa Huỳnh culture of Austronesian Chamic peoples also thrived. Both were swept by the Chinese Han dynasty expansion from the north - the Han conquest of Nanyue brought parts of Vietnam under the Chinese rule in 111 BC. Traditional Chinese became the official script as well as the later developed independent Nôm script of Vietnamese.
Vietnam's long coastal and narrowed lands rugged mountainous terrains, with two major deltas were soon home to several different ancient cultures and civilizations. In the north, the Đông Sơn cultu,re and its indigenous chiefdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc started to flourish by 500 BC. In Central, Sa Huỳnh culture of Austronesian Chamic peoples also thrived. Both were swept by the Chinese Han dynasty expansion from the north - the Han conquest of Nanyue brought parts of Vietnam under the Chinese rule in 111 BC. Traditional Chinese became the offi,cial script as well as the later developed independent Nôm script of Vietnamese.