Jiaozhi Province in the context of Fourth Era of Northern Domination

Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: Jiāozhǐ, Vietnamese: Giao Chỉ), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Commandery (Chinese: 交趾郡, 交阯郡; Vietnamese: Quận Giao Chỉ, chữ Hán: 郡交趾) an administrative division centered in the Red River Delta that existed through Vietnam's first and second periods of Chinese rule. During the Han dynasty, the commandery was part of a province of the same name (later renamed to Jiaozhou) that covered modern-day northern and central Vietnam as well as Guangdong and Guangxi in southern China. In 679 AD, Jiaozhi was absorbed into the Annan Protectorate established by the Tang dynasty. Afterwards, official use of the name Jiaozhi was superseded by "Annan" (Annam) and other names of Vietnam, except during the brief fourth period of Chinese rule when the Ming dynasty administered Vietnam as the Jiaozhi Province.
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The Fourth Era of Northern Domination (Vietnamese: Bắc thuộc lần thứ tư) was a period of Vietnamese history, from 1407 to 1428, during which Ming-dynasty China ruled Vietnam as the province of Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ). The Ming established their rule in Vietnam following their conquest of the Hồ dynasty in 1406–1407. (The previous periods of Chinese rule in the Vietnamese lands, collectively known as Bắc thuộc, lasted much longer and amounted to around 1000 years.) The fourth period of Chinese rule over Vietnam eventually ended with the establishment of the Lê dynasty in April 1428.

The Lam Sơn uprising was a rebellion against Ming China led by Vietnamese leader Lê Lợi. The uprising began in early 1418 and ended in late 1427 with the victory of the Lam Sơn rebels, the retreat of the Ming army after the Đông Quan oath, and the establishment of the Later Lê dynasty.

In 1407, the Ming dynasty annexed the entire territory of Đại Ngu, the short-lived state ruled by the Hồ dynasty in what is now northern Vietnam and established the province of Jiaozhi. Their rule was met with resistance from the Viet people due to the Yongle Emperor's vigorous Sinicization policy, which aimed to assimilate the Viet. This policy caused widespread dissatisfaction and led to a series of uprisings across Jiaozhi, both large and small. After suppressing these uprisings, the Ming dynasty's rule became more stable than ever, but in some areas, there remained a latent risk of rebellion, particularly in the mountainous region of Thanh-Nghệ (modern Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An provinces), where the people were not willing to submit like those in the Kinh lộ region (the lowland Red River Delta).