Văn Lang in the context of Modern Vietnam

Âu Lạc (chữ Hán: 甌貉/甌駱; pinyin: Ōu Luò; Wade–Giles: Wu-lo Middle Chinese (ZS): *ʔəu-*lɑk̚ < Old Chinese *ʔô-râk) was a supposed polity that covered parts of modern-day Guangxi and northern Vietnam. Founded in 257 BCE by a figure called Thục Phán (King An Dương), it was a merger of Nam Cương (Âu Việt) and Văn Lang (Lạc Việt) but succumbed to the state of Nanyue in 179 BCE, which, itself was finally conquered by the Han dynasty. Other historical sources indicate that it existed from 257 BC to 208 BC or from 208 BC to 179 BC. Its capital was in Cổ Loa, present-day Hanoi, in the Red River Delta.

Phú Thọ is a province in northern Vietnam. Its administration center Việt Trì ward is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Hanoi and 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Nội Bài International Airport. The province covers an area of 9,631.38 km (3,718.70 sq mi) and, as of 2025, it had a population of 4,022,638.

The history of Phú Thọ is linked to the 18 dynasties of Hùng kings who were credited with building the nation of Văn Lang. Because of its strategic location, the province is known as the "West Gate of Hanoi". It is located at the confluence of two large rivers: the Red River and the Da River, and in a transitional area between the Red River Delta the country's northern mountainous provinces. The Xuân Sơn National Park, established in February 2002, is located in the province about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Việt Trì. The park covers an area of 15,048 hectares (37,180 acres), with over 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) of natural forest and 1,396 hectares (3,450 acres) of limestone-mountain forests. Phú Thọ is one of the poorest areas of Vietnam and the poorest households earn below US$6 per person per month. Tea is important to the economy of the province. The Hung Kings temple complex, located on Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain in Việt Trì, is a complex of majestic architecture enclosing Hạ Temple (built in the 15th century), Thiện Quang pagoda, Giếng, Trung and Thuong temples, and King Hung's tomb.

Vietnam, with its coastal strip, rugged mountainous interior, and two major deltas, became home to numerous cultures throughout history. Its strategic geographical position in Southeast Asia also made it a crossroads of trade and a focal point of conflict, contributing to its complex and eventful past. The first Ancient East Eurasian hunter-gatherers arrived at least 40,000 years ago. Around 4,000 years ago during the Neolithic period, Ancient Southern East Asian populations, particularly Austroasiatic and Austronesian peoples, began migrating from southern China into Southeast Asia, bringing with them rice-cultivation knowledge, languages, and much of the genetic basis of the modern population of Vietnam. In the first millennium BCE the Đông Sơn culture emerged, based on rice cultivation and focused on the indigenous chiefdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc.

Following the 111 BCE Han conquest of Nanyue, much of Vietnam came under Chinese dominance for a thousand years. The period nonetheless saw numerous uprisings, and Vietnamese kingdoms occasionally enjoyed de facto independence. Buddhism and Hinduism arrived by the 2nd century CE, making Vietnam the first place which shared influences of both Chinese and Indian cultures.

The Dong Son culture, Dongsonian culture, or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD. Vietnamese historians attribute the culture to the states of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc. Its influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, from about 1000 BC to 1 BC.

The Đông Sơn people were skilled at cultivating rice, keeping water buffalos and pigs, fishing and sailing in long dugout canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters, which is evidenced by the Dong Son drum found widely throughout northern Vietnam and Guangxi in China.

The Dong Son culture, Dongsonian culture, or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Southeast Asia and China. It was prominent specifically in the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam (ancient northern Vietnam at the Red River Valley), Malaysia, and Laos, and the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Fujian from 1000 BC until the first century AD. Vietnamese historians attribute the culture to the states of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc and its influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, from about 1000 BC to 1 BC.

The Đông Sơn people were skilled at cultivating rice, keeping water buffalos and pigs, fishing and sailing in long dugout canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters, which is evidenced by the Dong Son drum found widely throughout northern Vietnam and Guangxi in China.

An Dương Vương (Vietnamese: [ʔaːn zɨəŋ vɨəŋ]), personal name Thục Phán, was the founding king and the only ruler of the kingdom of Âu Lạc, an ancient state centered in the Red River Delta. As the leader of the Âu Việt tribes, he defeated the last Hùng king of the state of Văn Lang and united its people – known as the Lạc Việt – with his people, the Âu Việt. An Dương Vương fled and committed suicide after the war with Nanyue forces in 179 BCE.

The Âu Việt or Ouyue (Chinese: 甌越) were an ancient conglomeration of Baiyue tribes living in what is today the mountainous regions of northernmost Vietnam, western Guangdong, and northern Guangxi, China, since at least the third century BCE. They were believed to have belonged to the Tai-Kadai language group. In eastern China, the Ouyue established the Dong'ou or Eastern Ou kingdom. The Western Ou (西甌; pinyin: Xī Ōu; Tây meaning "western") were other Baiyue tribes, with short hair and tattoos, who blackened their teeth and are the ancestors of the modern upland Tai-speaking minority groups in Vietnam such as the Nùng and Tay, as well as the closely related Zhuang people of Guangxi.

The Âu Việt traded with the Lạc Việt, the inhabitants of the state of Văn Lang, located in the lowland plains to Âu Việt's south, in what is today the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam, until 258 or 257 BCE, when Thục Phán, the leader of an alliance of Âu Việt tribes, invaded Văn Lang and defeated the last Hùng king. He named the new nation "Âu Lạc", proclaiming himself "An Dương Vương" (literally "Peaceful Virile King"). The origins of Thục Phán are uncertain. According to traditional Vietnamese historiography, he was the prince or king of the Kingdom of Shu (in modern Sichuan). However the kingdom of Shu was conquered by the Qin in 316 BCE, making it chronologically improbable that Thục Phán was Shu royalty a hundred years later. There may be some merit to the story due to archaeological evidence of cultural ties between Yunnan and the Proto-Vietnamese, but possibly as a result of the gap in time between the origin of the story and when it was recorded, the location could have been changed to Shu or simply mistaken due to erroneous geographical knowledge. According to a translated oral account of a Tày legend, the western part of Âu Việt's land became the Nam Cương Kingdom, whose capital was located in what is today the Cao Bằng Province of Northeast Vietnam. It was there that Thục Phán hailed from. The authenticity of this account is considered suspect by some historians. It was published in 1963 as a translation while no extant copy of the original Tày text exists. The title of the story contains many Vietnamese words with slight tonal and spelling differences rather than Tai words. It is uncertain what text the translation originated from.