Flood Conditions in Vietnam from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

Based on official historical records, private historical materials, and the findings of interdisciplinary studies, this article aims to clarify the situation of floods in Vietnam during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries in terms of their development, frequency, and consequences. It identifies the localities that were regularly affected by floods in history and explains the causes of flooding from the perspectives of natural conditions and human intervention. In addition to analyzing the impacts and consequences of floods on agricultural production, people’s livelihoods, social order, and commercial activities, the article further clarifies the attitudes and methods adopted by the monarchical court in preventing and overcoming flood disasters. Specific state measures in response to flooding included relief activities, amnesties, and reductions or exemptions of taxes and rents in years affected by natural disasters; the construction of dikes, dredging of rivers, and building of embankments and sluices for the prevention of and recovery from flood damage. In addition, the state also conducted rituals for praying for the cessation of rain and floods at sacred sites, while calling for truthful and frank remonstrations from court officials in order to rectify the shortcomings and deficiencies of the monarch in governing state affairs.