1009-1288 CE
From 1009 to 1288 CE, the Viets proved that independence won from China could be kept through Chinese methods — the Lý dynasty building Thăng Long as their eternal capital, the Trần perfecting a Confucian state that mobilized entire populations for war. Three times the Mongol hordes invaded; three times Vietnamese resistance broke them, Trần Hưng Đạo's iron stakes in the Bạch Đằng River ending Kublai Khan's dreams of southern conquest.