Lạng Sơn

Lạng Sơn lies among the limestone hills of the northeastern Vietnamese frontier, on an important route between the Red River delta and Guangxi. Its valleys and passes have long carried merchants, envoys and armies across the border. The town and its surrounding country were a meeting place for several peoples, including Tày and Nùng communities as well as the Vietnamese of the lowlands.

In 1427, as the Lam Sơn uprising challenged Ming rule, a relief army under Liu Sheng advanced through Lạng Sơn. The rebels laid an ambush at Chi Lăng pass to the south, where Liu Sheng was killed; the campaign continued towards Xương Giang and ended in the defeat of the relief force. After the restoration of Đại Việt, the frontier passes were strengthened and fields brought back into cultivation. In the sixteenth century the region remained caught in the contest between the Mạc and Lê dynasties, with local chiefs taking different sides.