During the Vietnam War (1954-75), the country was divided at the 17th parallel. About 140 kilometres north of this dividing line is a mountain pass called Ngang pass. The land south of this pass, about 60 per cent of present-day Vietnam, was occupied for centuries by the kingdoms of Linyi, Funan and Zhenla. But most people either have not heard of them or have only vague ideas about them. This book is about them.

North of Ngang Pass, Giao Châu, present-day north central and northern Vietnam, was ruled by northern dynasties for nearly a thousand years from the 2nd to 10th centuries, barring a few intervals of independence. This volume also tells how the people of Giao Châu came out of this long period to become an independent nation and why they did not want to become part of dynastic China.

This is Volume II of the book series, "A Traveller's Story of Vietnam's Past"; it continues where Volume I, "The Bronze Drums and The Earrings", ends.

The book contains 73 figures and illustrations. It tells the stories of familiar Vietnamese heroes like the Trưng sisters, Lady Triệu, the Black Emperor and Ngô Quyền. It also discusses the beginning of Buddhism in Vietnam and the stories of Shi Xie's clan. The stories of Linyi's kings and how the bloodthirsty Fan Wen and his successors prevented the Northern Dynasties from going beyond the Ngang pass is also explained. The expansion of the Funan territory from southern Vietnam to the Malay Peninsula by Fan Shiman is included. The little-known Nanzhao-An Nam War is also told with some details. The battle of the Bạch Đằng river in 938, when Giao Châu (Vietnam) gained independence, is recounted. Like Volume I, many places associated with historical events are also described in the book, including the sanctuary of Mỹ Sơn and its donation by King Bhavavarman.

Chapter 1 – A summary of this book

Chapter 2 – Under the Han (111 BCE-220 CE) - Giao Châu I

Chapter 3 – Shi Xie and the beginning of Buddhism in Vietnam - Lady Triệu rebellion - Giao Châu II

Chapter 4 – A forest town - the kingdom of Linyi and the Fans - A Generation of Raiders - Linyi I

Chapter 5 – One hundred years of raids and plunders (336 to 446) - Linyi II

Chapter 6 – The end of Linyi - Linyi III

Chapter 7 – The inscriptions and the Varman's - Linyi IV

Chapter 8 – The Roman medals and the Óc Eo culture - Funan/Zhenla I

Chapter 9 – The Kingdoms of Funan and Zhenla - Funan/Zhenla II

Chapter 10 ̶ Pre-Angkor Inscriptions and three Khmer towers - Funan/Zhenla III

Chapter 11 – Ten thousand springs or Vạn Xuân (542-602) - Giao Châu III

Chapter 12 – The Black Emperor - The Great Father and Mother King or Bố Cái Đại Vương - Giao Châu IV

Chapter 13 – Surrounded by rivers - A city of lakes: Hanoi, a nation capital - Giao Châu V

Chapter 14 – The Nanzhao-An Nam war - Giao Châu VI

Chapter 15 – Prelude to independence - Giao Châu VII

Chapter 16 – The Dawn of Independence - Giao Châu VIII

Chapter 17 – Conclusions