Jiaozhi Commandery

Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: Jiāozhǐ, Vietnamese: Giao Chỉ), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Commandery (; , chữ Hán: 郡交趾) an administrative division centered in the Red River Delta that existed through Vietnam's first and second periods of Chinese rule. During the Han dynasty, the commandery was part of a province of the same name (later renamed to Jiaozhou) that covered modern-day northern and central Vietnam as well as Guangdong and Guangxi in southern China. In 679 AD, Jiaozhi was absorbed into the Annan Protectorate established by the Tang dynasty. Afterwards, official use of the name Jiaozhi was superseded by "Annan" (Annam) and other names of Vietnam, except during the brief fourth period of Chinese rule when the Ming dynasty administered Vietnam as the Jiaozhi Province.

==Name== Chinese chroniclers assigned various folk etymologies for the toponym. In Book of Rites's subsection Royal Regulations, 交趾 was used to describe the physical characteristics of Nanman - southern neighbours of the Zhou. Late Eastern Han scholar Zheng Xuan (127 – c. 200 CE) interpreted 交趾 as "the appearance of feet turning in towards each other". 交趾 was subsequently translated as either "feet turned in towards each other" (James Legge) or "toes... crossed" (James M. Hargett). Book of Later Han also quoted the same passage from Book of Rites yet gave 交趾's etymology as: "[According to] their customs, men and women bathe in the same river; hence the appellation Jiāozhǐ". Tang period's encyclopedia Tongdian also stated that: "The southernmost people [have] tattooed foreheads (題額) and intersecting toes (交趾); [according to] their customs, men and women bathe in the same river. [By] tattooed foreheads (題額) it means they engrave their flesh with blue/green dye; [by] crossed toes (交趾), it means that each foot's big toe is spread widely outwards and crosses one another when [a person] stands [with feet] side-by-side." Song period's encyclopaedia Taiping Yulan quoted Ying Shao's "Han Officials' Etiquettes" that "Emperor Xiaowu leveled the Hundred Yue in the South [...] established Jiaozhi (交阯); [...] [People] started out in the North, then crossed (交 jiāo) at the South, for their descendants [they laid their] basis (jī 基) & foundation (zhǐ 阯) [there]".