Văn Lang
Văn Lang (Chinese: 文郎国) was the first semi-legendary nation of the ancient Vietnamese people. It was ruled by the Hùng Kings of the Hồng Bàng dynasty. There is, however, little reliable historical information available. Hùng Vương as the title of a line of kings and the Văn Lang kingdom's existence are attested in Qin and Tang-era sources. The people of Văn Lang were referred to as the Lạc Việt or sometimes simply as the Lạc.
According to the 15th-century book Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Đại Việt Complete History), the nation had its capital at Phong Châu in present-day Phú Thọ Province. It was bordered to the east by the South China Sea, to the west by Ba Thục (present-day Sichuan), to the north by Dongting Lake (Hunan), and to the south by Lake Tôn (Champa). According to Trần Trọng Kim's book, Việt Nam sử lược (A Brief History of Vietnam), the country was divided into 15 regions as in the table below:
Việt Sử Lược (Việt Brief History) notes that Văn Lang consisted of 15 regions: in it there are 10 names recorded similar to those given in Đại Việt Complete History (Giao Chỉ, Vũ Ninh, Việt Thường, Ninh Hải, Lục Hải, Hoài Hoan, Cửu Chân, Bình Văn, Cửu Đức, and Văn Lang), and five regions with different names (Quân Ninh, Gia Ninh, Thang Tuyền, Tân Xương, and Nhật Nam). The founder of Văn Lang was Hùng Vương (King Hùng). The Hùng Vương throne was hereditary. The Hùng Kings were military commanders and religious leaders at the same time. Văn Lang was supposedly ruled by 88 Hùng Kings, but only 18 names are recorded (or, according to recent research, 18 names of 18 Dynasties, like Ancient Egyptian):
