Centering the Man in the Margins: Re-examining Liu Yong-fu

Abstract

Liu Yongfu (Luu Vinh Phuc, ???) was the leader of the Black Flags, a band that roamed the Sino-Vietnamese border region in the nineteenth century. Born in south China, and active in Vietnam, his greatest claim to fame was his contribution to the Vietnamese/Chinese anti-imperialism cause, as he killed Frenchmen Francis Garnier (d. 1873) and Henri Riviere (d. 1883). Consequently, both Chinese and Vietnamese scholars were eager to claim his successes for the Chinese nation, or the Vietnamese nation. Through an examination of the Sino-Vietnamese border region in the longue duree, using approaches like environmental history and cultural history, I argue that Liu should be contextualised in the local history of the region. In doing so, I will also examine how scholars? contemporary concerns affect the writing of history.