« Détruire ou consolider les digues du delta du fleuve Rouge. Un débat au sein de la haute bureaucratie vietnamienne au XIXe siècle »
Résumé
For almost one century (1802-1883), many projects aiming at expanding agricultural production were carried out in Vietnam. Whereas foreshore parcels where developed in the north, canals were dug in the south, resulting in significant improvement of the lands of the Châu Đốc. Massive operations, such as river dredging or construction of dikes, were performed in the North, despite the fact that, in the Red River delta, dike ruptures were more frequent and more severe than anywhere else. In which terms did the Vietnamese bureaucracy look at water management issues at the beginning of the nineteenth century? How did the Nguyễn dynasty try to solve the existing problems? How is it possible to characterize the debate on the destruction or reinforcement of dikes? All these are pivotal issues that the article attempts to explore.