Viet Nam is the home of more than fifty ethnic minorities–such as the Cham and Thai–many of which have distinctive clothing and weaving traditions linked to antiquity. The tight-fitting tunic called ao dai, widely recognized as a national symbol, has its roots in the country’s 2, 000-year history of textiles. Beginning with silk production in the Bronze Age cultures of the Red River, this book covers textiles in Viet Nam–including bark-cloth, kapok and hemp–through the centuries of Chinese rule in the north, a number of independent feudal societies and the brief period of French colonial rule.