Kelley (history, U. of Hawai'i) examines the complex relationship between Vietnam and China in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries through the works of Vietnamese poet/diplomats sent to China to plead against invasions. Although the poets remained aware of their cultural identity and its Chinese influences, they were also well aware of Vietnam's subordinate political role. Kelley finds that rather than seeking distinctiveness, the poets understood themselves and their culture as being a part of the Sinitic world, that they accepted their role as vassals to China, and they did so as an act of manifest civility. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)