"Global Tea Breeding"

Abstract

The colonization of the land that is now Vietnam and the establishment of a French protectorate in Tonkin in the late nineteenth century led to new methods of agricultural production and new means of exploiting natural resources. This article examines this evolution by focusing on the endogenous and spontaneous movement of colonization that developed “illegally” during the first half of the twentieth century and which concerned several villages located in the hills of two districts in Phú Thọ province. A comparison of archival sources produced by the protectorate authorities with the testimonials recorded by former colonist-planters and their descendants reveals how the colonial state manipulated and falsified information in order to subsequently claim ownership of this colonial movement, which transformed the region’s environment, society, and economy.