"Northern Domination Resistance Culture" or "Vietnam under Chinese rule". Which one is true? [closed]

Question

"Throughout the entire history of Vietnam, many Vietnamese culture researchers divided it into six stages, including Prehistoric culture; Van Lang - Au Lac culture; Northern Domination Resistance Culture / Vietnam under Chinese rule; Dai Viet culture; Dai Nam culture and Modern culture."

Which one I should choose? Could you help me, please?

Answer 1

Leaving aside the differences in meaning between the two options, each feels a little awkward to a native english speaker or reader.

Northern Domination Resistance Culture

• The multiple modifiers on "culture" make the meaning ambiguous. The phrase can be read as 'resistance to northern domination', 'resistance to domination coming from the north', 'resistance to domination occurring in the north', etc. Considering adding a dash to indicate what is being modified. Eg., 'Northern-Domination Resistance Culture' to refer to a culture resisting domination from the north.

Vietnam under Chinese Rule

• Doesn't end with or refer to "Culture", so doesn't fit with other items in list. Reads strangely and potentially undermines your point.
• "Vietnam" may also be redundant as its already established that this list refers to Vietnam. "Chinese Rule" would communicate as much information in fewer words.
• It could also be an option to remove "culture" from the end of each item in the list, as it is implied by this being a list of cultures.
• Related to the above, you could also remove culture from all stage names except the final one and it will feel natural. eg., "The box contained blue, red and orange pencils" rather than "The box contained blue pencils, orange pencils and red pencils" You don't need to specify what blue and orange refer to, since it is implied by the final item in the list.

General thoughts on solving your problem:

• Look at what terms the Culture Researchers are using, and use those if possible. This paragraph implies they have some established terms for each period. (If there isn't an established term, you may want to rephrase the paragraph to clarify that this is your periodisation based on a survey of the historiography eg., "Vietnamese Culture Researchers can be said to divide it into 6 stages...")

Aside:

• "Throughout the entire history of Vietnam" implies that researchers have been using these terms since the beginning of vietnam's history, which is obviously absurd. Instead, you can say that "Vietnamese Culture Researchers divide its history into six stages". Start with the major subject of your thought - "What the researchers do"- and then go from there.

• You may also want to clarify whether "Vietnamese Culture Researchers" refers to 'culture researchers from Vietnam' or 'researchers of vietnamese culture from anywhere'. "Vietnam Culture Researchers" is one option if you wish to include researchers from outside Vietnam.