塘中
The Nguyen lords were key players in promoting Chinese-style clothing in central and southern Vietnam when they expanded their territories and extended control over all the territories which used to be ruled by the Cham and the Khmer. While expanding their territories, the Kinh people were brought to the south and the Nguyen lords allowed Ming dynasty Chinese refugees to settle in those areas, thus creating a mixed society which was composed of Kinh, Chinese, and Cham. Both Kinh and the Chinese brought their own clothing style in Đàng Trong (Huế) and continued to wear their clothing until a proclamation by Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát who decreed that all the people under his rule had to changed their clothing into Ming-style Chinese clothing in order to make his people dressed differently from those under the rule of the Trinh lords. As a result, the gown and skirt which was worn by the Kinh and which was common in the north was replaced by trousers and gown with Chinese-style fasteners; this new form of clothing was described as an áo dài which was composed of a 4-panel gown by Lê Quý Đôn.