TTLA: Social transformation in rural areas of the Red River Delta in the 17th-18th centuries

Author name: Tong Van Loi

Thesis title:Social transformation in rural areas of the Red River Delta in the 17th-18th centuries

Dissertation field: History

Major: Ancient and Medieval Vietnamese History Code: 62 22 54 01

Name of the postgraduate training unit: University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

1. Purpose and research objects of the thesis

Purpose: The thesis studies the transformation process of Dai Viet society in the 17th and 18th centuries. The thesis studies a number of specific cases (case studies) to clarify that transformation. The thesis analyzes the relationship and interaction of social transformation in the Northern Delta region with the state government, clarifying the internal issues of that transformation in relation to Vietnamese history.

Thesis research object: Social transformation in rural areas of the Red River Delta

2. Research methods used

The historical and logical method is the main method to analyze and generalize historical statements with operations on date, location, author, analysis, comparison and information verification.

The Northern Delta in the 17th and 18th centuries was the central region where historical events with national influence took place. Historical phenomena and events do not form and exist separately or independently from each other, but between them there are close relationships and mutual influences. Therefore, historical events must be considered in a general relationship, as aspects in a unified whole, elements in a structure.

Viewing the history of Vietnamese society in the first half of the 19th century as a tightly structured system consisting of many different elements (small structures) interacting with each other, the thesis analyzes a key content that plays a fundamental role in coordinating the movement of the entire structure. When considering the issue of social change, as an independent research object, the thesis also considers it as a small structural system in an organic relationship with the overall historical-social structure, but on the other hand, it has its own characteristics of movement.

The structural method (whole - part) is therefore considered a concretization of Marxist methodological principles in the perception and analysis of historical - social issues.

The thesis applies quantitative analysis, regional and interdisciplinary methods to comprehensively identify the research area.

3. Main results and conclusions

3.1. Main results

- The thesis provides some explanations on the development and differentiation of the intellectual class in society, the transformation of rural and urban areas and its effects on the development of the country.

- The relationship between the government and the village through tax activities, military recruitment as well as the methods and measures of the village and the village bureaucracy will show the reaction of the village.

- The thesis also analyzes some loopholes that the local tyrants took advantage of to harass the people.

- Finally, the thesis attempts to exploit sources of information to outline the effectiveness of state policies and feedback from the grassroots.

3.2. Conclusion

- Firstly, the stable development of the Northern Delta had a direct impact on the existence of the Le - Trinh government.

- Second, the policies of the Le - Trinh government implemented in Dang Ngoai had the effect of maintaining stability or promoting crisis in the Northern Delta region.

- Third, the commune and village are the units that directly have to organize the implementation of state policies. Unexpected events that arise in the commune and village such as lawsuits, tax collection, provision for soldiers, finding people to join the army, and costs of official duties... have forced the commune and village to find ways to mobilize the budget.

-Fourth, the development of urban areas in the 17th and 18th centuries also reflected the transformation of Dai Viet society.

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

The author's name: Tong Van Loi

Thesis title: Social transformation in the rural area of ​​the Red River Delta during the 17th^thand 18^thcenturies

Scientific branch of the thesis: History

Major: Ancient and medieval history of Vietnam Code: 62 22 54 01

The name of postgraduate training institution:University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

1. Thesis purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the research is to study the transformation process of Vietnam during the 17th and 18th^thcenturies based on the use of different documents. The thesis examines some case studies in order to clarify that transformation. It also analyzes the relation and interdependence between the social transformations of the Red River Delta and the state while shedding more light on the inherent impacts of such transformations on the history of Vietnam.

2. Research methods

Historical methods and logical methods were employed to analyze historical perspectives with and triangulate information

The Red River Delta during the 17th^thand 18^thcenturies was where many major historical events took place that had consequences on a national level. These historical events and phenomena did not exist in silo and separation. Rather, they were closely intertwined and interdependent. Therefore, it is necessary to examine events in their entirety, in relation to others, and treat them as a unified whole or integral components of a structure.

Considering the Vietnamese society at the earlier half of the 19th^thcentury as a close structure with multiple components that interacted with one another, the thesis goes extra length in analyzing one specific issue that is key to the overall functioning of such a structure. As it examines social transformations and treats them as an independent object of research, the thesis also considers them as a smaller substructure in organic relation with a broader socio-historical structure. At the same time, however, these social transformations can have their own features and evolutions.

The structural method (part-whole) therefore is considered as an actualization of the Marxist methodology in the perception and analysis of socio-historical issues.

The thesis applies quantitative analysis, area studies methods, interdisciplinary methods to generally identify exactly the area of ​​research.

3. Major results and conclusions

3.1 The major results

• The thesis provides some arguments about the development and differentiation of the intellectual circle in the society, the gradual movement and transformation of the rural and urban areas, and their impacts on the national development.
• The relations between the authorities and the villages through such activities as taxation, soldier conscription, as well as response methods and measures of the rural society and the official apparatus will show the reactions of the communes and villages.
• The thesis also analyzes some loopholes that could be taken advantage of by the communal and village heads to cause troubles to the local people.
• Finally, the thesis attempts to exploit eclectically historical documents and sources to paint a true-to-life picture of the effectiveness of the state's policies, in the form of groundswells level, bottom-up reflections.

3.2 Conclusions

• First, the stable development of the Red River Delta had direct influence on the existence of the Le - Trinh ruling houses.
• Second, the policies of the Le - Trinh authorities executed in the Northern Expanse or Dang Ngoai served to either stabilize or speed up the crisis of the Red River Delta in the north.
• Third, the communes and villages were the direct implementers of the state's policies. The incidents that occurred beyond the will of the communes and villages such as litigation, taxation, military provisions and conscription, mandarin expenses, etc. meant that the communes and villages had to find ways to mobilize budget.
• Fourth, the development of urban areas in the two centuries was also an indicator of the transformations of the Vietnamese society then.