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

Author's name: Tong Van Loi

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

Field of study of the thesis: 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 scope of the thesis

Objective: This dissertation studies the transformation process of Dai Viet society in the 17th and 18th centuries. The dissertation examines several specific case studies to further clarify this transformation. It analyzes the relationship and interaction between social transformation in the Northern Delta region and the state administration, clarifying the inherent issues of this transformation in relation to Vietnamese history.

The subject of this thesis is: Social transformation in the rural areas of the Red River Delta.

2. Research methods used

The historical and logical method is the primary approach for analyzing and generalizing historical observations, involving operations related to dates, locations, authors, and the analysis, comparison, and verification of information.

The Northern Delta region during the 17th and 18th centuries was the central area where historical events of national significance took place. Historical phenomena and events did not form and exist in isolation, independently of one another; rather, they were closely interconnected and influenced each other. Therefore, historical events must be considered in their universal context, as aspects within a unified whole, as components within a structure.

Viewing the socio-historical context of Vietnam in the first half of the 19th century as a tightly structured system comprising numerous interconnected components (substructures), this dissertation analyzes a key element that serves as the foundation and coordinates the movement of the entire structure. When considering social transformation as an independent research subject, the dissertation also views it as a sub-structure organically linked to the overall socio-historical structure, yet possessing its own distinct characteristics of development.

The structural method (whole-parts approach) is therefore considered a concretization of Marxist methodological principles in the way of viewing and analyzing socio-historical issues.

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

3. Main results and conclusions

3.1. Main results

- The dissertation provides some explanations for the development and differentiation of the intellectual class in society, the transformation of rural and urban areas, and their impact on the country's development.

- The relationship between the government and the villages, as seen through activities such as taxation and military recruitment, along with the methods and measures employed by the villages and their administrative apparatus, will reveal the village's response.

- The thesis also analyzes some loopholes that powerful local figures in villages exploit to harass the people.

- Finally, the thesis attempts to explore source materials to illustrate the effectiveness of state policies and feedback from the grassroots level.

3.2. Conclusion

Firstly, the stable development of the Northern Delta directly influenced the survival of the Le-Trinh regime.

Secondly, the policies implemented by the Le-Trinh government in the North had an impact on maintaining stability or exacerbating crises in the Northern Delta region.

- Thirdly, villages and communes are the units directly responsible for implementing state policies. Unforeseen circumstances arising in villages and communes, such as lawsuits, taxes, supplying soldiers, recruiting conscripts, and official duties, led them to seek ways to raise funds.

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^thcentury

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.