TTLA: Research on Sino-Vietnamese customary texts of villages and communes in Tu Liem district before 1945

1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen 2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: September 12, 1976 4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Decision to admit doctoral students No.: 3684/2015/QD-XHNV, dated December 31, 2015

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis title:Research on Sino-Vietnamese customary texts of villages and communes in Tu Liem district before 1945

8. Specialization: Sino-Vietnamese Studies 9. Code: 62 22 01 04

10. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Khac Thuan

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

- This dissertation systematizes customary documents and conducts a survey of the distribution of 85 Han Nom customary texts in Tu Liem district according to time and space, including 82 texts written on paper and 3 rubbings of stelae. The dissertation examines the content of customary texts at each stage, each unit reflecting the unique characteristics of its respective region.

- This thesis examines the formal and substantive characteristics of customary texts, the modification and supplementation of customs, and the occupational characteristics reflected in these texts. The issues most frequently modified and supplemented are the rectification of customs in weddings, funerals, rituals, feasts, and patrols. These are urgent issues of greatest concern to the local people.

- This dissertation studies the content of customary texts, such as customs reflecting the traditions and practices of villages in matters of worship, feasts, weddings, and funerals. Tu Liem District is a locality with a tradition of valuing education, with many people achieving academic success. This is clearly demonstrated in the regulations promoting education, the custom of rewarding those who passed examinations and became officials, and the activities of the Literary Society.

- The thesis highlights the "customary reform" value of customary texts. For example, the purchase of offerings and the organization of sacrificial ceremonies are costly, with the entire village holding feasts for many days, significantly impacting people's lives. Furthermore, customs related to feasting, weddings, and funerals require the payment of large sums of money and offerings to the village, and the hosting of lavish meals, further exacerbating the hardships faced by the people. Therefore, these customs have been repeatedly modified to reduce costs and eliminate the wasteful practice of inviting the entire village for feasts. The thesis examines customs in village life, both past and present, aiming to inherit the positive values ​​of ancient customs in building a new cultural code for weddings and funerals, combating social evils, and preserving traditional customs and values.

12. Practical applications: contributing to the development of a new cultural life in the local area.

13. Further research directions: study customary texts in other localities and then compare them to identify the unique characteristics of each locality.

14. Published works related to the dissertation:

1. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2015), "Han Nom Village Regulations and the Protection of People's Rights (Through Some Village Regulations in Hanoi)",Han Nom Journal,No. 3, pp. 62-70.

2. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2017), "Education promotion activities of the people of Tu Liem district in the past (Through some customs and Han Nom genealogies)",Han Nom Journal,No. 3, pp. 20-27.

3. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2018), "Laws and customs related to the elderly in Vietnam during the monarchy,Han Nom Journal, number 3, pp. 42-53.

4. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2018), "Han Nom documents on Vietnamese funerals - a case study of village funerals in Tu Liem district",Sino-Vietnamese Studies, 2018pp. 840-852.

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name: Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Yến 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: September 12, 1976 4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Admission decision number: 3684/2015/QD-XHNV, Dated: 31 December 2015

6. Changes in academic process:

7. Official thesis title:An insight into the documents on customs of the district of Tu Liembefore 1945

8. Major: Sino Nom 9. Code: 62 22 01 04

10. Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Khac Thuan

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

- The thesis systematizes written sources on customs and conducts surveys on the distribution of 85 Sino-Nom texts on customs in the district of Tu Liem, exploring their spatial and temporal distribution. Among these, there are 82 documents written on paper and 3 stele inscriptions. The thesis explores the content of these texts in consideration of their corresponding historical stages and their respective cantons, each of which shows its own characteristics.

- The thesis explores the characteristics regarding the forms, styles and content of the texts on customs, the amendments and supplements to these customs, and occupational trademarks as reflected in these documents. The issues that were revised most often were adjusting the customs related to marriage, funeral, sacrifices, promotion feasts and local security. These were urgent issues to local communities.

- The thesis provides an in-depth study of the main content of texts on customs, as in, customs that reflect the villages' practices of sacrifices, promotion feasts, marriages and funerals. Tu Liem district has always been an area with an academic tradition with many examples of studious and successful academics. This is shown through the rules related to study promotion or gift-giving to the successful test-takers and officials, as well as the activities of the Literati Association.

- The thesis gives an insight into the value of these texts as a tool for "adjusting customs". Typically, the purchase of gifts and sacrifices cost a lot of money, the whole village organized meals for many days, greatly affects people's lives. In addition, the organizers of promotion feasts, marriages and funerals were all required to pay many gifts and money to the village, to serve food and drink to people of all classes, making life even more difficult for the people. Therefore, these rules were also modified many times to reduce costs (for example, the tradition of inviting the whole village to eat lavishly could be abandoned). The thesis explores the customs in the village life in the past and present, in order to promote the good values ​​of the old customs in the construction of new cultural conventions on marriage and funeral, the elimination of social evils, and the protection of the fine traditions ..etc.

12. Practical applicability, if any:

- Contribution to building a new cultural life in the localities.

13. Further search directions, if any:

I will continue to study texts on customs in other localities and then compare them to find out the specific characteristics of each locality.

14. Thesis-related applications:

1. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2015), "Sino-Nom conventions and the protection of people's rights (Through some conventions in Hanoi)", The Journal of Sino-Nom Studies, No. 3, pp.62-70.

2. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2017), "Study encouragement activities of people in the district of Tu Liem in the past (Through a number of Sino-Nom texts on customs and family records), The Journal of Sino-Nom Studies , No. 3, pp.20-27.

3. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2018), "Laws and customs related to elderly people in Vietnam during the monarchy, The Journal of Sino-Nom Studies, No. 3, pp.42-53.

4. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2018), "Han Nom materials on funerals of the Vietnamese people -A case study: funerals in the district of Tu Liem",Sino-Nom Research 2018, pp.840-852.