Information about the thesis "Legends about prominent cultural figures of the medieval period in Hai Duong" by graduate student Nguyen Thi Quyen, majoring in Folklore Literature.1. Student's Full Name: Nguyen Thi Quyen 2. Gender: Female 3. Date of Birth: February 10, 1980 4. Place of Birth: Hung Yen Town 5. Decision No. 1528/QD-XHNV-KH & SDH, dated October 14, 2009, issued by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 6. Changes during the training process: None 7. Thesis Title: Legends about prominent cultural figures of the medieval period in Hai Duong Province 8. Specialization: Folklore; Code: 62.22.36.01 9. Scientific Advisor: Prof. Dr. Le Chi Que - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi. 10. Summary of the thesis results: - The thesis has presented a fairly complete system of legends about four prominent cultural figures in Hai Duong province. The thesis has pointed out the basic content and artistic form characteristics of the legends about these figures: character development, variations, motifs, and structure within the legends... - The images of the four cultural figures are not only found in legends but are also vividly recreated in beliefs and festivals. The thesis has described both the ceremonial and festive aspects in considerable detail, specifically through three typical festivals: the traditional Mao Dien Temple festival, the Chu Van An Temple festival, and the Con Son Pagoda festival, as well as the local customs of worshipping these cultural figures. - The thesis also points out the organic relationship between legends and festivals. Legends and festivals do not exist separately but are closely intertwined. Throughout their existence and development, legends have formed the basis of festivals, dominating ritual actions and folk games during these celebrations. Conversely, festivals also nurture legends, vividly portraying cultural figures through traditional local events. The four cultural figures mentioned above are historical figures honored, respected, and highly regarded, yet their legends have not received sufficient attention in terms of collection and dissemination. However, in recent years, the Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee have shown interest in preserving and promoting unique cultural and spiritual values, restoring and reviving local traditional festivals, and encouraging folk games. The province has planned to build, renovate, and restore several historical sites, including the Chu Van An Temple, the Mac Dinh Chi Temple, and the Nguyen Thi Due Temple, with completion expected in 2012. Collecting, researching, and studying the legends about these four prominent figures is essential and contributes to preserving and promoting the traditional Vietnamese cultural identity.
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Quyen 2. Gender: Female 3. Date of birth: October 2, 1980 4. Place of birth: Hung Yen province 5. Admission decision number 1528/QD-XHNV-KH & SĐH dated October 14th 2009 of Headmaster of College of Social Sciences and Humanity of Vietnam National University. 6. Changes in academic process: No 7. Official thesis title: Legend of cultural famous men in medieval period in Hai Duong province. 8. Major: Folk literature 9. Code: 60.22.36 10. Supervisor: Prof., Dr. Le Chi Que - College of Social Science and Humanity 11. Summary of the findings of the thesis: - This thesis introduces quite completely the legend system of four famous cultural men in Hai Duong province. It shows the points in contents and basic artistic form of legend of famous men, such as the way how to build a hero, variants, model, structure in legend, etc. - Images of four famous cultural men are not only known in legend but also reappeared lively in beliefs and festivals. This thesis also deeply expresses both ceremonial offerings and ceremony in detail through three main festivals, such as traditional ceremonies of Mao Dien Literature of Temple, Chu Van An temple and Con Son pagoda as well as worship customs of famous men at each locality. - This paper gives the organic relationship between legend and ceremony. Legend and ceremony do not exist separately but they have a close relationship. In existing and developing periods, legend is the base for ceremony, the subject affects the ceremonial activities as well as folk games in festival. On the contrary, ceremony is the environment to develop legend so that it can express lively the cultural famous men through traditional holidays in local. - Four above-mentioned famous men are heroes who are respected, honored, and highly appreciated by history but until now legends about them have not received the concern, not been collected and put in a popular circulation. However, in recent years, Provincial Committee of the Party, Hai Duong province People's Committee have concerned, attached special importance to preserve and bring into play the special spiritual cultural values, restore the traditional festivals, and encourage the folk games of that local. Hai Duong province also has some projects to rebuild, restore and embellish some monuments in the province, in which Chu Van An Temple, Mac Dinh Chi Temple and Nguyen Thi Due Temple will be completed in next 2012. The collecting, searching and studying legends about four above-mentioned famous men are necessary for preserving and bringing into play the Vietnamese traditional culture characters.
