Information about the thesis "Vietnamese Literature of the 18th - Early 19th Centuries and the Issue of Death" by graduate student Vuong Thi Phuong Thao, specializing in Medieval Literature.1. Student's Full Name: Vuong Thi Phuong Thao 2. Gender: Female 3. Date of Birth: July 27, 1984 4. Place of Birth: Khanh Hoa 5. Decision No. 1355/2008/QD-XHNV-KH&SDH dated October 24, 2008, 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: Vietnamese Literature of the 18th - Early 19th Centuries and the Issue of Death 8. Specialization: Medieval Literature; Code: 60.22.34. 9. Scientific Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Nho Thin (Lecturer, Faculty of Literature – University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University – Hanoi)) 10. Summary of the thesis results: The thesis "Vietnamese Literature in the 18th-Early 19th Centuries and the Issue of Death" consists of three main parts: introduction, content, and conclusion. Introduction: Presents the reasons for choosing the topic. Looking back at the history of medieval Vietnamese literature over a long period, we find that literature in the 18th-early 19th centuries wrote extensively about death. The attitude towards death expressed in the literature of this period shows extremely diverse and profound emotional nuances. This is something that was absent in literature from the 10th to 17th centuries. The change in the concept of death in literature of the 18th-early 19th centuries can be said to be an important issue in the literary history of Vietnamese literature. However, to date, no work has delved deeply into understanding and researching the issue of death in Vietnamese literature. The 18th and early 19th centuries are discussed comprehensively. The content consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: Concepts of Death in the History of Eastern Thought and Culture. - The issue of death in the history of Eastern thought and culture: + Confucianism: Sacrifice of life to uphold righteousness – Death is the sacrifice of one's life to preserve a great cause. + Buddhism: Life is temporary, death is returning home. + Taoism: Death – the dissolution of the body is a natural process, not something to be saddened by. Chapter 2: Attitudes Towards Death in Vietnamese Literature of the 10th-17th Centuries. The main literary authors of this period were Zen masters and Confucian scholars. Imbued with the Buddhist and Confucian doctrines and concepts of death, these Zen masters and Confucian scholars clearly demonstrated in their works an attitude of accepting death without fear. Zen masters recognized the impermanence of life, of existence and death. Their attitude was calm, serene, and composed in the face of approaching death, even smiling. The concept of rebirth is a characteristic of Zen master poetry in the literature of this period. Confucian scholars emphasized the integrity and noble ideals of a virtuous person. True Confucian scholars showed a willingness to sacrifice their own lives to protect the tenets of Confucianism, while also harshly criticizing those who "clinged to life and feared death," betraying the Confucian ideal of righteousness. Chapter 3: The Change in Attitude Towards Death in Vietnamese Literature of the 18th – Early 19th Centuries. This period marks a major turning point in the changing attitudes of Confucian scholars – the main authors of this literary period. This is also the period of literature focusing on ordinary, natural human beings, no longer dominated by saintly or virtuous characters. Literature of this period wrote about death more extensively than ever before in the history of medieval literature. At the same time, we see differences and differentiations in moral views on the issue of death. There is the conservative moral concept of Confucianism when people praise death. Self-sacrifice for kings and husbands; but also a humanistic concept, protecting life and empathizing with the lives of characters. Because of this emphasis on life and the physical body, literature of this period contains many laments and cries of sorrow before death. In conclusion, overall, the change in attitude towards death reflects a change in the thoughts and concepts of the authors – within the humanistic tradition of 18th-19th century literature. The attitude towards death expressed in the literature of this period shows a wide range of emotions and depths, as a strong affirmation and exaltation of the right to life and the right to happiness in real life. The change in the concept of death in 18th-early 19th century literature can be said to be an important issue in the literary history of Vietnam. 11. Practical application: None 12. Further research directions: None 13. Related published works Regarding the thesis: No
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Vuong Thi Phuong Thao 2. Sex: Female 3. Date of birth: July 27th 1984. Place of birth: Khanh Hoa 5. Admission decision number: 1355/2008/QD-XHNV-KH&SĐH Dated October 24, 2008 of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University in October 24, 2008. 6. Changes in academic process: None 7. Official thesis title: Vietnamese literature from 18th century to the early 19th century about the death issue . 8. Major: Medieval literature 9. Code: 60. 22. 34. 10. Supervisors: Associate Professor, Doctor Tran Nho Thin, Teacher of Literature Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University. 11. Summary of the findings of the thesis: The thesis, Vietnamese literature from 18th century to the early 19th century about the death issue, consists of three main parts: introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction states the reason for choosing topic. Looking back on the long history of Vietnamese Medieval literature, we recognize that literature in the 18th century and early 19th century wrote about death a lot. The attitude toward the death issues presented in the literature of this period shows diverse and profound tone of feeling. It was something that did not appear in the literature from 10th century to 17th century. The changing conception about death issue in literature from 18th century to early 19th century is an important matter of Vietnamese literary history. However, there has not been any comprehensive research on the issue of death in Vietnamese literature from 18th century to the early 19th century so far. The body consists of three chapters. Chapter 1: The conception of death in the Oriental cultural and ideological history - The issue of death in the Oriental cultural and ideological history. + Confucianism: Die for the Greater Good - Dying is sacrificing human life to preserve the great righteousness. + Buddhism: Living is temporary, dying is coming home – The human body is only a temporary existence, you will truly be home after you die. + Taoism: Death - the disappearance of the human life itself is natural, not something mournful. Chapter 2: Attitude toward death in Vietnamese Literature from 10th century to 17th century. The authors of the mainstream literature in this period were The Zen masters and The Confucians. Being imbued with ideology and conception about the death of Buddhism and Confucianism, the Confucians and Zen masters expressed through their written works that they accepted the death without fear. The Zen masters realize the impermanence of life and death. Death is the inevitable law of human life, so there is nothing to fear. The deliberate, calm and imperturbable attitude towards the coming death and smiling at the rebirth is characteristic of poetry and literature written by Zen masters in this period. The Confucians gave prominence to the dignity and the noble justification for living of the gentleman. Dying for the greater good was a meaningful and praised death. The genuine Confucians were always willing to sacrifice their human lives to protect the beliefs of Confucianism. They also critically criticized the men who «wanted to live - afraid of death» and betrayed the nobleness-appreciated ideology of the Confucianism. Chapter 3: The changing attitude toward the death in Vietnamese Literature from 18th century to early 19th century. This period marks a major turning point in the attitude of The Confucians who were the main literary authors of this period. This is the period when literature often writes about human beings rather than about gentlemen or saints. There was never a period in the Medieval literature that wrote about death as much as this one. We also recognize that the moral opinion about death was different and divided. There was the conservative opinion of Confucians in which people praised the life sacrifice for the king, for the husband. There was another humane opinion that stood up for the life of the characters. Because it appreciates the human body and life, the literature in this period contains a lot of cries for the death. The Conclution: In summary, the changing attitude toward the death issue reflects the change in the ideology and conception of the authors that belongs to the humane flow of literature in the 18th and 19th century. The attitude toward the death issues presented in the literature of this period shows diverse and profound tone of feeling. It is like a strong affirmation and praise for the right to live, the right to be happy of men in their present lives. We can say that the changing conception about death in the 18th-19th century literature is a very important matter of Vietnamese literary history. 12. Practical applicability, if any: None 13. Further research directions, if any: None 14. Thesis-related publications: None
