The first National History Conference was honored to welcome leaders of ministries, departments, branches, central and local agencies, and scientists nationwide.
On January 15, 2014, the Central Party Secretariat issued a conclusion on the research and compilation of the Vietnamese History book series "as a national history series of official national character" as a basis for the Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a national social science project to research and compile the Vietnamese History series, taking a comprehensive, all-round, objective, honest approach, respecting historical truth as the implementation principle. On May 1, 2014, in Ho Chi Minh City, Professor Phan Huy Le (Chairman of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, Head of the National History Project) launched the entire history sector to promote research and propaganda on Vietnam's national sovereignty, territory and territorial waters. The research and propaganda work on Vietnamese history in general and on the sovereignty of the national territory and territorial waters of Vietnam in particular has been enthusiastically responded to by the entire historical community and has been devoted to racing against time and the epidemic. Up to now, the 30-volume National History has been basically completed, in which the volumes all contain methodical and in-depth studies on the boundaries of all states, dynasties, political institutions within the territory of Vietnam and the process of integration into the territory of Dai Viet, Dai Nam and the territory of modern Vietnam. In addition, hundreds of scientific topics at all levels, dozens of conferences, seminars, specialized scientific discussions, dozens of books, hundreds of scientific articles have been published in Vietnamese, English and many other languages in the country and many countries around the world. Over the past ten years, since the day Professor Phan Huy Le launched the initiative, Vietnamese historians have made a very long and fundamental step forward on the path to recognizing the true value of Vietnamese history, Vietnamese culture and Vietnamese national sovereignty.
2024 is a year with many outstanding historical events related to national territorial sovereignty such as the 1480th anniversary of the Van Xuan state, the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Dinh Tien Hoang, the 1080th anniversary of the death of Ngo Quyen, the 1050th anniversary of the birth of Ly Thai To, the 220th anniversary of the official birth of the National Name of Vietnam, the 190th anniversary of the victory of Vam Nao - Co Hu, the 70th anniversary of the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Agreement and the takeover of the capital Hanoi... At each of these important historical events, the Vietnam Historical Science Association often cooperates with localities and specialized agencies to organize seminars, talks, and academic activities. Today is exactly 10 years since Professor Phan Huy Le launched the movement, and also exactly 6 years since Professor Phan Huy Le passed away. The Vietnam Historical Science Association and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in collaboration with the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City and the University of Education, Da Nang University, organized the first National History Conference to summarize 10 years of promoting research and propaganda on national sovereignty, territorial waters, and territorial waters in the direction of a comprehensive and holistic approach to Vietnamese history. The conference received 164 summary reports and printed them into a 325-page summary of the decade for all the delegates attending. At the same time, the Conference also received 149 full-text reports that were preliminarily edited and printed into 3 volumes with a total of 1,455 A4 pages to serve the Organizing Committee, the Professional Committees of the subcommittees and as reference documents, research, and academic exchanges when really necessary right in the conference. The Conference was organized into 4 sessions, including 2 plenary sessions in the form of a conference and 2 scientific seminars of 3 subcommittees: (1) Some general issues on territorial sovereignty and land borders, (2) East Sea - Living space of communities living on Vietnamese territory and (3) Vietnam's sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa - Truong Sa.
Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Quang Ngoc - Vice President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, Former Head of the History Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, reported at the first National History Conference on June 15, 2024.
In the Opening session, we listened to the Introduction report of Associate Professor Tran Duc Cuong (Chairman of the Vietnam Historical Sciences Association); listened to the welcoming speech of Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Ha Minh Hai and 03 reports on general issues of national territory and national borders; the meaningful position of the National Name of Vietnam in the historical process of the country and on the comprehensive approach of Vietnamese history applied to research the history of sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa - Truong Sa.
The workshop of 03 subcommittees, each subcommittee is divided into 02 sessions, is an in-depth academic activity of each field related to national sovereignty, territorial waters. At the subcommittees, the expert management group and the secretariat worked very professionally and achieved high efficiency. The conference just listened to the professors representing the 3 subcommittees presenting the summary reports of their subcommittees with a total of 28 reports presented in full text and over 30 opinions exchanged and discussed very enthusiastically. We completely agree and consider the reports of the subcommittees as in-depth scientific summaries of the conference. For our part, we would like to summarize and explain the following ideas:
1. Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, is one of the regions considered the cradle of mankind. Recently, archaeologists have discovered in An Khe, Gia Lai province, a system of early Paleolithic relics dating back 800,000 years, confirming that our country is one of the countries with the earliest human settlements. However, when talking about the shape of the country as a territorial nation, people only start from the first period of nation-building, equivalent to the early Iron Age. Before that, it was the primitive period or Prehistoric period, that is, the period when there was no state, even a primitive state.
2. Entering the Iron Age, in our country today, three major cultural centers were formed, leading to the birth of the first three states: Van Lang - Au Lac in the North; the ancient Sa Huynh - Lam Ap - Hoan Vuong - Champa states in the Central region and Phu Nam in the South. The birth of the Van Lang - Au Lac states was much earlier than that of Champa and Phu Nam, but only about 2,700 years ago, not 4,000 years as has always been believed. Although there were several centuries between them, all three types of states were classified together in the first era of nation building in Vietnam. The birth of the first states were all based on two basic resources of the mainland and the ocean, in which the sea element covered all three kingdoms and the further south the sea element increased, of which the vestiges of Sa Huynh culture in the coastal islands, extending to the Truong Sa archipelago and the Pre-Sa Huynh cultural relics in Cua Can Phu Quoc, Ben Ngu Tho Chau are very typical evidences. Thus, since before the existence of a state, the residents of the primitive tribes in the central coastal region had controlled the entire Hoang Sa and Truong Sa regions in the middle of the East Sea and the entire southwest sea and island region. It was the livelihood of the residents of the Van Lang - Au Lac, Sa Huynh - Champa and Phu Nam kingdoms that created the shape of the country for the descendants to preserve and maintain until today.
3. In the process of formation and transformation, a common development trend and a dominant flow of the country's history gradually formed, which was the gathering and spreading role of the Dong Son, Van Lang - Au Lac centers in the North. The territorial scope of Au Lac before falling under the domination of the North could be imagined as the entire Northern and North Central regions up to the headland of Quang Binh province, but the influence of Dong Son culture covered the entire territory of the Champa and Phu Nam kingdoms. Recent studies also clearly distinguish between the Phu Nam kingdom formed on the original land of Oc Eo culture equivalent to the current Southern region with the Phu Nam empire or the vast Phu Nam empire including many kingdoms and belonging to the later historical period.
4. In the early 10th century, the Khuc and Duong families gained autonomy, laying the foundation for Ngo Quyen to open the country in early 939, after a great victory over the Southern Han army at the Bach Dang seaport, and establish Co Loa as the capital, strongly affirming the continuity of the national tradition from the Hung Kings and An Duong Kings. The Dinh and Tien Le dynasties, in general, the territory of Dai Viet nation was no different from the Ngo dynasty. (Let me explain further that the official name of our country since the Dinh dynasty was "Dai Viet"; the names "Dai Co Viet", "Cu Viet", "Nam Quoc" or "Viet Quoc" were still used among the people, but were not the official national names).
5. In 1009, the Ly Dynasty was established. In 1010, Ly Thai To established Thang Long as the capital, affirming that Thang Long would be the capital forever in the center of the country, opening the period of Thang Long Culture, Dai Viet civilization, and the glorious and radiant development of the country. The Ly Dynasty was the first monarchy in Vietnam to propose a maritime strategy and Dai Viet under the Ly Dynasty was the country with the earliest maritime strategy in the world. In 1069, Ly Thanh Tong for the first time expanded Dai Viet's territory beyond Deo Ngang Pass, encompassing the entire Quang Binh province and the two districts of Vinh Linh and Gio Linh, Quang Tri today.
6. The Tran Dynasty with the heroic spirit of Dong A, defeated the great Mongol empire three times, and its brilliant civil and military achievements expanded the territory of Dai Viet to Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue and the northern part of Quang Nam province today. By the beginning of the 15th century, the land of Dai Ngu nation of the Ho Dynasty was determined to be the Chiem Dong and Co Luy areas, equivalent to the area of Da Nang city, Quang Nam province and Quang Ngai province.
7. In 1471, Le Thanh Tong expanded the territory of Dai Viet to Cu Mong Pass in the south of Binh Dinh province and extended the area of influence to the tip of Phan Rang, dividing it into two countries: Hoa Anh (coastal region of Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa) and Nam Ban (Central Highlands region of Gia Lai). It is possible that following the long-standing tradition of Champa, he reached out to occupy Bai Cat Vang in the middle of the East Sea (ie Hoang Sa archipelago). The Mac Dynasty in the 16th century affirmed a similar maritime strategy as today.
8. Lord Nguyen in the 17th and 18th centuries completed the work of opening up and defining the territory of the Vietnamese people, creating the shape of the country of Vietnam as it is today. Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen (1563-1635) is considered the Lord of the great feats of opening up the territory in the history of the nation, not only initially establishing sovereignty over the Southern land, but also establishing the Hoang Sa team to manage and exploit the East Sea, officially establishing Vietnam's sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. Here, the nation's path to the South was mainly through the sea route, sometimes going straight out to master the open sea and then using the sea and islands as a springboard to advance deep into the mainland.
9. Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu in the late 17th and early 18th centuries established Gia Dinh Palace, Tran Bien Palaces and Tran Phien, affirming a complete and tight administrative system down to the grassroots level in the South. He also expanded the territory to include Ha Tien and Ca Mau Cape, and established the Bac Hai team in charge of exploiting and managing islands and archipelagos in the South China Sea and the Southwest.
10. The unified and territorial integrity of Vietnam as it is today has been absolutely affirmed since the establishment of the Nguyen Dynasty. In the year of Giap Ty (1804), Emperor Gia Long named the country Vietnam, continuing the name that had existed for many centuries before (but not officially) and opened a new development stage of the Vietnamese nation. In the year of Mau Tuat (1838), Emperor Minh Mang decided to change the country's name to Dai Nam to match the territory that had been expanded to the maximum to both the West and the East. At this time, the land border of the Dai Nam empire was adjacent to Siam (Thailand). Minh Mang was also the one who brought the sovereignty activities of Vietnam - Dai Nam in Hoang Sa - Truong Sa to the highest peak of the monarchy era. Unfortunately, after Minh Mang passed away, Thieu Tri and Tu Duc, due to many difficulties, did not send people to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa regularly, but on the basis of the sovereignty of Dai Nam nation in Hoang Sa - Truong Sa was still maintained. No king of the Nguyen Dynasty declared to give up sovereignty in Hoang Sa - Truong Sa.
11. After the year of Giap Than (1884), our country's sovereignty fell into the hands of the French colonialists. At the beginning of the 20th century, the issue of sovereignty disputes in Hoang Sa arose. The French were initially indifferent, but later decided to stand with Vietnam to assert sovereignty over Hoang Sa on the basis of the long-standing sovereignty of the kingdom of An Nam and to declare sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago through actual acts of occupation. By the end of the 1940s, the French had handed over sovereignty over both Hoang Sa and Truong Sa to Vietnam according to the law of inheritance of sovereignty under international law. The situation on the northern border and the southwestern border was also resolved relatively reasonably and satisfactorily.
12. The State of Vietnam and then the Republic of Vietnam, which received the right to inherit sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, also made many efforts to fight to protect the real and long-standing sovereignty that their ancestors had established. However, the Republic of Vietnam could not help but take responsibility for losing the Hoang Sa archipelago and part of the Truong Sa archipelago. In 1975, the Republic of Vietnam disintegrated, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was the only genuine representative of Vietnam to take over the Truong Sa archipelago in accordance with international law. Since 1975, the country has been unified, the country has been reunited, but the situation on the northern border, the southwestern border and the sovereignty dispute over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa has remained extremely complicated. Many experts have conducted in-depth research and contributed to the Party and State's decisions to fully preserve Vietnam's national sovereignty, territory and territorial waters under new historical conditions.
During the preparation for the conference, we have always received the guidance and encouragement of the Central Propaganda Department, the specialized agencies of the Party, the State, and Hanoi City, the effective companionship and support of universities and research institutes, especially the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi; and the response to writing articles from experts from all over the country, with a high concentration in the capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Da Nang, Dong Thap and Son La. We would like to express our sincere and deep gratitude to the family of Mr. Le Thanh Long and Ms. Huynh Thi Thuong who have completely volunteered to stand with us, silently accompanying us from research and survey trips to the most remote islands in the southernmost part of the country, to the Tien River, Hau River, to seminars and talks in many localities and up to this moment, at our seminar and conference today. Without such selfless and wholehearted help, how could we overcome the difficulties and dangers that always lurk and surround us on all sides?
Our conference and workshop up to this point can be considered to have been successful beyond our initial expectations. No matter how hard we tried, we could not synthesize all the scientific ideas in nearly 2,500 pages of manuscript along with nearly 30 reports presented richly and creatively and dozens of enthusiastic opinions of experts. We truly believe that the best summaries are the summaries of each scientist and each delegate participating in the conference and workshop. After today's conference and workshop, the authors will continue to research, supplement, edit and perfect the full-text reports so that we can edit and publish the official proceedings with high professional quality. Only then can we say that the first National History Conference has been a complete success.
When developing the project to organize the Conference, we proposed to name it “The First National Historical Conference”, with the implication that in the next few years there will be a “Second National Historical Conference”. In today’s Conference, the subcommittees all expressed their desire to continue to deepen research on Vietnam’s national sovereignty, territorial waters. This may also be a very necessary direction. Some experts also suggested that the theme for the Second National Historical Conference should be the history of nation building and national defense or the relationship between nation building and national defense in the historical process of Vietnam. We hope to receive many contributions to not only find a new theme but also a new direction for the development of our country’s history.
Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Quang Ngoc
Vice President of Vietnam Historical Science Association, Former Head of History Department - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU
Press coverage of the event:
People's Television:The first National History Conference
National Assembly Television: The first National History Conference
People's Representative Newspaper: Research on national territorial sovereignty from a comprehensive approach to Vietnamese history
People's Newspaper:Research and propose solutions to protect national sovereignty and territory
Vietnam National University, Hanoi: Research on national territorial sovereignty in the direction of a comprehensive and holistic approach to Vietnamese history
Foreign information portal: National sovereignty and territory according to the comprehensive and holistic approach of Vietnamese history
People's Army Newspaper:The first National History Conference on national territorial sovereignty
VOV2: From historical approach to research on national territorial sovereignty
Science and Technology Magazine:Research on national territorial sovereignty in the direction of a comprehensive and holistic approach to Vietnamese history
Saigon Liberation Newspaper:National sovereignty and territory - sacred values
Vietnam Business Magazine: National Conference on History: Comprehensive Approach to the History of National Sovereignty
Women's Newspaper: National History Conference: Comprehensive historical approach to national sovereignty
