Introducing the work "History and Culture of Vietnam – A Partial Approach"

In 1998, in preparation for my 65th birthday, with the encouragement and support of friends, family, and the World Publishing House, I selected a number of scientific papers presented at domestic and international conferences, arranged them in a logical structure, and published the book.Returning to our rootstwo volumes. In 2007, the Education Publishing House kindly offered to publish a collection of my scientific papers under the title...Phan Huy Lê – History and Culture of Vietnam – A Partial Approach.

Professor Phan Huy Le

This time, I have selected articles written after 1998, including reports from national and international conferences, both published and unpublished, as well as excerpts from published books in which I am the editor or co-author, and some chapters I wrote myself that are relevant to the book's theme. All of these articles are arranged into the following chapters:

Chapter I: The Comprehensive and Multilinear Nature of Vietnamese History

Chapter II: On Ancient Civilization Centers and States in Vietnam

Chapter III: A Historical Turning Point in the First Half of the 10th Century

Chapter IV: The Transition from the Late Tran Dynasty to the Early Le Dynasty

Chapter V: Victories and Defeats of the Tay Son Dynasty

Chapter VI: Some Rural and Urban Issues

Chapter VII: Thang Long-Hanoi Citadel and the newly unearthed Imperial Citadel relics

Chapter VIII: Some Historical Events and Figures

Chapter IX: History, Vietnamese Studies, Oriental Studies

Cultural exchange relations with the world.

Professor Phan Huy Le, People's Teacher, receives the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology / Photo: VTV.vn

Each previously published article and chapter is either independent or part of the structure of another book, now separated and reorganized according to a new theme and structure. Naturally, there will be some overlap or inconsistencies, and the length of the sections is due to the individual articles being compiled together, not following a proportional ratio. I have carefully reviewed them and, with the help of my daughter, Dr. Phan Phuong Thao, have tried to edit them to minimize these shortcomings as much as possible, but errors are likely unavoidable. I sincerely hope for the reader's understanding.

The work "History and Culture of Vietnam - A Partial Approach"

For over half a century of researching and teaching Vietnamese history, primarily ancient and medieval Vietnamese history, I have always reminded myself to strive for integrity in my writing, to diligently collect materials, expand historical sources, and rigorously examine and process them to reconstruct objective and truthful historical accounts to the best of my ability. However, the more I research and contemplate, the more I realize that a significant gap always exists between perceived history and objective history, or, to put it simply, between written history and the actual history of life. The reasons are numerous; besides those who deliberately distort history, there may be a lack of materials, unscientific collection, examination, and processing of data, limitations in professional expertise, and the impact of historical context that may have diverted research or prevented the full publication of historical truth. But whatever the reason, historians must respect historical truth, and the function of historiography is to tirelessly strive, not only in the lifetime of a historian but through generations of historians, to gradually bridge the gap between perceived history and objectively existing history. Only on the basis of objectively and truthfully perceived history can scientifically grounded analyses and evaluations be made, and valuable practical lessons be drawn. On the path of labor and striving for the function and mission of historical science, the results of each historian's research and discovery are merely bricks and stones paving the way towards historical truth.

I consider the articles in this book as some of my recent research and insights, as small contributions from a historian on the long journey of historical science, in my tireless efforts to gradually improve scientific understanding of the incredibly rich and diverse history and culture of Vietnam, created by the various peoples and ethnic groups living on Vietnamese territory through countless ups and downs, full of hardships and great heroism, always enduring alongside the country and the nation.