Among the 12 Ho Chi Minh Prizes and 20 State Prizes for science and technology awarded this time, the Faculty of History received two: one Ho Chi Minh Prize for the collection of works on Vietnamese culture by the late Professor Tran Quoc Vuong, and one State Prize for the work "Thang Long - Hanoi in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries" by Associate Professor Nguyen Thua Hy. This is the 5th Ho Chi Minh Prize and the 4th State Prize that the faculty members of the Faculty of History have been honored to receive from the State.
Associate Professor, Doctor, and Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Thua Hy was born in 1937 in the "core space" of "Hanoi of a thousand years ago" (Hang Cot Street, Ba Dinh District). His ancestral home was Ha Dinh village (now in Thanh Xuan District), and his mother was from La Phu village (formerly Ha Tay province). After graduating from one of the three most prestigious high schools in Hanoi at the time (Nguyen Trai High School, along with Chu Van An and Truong Vuong High Schools), he became a student in the first cohort of the History Department at Hanoi University, in the same class as later famous figures in the field of history, such as Professor and People's Teacher Phan Dai Doan, Professor and People's Teacher Vu Duong Ninh, Associate Professor and People's Teacher Le Mau Han, and Associate Professor and Meritorious Teacher Pham Thi Tam… It is said that in this first cohort of the History Department, he was one of the best students. But unlike many of his peers, after graduation he was assigned to teach history at the high school level. After thirty years of teaching and working in the Departments/Offices of Education in Ha Nam and then Hanoi, it wasn't until 1990, at the age of 53, that he returned to work as a lecturer at the Department of Ancient and Medieval Vietnamese History, Faculty of History, at the invitation of Professor Phan Huy Le, who was then the Head of the Department.
One might think that being a high school teacher meant simply teaching and not needing to do research. But he didn't settle for mediocrity. With his passion for science, the knowledge he had accumulated – especially from books written in English and French – and his innate ability to absorb information, he quietly wrote, not much, but profoundly.
Then, from the early 1980s, he decided to pursue postgraduate studies (in Vietnam). At that time, postgraduate students, in general and in history in particular, were rare. He chose Hanoi – the land where he was born and raised, witnessing many changes – as his research subject. In early 1984, his dissertation, "Thang Long – Hanoi in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries: The Socio-Economic Structure of a Medieval City," was defended, among the first doctoral dissertations (then called associate doctorates) of the History Department. I remember that on the day of the dissertation defense (at 19 Le Thanh Tong Street), there were many people in attendance, including many prominent figures in the field of history. Later, in 1993, this work was published as a book and immediately attracted the attention of researchers both domestically and internationally. Nearly 20 years later, it has become an indispensable book, one that cannot be omitted from reading, mentioning, or quoting in studies about Thang Long - Hanoi, especially during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
This work, by exploiting diverse sources of information, especially those written in Western languages (English, French), and processing them carefully, methodically, and effectively, has depicted the appearance of Thang Long - Hanoi through various periods, particularly the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It highlights the socio-economic structure and economic activities of Thang Long - Hanoi during these centuries, as well as the policies of the Vietnamese feudal states regarding this issue, using the case of Thang Long - Hanoi as an example. The insightful analyses of the economic structure, social structure, class system, and class interaction are also noteworthy. General overviews of the factors contributing to urban development and prosperity, the urban-rural relationship, the dual nature of state and people within cities, and the forms of urban development and transformation have become important and widely influential topics in research circles both domestically and internationally, among undergraduate and graduate students, and doctoral candidates when approaching the socio-history of medieval Vietnam.
Even though he stayed home, he regularly browsed the internet, using both landline and mobile phones. He knew everything about world affairs, national events, school matters, departmental affairs, and personnel matters, big and small.
This work has become a landmark study on Thang Long - Hanoi, frequently cited by researchers both domestically and internationally when studying Vietnamese history in general and the history of Thang Long - Hanoi in particular. It is also a valuable monograph, effectively serving the training needs of the Faculty of History - University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Ancient and Medieval Vietnamese History, Vietnamese Cultural History, and other related fields).
The work has been translated into English (published by The World Publishing House, 2002), becoming known to many scholars and readers in various countries, contributing to the promotion of Vietnamese history and culture in general, and the history and culture of Thang Long - Hanoi in particular, to international friends. Recently, the work was added and published in the "Thang Long Thousand Years of Culture Book Series" on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, and continues to be highly appreciated by researchers and readers.
This work has made a significant contribution to promoting the development of Hanoi studies. As an outstanding study of Thang Long – Hanoi, it can be considered a model monograph on the history of Thang Long – Hanoi as a city playing a central political and administrative role in the country. Although the work focuses primarily on the period from the 17th to the 19th centuries, most issues related to the socio-economic life of Thang Long – Hanoi are summarized within the entire historical process, creating a relatively comprehensive picture of the socio-economic structure of this city. Among hundreds of monographs on Thang Long – Hanoi to date, this work can be considered one of the most outstanding, marking a major step forward for Hanoi studies.
Reading Nguyen Thua Hy's work, one clearly sees his profound knowledge and literary elegance, especially in his writings on the history and culture of Thang Long - Hanoi. Perhaps this is a combination and assimilation of the ancient Thang Long culture with the sophisticated modern Hanoi urban culture. At 75, despite his frail health, he remains remarkably sharp-minded. Even while staying home, he regularly browses the internet, using both landline and mobile phones, keeping up with world affairs, national events, school matters, departmental affairs, and even major and minor personnel matters – he knows it all (and sometimes even knows it in advance). And remarkably, he continues to write, from research papers to books. During the Thang Long - Hanoi millennium celebration, he edited the book "Thang Long - Hanoi Cultural Documents: A Collection of Western Documents," a thousand-page volume highly praised, and just a few days ago, he published "Traditional Vietnamese Culture - A Perspective," over half a thousand pages long. He translated and edited famous works by foreign scholars about Vietnam.
Meeting him always brings joy and a love for life. He works wholeheartedly, seriously, responsibly, and efficiently. He hardly ever worries about gains and losses in life. Because of this, he is very "leisurely." And perhaps because of this "leisure," he is very "profound."