Department of History, College of Social Sciences & Humanities, VNU... Vietnamology on ihc path of development... VItf tnamology on ihc path of do vclopmenl.. T ogeth er w ith sp ecia l
Trang 1VNU JOURNAL OF SCIENCE s o c , SCI , HUMAN N03E 2004
VIETNAMOLOGY ON THE PATH OF DEVELO PM ENT
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE, AND COOPERATION
V ietn a m o lo g y (V ie tn a m o lo g ie ) or
V ie tn a m e s e S tu d ie s is a scien tific
d iscip lin e sp ecia lized in stu d y in g V ietnam
in such field s a s h isto ry , geography,
lan gu age, litera tu re, cu ltu re, econom ics,
politics, and ecological en v iro n m en t or in
th e field s o f in terd iscip lin a ry stu d ies.
V ietn am first b ecam e th e official nam e
of our country in 1804 in Gia Long d yn asty
and e x iste d by 1838 w h en K ing M inh
Menh ch a n g ed th a t n a m e into D ainam
After th e R evolution in A u gu st 1945,
V ietnam w as restored a s th e official nam e
of the D em ocratic R epublic of V ietn am and
has been th e official n am e o f th e S o cia list
Republic of V ietn a m u n til now H ow ever,
V ietnam , th e n a m e of our country, called
by people, e x isted m an y y ea rs ago,
according to th e g eograp h y book (1435) by
N guyen Trai in K ing D uong V uong - H ung
V uong D y n a sty N a tu r a lly , legend h a s it
that V ietn a m first cam e into literatu re,
w as w ritten in Vietnam the chi by Ho
T hong Thoc in T ran D y n a sty , and w as
popular in th e p oetry and litera tu re from
th e six te e n th cen tu ry to th e se v e n te e n th
century T he im p ortan ce is th a t it w a s not
un til th e official n a m e - V ietn a m had been
adopted did V ietn a m o lo g y b egin and the
nam e o f th is d iscip lin e h a s not been
correspon d in gly ch an ged to th e official
nam e o f our cou n try in each period T h is
d iscip lin e sh o u ld be co n sid ered to be
origin ated from th e current nation -
V ietnam w ith its territory and population
n Prof Department of History, College of Social
Sciences & Humanities, VNU.
P h a n H u y L e i->
to come back to th e p a st A ll groups of eth n ic people and c o m m u n itie s of peop le
se ttle down in th is territory to g e th er w ith
n ation s, th eir cu ltu ra l a c h ie v e m e n ts all
b elong to V ietn a m ’s h isto ry and cu ltu re
V ietn am ology sh ould be co n sid ered not only to be V ie tn a m ese S tu d ie s by foreign sch olars but also V ie tn a m e se S tu d ie s by
V ietn a m ese scholar.
From th a t point o f v ie w , V ietn a m o lo g y
h a s gone th rou gh th ree p eriods u n til now.
- T he first period: T h e form ation and
d evelopm en t o f V ietn a m o lo g y in a n cie n t -
m edieval tim e s w h e n th ere w ere n o tes and
d escrip tion s ab ou t V ietn a m , it s people,
h istory, and cu ltu res by V ie tn a m e se and foreigners.
V ietnam ology.
•The third period: M odern V ietnam ology.
1 A n c ie n t - M e d ie v a l V i e t n a m o l o g y
T he first n o tes ab ou t V ietn a m w ere found in th e a n cie n t C h in ese b ib liograp hy,
in 25 s e ts of h isto ry b ook s a b ou t royal
d y n a sties and in th e w ork s o f p rivate
h ou ses T h ese a n cie n t b ib lio g ra p h ies w ere gath ered by th e T h a n h D y n a sty a s a
vo lu m in o u s s e r ie s Tu kho toan thu. T h is is
a precious source of historical docum entation
w hich V ie tn a m e se and foreign sch olars
h ave been ex p lo itin g and u n til now th e
in form ation th is sou rce h a s not been exp loited up.
A fter resto rin g th e in d e p e n d e n c e in th e tenth century, th e com pilation of V ietn a m ’s history, litera tu re, and g eo g ra p h y w as
1
Trang 22 Phan Huy Lc
in itia ted in th e Ly D y n a sty (1009 - 1225)
and w as stron gly d eveloped from th e T ran
D y n a sty to th e N g u y en D y n a sty (1802 -
1945) The trea su re o f V ietn a m ’s
b ib liograp hies left a h u g e H an N om
h erita g e co n sistin g of s e ts of n ation al
h istory such a s Dai Viet su ky toan th u,
Kham dinh Viet su thong g ia m cuong muc,
Dai N am thuc lue, codes, se r ie s of books,
philosophy w orks by such fam ou s a u th ors
as Le V an H uu, N g u y en T rai, N go Si Lien,
N guyen Bim K hiem , N go T hi Si, Le Quy
Don, Phan H uy C hu In ad dition, w e
d ocu m en tation w hich co n ta in s d iversified
inform ation reflectin g th e life o f people
such as th e folklore of th e K inh people and
eth n ic m inorities» official d o cu m en ts o f the
reign of K ing N g u y e n , fa m ily records, land
register, v illa g e r e g u la tio n s w hich
V ietn a m ese sch olars h a v e b een try in g to
gath er and h a v e p lan n ed to exploit.
In th e six te e n th and se v e n te e n th
cen tu ries, V ietn am sta rted its co n tacts
w ith som e W estern co u n tries such as
Portugal, S p ain , H ollan d , F rance and
England and th e le tte r s, tr a v e lle r s’ n o tes
and recollection s w ritten by clerg y m en and
w estern m erch a n ts to su p p le m e n t a new
source of d o cu m en ta tio n w ith the
consideration and description in comparison
w ith w estern cu ltu res A lso at th a t tim e,
V ietn a m ese scrip t cam e in to th e world as
an exch an ge b etw een V ie tn a m e se cu ltu re
and w estern cu ltu res product o f V ietn am
and W estern cu ltu ra l ex ch a n g e and th e
b eg in n in g of a d o cu m en ta tio n source w a s
w ritten in V ie tn a m e se script.
At th e end of th e n in e te e n th cen tu ry,
three sou rces of d o cu m en ta tio n above w ere
form ed w ith m any fam ou s a u th ors, but
V ietn a m ese stu d y is m a in ly carried o u t by
V ietn a m ese sch olars w ith m any w orks and
poetry, litei'atu re, h istory, m onograph com p ilation , in w hich th ere w as partial referen ce to C h in ese b ib liograp h ies The foreign sch o la rs w ho stu d ied V ietn am durin g th is period w ere m ainly C hin ese
ones There were some valuable
m onographs on V ietn a m such as Giao Chau cao by T ran C uong Trung, An N am hank ky by Tu M inh T h ien in th e reign of
K ing D uong, Vien kieu thu by Lv Van Phu on g in th e reign o f K ing M inh, An
N a m chi by C ao H u n g T rung in th e reign
of K ing T h a n h T h ese w ork s on V ietn am in
th is period w ere w ritten in th e sty le and genre o f a n c ie n t-m e d ie v a l V ie tn a m e se and
E a st A sia n c u ltu r e s w hich w ere deeply
in flu en ced by C h in ese cu ltu re.
2 C o n t e m p o r a r y V ie t n a m o lo g y
In th e w orld h istory, th e contem porary period w á s th e period of th e ca p ita lism
d ev elo p m en t, o f in d u str ia l c iv iliza tio n w ith
m any im p o rta n t econom ic, cu ltu ral, scien tific, an d tech n ological advan ces
H ow ever, V ietn a m an d E a stern co u n tries, excep t J a p a n , d u rin g th e contem porary period w ere in v a d ed an d d o m in a ted by colonialism In th e co n v en tio n a l op in io n of
V ietn a m ese h isto r ia n s, th e contem p orary
dom in ation , th e d o m in a tio n p eriod of French co lo n ists T h e m ain h istoric
co n ten t in th is period w a s French dom in ation an d th e r e sista n c e a g a in s t the French d o m in a tio n On on e h an d, it w as
th e co lo n ia l ex p lo ita tio n and the rep ression o f c o lo n ia lism and on th e other
h an d, it w a s th e resista n ce a g a in st
co lon ialism an d th e n a tio n a l lib era tio n of
V ie tn a m e se p eop le M oreover, it sh o u ld be recorded th a t th is w a s also th e period
w hen th e m o d ern iza tio n of V ie tn a m ’s socio-econom ic, cu ltu ra l, and scien tific stru ctu res w a s im p le m en ted In so cia l and
h u m an sc ie n tific fie ld s u n d er th e co lo n ists’
VN IỈ, Jo u rn al o f Si fence Stic., S( i., Human N,fSE, 200-4
Trang 3Vietnamology on ihc path of development 3
d om in ation and in th e V ietn a m e se -
W estern cu ltu ral e x c h a n g e s through
French cu ltu re, m any m odern cu ltu ral and
scien tific a ch ie v em en ts w ere introduced
into V ietn am and th ey in flu en ced and
modernized Vietnam's culture and
scien ces S in ce th en th ere h a v e been two
tren d s o f m odernization in V ietnam : On
on e h and, co lo n ists’ g o v ern m en t im posed
w estern cu ltu re and sc ien ce s on political
in stitu tio n s, ed u ca tio n a l sy stem and
cu ltu ral in stitu tio n s On th e oth er hand,
V ietn a m ’s tra d itio n a l d isc ip lin e sh ifted to
th e direction of m od ern ization In th is
contem porary period, a s e r ie s of m odern
w estern scien ces and a r ts cam e out into
so ciety in V ietn a m such a s archaeology,
eth n ology, lin g u istics, te x t stu d ies,
a rch itectu re, dram a, and p ress.
In th a t co n tex t V ietn a m o lo g y w as
sch olars w ho stu d ied V ietn a m w ere m ainly
in s titu te (Ecole française d ' Extreme -
Orient-EFEO) founded in 1900 w ith th e
h ead q uarter and th e m ain library in
Hanoi W estern sch o la rs applied m odern
m eth od s to V ie tn a m e se s tu d ie s and a
num ber o f scien tific w ork s w ere p u blished
B u lletin of th e O rien t arch eological
in stitu te (B u lletin de r E cole F ran çaise d’
Extreme* O rient, B E FE O ) T h is b u lletin
toge the r w ith the Do th an h hieu CO Hue
b u lletin (B u lletin des A m is du V ieux H ue,
BAVH) and th e b u lle tin o f In dochinese
S tu d y A ssociation (B u lle tin de la S ociété
d es E tu d es In d o ch in o ises, B SE I) w ere
m a g a zin es stu d y in g V ietn a m in the
g en era l and Indochina in p articu lar In the
fir st h a lf of th e n in e te e n th cen tu ry, th ese
a ch ie v e m en ts in such field s a s archeology.
eth n ology, lin g u istics, h istory, geology, and geograp h y w ith grea t n a m es o f fam ous
o r ie n ta lists su ch a s H enry M aspero, Leonard A u ro u ssea u , P au l P elliot, Leopold
C adiere, E m ile G asp ard on n e, and Andre
Pierre Gourou The French Orient
A rcheological I n stitu te d eserved great
b ib liograp h ies and a p ita p h s se ttin g up scien tific files o f object cu ltu ral h eritages, and b u ild in g m u se u m s (3) V ietnam ology
w as not con sid ered a s a specific d iscipline, but it w a s clo sely linked to In dochinese
S tu d ies or C h in ese and Indian S tu d ies In
ad dition, E u rocen trism and th e th o u gh ts
of colonialism w ere a lso m arked in som e authors A t th a t tim e V ietn am ology w as
d evelo p in g w ith in th e d ev elo p m en t of
W estern cou n tries' O rien ta lism d iscipline.
V ietn a m ’s tra d itio n a l d iscip lin es were rapidly ch an ged in th e direction of
m od ern ization an d sta r ted w ith th e reform
th o u g h ts of such reform ers as Bui Vien,
N guyen T ruong To, N gu yen Lo Trach and
D an g H uy Tru and th e efforts by W estern
co u n tries’ in te lle c tu a ls w ith n ation al mind and th e V ie tn a m e se sch olars w ith
p rogressive m ind T h ey u sed the reasoning,
m ethodologies, and scientific k n ow led ge of
W estern co u n tries to stu d y V ietn a m ese
h istory and cu ltu re T he rep ren tative
s c ie n tists w ho follow ed th is w ay of
m od ern ization w ere T ruong V inh Ky,
N g u yen V an H u yen , N g u y en V an To, Tran
V an G iap, H oan g X uan H an , Dao D uy Anh, and D a n g T h ai M ai A new ly origin ated tren d in th is period w a s the
a cq u irem en t and in trod u ction o f M arxism
in to V ietn a m , th e m an w ho paved the w ay
w a s N g u yen Ai Quoc, and sin ce then there
h a s b een a resea rch work on V ietn a m ese
h istory and cu ltu re in th e view of
h istorical m a teria lism
Trang 4•1 Phan Huy Le
In brief, con tem p orary V ietn am ology
co n sists o f tw o lines: V ietn a m e se stu d y of
V ietn a m ese sch olars and V ietn a m ese
stud y of th e W estern O r ien ta lists, w hich
w ere developed in th e con d ition o f French
colonists' dom in ation
3 M o d e r n V i e t n a m o lo g y
After th e victory o f th e a u g u st
R evolution in 1945, V ietn a m g ain ed its
in d ep en d en ce, but th en w e had to carry
out two r esista n ce w ars for 30 y ea rs (194Õ
- 1975) in order to com p lete national
independence and reunification In th e w ar
condition V ietn a m ese s tu d ie s faced m any
a ch iev em en ts to s e t up th e form ation of
m odern V ietn am ology T h a t w a s the
esta b lish m en t of L iteratu re, H istory, and
geography section in 1953 and th en th e
esta b lish m e n t o f H istory research
In stitu te, L iterature R esearch In stitu te ,
E thnology R esearch I n stitu te u n der the
S ta te co m m ittee of S ocial S cien ces (after
th a t it’s n am e w as th e N a tio n a l of Social
S cien ces, N a tio n a l cen tre of Social S cien ce
and H u m an ity and now it is th e In stitu te
of Social S cien ces) A t th e sa m e tim e,
V ietn am ’s u n iv ersity sy ste m , in w hich
th ere w ere scien ces and su b jects to train
and to stu d y h istory, archeology, ethnology,
linguistics, literature, geograp h y, and
geology, w a s esta b lish ed For th e first tim e
in h istory, a group of s c ie n tists w ho
stu d ied V ietn am in th e m ost im p ortan t
sp ecia lties w ere train ed at hom e and the
V ietn a m ese w ere im plem ented in the
modern scientific trend.
S in ce th e w ar en d ed in 1975, esp ecia lly
from th e in itia tio n o f ren ovation in 1986,
togeth er w ith th e a ch ie v em en ts of so cio
econom ic d ev elo p m en t an d in tern a tio n a l
in tegration , V ietn am ology h a s had more
a d v a n ta g eo u s co n d itio n s to develop U n til now th e tra in in g and resea r ch in g system »
w hich is rela ted to V ietn am ology in our country, h a s b een co n sid erab ly developed and h a s been co m p reh en siv e A part from the d iscip lin es e sta b lish e d in the p ast, sin ce th e 1980s o f th e tw e n tie th century»
m any new d iscip lin es su ch a s sociology»
an thropology, en v iro n m en ta l ecology,
p olitics, econom ics» ju risp ru d en ce, and
cu ltu re s tu d ie s h a v e b een esta b lish ed
V ietn a m ese tr a in in g and research
in stitu tio n s m a in ly are th e In stitu te of Social scien ces, th e I n stitu te of S cience and technology, u n iversities and som e
In stitu tes and S cien tific cen tres S om e young s c ie n tis ts are train ed in foreign cou n tries to b ecom e m a ste r s or doctors.
T he co llectio n and exp lo ita tio n of
d ocu m en tation so u rces in th e la st few
d ecad es h ave b een paid a tten tio n to by
V ietn a m ese s c ie n tists T he in v estig a tio n and ex cavation w ere im p le m en ted n a tio n a l
w ide and m ad e clear th e d evelop m en t
p h a se s o f p reh isto ry in V ietn am , from north to so u th , from e a s t to w est, from
co a sta l a rea s and isla n d s to the
m o u n ta in o u s a r e a s in th e N orth, in th e
central part and on High Lands The
cu ltu res such a s D ong Son, Sa H uynh-
C ham pa and Oc Eo h a v e been more deeply
archeological discoveries Especially, in 2 003
- 2004 th e d iscovery of th e h istorical relic,
H oang T h an h T h a n g L ong in H anoi w ith
th e h istory o f o ver 1000 y ea rs h a s been
d raw in g m uch a tte n tio n from the w hole country and from th e foreigner w ho have stu d ied V ietn a m T h e v olu m in ou s trea su res o f th e official d o cu m en ta tio n s of
th e reign o f K in g N g u y e n , ten th o u sa n d s
ep itap h s, lan d r e g iste r s, fam ily a n n a ls, and v illa g e r e g u la tio n s w h ich have been exca v a ted , h a v e b rought satisfa cto ry
V N U , Jtm rnal tỉ/ Science St>< Si I Human N ,JE 2(H)4
Trang 5VItf tnamology on ihc path of do vclopmenl 5
resu lts T he d o cu m en ta tio n s o f folklores,
esp ecia lly th e epics» cu stom ary law , and
m usic of eth n ic m in orities, w hich h ave
been collected, are full of prom ise.
T ogeth er w ith sp ecia lized resea rch es,
V ietn a m ese stu d y in th e in terd iscip lin a ry
trend is con cen tra ted on and im p lem en ted
in m any scien tific w orks, esp ecia lly in the
research program m es and th em es at the
sta te level In 1989, a V ietn am ology
in terd iscip lin a ry research organization
w as e sta b lish e d in H anoi U n iv ersity T hat
w as cen tre for V ietn a m ese stu d ies and
cooperation, th is n a m e w a s ch an ged into
V ietn a m ese S tu d y and C ultural E xchange
U niversity, H anoi in 1995, and recen tly it
took th e n am e o f I n stitu te for V ietn a m ese
S tu d ies and S c ie n c e s d evelop m en t The
tra in in g o f V ietn a m o lo g y for foreign
stu d en ts a t u n iv er sity level w a s developed
in som e big u n iv e r sitie s and recen tly a
V ietn am ology program m e for m a sters and
doctors h a s b een p lan n ed so th a t th is
program m e can be im p le m en ted in the
com in g years It is obviou s th a t on th e way
to d ev elo p m en t, V ietn a m o lo g v h as also
show n som e lim ita tio n s, esp ecia lly
rea so n in g a b ilitie s and m ethodology,
w hich should be im proved in order to keep
up w ith scien tific tren d s in th e world.
A fter World War II, O rien tal stu d ie s in
the w orld, w hich w en t through m any great
ch a n g es, w hich g rea tly in flu en ced the
developm en t of V ietn a m o lo g y in foreign
cou n tries E a stern co u n tries regained
independence, colonialism w as abolished, and
on the w ay to in d ep en d en t d evelop m en t,
each E astern cou n try reorganized th eir
ow n n ation , h istory, and cu ltu re stu d ies
A fter th e crisis in th e 1950s - 1960s, th e
O riental stu d ie s in th e W estern co u n tries
also ch an ged in opinion and m ethod of
ap proaching E a stern co u n tries, th ey
esta b lish ed ex ch a n g e and cooperation relations on th e equal principle w ith
E astern co u n tries From sp ecialised
d iscip lin ary resea rch to in terd iscip lin ary research, th e d iv er sity o f d iscip lin es is a new d ev elo p m en t tren d o f m odern O riental stu d ies.
V ietn am p ion eered th e national liberation m ovem en t, ren ovation , national reconstru ction, and in teg ra tio n into the region and th e world h a v e gain ed m any new a c h ie v e m en ts after th e war, and
V ietn am h a s draw n th e a tten tio n and research from foreign sch olars In th a t con text, m odern V ietn a m o lo g y cam e into
th e world and e sta b lish e d its position in
th e d ev elo p m en t o f O rien tal stu d ie s in the world F oreig n ers w ho stu d y V ietn am ology
scien tific sch ools o f thought» so th ey have differen t p olitical view p oin ts H ow ever,
b ein g s c ie n tists , th ey h a v e th e sam e target and ex p ecta tio n to g et to know V ietnam serio u sly and ob jectively w ith a conception
th a t V ietn a m is an in d ep e n d en t country
w ith long h istory and cu ltu re, e x ists and
d ev elo p s in con n ection w ith th e other
cu ltu res o f S o u th E a st A sian , E a st A sian and S ou th A sia n region s, esp ecia lly C hina,
P articu larly, o f th e foreign s c ie n tists w ho stu d y V ietn a m o lo g y , som e o f them are foreign V ietn a m e se sch olars in the
V ietn a m ese co m m u n ities T hey study
V ietn am not on ly a s a scien tific subject but also w ith th eir fe e lin g and d eep ly national
se n tim e n t.
V ietn am ology, w hich is d ep en d en t on the certa in cir cu m sta n ce s o f ev ery country, can n ot avoid th e u p s and d ow n s o f history.
F ran ce p ion eers research into V ietnam
in A sia and th ere u sed to be fam ous French V ietn a m o lo g ists, b u t now the
V N U Journal (tf Science, Site Si i , Human , N JE 2004
Trang 66 Phan Huy \x
su ccessio n o f p rev io u s g e n e r a tio n s se e m s
to be in terr u p ted an d I do h op e th a t y o u n g
French s c ie n tis ts w ill b rin g V ietn a m o lo g y
in fran ce to a n ew d ev elo p m en t.
T he V ie tn a m e se stu d y in th e S o v ie t
U n io n , C hin a, and E a ste r n E u rop ean
co u n tries u sed to d ev elo p v ig o r o u sly b u t it
fell down a fter th e c o lla p se of th e S o v iet
U n ion and th e so c ia lis t c o u n tr ie s in
E a stern E urope and in th e C u ltu ral
R evolu tion o f C hin a H o w ev er I am very
glad to s e e th e effo rts to m a in ta in th e
a c tiv itie s o f th e V ie tn a m o lo g ists in
e x tre m e ly d iffic u lt c ir c u m sta n c e s an d th e
recovery o f V ie tn a m o lo g y in C h in a , R u ssia ,
an d G erm a n y in r e c en t yea rs
V ietn a m o lo g y in th e S o v ie t U n ion w a s
b u ilt by th e fa m o u s O r ie n ta list, A.A
G uber and it rea c h e d th e p eak in th e
1 9 7 0 s - 1 9 8 0 s o f th e tw e n tie th cen tu ry
w ith a group o f th e b e st s c ie n t is t s and
research o r g a n iz a tio n s in th e w orld at th a t
tim e R ecen tly , R u ssia n V ie tn a m o lo g ists
V ie tn a m e se S tu d y C en tre w ith a n n u a l
scien tific s e m in a r s an d th e V ie tn a m e se
C ultu ral I n s titu te in V lad ivostok
V ietn a n m o lo g y u se d to h a v e a long
tra d itio n in C h in a a n d sin c e th e 1990s; it
h a s d ev elo p ed q u ite ra p id ly a s an
in d e p en d e n t d isc ip lin e or a s a p art of
S o u th E a st A sia n S tu d ie s V ietn a m o lo g y
d ev elo p s in u n iv e r s itie s o f p ro v in ce s w hich
sh a re th e b orders w ith V ietn a m su ch as
Q u a n g D ong, Q u a n g T a y an d V an N am
V ietn a m o lo g y in A m erica d evelop ed
rap id ly d u rin g th e w a r in V ietn a m b u t it
fell dow n w h en th e w ar en d ed In recen t
d eca d es, V ietn a m o lo g y in A m erica and in
C anada h a s co n tin u e d d ev elo p in g an d in
ad d ition to sen io r V ie tn a m o lo g ist, th ere
h ave ap p ea red y o u n g V ie tn a m o lo g ists It is
noted th a t m odern V ietn a m o lo g y h a s a
ten d en cy of s p r e a d in g o u t and d ev elo p in g
ra p id ly in m a n y co u n tries A part from the
co u n tr ie s m en tio n ed above, V ietn am ology
an d T ra in in g h a v e b een e sta b lish ed in
so m e u n iv e r s itie s o f Jap an an d Sou th Korea; T h a ila n d , M a la y sia and S in gap ore
in South East Asia; Australia; Holland,
B elg iu m , E n glan d , D em ark, N orw ay,
S w e d e n an d Italy in E urope In A u stralia
V ie tn a n m o lo g y cam e in to b ein g and
d evelop ed rap id ly w ith m any world fam ous sch olar I am very glad to s e e th at
V ietn a m o lo g y h as b een e sta b lish ed in
so m e n eig h b o u rin g co u n tries in th e Sou th
E a s t A sia n region su ch a s Laos, In d on esia
an d th e P h ilip p in es E sp ecially,
V ietn a m o lo g y h a s d eveloped rap id ly in
J a p a n an d in S o u th K orea.
In J a p a n , V ietn a m o lo g y first cam e into
b ein g a t th e en d o f th e n in e te e n th century,
th e n it w a s e sta b lish e d durin g th e World
W ar II an d d ev elo p ed rapidly in th e pro -
V ie tn a m e se m o v em en t in th e w ar tim e,
e sp e c ia lly in th e e x c h a n g e and cooperation
b e tw ee n tw o co u n tries in th e la s t two
d eca d es In 1987, a fam ou s V ietn am ologist
an d O r ie n ta list, Y am am oto T atsu ro, who
g a th ere d o v er 100 sch o la rs, form ed the
V ie tn a m e se S tu d y A ssociation in Jap an
U n til now th e r e h a v e b een more th a n 300
J a p a n e s e V ie tn a m o lo g ists in a ll field s,
in c lu d in g m a n y g e n e r a tio n s and an n ual
s e m in a r s on V ietn a m o lo g y are held At
V ie tn a m o lo g ists w h o are th e m ost
p ow erfu l an d w ell-tra in ed in th e world.
In S o u th K orea, V ietn a m o lo g y ju st sta r te d in 1966 w h en th e V ietn a m ese
D ep a r tm en t w a s e sta b lish e d in Hankok
U n iv e r sity U n til now , th ere h ave been four u n iv e r s itie s an d co lleg es in South
V ietn a m o lo g y and th e V ie tn a m e se Stu dy
A sso cia tio n in S o u th Korea h a s 70
m em b ers.
V N U , Jo u rn a l o f Science t Soc., Sri., Hitman., N ttĨE , 2004
Trang 7Victnamology on the p a t h of development 7
V ietn am ology is th a t m ost o f s c ie n tis ts can
speak V ietn a m ese, m any o f th em u se
V ietn a m ese flu en tly and so m e o f th em also
u n d erstan d H an scrip t an d Norn scrip t.
V ietn am ology h a s its p o sitio n in
in tern a tio n a l scien tific forum s In
in tern a tio n a l se m in a r s su ch a s
in tern a tio n a l h isto ry co n g ress o rg a n ized
by th e in tern a tio n a l co m m ittee o f h istoric
scien ces (C ISH ) ev ery five y e a rs, th e
sem in ar o f A sian h isto r ia n s (IAHA)
organ ized every tw o years, a n n u a l se m in a r
organ ized by A m erica ’s A sia n S tu d y
A ssociation and sem in a r on O rien ta lism
and on S ou th E a st A sian S tu d ie s, th ere
are a lw a y s som e scien tific rep o rts on
V ietnam In Europe, th e V ie tn a m e se S tu d y
n et nam ed E u roviet h a s b een e sta b lish e d
sin ce 1993 and an in ter n a tio n a l se m in a r s
on V ietn am is organ ized ev er y tw o years
Lately» som e in tern a tio n a l or n a tio n a l
sem in a rs on V ietn am h a v e b een h eld in
m any c o u n tries on th e o cca sio n s of
V ietn a m ese h istorical e v e n ts or th e y h a v e
been organ ized b eca u se o f th e d em a n d s of
d evelop in g th e ex ch a n g e an d co o p erative
rela tio n s w ith V ietn a m For ex a m p le , on
th e occasion o f th e fiftieth a n n iv e r sa r y o f
D ien B ien Phu victory and th e G en ev a
C onference, tw o in tern a tio n a l se m in a r s
w ere h eld in P aris an d P ek ing.
T he V ietn a m o lo g ists in th e w orld h a v e
had m any research w ork s on V ietn a m , in
w hich th ere are v o lu m in o u s an d v a lu a b le
w orks A ccording to th e s t a t is t ic s by D avid
M arr in V ietn a m ese book c a ta lo g u e
p u b lish ed in 1992, o f th e 1038 books,
a rticles and research p a p ers on V ietn a m
577 w ere w ritten by foreign a u th o rs,
accou n tin g for 55 per cen t (2) P a rticu la rly ,
the subject o f th e F rench w ar in In d och in a
(1945 - 1954), ta k e s up 1 1 7 0 2 item s
am ong w hich 10 3 0 8 w ere w r itten by
foreign a u th o rs, a cco u n tin g for 88,5 per cen t (1) (se e ru csio 2 0 0 2 ) S o m e s ta tis tic s ,
a lth o u g h in su ffic ie n t an d not q u ite up-to-
d ate, sh ow foreign V ie tn a m o lo g ists ’ role and co n trib u tio n to V ie tn a m e se S tu d ies.
It is tim e th e d ev elo p m e n t of
V ietn a m o lo g y in th e w orld required th e
e x ch a n g e an d co op eration am on g
V ie tn a m o lo g ists, b e tw e e n V ietn a m and th e
V ie tn a m e se S tu d y o rg a n iz a tio n s in th e foreign co u n tr ies T h e tw o -w a y relation above is e s s e n tia l for th e d ev elo p m en t of
m odern V ietn a m o lo g y V ietn a m is th e resea rch su b ject o f V ietn a m o lo g y , is th e
ex ch a n g e p lace o f th e m ost p len tifu l
d o cu m en ta tio n so u rc es th a t can crea te good c o n d itio n s for foreign sch o la rs to
e x p lo it and su p p ly an d ex ch a n g e
a c h ie v e m e n ts T h e resea r ch r e s u lts of
in te rn a tio n a l V ietn a m o lo g y co n trib u te to a
b etter u n d e r sta n d in g o f V ietn a m view ed from d ifferen t c u ltu r a lly an d h isto rica lly
co m p a ra tiv e p e r sp e c tiv e s, h en ce in crea sin g
th e o b jectiv ity an d d iv e r sity o f th e subject
In fact, b ila te r a l an d m u ltila tera l
co o p era tiv e p rojects on V ie tn a m e se stu d ie s, s in g le -d isc ip lin a r y or
in te rd isc ip lin a r y , h a v e proved very
s u c c e ssfu l th ro u g h co o p era tiv e efforts o f
V ie tn a m e se an d foreign scien tific
in s titu tio n s For fu rth er d ev elo p m en t,
w hich V ie tn a m o lo g ists d esire, it is
n e c e ssa r y h a v e a h ig h er lev el of
co op eration , m ore co m p re h en siv e and reg u la r an d w ith b e tte r o rg a n iz a tio n
B ein g a w a re o f t h is n eed , in 1998,
co lla b o ra tio n w ith th e N a tio n a l C en ter for
H u m a n ity and S o cia l S c ie n c e s, h eld th e first in te r n a tio n a l w ork sh op on
V ietn a m o lo g y in H a n o i O ut o f 600
p a r ticip a tin g V ie tm a n o lo g ist s c ie n tis ts 300
w ere from 2 6 fo reign co u n tries T h ey
V N U Journal o f Science Sift’ S a Human N ,JE 2004
Trang 88 Phan Huy Lc
brou gh t to th e w orkshop th e la test
research r e s u lts fo sterin g a b etter
u n d e rsta n d in g and deep er k n ow led ge on
V ietn am T h ey also grabbed th is ch an ce for
im p rovin g co m m u n ica tio n and m u tu a l
understanding It was the biggest
in tern a tio n a l w orkshop on V ietn am ology
ever held, m ark in g a n ew d ev elo p m en t
stage of cooperation am ong V ietnam ologists
around th e w orld A t th e d iscu ssio n tab le
on J u ly 16 1998 and th e c lo sin g se ssio n on
J u ly 17 1998, all p a rticip a tin g s c ie n tists
agreed th a t in te rn a tio n a l w orkshops on
V ietn a m o lo g y be held periodically, th a t an
in te rn a tio n a l C o m m ittee on V ietn a m o lo g y
lin k in g V ie tn a m o lo g ists and rela ted
o r g a n iz a tio n s be e sta b lish ed , and th a t an
in form ation ch a n n el be s e t up for th e
ex ch a n g e an d updating of docum ents and
research resu lts and th e sh a rin g o f
research an d tra in in g ex p erien ce in
V ietn a m o lo g y and V ie tn a m e se la n g u a g e
train in g.
U n fo rtu n a tely , a fter th e great su ccess
of th e first m eetin g , th o se proposals and
p lan s h ave b een very slow ly im p lem en ted;
a s a resu lt, th e seco n d w orkshop does not take place u n til tod ay, six y ea rs later For
this reason, I would like to recommend
th at, at this workshop, besides reports and discussions, w e sp en d so m e tim e, esp ecia lly
at th e round-table m eeting, d iscu ssin g and seeking so lu tio n s to a cco m p lish in g th e first
V ietn a m ese s tu d ie s is not only th e d esire and goal of V ietn a m o lo g ists but also an objective and e s s e n tia l req u ir em en t for the
d ev elo p m en t o f V ietn a m o lo g y in the
tw en ty -first cen tu ry Good organ ization and an effectiv e m ech a n ism of o p eration s
w ill d efin itely p la y an im p o rta n t role in prom oting V ietn a m o lo g y in sid e V ietn am and around th e globe, o p en in g a new
ch ap ter of th e h isto ry o f V ietn a m o lo g y in
th e co n tex t o f w orld in teg ra tio n and glob alization
R E F E R E N C E S
1 Alain Ruscio, La guerre française d' Indochine (1945“ 1954), Les sources de la connaissance Paris, 2002.
2 David M art\ Vietnam» in World Bibliographical Series, T 47, 1992.
3 Viện V iễn đông bác cổ Pháp - Trung tâm Khoa học Xã hội và N hân văn Quôc gia, 90 năm nghiên cứu về văn hoá và lịch sử Việt N a m, NXB Khoa học xã hội, Hà Nội, 1995.
V N U , Journal o f Science, Soc., Sã Human., NffJE 2004