DSpace at VNU: Vietnamology on the path of development international exchange, and cooperation

VNU. JOURNAL OF SCIENCE s o c , SCI , HUMAN N03E. 2004

VIETNAMOLOGY ON THE PATH OF DEVELOPM ENT
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE, AND COOPERATION
P h a n H u y L e i->

to come back to th e p ast. A ll groups of
ethnic people and co m m u n ities of people
se ttle down in th is territory to g eth er w ith
nations, their cu ltu ral a c h ie v em en ts all
belong to V ietn am ’s h isto ry and culture.
V ietnam ology should be con sid ered not
only to be V ietn a m ese S tu d ie s by foreign
scholars but also V ietn a m ese S tu d ies by
V ietn am ese scholar.

V ietn a m o lo g y
(V ietn a m o lo g ie)
or
V ietn a m ese
S tu d ies
is
a
scientific
discipline sp ecialized in stu d yin g V ietnam
in such field s a s h istory, geography,
language, literatu re, cu ltu re, econom ics,
politics, and ecological en viron m en t or in
the fields o f in terd iscip lin ary stu d ies.
V ietnam first becam e the official nam e
of our country in 1804 in Gia Long dynasty

and ex isted by 1838 w hen King Minh
Menh chan ged th a t n am e into D ainam .
After the R evolution in A ugust 1945,
V ietnam w as restored a s th e official nam e
of the D em ocratic Republic of V ietnam and
has been the official nam e o f the S ocialist
Republic of V ietn am u n til now. H ow ever,
V ietnam , th e n am e of our country, called
by people, ex isted m any y ears ago,
according to th e geography book (1435) by
N guyen Trai in K ing D uong V uong - Hung
Vuong D ynasty. N a tu ra lly , legend h as it

From th at point o f view , V ietn am ology
h as gone through th ree periods u n til now.
The first period: T he form ation and
developm ent o f V ietn am ology in an cien t m edieval tim es w h en th ere w ere n otes and
descriptions about V ietn am , its people,
history, and cu ltu res by V ietn a m ese and
foreigners.
*
The second
V ietnam ology.

period:

C ontem porary

•The third period: Modern Vietnam ology.
1. A n c ie n t - M e d ie v a l V ie t n a m o lo g y

that V ietn am first cam e into literature,
w as w ritten in Vietnam the chi by Ho
Thong Thoc in Tran D yn asty, and w as
popular in the poetry and literatu re from
the six teen th cen tu ry to the sev en teen th
century. T he im portance is th a t it w as not
until th e official n am e - V ietn am had been
adopted did V ietn am ology begin and the
nam e o f th is d iscip lin e h as not been
correspondingly changed to th e official
nam e of our country in each period. T his
d iscip lin e sh ould be considered to be
originated from the current nation V ietnam w ith its territory and population

The first n otes about V ietn am w ere
found in the a n cien t C h in ese bibliography,
in 25 se ts of history books ab out royal
d y n a sties and in th e w orks o f p rivate
houses. T h ese a n cien t b ib liograp h ies w ere
gathered by th e T h an h D y n a sty a s a
volu m in ou s serie s Tu kho toan thu. T h is is
a precious source of historical docum entation
w hich V ietn a m ese and foreign sch olars
have been exp loitin g and u n til now th e
inform ation th is source h a s not been
exploited up.
A fter restoring th e in d ep en d en ce in th e
tenth century, the com pilation of V ietn am ’s
history, literatu re, and geograp h y w as

n Prof.. Department of History, College of Social
Sciences & Humanities, VNU.

1


Phan Huy Lc

2

in itiated in th e Ly D y n a sty (1009 - 1225)
and w as stron gly developed from th e Tran
D ynasty to the N gu yen D y n a sty (1802 1945).
The
treasu re
of
V ietn am ’s
b ibliographies left a hu ge H an Nom

poetry, litei'atu re, history, m onograph
com pilation, in w hich th ere w as partial
reference to C h in ese b ibliographies. The
foreign sch o la rs w ho stud ied V ietnam
during th is period w ere m ainly C hinese

h eritage con sistin g of se ts of n ation al
history such as Dai Viet su ky toan thu ,
Kham dinh Viet su thong g ia m cuong muc,
Dai N am thuc lue , codes, series of books,

and
poetry,
literatu re,
history
and
philosophy w orks by such fam ous au thors
as Le Van H uu, N gu yen Trai, N go Si Lien,
N guyen Bim K hiem , N go Thi Si, Le Quy
Don, Phan H uy C hu...In addition, we
should m ention a source of various
docum entation w hich con tain s diversified
inform ation reflectin g th e life o f people
such as the folklore of th e K inh people and
ethnic minorities» official d ocu m en ts o f the
reign of K ing N gu yen , fam ily records, land
register,
village
reg u la tio n s
w hich
V ietn am ese sch olars h a v e b een tryin g to
gather and h ave planned to exploit.

ones.

In the six teen th and sev en teen th
cen tu ries, V ietnam sta rted its con tacts
w ith som e W estern co u n tries such as
Portugal, Spain, H olland, France and
England and the letters, tra v ellers’ n otes
and recollections w ritten by clergym en and

w estern m erchan ts to su p p lem en t a new
source
of
docu m en tation
w ith
the
consideration and description in comparison
with w estern cu ltu res. A lso at th a t tim e,
V ietn am ese scrip t cam e in to th e world as
an exchange b etw een V ietn a m ese culture
and w estern cu ltu res product o f V ietnam
and W estern cu ltu ral ex ch a n g e and the
b egin n in g of a docu m en tation source w as
w ritten in V ietn a m ese script.
At the end of th e n in eteen th century,
three sources of docu m en tation above w ere
formed w ith m any fam ous au thors, but
V ietn am ese stu d y is m ain ly carried ou t by
V ietn am ese sch olars w ith m any w orks and

There

were

some

valuable

m onographs on V ietn am such as Giao
Chau cao by T ran C uong Trung, An N am

hank ky by Tu M inh T h ien in the reign of
K ing D uong, Vien kieu thu by Lv Van
Phuong in th e reign o f K ing M inh, An
N am chi by Cao H u n g T rung in th e reign
of K ing T h a n h .T h ese w orks on V ietnam in
th is period w ere w ritten in the sty le and
genre o f a n c ie n t-m e d ie v a l V ietn a m ese and
E ast A sian cu ltu res w hich w ere deeply
influenced by C h in ese culture.
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, the contem porary
period w á s th e period of the cap italism
developm en t, o f in d u stria l civilization with
m any
im p o rta n t
econom ic,
cultural,
scien tific, and tech n ological advances.
H ow ever, V ietn a m and E astern cou n tries,
except J a p a n , du rin g th e contem porary
period w ere in v a d ed and d om in ated by
colonialism . In th e con ven tion al op in ion of
V ietn a m ese h isto ria n s, th e contem porary
period
w as
th e
period
of
French
dom ination, th e d om in ation period of

French co lo n ists. T he m ain
historic
content in
th is period w as
French
dom ination and th e resista n ce a g a in st the
French d om in ation . On on e hand, it w as
th e
colon ial
ex p lo ita tio n
and
the
rep ression o f colon ialism and on th e other
hand, it w a s th e resista n ce a g a in st
colonialism and th e n ation al liberation of
V ietn a m ese people. M oreover, it sh ou ld be
recorded th a t th is w a s also th e period
w hen th e m od ern ization of V ietn a m ’s
socio-econom ic, cu ltu ral, and scien tific
stru ctu res w a s im p lem en ted . In social and
hum an scien tific field s un der the co lo n ists’

VN IỈ, Journ al o f Si fence. Stic., S( i., Human.. N,fSE, 200-4


Vietnamology on ihc path of development.

3

dom ination and in the V ietn a m ese W estern

cultural
ex ch a n g es
through
French cu lture, m any m odern cultural and
scien tific a ch iev em en ts w ere introduced
into V ietnam and th ey in fluenced and

ethnology, lin g u istics, h istory, geology, and
geography w ith great n am es o f fam ous
o rien ta lists such a s H enry M aspero,
Leonard A urousseau , Paul Pelliot, Leopold
C adiere, E m ile G aspardonne, and Andre

modernized

Pierre

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
one hand, co lo n ists’ govern m en t im posed
w estern culture and scien ces on political
in stitu tio n s,
ed u cation al
system

and
cultural in stitu tio n s. On th e other hand,
V ietn am ’s trad ition al d iscip lin e sh ifted to
th e direction of m odernization. In th is
contem porary period, a se r ie s of modern
w estern scien ces and a rts cam e out into
society in V ietn am such a s archaeology,
ethnology,
lin g u istics,
te x t
stu d ies,
m useology,
m usicology,
painting,
arch itectu re, dram a, and press.
In th at con text. V ietn am ology w as
deeply changed. French and W estern
scholars w ho stud ied V ietn am w ere m ainly
in
the
French
O rient
archeological
in stitu te (Ecole française d ' Extreme Orient-EFEO) founded in 1900 w ith the
headquarter and the m ain library in
Hanoi. W estern sch olars applied modern
m ethods to V ietn a m ese stu d ies and a
num ber of scien tific w orks w ere published
B u lletin of th e O rient archeological
in stitu te (B ulletin de r E cole F rançaise d’

Extreme* Orient, BEFEO ). T h is bu lletin
together w ith the Do thanh hieu CO Hue
b u lletin (B u lletin des A m is du V ieux H ue,
BAVH) and the b u lletin o f Indochinese
S tu d y A ssociation (B u lletin de la Société
d es E tudes In dochinoises, BSEI) w ere
French and W estern
sch o la rs’ m ain
m agazin es stu d y in g V ietn am
in the
gen eral and Indochina in particular. In the
first h alf of the n in eteen th century, th ese
sch olars
gained
a
lot
o f research
a ch iev em en ts in such field s a s archeology.

V N U . Journal o f S i l e n c e . S o ( S c i. , Human., N tt3E, 2004

Gourou.

The

French

Orient

A rcheological In stitu te deserved great

credit
for
p reserving
Han-Nom
bibliographies and a p itap h s. settin g up
scien tific files o f object cultural heritages,
and building m u seu m s (3). V ietnam ology
w as not considered a s a specific discipline,
but it w as closely linked to Indochinese
S tu d ies or C h in ese and Indian S tu dies. In
addition, E urocentrism and th e th oughts
of colonialism w ere also m arked in som e
authors. A t th a t tim e V ietn am ology w as
developing w ith in th e developm en t of
W estern countries' O rien talism discipline.
V ietn am ’s trad ition al d iscip lin es were
rapidly changed in th e direction of
m odernization and sta rted w ith the reform
th ou gh ts of such reform ers as Bui Vien,
N guyen T ruong To, N guyen Lo Trach and
D ang Huy 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
the
V ietn a m ese
sch olars
with
p rogressive m ind. T hey used the reasoning,
m ethodologies, and scientific know ledge of
W estern cou n tries to stu d y V ietn am ese

history and cu ltu re. T he reprentative
sc ie n tists w ho follow ed th is way of
m odernization w ere T ruong V inh Ky,
N guyen Van H uyen, N gu yen V an To, Tran
Van Giap, H oang Xuan H an, Dao Duy
Anh, and D a n g T hai M ai. A new ly
originated trend in th is period w as the
acq u irem ent and introduction o f M arxism
into V ietn am , th e m an w ho paved the way
w as N guyen Ai Quoc, and sin ce then there
h as been a research work on V ietn am ese
history and cu ltu re in th e view of
historical m aterialism .


•1

In brief, contem porary V ietnam ology
con sists o f two lines: V ietn a m ese stu d y of
V ietn am ese sch olars and V ietn am ese
study of the W estern O rien ta lists, w hich
w ere developed in th e condition o f French
colonists' dom ination.
3. M o d e r n V ie t n a m o lo g y
After the victory o f th e a u g u st
R evolution in 1945, V ietn am gained its
independence, but then w e had to carry
out two resista n ce w ars for 30 years (194Õ
- 1975) in order to com plete national
independence and reunification. In the w ar

condition V ietn a m ese stu d ies faced m any
difficulties
but
gained
som e
basic
ach ievem en ts to set up the form ation of
modern V ietnam ology. T h at w as the
estab lish m en t of L iterature, H istory, and
geography section in 1953 and then the
estab lish m en t
of
H istory
research
In stitu te, L iterature R esearch In stitu te,
Archeology
R esearch
In stitu te
and
Ethnology R esearch In stitu te under the
S tate com m ittee of Social S cien ces (after
th at it’s n am e w as th e N ation al of Social
Sciences, N ation al cen tre of Social S cience
and H um anity and now it is th e In stitu te
of Social S ciences). A t th e sam e tim e,
V ietnam ’s u n iversity sy stem , in which
there w ere scien ces and subjects to train
and to stu d y history, archeology, ethnology,
linguistics,
literature,

geography,
and
geology, w as esta b lish ed . For th e first tim e
in history, a group of scien tists who
studied V ietnam in th e m ost im portant
sp ecialties w ere trained at hom e and the
V ietn am ese w ere im plem ented in the
modern scientific trend.
Since the war ended in 1975, esp ecially
from th e in itiation o f renovation in 1986,
together w ith the a ch iev em en ts of socio­
econom ic developm en t and in tern ation al
integration, V ietn am ology h a s had more

Phan Huy Le

ad van tageou s con d ition s to develop. U ntil
now. the train in g and research in g system»
which is related to V ietnam ology in our
country, h as b een considerably developed
and h as been com p reh en sive. A part from
the d iscip lin es esta b lish ed in the past,
since the 1980s o f the tw en tieth century»
m any new d iscip lin es such as sociology»
anthropology,
en viron m en tal
ecology,
politics, economics» ju risprudence, and
culture
stu d ie s h ave been estab lish ed .

V ietn a m ese
tra 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 In stitu te of Science
and technology, universities and som e
Institutes and S cien tific cen tres. Som e
young sc ie n tists are trained in foreign
cou n tries to becom e m a sters or doctors.
T he collection and exp loitation of
d ocum entation sou rces in th e la st few
decades h ave b een paid a tten tion to by
V ietn a m ese sc ie n tists. T he in vestigation
and excavation w ere im p lem en ted n ation al
w ide and m ade clear th e d evelopm ent
p h ases o f p reh istory
in V ietnam , from
north to sou th , from e a s t to w est, from
coastal
a reas and
isla n d s
to
the
m ou n tain ous a rea s in th e N orth, in the

central part and on High Lands. The
cu ltu res such a s D ong Son, Sa H uynhC ham pa and Oc Eo h ave been more deeply
understood
on

the
b a sis
of
new
archeological discoveries. Especially, in 2003
- 2004 th e discovery of th e historical relic,
H oang T hanh T h an g Long in Hanoi w ith
the history o f over 1000 y ears h as been
draw ing much a tten tio n from the w hole
country and from th e foreigner who have
stud ied
V ietn am .
T he
volum inous
treasu res o f th e official d ocu m en tation s of
the reign o f K ing N g u y en , ten th ou san d s
ep itaphs, land reg isters, fam ily a n n als,
and v illa g e reg u la tio n s w hich have been
excavated,
have
brought
satisfactory

V N U , Jtm rnal tỉ/Science. St>< . Si I . Human . N ,JE . 2(H)4


VItf tnamology on ihc path of do vclopmenl.

results. T he d ocu m en tation s o f folklores,
esp ecially the epics» custom ary law , and

m usic of eth n ic m inorities, w hich h ave
been collected, are full of prom ise.
T ogether w ith sp ecialized research es,
V ietn am ese stu d y in th e in terd iscip lin ary
trend is con cen trated on and im plem ented
in m any scien tific w orks, esp ecially in the
research program m es and th em es at the
sta te level. In 1989, a V ietnam ology
in terd iscip lin ary
research
organization
w as estab lish ed in Hanoi U niversity. T hat
w as cen tre for V ietn a m ese stu d ies and
cooperation, th is n am e w as changed into
V ietn am ese S tu d y and C ultural E xchange
centre
for
under
Vietnam
N ational
University, Hanoi in 1995, and recen tly it
took the nam e o f In stitu te for V ietn am ese
S tu d ies and S cien ces developm ent. The
train ing of V ietn am ology for foreign
stu d en ts at u n iv ersity level w a s developed
in som e big u n iv ersities and recen tly a
V ietnam ology program m e for m asters and
doctors h as b een planned so th at th is
program m e can be im p lem en ted in the
com ing years. It is obvious th a t on th e way

to d evelopm en t, V ietn am ologv has also
shown
som e
lim ita tio n s,
esp ecially
reason in g
a b ilities
and
m ethodology,
which should be im proved in order to keep
up w ith scien tific tren d s in th e world.
After World War II, O riental stu d ies in
the world, w hich w en t through m any great
ch an ges, w hich grea tly in flu en ced the
developm ent of V ietn am ology in foreign
countries. E astern cou n tries regained
independence, colonialism w as abolished, and
on the way to in d ep en d en t developm ent,
each E astern cou n try reorganized th eir
own nation, h istory, and cu ltu re stu d ies.
A fter th e crisis in th e 1950s - 1960s, the
O riental stu d ies in th e W estern cou n tries
also changed in opinion and m ethod of
approaching
E astern
cou n tries,
th ey

V N U . Journal (tf Science, Site.. Si i , Human , N .JE . 2004

5

estab lish ed
ex ch a n g e and cooperation
relations on the equal principle with
E astern
cou n tries.
From
specialised
disciplinary research to interdisciplinary
research, the d iv ersity o f d iscip lin es is a
new developm en t trend o f modern Oriental
stu d ies.
V ietnam
pioneered
th e
national
liberation m ovem ent, renovation, national
reconstruction, and in tegration into the
region and the world h a v e gained many
new ach iev em en ts after th e war, and
V ietnam h as draw n th e a tten tion and
research from foreign scholars. In th at
context, m odern V ietn am ology cam e into
the world and esta b lish ed its position in
th e d evelopm en t o f O riental stu d ies in the
world. F oreign ers w ho stu d y V ietnam ology
cam e
from
various

philosophic and
scien tific schools o f thought» so they have
different political view points. H ow ever,
bein g scien tists, th ey h ave th e sam e target
and exp ectation to g et to know V ietnam
seriou sly and objectively w ith a conception
th a t V ietn am is an in d ep en d en t country
w ith long history and cu lture, e x ists and
develops in connection w ith the other
cu ltu res o f Sou th E a st A sian, E ast A sian
and South A sian region s, esp ecially China,
India
and
som e
W estern
cultures.
P articularly, o f the foreign scien tists who
stu d y V ietn am ology, som e o f them are
foreign
V ietn a m ese
sch olars
in
the
V ietn a m ese com m u n ities. T hey study
V ietnam not only as a scien tific subject but
also w ith th eir feelin g and deeply national
sen tim en t.
T he
d ev elo p m en t
of

modern
V ietnam ology, w hich is d ep en d en t on the
certain circu m sta n ces o f every country,
cannot avoid th e u ps and dow ns o f history.
France 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, but now the


6

su ccession o f p reviou s g en era tio n s seem s
to be in terru p ted and I do hope th a t you n g
French sc ie n tists w ill b rin g V ietn am ology
in france to a new d evelop m en t.
T he V ietn a m ese stu d y in th e S o v iet
U n ion , C hina, and E a stern E uropean
cou n tries u sed to d evelop v igorou sly b u t it
fell down after th e co lla p se of th e S oviet
U nion and th e so c ia list co u n tries in
E astern Europe and in th e C ultural
R evolution o f C hina. H ow ever. I am very
glad to se e th e efforts to m a in ta in the
a ctiv ities
o f th e
V ietn a m o lo g ists
in
ex trem ely d ifficu lt circu m sta n ces an d the
recovery o f V ietn a m o lo g y in C hin a, R u ssia,
and

G erm any
in
recen t
years.
V ietn am ology in th e S o v ie t U nion w as
b u ilt by th e fam ou s O r ien ta list, A.A.
G uber and it rea ch ed th e peak in th e
1970s - 1980s o f th e tw e n tie th cen tu ry
w ith a group o f th e b est s c ie n tis ts and
research o rg a n iza tio n s in th e w orld at th a t
tim e. R ecen tly, R u ssia n V ietn a m o lo g ists
h ave
a ssem b led
forces
in
M oscow
V ietn a m ese S tu d y C en tre w ith an n u al
scien tific se m in a rs and th e V ietn a m ese
C ultural
In stitu te
in
V ladivostok.
V ietn an m ology u sed to h a v e a long
trad ition in C hina a n d sin ce th e 1990s; it
h a s developed
q u ite rap id ly a s an
in d ep en d en t d iscip lin e or a s a part of
S ou th E ast A sia n S tu d ie s. V ietn a m o lo g y
d evelop s in u n iv e r sitie s o f p rovin ces w hich
sh are th e borders w ith V ietn a m su ch as

Q uan g D ong, Q u an g T ay and V an N am .
V ietn am ology in A m erica developed
rapidly du rin g th e w ar in V ietn a m b u t it
fell down w h en th e w ar en d ed . In recent
d ecad es, V ietn am o lo g y in A m erica and in
C anada h a s co n tin u ed d ev elo p in g and in
addition to sen io r V ietn a m o lo g ist, th ere
h ave ap p eared you n g V ietn 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 sp rea d in g o u t and d ev elo p in g

Phan Huy

\x

rap id ly in m an y cou n tries. Apart from the
co u n tries m en tion ed above, V ietnam ology
and T rain in g h a v e b een esta b lish ed in
som e u n iv e r sitie s o f Japan and South
Korea; T h ailan d , M alaysia and Singapore

in South East Asia; Australia; Holland,
B elgiu m ,
E ngland,
D em ark,
N orw ay,
S w ed en and Italy in Europe. In A ustralia.
V ietn a n m o lo g y cam e into b ein g and
d eveloped rapidly w ith m any world fam ous
scholar. I am very glad to see that

V ietn a m o lo g y has b een esta b lish ed in
som e n eigh b ou rin g cou n tries in th e South
E a st A sia n region such a s Laos, Indonesia
and
th e
P h ilip p in es.
E specially,
V ietn am ology h a s developed rapidly in
J a p a n and in Sou th Korea.
In J a p a n , V ietn am ology first cam e into
b ein g a t th e end o f th e n in eteen th century,
th en it w a s esta b lish ed during th e World
W ar II and developed rapidly in th e pro V ietn a m ese m ovem en t in th e w ar tim e,
esp ecia lly in th e ex ch a n g e and cooperation
b etw een tw o cou n tries in th e la st two
d ecad es. In 1987, a fam ous V ietnam ologist
and O r ien ta list, Y am am oto T atsuro, who
g a th ered over 100 sch olars, form ed the
V ietn a m ese S tu d y A ssociation in Japan.
U n til now th ere h a v e been more th an 300
J a p a n e se V ietn a m o lo g ists in a ll fields,
in clu d in g m an y g en era tio n s and annual
sem in a rs on V ietn am ology are held. At
p resen t,
Japan
has
a
group
of
V ietn a m o lo g ists

w ho
are
th e
m ost
pow erful an d w ell-train ed in th e world.
In S o u th Korea, V ietn am ology ju st
sta rted in 1966 w hen th e V ietn a m ese
D ep a rtm en t w as esta b lish ed in Hankok
U n iv ersity . U n til now, th ere h ave been
four u n iv e r sitie s and colleg es in South
K orea,
w h ich
offer
cou rses
in
V ietn a m o lo g y and th e V ietn a m ese Study
A sso cia tio n in S ou th Korea h a s 70
m em bers.

V N U , Jo u rn a l o f Science t Soc., Sri., Hitman., N ttĨE , 2004


Victnamology on the

path

of development.

7

A
typical
featu re
of
m odern
V ietnam ology is th at m ost o f sc ie n tists can
speak V ietn a m ese, m any o f th em u se
V ietn am ese flu en tly and som e o f th em also
u n derstan d Han script and Norn script.

foreign a u th o rs, a cco u n tin g for 88,5 per
cen t (1) (see rucsio 2002). S om e sta tistic s,
a lth ou gh in su fficie n t and not q u ite up-tod ate, show foreign V ietn a m o lo g ists’ role
and con trib u tion to V ietn a m ese S tu d ies.

V ietn am ology h as its p osition in
in tern ational
scien tific
forum s.
In
in tern ation al
sem in a rs
su ch
as
in tern ation al history con gress organ ized
by the in tern ation al co m m ittee o f historic
sciences (CISH) every five yea rs, th e
sem inar of A sian h isto ria n s
(IAHA)
organized every tw o years, a n n u a l sem in a r

organized by A m erica’s A sian S tu d y
A ssociation and sem in a r on O rien talism
and on South E a st A sian S tu d ies, th ere
are a lw a y s som e scien tific rep orts on
V ietnam . In Europe, th e V ietn a m ese S tu d y
n et nam ed E uroviet h as b een esta b lish ed
since 1993 and an in tern a tio n a l sem in a rs
on V ietnam is organized ev ery tw o years.
Lately» som e in tern a tio n a l or n a tio n a l
sem in ars on V ietnam h ave b een h eld in
m any co u n tries on the occasion s of
V ietn am ese h istorical ev en ts or th ey h ave
been organized b ecau se o f th e d em a n d s of
d eveloping the exch an ge and cooperative
relation s w ith V ietn am . For ex a m p le, on
the occasion o f th e fiftieth a n n iv ersa ry o f
D ien B ien Phu victory and th e G eneva
C onference, tw o in tern a tio n a l sem in a rs
w ere h eld in Paris and Peking.

It
is
tim e
th e
d ev elo p m en t
of
V ietn am ology in th e w orld required the
ex ch a n g e
and
cooperation

am ong
V ietn a m o lo g ists, b etw een V ietn am and the
V ietn a m ese S tu d y o rg a n iz a tio n s in the
foreign cou n tries. T h e tw o-w ay 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 am is th e
research su b ject o f V ietn a m o lo g y, is the
ex ch a n g e place o f th e m ost p len tifu l
d ocu m en tation so u rces th a t can create
good co n d itio n s for foreign sch olars to
ex p lo it
and
su p p ly
and
exch an ge
V ietn a m ese
scholars*
research
a ch iev em en ts. T he research resu lts of
in tern a tio n a l V ietn a m o lo g y con trib u te to a
b etter u n d e rsta n d in g o f V ietn am view ed
from d ifferen t cu ltu ra lly and h istorically
com p arative p ersp ectiv es, h en ce in creasin g
th e ob jectivity and d iv ersity o f th e subject.
In
fact,
b ila te ra l
an d
m u ltilateral
coop erative

projects
on
V ietn a m ese
stu d ies,
sin g le-d iscip lin a ry
or

T he V ietn a m o lo g ists in th e w orld h ave
had m any research w orks on V ietn a m , in
w hich th ere are v olu m in ou s and v a lu a b le
works. A ccording to th e s ta tis tic s by D avid
Marr in V ietn a m ese book ca ta lo g u e
published in 1992, o f th e 1038 books,
articles and research p ap ers on V ietn am
577 w ere w ritten by foreign au th ors,
accounting for 55 per cen t (2). P articu larly,
the subject o f th e French w ar in Indochina
(1945 - 1954), ta k es up 11.702 item s
am ong w hich 10.308 w ere w ritten by

V N U . Journal o f Science. Sift’.. S a . Human . N ,JE . 2004

in terd iscip lin a ry ,
have
proved
very
su ccessfu l th rou gh coo p era tiv e efforts o f
V ietn a m ese
an d
foreign

scien tific
in stitu tio n s. For fu rth er developm en t,
w hich
V ie tn a m o lo g ists
d esire,
it
is
n ecessa ry
have
a
h ig h er
level
of
cooperation, m ore com p reh en sive and
regu lar and w ith b etter organ ization .
B ein g a w are o f th is n eed , in 1998,
H anoi
N a tio n a l
U n iv ersity ,
in
collab oration w ith th e N a tio n a l C en ter for
H u m a n ity and S ocial S cien ces, held the
first
in tern a tio n a l
w orkshop
on
V ietn a m o lo g y in H an oi. O ut o f 600
p a rticip a tin g V ietm a n o lo g ist sc ie n tists 300
w ere from 26 foreign cou n tries. T hey

Phan Huy Lc

8

brought to th e w orkshop th e la test
research
resu lts
fosterin g a
b etter
u n d erstan d in g and deeper know ledge on
V ietnam T h ey also grabbed th is chance for
im proving com m u n ication and m u tual

U n fortu n ately, after th e great su ccess
of the first m eetin g, th o se proposals and
plans h ave been very slow ly im plem ented;
as a resu lt, th e secon d w orkshop does not
take place u n til today, six years later. For

understanding.

biggest

this reason, I would like to recommend

in tern ation al w orkshop on V ietnam ology
ever held, m arking a n ew developm en t
stage of cooperation am ong V ietnam ologists
around th e world. At th e discu ssion table

on J u ly 16 1998 and th e closin g sessio n on
Ju ly 17 1998, all p articip atin g sc ie n tists
agreed th a t in tern a tio n a l w orkshops on
V ietn am ology be held periodically, th a t an
in tern ation al C om m ittee on V ietn am ology
lin k in g
V ietn a m o lo g ists
and
related
organ ization s be esta b lish ed , and th at an
inform ation ch an n el be s e t up for th e
exch an ge and updating of docum ents and
research resu lts and th e sh arin g o f
research and train in g exp erien ce in
V ietn am ology and V ietn a m ese la n g u a g e
training.

that, at this workshop, besides reports and
discussions, w e sp en d som e tim e, esp ecially
at th e round-table m eeting, discussing and
seeking so lu tio n s to accom p lishing th e first
w orkshop’s
proposals.
To
broaden
cooperation
and
com m unication
in
V ietn am ese stu d ies is not only th e desire

and goal of V ietn a m o lo g ists but also an
objective and e sse n tia l req u irem en t for the
d evelopm en t o f V ietn am ology in the
tw en ty-first century. Good organization
and an effective m ech an ism of operations
w ill d efin itely p lay an im p ortan t role in
prom oting V ietn am ology in sid e V ietnam
and around th e globe, op ening a new
chapter of th e h isto ry o f V ietn am ology in
the con text o f w orld in tegration and
globalization.

It

was

the

REFERENCES

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 Viễn 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