This scholarly anthology assembles a wealth of information relating to the broad sweep of Vietnam's rich history and vibrant intellectual life over the past two millennia. The book belongs to the ‘Introduction to Asian Civilizations’ series, which began as long ago as 1958. Thus far only six titles, including the present one, have been published; speed would not appear to be the priority.
The three experienced American editors of Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, with assistance from a team of other academics (p. xix), bring to bear on this project the weight of their wide range of talents and expertise. Associate Professor George Dutton is a specialist in languages and cultures; Professor Jayne Werner is a political scientist; whilst Dr John Whitmore is a historian whose interests centre on pre-modern South-East Asia.
One motivation for the compendium was a desire to gather together primary sources for classroom use, given the scarcity of existing translations. The collection is not intended to be canonical; indeed, the editors affirm that, were they to begin afresh, a completely different choice of readings might be made. Most of the pre-twentieth century items were written in either classical Chinese or chu nom and many of them have not previously been rendered into English.
The aim of the volume is to give conceptual substance to the wellsprings of ‘Vietnamese tradition’; but that very phrase raised problems. For a start, ‘Vietnam’ only reached its current territorial extent around the start of the nineteenth century. Hence the application of the term to earlier periods would be anachronistic. The country was named ‘Vietnam’ by an edict issued in 1804 by the Gia Long emperor; before then the ‘Vietnamese’ called their state ‘Dai Viet’, whilst the Chinese had preferred ‘An Nam’ or ‘Pacified South’ (pp. 258–259). Even after 1804 the label ‘Vietnam’ took a long time to become fully established. The word ‘tradition’ was also problematical to the editors. It was deemed better not to envisage a single ‘tradition’ but, rather, to think of “multiple ideational threads, sometimes marked by continuity, and sometimes by rupture” (p. xvii).
Two further problems were identified. First, the “elite bias” of the texts. It is explained that, historically, the vast majority of the populace had been at best semi-literate. Secondly, in line with series guidelines, the book concentrates on the dominant socio-ethnic group and largely excludes minority peoples (p. 2), although there are in fact three short sections on ethnic relations (pp. 81–88, 137–144, 570–585).
There were two more dangers to be averted. First, the editors wished to avoid the “teleological perspective that views the Vietnamese past as an inevitable trajectory moving toward a unified modern state” (p.1). Secondly, they adopted the idea of “making the past strange”, so as to prevent history being used as a weapon by one side or another (p. xviii).
China dominated the Vietnam zone during the first millennium: “When the North [i.e. China] is weak, then we [Dai Viet] are strong”, it was observed in a 1479 source, “and when the North is strong, then we become weak” (p. 122). Vietnam was invaded by its neighbour, albeit briefly, as recently as 1979.
There are in excess of two hundred entries here (224 according to my tally), giving an average length of around 2.5 pages per unit. Most of the extracts are short, sometimes a solitary paragraph, and they rarely exceed five sheets. Some authorities are drawn upon repeatedly, such as Ngo Si Lien's Dai Viet su ky toan thu or Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1479). The balance of the book is heavily weighted towards the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when source material becomes more abundant. In ancient times, as noted in 1492, “there were not yet books of history to record the facts; therefore nearly all the old affairs have been forgotten and lost” (p. 113).
The renderings here are based on the languages in which the documents first appeared. Significant items had to be excluded in cases where an original version could not be located, the editors not wishing to work from translations (p. 3); which does rather raise the question of why readers should be expected to rely on the constructions provided by the editors themselves.
Many different genres are represented: inscriptions and chronicles; law codes, edicts, decrees, and proclamations; poetry and novels; memorials and essays; works of autobiography, ethnography, and geography; medical discourses; addresses and speeches; even a letter “written in blood” (by Phan Boi Chau, pp. 353–369). There are treatises on Confucianism, debates about modernisation and Westernisation, expositions of communist theory, and discussions of political and cultural survival. Also included is the “final testament” drafted by Nguyen Thai Hoc of the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (VNQDD) on the eve of his execution in 1930 (pp. 393–395).
‘Vietnamese’ history is arranged into three periods (pre-modern; early modern; and modern), sub-divided into seven chapters. The ‘modern’ age, for example, comprises the ‘colonial’ and ‘independence’ eras. The articles are then presented thematically under recurrent headings such as ‘land’, ‘economics and trade’, ‘philosophy and religion’, ‘governance’, and ‘society and culture’. Other themes are more specific, such as ‘responses to the French’ (pp. 353–402). There are also sections on ‘political reform’ (pp. 188–203) and ‘foreign conflicts’ (pp. 457–473).
Editorial introductions are provided for each chapter and each individual excerpt. Annotation is used sparingly. Diacritics are omitted. Users are helped by the time chart, bibliography and index. There is a set of maps, but no illustrations or glossary, nor any list of abbreviations.
Dr Whitmore is the lead translator in part one (with a re-appearance on page 424). His doctorate (1968) analysed the establishment of the Le government in the fifteenth century. Twenty years of Ming occupation ended in 1427–8, when they were driven out by Le Loi. The new dynasty established a law code in the 1430s, the first in Dai Viet's history, and not superseded until 1812. Agriculture thrived, manufacturing grew, and trade expanded. A new fiscal foundation was established. By the 1460s the state had become strong and efficient. The influence of Confucianism increased and Buddhism was downgraded. There was a transition from an aristocratic style of government to a more bureaucratic approach (pp. 119–120). The Le were also notable for female ownership of property (pp. 90, 129). According to one source the dynasty fell because it had failed in its administration of land (p. 125). The Mac seized power in 1528 (p. 92) and by the time the Le dynasty was restored in 1592, it was a shadow of its former self, and reigned rather than ruled.
In the second part of the book, devoted to the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries (pp. 145–331), the baton is handed to Associate Professor Dutton. The documents here deal with the origins of the divide between the Nguyen and Trinh as well as the conflicts that ensued; the worldview of contemporary scholars; Confucian and Buddhist metaphysics; and local cultural practices.
One of the key epochs of ‘Vietnamese’ history was the Tay Son uprising of 1771–1802. Insurgent forces overran the Trinh in 1786, ousted the Le in 1788, and repulsed a Qing invasion in 1789. Nguyen remnants retreated to the Gia Dinh (Saigon) region. The deaths of the two principal Tay Son leaders in 1792–3 paved the way for the Nguyens’ ultimate victory. Nguyen Anh (Gia Long) marched into Thang Long (Hanoi) in 1802, bringing to an end thirty years of a brutal, tripartite civil war.
It is insisted that the early Nguyen period should not be viewed merely as a prelude to French colonisation. The presence of Europeans was not a defining feature of the Vietnamese worldview at the time. There were many other issues, such as taxation, morality and behaviour, and customs and cultural practices. Nguyen restructuring along Chinese and Confucian lines took place on a scale not seen since the last three decades of the fifteenth century. The Nguyen era also witnessed an outpouring of literary texts, both at official and private levels (pp. 254, 257–258).
Professor Werner assumes control for part three (pp. 333–585). Her doctoral thesis (1976) featured the Cao Dai. A syncretic religious movement established in 1926, the aim of the ‘Great Way of the Third Period of Salvation’ was to unify the world's religious teachings. Werner translates here the ‘New Code’ (canonical laws) and three ‘spirit messages’ transmitted in 1926–7 by the ‘Jade Emperor’, the cult's highest deity (pp. 429–434).
The giants of modern Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Ngo Dinh Diem, Vo Nguyen Giap, Truong Chinh, Vo Van Kiet) are well represented. Other highlights include the 1945 Declaration of Independence (pp. 473–476) and General Tran Van Tra's analysis of the Tet offensive (pp. 463–473). The collection ends with Chu Van Tan on the founding of the People's Liberation Armed Forces (pp. 570–576) and Phan Doan Nam on “Aligning the strength of the nation with the power of the age” (pp. 579–585). By the early twenty-first century Vietnam was catching up economically with its more prosperous neighbours. Whilst the matter of independent statehood might have been resolved, other issues remained outstanding, such as democratic rights versus state control and Western culture versus Eastern (pp. 449–450).
The ‘Vietnamese’ have certainly never suffered from any lack of self-esteem. The Le regarded neighbouring peoples, such as Champa (conquered and dismembered in 1471), as ‘outside civilisation’ (p. 139). Subsequently, Burma and Siam were “far behind and inferior to our country” (p. 286); Europeans “we truly regard as barbarians and treat as such” (p. 276); Christianity was “this vicious religion” (pp. 327–328); French literature and art were ‘decadent’ (p. 528); conversely “There is no mountain we [Vietnamese] cannot move” (Phan Boi Chau, p. 367). Interestingly, however, the Minh Mang emperor blamed the Middle Kingdom for the first Anglo-Chinese war of 1839–42 (p. 276). The Western colonial threat to Vietnam itself was under-estimated (pp. 313–314).
A great deal of thought, organisation and hard work was put into Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, which is available in three formats (hardback, paperback, and electronic). Much compression was required; previous titles in the series had run to two volumes each. The anthology furnishes a good sense of the structure of ‘Vietnamese’ history and is sure to function both as a formidable work of reference and a sound base for further exploration of the subject.
