Lý Đông A, Lương Kim Định, Trần Ngọc Thêm and Terrien de Lacouperie’s Ancient Chinese Migration

As I’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog, there is an idea that is of central importance to Vietnamese ultra-nationalists, and that is that in antiquity the Chinese migrated into…

Continue ReadingLý Đông A, Lương Kim Định, Trần Ngọc Thêm and Terrien de Lacouperie’s Ancient Chinese Migration

Large (Chinese) Rats, the Father of Modern Anthropology, and Vietnam’s Greatest (unknown/unrecognized) Historian

Last summer I wrote a blog post on the South Vietnamese philosopher, Lương Kim Định, that I entitled “Vietnam’s Greatest (unknown/unrecognized) Historian.” Although a philosopher by training, Kim Định wrote…

Continue ReadingLarge (Chinese) Rats, the Father of Modern Anthropology, and Vietnam’s Greatest (unknown/unrecognized) Historian

Holy Mother (Thánh Mẫu) Spirit Writing (Giáng Bút) in the Early 20th Century

One among the many topics in Vietnamese history which scholars have not examined in much detail is a spirit writing (giáng bút) “movement” which took place in northern Vietnam at the turn of the 20th century. This was a complex phenomenon. It was an outgrowth of earlier practices associated with a type of text known as morality books (thiện thư).

(more…)

Continue ReadingHoly Mother (Thánh Mẫu) Spirit Writing (Giáng Bút) in the Early 20th Century

Lý Đông A, Kim Định and a Mid-20th–Century Unorthodox Version of Early Việt History

I’ve written quite a lot on this blog about the South Vietnamese philosopher, Lương Kim Định, and his ideas about history. What was Kim Định’s view of the past? In…

Continue ReadingLý Đông A, Kim Định and a Mid-20th–Century Unorthodox Version of Early Việt History

Tạ Chí Đại Trường on the Tale of the Hồng Bàng Clan (Hồng Bàng thị truyện)

I was saddened to learn yesterday that South Vietnamese historian Tạ Chí Đại Trường has passed away. I never had the good fortune of meeting Tạ Chí Đại Trường, but…

Continue ReadingTạ Chí Đại Trường on the Tale of the Hồng Bàng Clan (Hồng Bàng thị truyện)