The Cham-Việt Frontier as a “Middle Ground”
One of the most important books written about the history of North America in recent decades is Richard White’s The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes…
On the Possibility of an Autonomous History of Modern Vietnam
Yesterday I re-read John Smail’s 1961 article, “On the Possibility of an Autonomous History of Modern Southeast Asia,” Journal of Southeast Asian History 2.2 (1961): 72-102. This article was published…
Bộ Đội and Watches at War’s End
A reader of this blog just made the comment that “it’s fascinating to look at period newspapers, because there often are bits of evidence that enrich, reposition and sometimes refute…
The Evilness of Money in Pre-75 Saigon. . .
In reading Huy Đức’s Bên Thắng Cuộc, I saw that in some parts he made extensive use of the newspaper, Sài Gòn Giải Phóng [Liberated Saigon]. I had never read…
The Last or First of the Hundred Việt/Yue?
Several months ago a reader asked me to respond to an article (here) that essentially makes an argument that has been made many times before, namely that the Việt are…
An S-Shaped Country and Historical Scholarship in the Digital Age
There is a short video clip about Vietnamese history that is getting a lot of attention these days. Called “Vietnam, an S-shaped country!,” it was produced by graphic design students…
(Some) Vietnamese History Is Definitely Not Dead Yet. . .
So I know that some people get upset by some of the criticisms that I make in this blog (such as declaring that Vietnamese historical scholarship is dead). However, I…
“Administration” in the Red River Delta During the Millennium of “Chinese” Rule
I have often read accounts that say that after the Han Dynasty incorporated the area of the Red River Delta into its empire, the “Chinese” set up an “administration” in…
UNESCO, Hùng Kings, and the Benefits of Being Vague
So UNESCO just placed the worship of the Hùng Kings on its “List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.” News of this announcement is spreading quickly, and it’s already…
What Happened to the Đông Sơn Headhunters?
Not long ago I wrote (here) about an article by Bác sĩ Kiều Quang Chẩn in which he argues that the custom of headhunting probably existed in the Red River…