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 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 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 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 Phan Huy Lc 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 franỗaise 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 ranỗaise d Extreme* Orient, BEFEO ) T h is bu lletin together w ith the Do 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 su ccession o f p reviou s g en era tio n s seem s to be in terru p ted and I 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 text o f w orld in tegration and globalization It was the REFERENCES Alain Ruscio, La guerre franỗaise d' Indochine (1945“ 1954), Les sources de la connaissance Paris, 2002 David M art\ Vietnam» in World Bibliographical Series, T 47, 1992 Viện Viễn đông bác cổ Pháp - Trung tâm Khoa học Xã hội N hân văn Qc gia, 90 năm nghiên cứu văn hố 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 ... 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... 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... 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