On Vietnamese Culture and Vietnamese Literature

摘要

Vietnamese culture in general and Vietnamese literature in particular, are associated with the thousands of years' history of the Vietnamese people. As a researcher into the history of Vietnamese literature, an important aspect of Vietnamese culture, I would like to situate it in the historical context of the Vietnamese nation always faced with challenges to its effort to preserve and assert its identity. I am not a specialist in philosophy or cultural studies. So let me turn to some literary chef-d'oeuvres which have timeless vitality in the Vietnamese nation's spiritual life and crystallized values in Vietnamese culture, literature and learning; they are the Binh Ngd dai cao (Proclamation of Victory over the Wu) by Nguyen Trai; Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) by Nguyen Du; and Tuyen ngon doc lap (Declaration of Independence) by Ho Chi Minh.