Republishing valuable history books after 60 years

The book has many records

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary (1962 – 2022) set Dai Nam Shi Luc Published for the first time in Vietnamese, the Institute of History cooperated with Hanoi Publishing House and the Book Cultural Knowledge Joint Stock Company. Vietnam (Vinabooks) organizes the second edition of the book series, consisting of 10 volumes and nearly 10,000 pages thick.

GS. Do Bang (Vice President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association) assessed: Dai Nam Thuc Luc is the most massive history of Vietnam that has been published. This is a history compiled in 88 years (1821-1909) from the reign of Minh Mang to the reign of Duy Tan, including 560 volumes that record the entire history of Vietnam in the 19th century under the reign of Emperor Minh Mang. Nguyen Dynasty. The book series, made by top ministers and experts of the Hue court, is a record of the time and feat of organization.”

Displaying Vietnamese editions of Dai Nam Thuc Luc published in 1962

Professor Vu Minh Giang, after identifying Dai Nam Thuc Luc as the “most important book, full of everything we need to know about the Nguyen Dynasty” also shared: one of the eight books that he often used to look up. Researching “almost everything has to be touched” is Dai Nam Thuc Luc.

Professor Giang also revealed that the reason Dai Nam Thuc Luc has special value is because the kings Minh Menh and Thieu Tri personally participated in the compilation process. As for King Tu Duc, there was a criticism and instruction: “If it is true, then the history will be reliable”.

Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh compiled from the main source of documents are the reports of central agencies, localities, high officials sent to the court, approved by the Nguyen kings, after being approved by the cabinet. copied and transferred to Quoc Su Quan for book compilation, so it is quite accurate in terms of characters and events, and represents relatively fully and honestly the policies and guidelines of the dynasty, the views of the kings. Nguyen.

Dai Nam Shu Luc reprinted in 2022

This history is compiled according to the chronicle method, so it is easy to look up events, characters, places, and geography in chronological order.

In the 60s of the 20th century, the Institute of History gathered scholarly Sinologists such as Dao Duy Anh, Hoa Bang, Do Mong Khuong… to translate and proofread. In 1962, the Institute of History published the first Vietnamese edition of Dai Nam Thuc Luc and it took 16 years to complete 38 volumes.

This is considered as the leading official historical source in researching, searching and understanding the Nguyen lords in Dang Trong and Vietnam in the 19th century; provide scientific and legal documents useful in researching, formulating management policies, developing and protecting territorial sovereignty.

Current values

Many researchers have affirmed that Vietnam’s sovereignty over the sea and islands with the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa is clearly affirmed in Dai Nam Thuc Luc. Specifically, Professor Do Bang cited: the book clearly states that in 1803, King Gia Long re-established the Hoang Sa Fleet and in 1816, sent the navy to establish sovereignty in the Hoang Sa, formalizing the state’s sovereignty. The Central Committee was recognized by the world at that time, an important milestone for the struggle to protect sovereignty over the past 200 years. Minh Mang’s court also sent many central agencies to the Paracels to exploit and enforce Vietnam’s sovereignty over seas and islands.

Professor Dinh Xuan Dung cites: Page 116, volume 2 of Dai Nam Thuc Luc, clearly states: In the summer of April, the king ordered to measure how wide and long the Truong Sa sandbank was. Then there is a record of the construction of a temple to worship the god on Hoang Sa island. In volume six, the book is more specific: the king sent 10 wooden cards, 5 meters long, 5 inches wide, 1 inch thick, with the face of the card engraved with the word Minh Menh in the 17th year to build a temple in Hoang Sa. Professor Dung affirmed that these historical data are indisputable evidence that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Vietnam. He also repeated: the book is not only copied once but many times, so meticulously that it clearly states, the date and year the king ordered the temple to be built, but the mandarins who did not complete it were still disciplined.

Professor Do Quang Hung expressed his wish that Dai Nam Thuc Luc would be turned into a 100-page brochure for ordinary readers, especially students, to improve their understanding of history.

This approach has previously been applied very successfully by Kim Dong Publishing House with the book “Philosophy from antiquity” with a concise version of more than 300 pages with illustrations that even children can access. Surprisingly, then, this book entered the best-seller list in many major online book sites, and was searched by many popular readers.