The Confucianism adaptation in Vietnam through proverbs and folk songs - Vietnamese folk songs

"A few thoughts", in the way of introducing and reaffirming the presence of the Three Teachings in proverbs, has briefly highlighted a number of sentences containing the content of the Three Teachings, as well as Northern historical allusions... used by Confucian scholars in proverbs, including a number of sentences "expressing Confucian ideology" [161, p. 723].

In 2007, with the master's thesis topic: The influence of scholarly culture in Vietnamese folk songs , we conducted a survey and preliminary statistics on the presence of Confucian elements in Vietnamese folk songs along with other elements: Buddhism, Taoism, written literature... From a cultural perspective, considering the influence of Confucianism on folk songs and the Vietnamese ethical value system as a result of cultural contact and exchange, we pointed out the positive and negative influences of Confucianism on the spiritual life of Vietnamese people through folk songs and folk songs. However, we found that the analysis and interpretation of Confucianism in the thesis was not deep enough because it had to share space with other content to meet the requirements of the topic. Moreover, the survey was limited to the genre of folk songs, not including proverbs, so the issue still had many aspects that needed to be supplemented. More importantly, in the process of analysis, we have not yet traced the origin of Confucian moral symbols in Vietnamese folk songs and folk songs, in order to compare and reveal the core moral values that Confucianism contributes to the consciousness and tradition of the Vietnamese people, as well as analyze the causes leading to the negative effects of Confucianism on popular ideology. The results of the comparison and contrast can also highlight the proactive spirit, sensitivity, and great creativity of many generations of ancient Vietnamese people in the process of receiving and transforming foreign culture, creating the identity of today's Vietnamese people, but we do not have enough conditions to proceed. Solving what still exists in the master's thesis is the goal that our doctoral thesis sets out.

Thus, the imprint of Confucianism in Vietnamese proverbs, folk songs and folk songs has been recognized for a long time. However, the issue is only briefly mentioned to make the research content general and complete or to serve other research content. While studying the birth of proverbs, folk songs and folk songs, researchers have

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affirming the creative participation of Confucian scholars, the literati class or those who received the Confucian education system. Previous researchers tend to consider it as the cause, the root to explain the appearance of factors related to Confucianism, so most works only stop at pointing out the presence and cause of the appearance of Confucianism in proverbs, folk songs. Even if it is affirmed as the fundamental ideological content of proverbs, folk songs, Confucian ethics, factors related to Confucianism are only part of the general research on the influences of learned culture in proverbs, folk songs. At the same time, from the class perspective, researchers often believe that Confucianism brings to the spiritual life of Vietnamese people corrupt feudal moral concepts. Some works that express objectivity in positive assessments of the Confucian ethical value system tend to favor the active and creative adaptation of popular cultural subjects, without paying attention to the core humanistic values of Confucianism, which is one of the important reasons why Confucianism is welcomed into the common cultural home of the Vietnamese people. The task we set for this work is to thoroughly resolve the above issues. In comparison with indigenous ideology, we want to sketch a general picture of the reality of the transformation of the cultural appearance of the Vietnamese people due to the Confucian adaptation features depicted on the basis of proverbs, folk songs and folk songs .

3. OBJECTS AND SCOPE OF RESEARCH

In this work, we focus on Confucian categories, literary symbols of Confucian origin in proverbs, folk songs and conduct surveys and identify them to clarify which are indigenous elements, which are elements received and transformed from Confucianism in the content of "human morality" of proverbs, folk songs and folk songs. At the same time, through that, we determine the position of Confucian ethics in the traditional concept of Vietnamese people, proving the modernity of Confucian ethics for today's society.

Currently, there are many works collecting Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs. In addition to the selected parts of proverbs and folk songs in the anthologies of literature, researchers have collected and synthesized proverbs and folk songs more fully and comprehensively in separate books, the most prominent of which are two separate collections of folk songs and proverbs by a group of authors, edited by Nguyen Xuan Kinh. The collection of folk songs is called Treasury of Vietnamese Folk Songs , consisting of two volumes with 12,487 verses, published by Culture - Information Publishing House in 2001 and the collection of Vietnamese Proverbs , published by Culture - Information Publishing House in 2002. In the collection of Vietnamese Proverbs, there are some verses that have been included in the Treasury of Vietnamese Folk Songs , so when choosing two sets of books as basic research materials, we had to count them again, remove duplicate verses (in the form of a folk song, one verse 6 and one verse 8), determine the actual number, to have accurate statistical results.

It can be said that up to now, these are the two works with the largest number of collections of proverbs and folk songs, based on the most diverse and comprehensive sources of materials compared to another work, the Anthology of Vietnamese Folk Literature of the Center for Social Sciences and Humanities under the Institute of Literature. Volume IV of this work is divided into two volumes: volume 1 on proverbs and folk songs; volume 2 on folk songs. Due to the selective nature, the number of proverbs and folk songs in this work is more limited than the work of the group of authors Nguyen Xuan Kinh. In the preface, the group of authors Nguyen Xuan Kinh showed a huge amount of collected documents, including 40 books (with 49 volumes) compiled from the end of the 18th century to 1975. The work was continuously edited and supplemented for 25 years (from 1974 to 1999), and finally the group of authors published a massive collection of folk songs with the aim of "providing readers with a tool to help them learn and enjoy folk songs from many perspectives, with many different requirements" [74, p. 49]. With the same spirit, method and purpose, the group also completed a collection of proverbs, which was classified as excellent by the Scientific Council of the Institute of Folklore Research. The work has set many records:

For the first time, there is a work introducing the largest number of proverbs (16,098 sentences, data given by the author. After we removed some sentences

have been introduced in the Vietnamese Folk Song Treasury , the remaining number for our statistics is 15,331).

For the first time, there is a work that annotates the most proverbs.

For the first time, there is a work introducing proverbs in many systems [76, p. 7].

For the above reasons, we chose these two works as the main survey documents, combined with additional comparison with a number of other related documents.

4. RESEARCH METHODS

- The interdisciplinary method is the prominent method in this work because the object, scope of research and approach to the problem require supporting documents from many fields: philosophy, history, culture, literature, folklore, law... This method helps us approach the object from many angles, to have a comprehensive and objective view, at the same time have enough basis to rub, compare and synthesize background knowledge to serve the analysis, demonstration, interpretation leading to conclusions in the work.

- Analysis is the preferred method to serve the purpose of finding and explaining Confucian categories in Vietnamese proverbs, folk songs and folk songs, determining where Confucianism is in the general ideological content of the poetic literature. This method also aims to point out the content values that Confucianism brings to Vietnamese proverbs, folk songs and folk songs. In the process of analysis, we must apply the comparative method.

- Comparative analysis is an important method in our work, which is carried out to examine and compare the original meanings of Confucian categories and their appearance in Vietnamese proverbs, folk songs and folk songs. From this basis, we will be able to clarify which elements are received and which are the results of reception, and at the same time, we can demonstrate the flexible and creative application of folk authors when exploiting non-folk elements.

- To prove the authenticity of the statements, we conduct statistics on the subjects, give specific and accurate numbers, proceed to induction, and show the level of

and the potential influence of each Confucian category. From there, draw general conclusions, ensuring accuracy and objectivity.

- The historical method is also used in our work, but mainly to determine the reasons for the penetration of Confucianism into people's lives and the appearance of Confucian moral symbols in proverbs, folk songs and folk songs. Applying this method to study and analyze proverbs and folk songs to grasp their meanings is very difficult because most of the circumstances of the birth of proverbs and folk songs and folk songs have been obscured.

5. NEW CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE THESIS

Our thesis is the first comprehensive and systematic research work on Confucianism in Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs. Focusing on the Confucian categories that appear prominently in the folk poetry, the work determines the Confucian connotation of each category, pointing out which is continuous and which is variable, thereby specifically determining the positive and negative values that Confucian ideology impacts on the cultural life of the Vietnamese people, at the same time revealing the attitude of the Vietnamese people towards Confucianism in particular and foreign culture in general. On the other hand, the analysis and comparison with indigenous culture in the work will reveal the sustainability of the traditional spiritual values of the nation, from which we can refer to as a basis for building a framework of ethical standards in modern times. Through this work, we hope to bring an objective and fair view of the role of Confucianism in holding the leading position, dominating the ideology of the Vietnamese people.

On the other hand, with the scope of research on Vietnamese folk literature, the thesis provides an overview of the influence of Confucianism on Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs, contributing to the study of the ideological content of proverbs and folk songs in particular and folk literature in general.

6. STRUCTURE OF THESIS

Considering Confucianism as a system of ideological and cultural values, we apply the principles of cultural reception to determine the multifaceted correlation between Confucianism and the intellectual life of Vietnamese people. At the same time, to see the principle

In order to focus on the relationship between the two ideologies, we introduce in a focused way the objective reasons that promote the penetration of Confucianism into people's ideological life and the presence of Confucian categories in their speech.

Chapter 1

COMMON ISSUES

We present the premise issues as the basis for the arguments in analyzing and interpreting the reception and transformation of Confucian categories in the following chapters.

Chapter 2

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CATEGORIES OF RELIGIOUSNESS AND HEAVENLY MANDATORY IN VIETNAMESE PROVERBS, FOLK SONGS AND FOLK SONGS

After the introductory content, we will analyze the specific adaptation of each Confucian category. The categories here are divided into sections with content aimed at different areas of Confucianism. Regarding the universe, we will examine the two categories of Dao and Thien Menh. These are two commonly used categories, clearly appearing in Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs.

Chapter 3

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATEGORIES OF LOYALTY - FILIAL PIETY, HUMANITY - RIGHTEOUSNESS IN VIETNAMESE PROVERBS, FOLK SONGS AND SONGS

Regarding human ethics, we delve into the typical Confucian philosophies of being human: the three bonds and five constants, but only focus on prominent symbols that appear frequently in Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs such as Loyalty, Filial Piety, Humanity, and Righteousness. Other symbols such as Rites, Trust, etc. appear at a low frequency or have been incorporated and dissolved into the above symbols when appearing in Vietnamese prose (Appendix, pp. 194-195), so we do not analyze them in depth, but they will be mentioned when relevant.

Chapter 4

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATEGORIES OF CHASTITY AND THREE OBEDIENCES

IN PROVERBS, FOLK SONGS - FOLK SONGS OF VIETNAMESE PEOPLE

Vietnamese women have their own moral standards, which are the virtues of Chastity and the Three Obediences, so we separate them into a separate section to examine. The Four Virtues are four basic virtues that Confucianism focuses on educating women, but they rarely appear in Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs (Appendix, p.194), so we do not have enough conditions to separate them into a separate section, but will mention them in the Three Obediences section because they are related.

CONTENT

Chapter 1

COMMON ISSUES

1.1. The problem of cultural adaptation

“Cultural adaptation” is a phrase that refers to the reception and transformation of received cultural objects into cultural symbols of the recipient. This is a process that is carried out in a certain order, expressed through the phenomena: “contact”, “interaction”, “exchange”, “transformation”… According to Tran Quoc Vuong, these terms are translated from foreign languages by Vietnamese researchers: Cultural contacts, cultural exchanges, acculturation. In particular, acculturation has a general nuance that is understood in the sense of “cultural adaptation” as understood by Professor Ha Van Tan from the definition of foreign researchers. The professor wrote in Cultural exchange among ancient Vietnamese people : “Under the word acculturation, we understand it as a phenomenon that occurs when groups of people with different cultures have long-term and direct contact, causing a change in the original cultural pattern of one or two groups” [cited 165, p. 50]. This interpretation implies the process of “cultural adaptation” through two stages: contact and transformation. “Contact” refers to the encounter between different cultures of different groups of people, creating conditions for communication, exchange and harmony between cultures to create new cultural symbols. The process of creating new cultural symbols through contact and exchange is the process of transformation following the trend of “Backward and outdated features gradually disappearing to be replaced by what is affirmed to be civilized and modern” [165, p. 51]. For the purpose of reaching civilization and modernity, the need for contact, exchange and cultural transformation is always present, a natural and inevitable nature of each culture.

Phan Ngoc said: “There is no self-sufficient culture, every culture needs communication to develop” [108, p. 16]. Tran Quoc Vuong affirmed: “It must be said right away that there is no culture that can be called “pure”, “virgin and clean”; in a certain sense, every culture is “hybrid” (métise), meaning it has borrowed

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