Southern literature in general and Dang Trong literature in particular. It is worth mentioning that, even in some university teaching curricula of leading schools of social sciences and humanities, this issue has not received adequate and proper attention.
1.3. History has proven that during the period of antagonism between Dang Trong and Dang Ngoai, the antagonism took place in all aspects: military - political - economic. Obviously, in terms of historical dialectics, that was the condition for the existence of an independent territory. However, the interesting thing is that during that period of conflict, there was never any real antagonism or cultural competition between the two Dang. Perhaps, that was the most dense and durable factor in preserving national unity and national identity, so that after several hundred years of separation, the Inner - Outer regions could be united into a single Vietnamese cultural entity.
However, the reality of 200 years of separation, whether we like it or not, still creates differences. Not only in terms of the overall culture in general, but also the literature of Dang Trong itself develops in a dilemma of both unity and difference. Unity thanks to the preservation of literary values, and more broadly, traditional cultural values. Difference because on the path of separation, the Vietnamese in the South must constantly create new things, to survive and also to affirm the independent existence of the territory - the institutional region. The question is whether these real differences in literature in the new land create conflicts with Dang Ngoai literature in particular and with the long-established national literature in general; or do those differences contribute to the richness of the national literature? In other words, where does Dang Trong literature stand and what role does it play in the national literature? We believe that revisiting the pages of Dang Trong literature during the period of conflict will be one of the promising directions to find answers to those questions.
The above is the theoretical and practical basis for us to choose Dang Trong Literature in the 17th - 18th centuries in the development process of national literature as the research object.
2. Research purpose
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In carrying out this thesis, we aim for three basic goals:
2.1. General picture of Dang Trong literature in the 17th - 18th centuries. However, we do not rewrite the history of Dang Trong literature in the way that authors Nguyen Van Sam, Huynh Ai Tong, Nguyen Van Trung... did, but only select data, documents, and poetry to serve the process of recognizing and basically evaluating the characteristics, position, and role of Dang Trong literature in relation to national literature.
2.2. Put the movement of Dang Trong literature in relation to Dang Ngoai literature and on the development schedule of national literature to perceive its distinctive features and common marks, thereby locating its role in national literature. Our purpose through this study is to both concretize this important but not fully studied literary region and to comprehensively visualize national literature of a period.
2.3. Place literary facts in the historical and cultural context of that time to visualize the real development of literature and try, to the extent possible, to find the internal logic of that development.
3. Research approach and methods
3.1. Approach
The subject of the thesis is the literary imprints in a new land, in a special stage of the regional cultural process. Therefore, the research is mainly carried out according to the systematic approach in describing literary history and the direction of regional literary research. However, the reality is that up to now, there has never been a methodological work that discusses in depth the criteria for determining a written literary region, as well as setting out the theoretical basis for regional literary research. Therefore, in order to decode the Dang Trong literary region in different aspects, we selectively absorb works with theoretical colors, expressing the research views of prestigious scholars. Typical of which are the concepts:
- Concept of a true literary historical work
According to Tran Ngoc Vuong, a literary history work must visualize the historical movement of the subject, which is literature, both through presenting the overall appearance of each era, period, stage, and literary period, and introducing and
determine the position of authors and representative works in the literary process of the period, stage, and era, and even the impact of those authors and works on the entire literary era. In addition to presenting literary content , literary history work needs to present what makes up the appearance of literature itself, that is, the reality of the foundation and structure of literature: language and genre system [189, p. 9]. The visualization and evaluation of Dang Trong literature also follows that trend.
- The concept of "reading" literary works through culture , in other words, the concept of the feasibility of the cultural approach in studying medieval literature.
According to Tran Nho Thin, this method prioritizes the restoration of the cultural space in which the literary work was born, establishing the influence of philosophical, religious, ethical, political, legal, aesthetic concepts, concepts of people... that once existed in a certain cultural space for the work in terms of character building, structure, motifs, images, language... It focuses on the task of decoding artistic images, finding the contemporary features of the work [189, p. 47]. Choosing a cultural perspective to observe and explain literary phenomena, especially medieval literature, will help reduce the possibility of inference, the possibility of modernizing past literature, explaining literature through the eyes of modern people, influenced by the perspective of the modern world, thereby contributing to bringing readers "more opportunities to get closer to the truth of literary history" [151, p. 6].
- Concept of uneven development of national culture
Although the distinction between North and South, in some contexts, at some specific historical moments, can be considered “immoral” when “dividing” the unity of the nation, however, Tran Dinh Huou believes that “in some aspects of scientific research, it is necessary” [67, p. 189]. This thesis has proven its applicability when applied to the study of Nguyen Thong’s case, considered “from the perspective of the uneven development of national culture” 1 . According to him, Nguyen Thong’s ideology, style – working style, research and writing style – are related to the new land of Cochinchina and the learning style there, where “in the development there is
1 See also the article: “From the perspective of uneven development of national culture, looking at the light of Nguyen Thong's star”, Selected Works , Volume 2, Tran Dinh Huou (2007), Education Publishing House, Hanoi.
The disadvantage is the lack of long-standing tradition, but because it is new, it is easy to quickly accept the contemporary, and move into the future easily" [67, p. 194]. People in those lands may not have the sophistication that tradition has forged into the quintessence, but because they are still simple, they are more active, natural, and dynamic. The star Nguyen Thong, if it has an unusual light, compared to other stars of Bac Ha at that time, is due to that characteristic. Our research continues to develop in the direction of approaching the uneven development of cultural and literary regions.
3.2. Research method
3.2.1. Historical literary method
To visualize Dang Trong literature as its "original face", we develop research content according to the criteria of literary history, from which we select useful data, documents, and poetry for the thinking process to come to an awareness and evaluation of the characteristics, position, and role of Dang Trong literature.
3.2.2. Comparison method
By placing the literature of Dang Trong in relation to the literature of Dang Ngoai in the 17th and 18th centuries and in the entire process of Vietnamese medieval literature, we hope to be able to see the similarities and differences between the works of Dang Trong and Dang Ngoai authors in the 17th and 18th centuries, and at the same time point out the inheritances, new creations, and distinctive signs of Southern literature and culture compared to the overall Vietnamese literature and culture. From there, we can establish the position and role of Dang Trong literature in the development process of national literature.
3.2.3. Interdisciplinary approach
Here, we mainly use the interdisciplinary research method of literature and culture. On the one hand, from describing, analyzing, and evaluating the specific characteristics of literary works written in Dang Trong in the 17th - 18th centuries, we "read" out some cultural codes of this land. On the other hand, we place the literary work in the context in which it arose and developed, on that basis, we identify literary characteristics with specific laws and historical characteristics, in other words, we explain literary characteristics from a cultural perspective. In our opinion, it is a two-way dialectical relationship: literature contains many cultural codes, and culture includes
function, dominate, and form many characteristics of literature. This is especially meaningful for the subject of Dang Trong literature. Because unlike many other parts of local literature, Dang Trong literature appeared right at a period of many changes in the history of the region, which was also a new period of Dai Viet's cultural process and was a special local part representing a special literary period, therefore "also carrying in its characteristics and values specific cultural movements" [142, p. 270].
4. Research object and scope
4.1. Research subjects
The main research object of the topic is the literary works of Dang Trong in the period 1600 - 1802, in terms of: creative team, reflective content, genre, language... These are essentially all issues of literary history. Although it cannot be considered a new way of posing the problem, in our opinion, they are necessary operations when wanting to visualize a literary period, as a basis for determining the role of that literary region.
Due to the limitations of time, the scope of the thesis, and especially our own research capacity, in this thesis, we only examine the works of authors in the plains and only limit them to the scope of figurative literary works. As for a part of the works of other ethnic groups, and functional literary works, we hope to have the opportunity to complete them in a more "long-term" and systematic research project.
4.2. Sources of information
- To have a general view of Dang Trong literature, we approach documents on the works of Dang Trong authors in the period 1600 - 1802 and documents/research works on this literary region by previous generations. Basically, our analysis and comments are mainly based on documents that have been translated into the national language.
- At the same time, in order to recognize the distinctive features of Dang Trong literature as well as determine its role and position in the development process of national literature, in addition to examining Dang Trong works (the main subject), we also approach Dang Ngoai literary works of the same period and a group of documents/research works on ancient and medieval Vietnamese literature in general.
- On the other hand, in order to better understand the cultural context in which Dang Trong literature arose and developed, we find it necessary to approach a group of documents on Dang Trong history and culture.
5. Contribution of the thesis
The thesis contributes to re-identifying the characteristic elements of Dang Trong literature in the process of literary history.
Based on the results obtained from the comparison with the contemporary literature of Dang Ngoai, the thesis contributes to identifying the distinctive signs of regional literature. At the same time, it establishes the role and position of Dang Trong literature, as well as the role of typical individuals in the development process of national written literature.
Identify the nature and origin of Dang Trong literature as a cultural element, on the one hand affected by and a consequence of specific cultural movements, on the other hand, it has a reverse impact, creating liveliness for the cultural space of the region.
6. Thesis structure
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, and References, the main content of the thesis is developed in four chapters:
- Chapter 1: Overview of research situation
- Chapter 2: Culture and society of Dang Trong in the 17th - 18th centuries
- Chapter 3: Literature of Dang Trong in relation to literature of Dang Ngoai in the 17th - 18th centuries
- Chapter 4: The role of Dang Trong literature in national literature
Chapter 1
Overview of research situation
1.1. Some basic terms
1.1.1. Dang Trong - the name of the new land
During the Trinh - Nguyen war, the two warlord families occupied the two regions of the South and the North, using the Gianh River (ie Linh Giang, in Quang Binh province) as the dividing line; the area from the Gianh River inward was Dang Trong/Duong Trong, at that time also called Nam Ha (many foreign documents called it "Quang Nam country"); and the area from the Gianh River outward was Dang Ngoai/Duong Ngoai, ie Bac Ha. Accordingly, the names Dang Trong/Duong Trong - Dang Ngoai/Duong Ngoai, or Nam Ha - Bac Ha only had historical significance during the 17th - 18th century, when the country was divided into two regions.
So when did the history of Dang Trong, the history of the southern half of the Fatherland, officially begin? Many previous research works have confirmed that it was the time when Nguyen Hoang came to guard Thuan Hoa, in 1558. But there are also opinions that "the division is completely unfounded", that "the history of Dang Trong only began after Nguyen Hoang secretly brought troops and ships to Thuan Quang in 1600, causing the rift between the Trinh - Nguyen factions within the Later Le Dynasty to become irreparable" [142, p. 271]. There are also opinions that, during the entire period when Nguyen Hoang ruled in Dang Trong, he never publicly announced his separation, but still received orders from Le - Trinh. It was not until Lord Nguyen Phuoc Nguyen secretly declared "Du bat thu sac" (in 1630) that the situation between Dang Trong and Dang Ngoai was officially determined. So how should the starting point be chosen? From the perspective of a literary researcher, studying the cultural context of a land in a particular historical period, we would like to contribute a few comments.
I think that the formation of a land must be continued over long historical journeys. It was not until the 17th century that the Vietnamese people moved to the South. And the event of Nguyen Hoang guarding Thuan Hoa under the order of King Le (in 1558), although originating from the purpose of finding a place to live and preserve the family after the turmoil of the court, but in terms of political nature, perhaps it was not much different.
compared to the process of "carrying swords to open up new territories" that the previous Ly, Tran, and Le dynasties had carried out. Because in name, the Dang Trong government institution at this time was still under the regime of the Le dynasty, and Nguyen Hoang was still just a provincial official. There was even a time when Nguyen Hoang himself "personally brought generals, soldiers, elephants, horses, boats and canoes to the capital to pay respect, and presented books on military provisions, money, silk, gold, silver, jewels, and treasures of the two towns of Thuan Hoa and Quang Nam" [31, p. 287]. From then until 1600, Nguyen Hoang stayed in Thang Long, actively participating in "punishing" the separatist groups in Dang Ngoai, including battles in which he volunteered, and battles in which Trinh Tung ordered in the name of King Le.
On the other hand, although it was not until 16301 that Nguyen Phuoc Nguyen
officially declared his disobedience to the Le king's edict, which was actually an order from the Trinh lord; but the moment Nguyen Hoang decided to "leave", secretly bringing troops and boats to Thuan - Quang in 1600 and never returning to the North, can be seen as a milestone marking the complete separation and ending the actual military-subject relationship between Nguyen Hoang's forces and the Le - Trinh forces . 2. The concept of "Dang Trong" as a geopolitical region in the sense of distinguishing, comparing and even confronting the geopolitical region of Dang Ngoai was officially established.
Similarly, there are many approaches to the time when the history of Dang Trong ended. In 1774, the Le - Trinh army led by Hoang Ngu Phuc drove the Nguyen lords into Gia Dinh. At this time, the structure of Dang Trong was basically dissolved. In 1771, the Tay Son uprising broke out, leading to the establishment of the Tay Son dynasty in 1778 (marked by the event of Nguyen Nhac's accession to the throne), effectively ending nearly two centuries of division of the country; the concept of Dang Trong basically disappeared. Many people consider these milestones to mark the collapse of the Dang Trong regime. That is also the reason why many researchers consider 1778 as the time when the history of Dang Trong literature ended; and the works in the period 1778 - 1802 are classified as literature of the Tay Son - Nguyen Anh civil war.
1 Not to mention, the anecdote “Du bat thu sac” happened in 1630, associated with Phung Khac Khoan, while at this time, the Phung family had long passed away. Therefore, whether this really happened or not, perhaps is still a mystery!
2 This event caused a great shock to the court in general and to Trinh Tung in particular. Trinh Tung even brought King Le back to Tay Do.