Việt Nam sử lược

Author	Trần Trọng Kim
Original title	Việt Nam sử lược
Language	Vietnamese
Subject	History of Vietnam
Genre	Historiography
Publication date	1920
Publication place	Vietnam

Việt Nam sử lược (chữ Hán: 越南史略, French: Précis d'Histoire du Việt-Nam, lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim. It covered the period from Hồng Bàng dynasty to the time of French Indochina. The book was first published in 1920 and reprinted many times. It was the standard history text in South Vietnam.^[1]

Hồ Quý Ly has been condemned by modern historians. The leaders of the Tây Sơn Rebellion were heroes to the Communists, but condemned by mainstream historians.^[2]

From the late 19th century, Vietnam became a French protectorate, with Vietnamese emperors as mere puppet rulers of the French with little power. The country faced an uncertain future. Trần Trọng Kim believed that if the Vietnamese people knew their own history, they would be patriotic and contribute to national growth.^[1]

However, all historical texts were written in classical Chinese. The usage of classical Chinese had died out in Vietnam early in the 20th century. Tran was concerned that since the Vietnamese people could no longer read classical Chinese, Vietnam's history would be lost. He decided to preserve Vietnamese history by writing a history of Vietnam in the Vietnamese language and script.^[1]

Việt Nam sử lược contained five parts:

1. Early historical period: From Hồng Bàng dynasty to Triệu dynasty;
2. Period Belonging to the North: From First Chinese domination to the establishment of Ngô dynasty;
3. Independent period (unified period): Ngô dynasty, Đinh dynasty, Early Lê dynasty, Lý dynasty, Trần dynasty, Lê dynasty;
4. Independent period (Southern-Northern conflict period): From Mạc dynasty to Tây Sơn dynasty;
5. Recent and modern period: From Nguyễn dynasty to early 20th century.

• Patricia M. Pelley (2002). Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past. ISBN 0822329662.

Vietnamese Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Việt Nam sử lược

• Việt Nam sử lược in Institute of Vietnamese Studies (Viện Việt-Học)
• Việt Nam sử lược

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