Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư
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The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the
Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), was a Vietnamese monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day Hanoi. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt,(ch ...
, that was originally compiled by the royal historian
Ngô Sĩ Liên Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連) was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê dynasty. Biography Ngô Sĩ Liên was the main compiler of the '' Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', a chronicle of the history of Vietnam and a historical record of an Annamese ...
under the order of the Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and was finished in 1479 during the Lê period. The 15-volume book covered the period from Hồng Bàng dynasty to the coronation of Lê Thái Tổ, the first emperor of the Lê dynasty in 1428. In compiling his work, Ngô Sĩ Liên based on two principal historical sources which were ''
Đại Việt sử ký The ''Đại Việt sử ký'' (, vi-hantu, 大越史記, ''Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official historical text of the Trần dynasty, that was compiled by the royal historian Lê Văn Hưu and was finished in 1272. Considered the first ...
'' by
Lê Văn Hưu Lê Văn Hưu (1230–1322) was a historian of the Trần dynasty. He is best known for his work the ''Đại Việt sử ký'', the first comprehensive historical record of the history of Vietnam. Although the book was lost during the Fourth Chin ...
and ''Đại Việt sử ký tục biên'' by Phan Phu Tiên. After its publication, ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' was continually supplemented by other historians of the royal court such as Vũ Quỳnh and Phạm Công Trứ. Today the most popular version of ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' is the ''Nội các quan bản'' edition which was completed in 1697 with the additional information up to 1656 during the reign of the Emperor Lê Thần Tông and the Lord Trịnh Tráng. ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' is considered the most important and comprehensive historical book. The chronicle provides a chronological history beginning with the legendary Hồng Bàng dynasty (2888 BCE?) and continuing to the founding of the house of Lê in 1428.


History of compilation

During the Fourth Chinese domination, many valuable books of
Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), was a Vietnamese monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day Hanoi. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt,(ch ...
were taken away by the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
including
Lê Văn Hưu Lê Văn Hưu (1230–1322) was a historian of the Trần dynasty. He is best known for his work the ''Đại Việt sử ký'', the first comprehensive historical record of the history of Vietnam. Although the book was lost during the Fourth Chin ...
's ''
Đại Việt sử ký The ''Đại Việt sử ký'' (, vi-hantu, 大越史記, ''Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official historical text of the Trần dynasty, that was compiled by the royal historian Lê Văn Hưu and was finished in 1272. Considered the first ...
'' (大越史記, ''Annals of Đại Việt''), the official history of the
Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: triều Trần, chữ Hán: ikt:朝ikt:陳, 朝wikt:陳, 陳), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a List ...
and the most comprehensive source of the history of Vietnam up to that era. However, the contents of the ''Đại Việt sử ký'' and Lê Văn Hưu's comments about various historical events was fully collected by the historian Phan Phu Tiên in writing the first official annals of the
Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
after the order of the Emperor Lê Nhân Tông in 1455. The new ''Đại Việt sử ký'' of Phan Phu Tiên was supplemented the period from 1223 with the coronation of
Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being R ...
to 1427 with the retreat of the Ming dynasty after the victory of
Lê Lợi Lê Lợi (, chữ Hán: 黎利; 10 September 1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietnamese peopl ...
. Phan Phu Tiên's ten-volume work had other names such as ''Đại Việt sử ký tục biên'' (大越史記續編序, ''Supplementary Edition of the Annals of Đại Việt'') or ''Quốc sử biên lục''. During the reign of Lê Thánh Tông, who was an emperor famous for his interest in learning and knowledge, the scholar and historian Ngô Sĩ Liên was appointed to the Bureau of History in 1473. Under the order of Thánh Tông, he based on the works of Lê Văn Hưu and Phan Phu Tiên to write the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' which was compiled in 15 volumes (''quyển'') and finished in 1479. In compiling the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', Ngô Sĩ Liên also drew elements from other books such as '' Việt điện u linh tập'' (''Compilation of the potent spirits in the Realm of Việt'') or '' Lĩnh Nam chích quái'' (''Extraordinary stories of Lĩnh Nam'') which were collections of folk legend and myth but still considered by Ngô Sĩ Liên good sources for history because of their reliable system of citation. This was the first time such sources were used in historiography by a Vietnamese historian. ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' was finally completed in 1479 with the accounts that stopped by the coronation of Lê Thái Tổ in 1428. According to Lê Quý Đôn, Ngô Sĩ Liên also compiled an historical text about the reigns of Thái Tổ, Thái Tông and Nhân Tông named ''Tam triều bản ký'' (''Records of the Three Reigns''). In 1511, the royal historian Vũ Quỳnh reorganized Ngô Sĩ Liên's work in his ''Việt giám thông khảo'' by adding the account about Thánh Tông, Hiển Tông, Túc Tông and Uy Mục, which was called ''Tứ triều bản ký'' (''Records of the Four Reigns''). Other historians continued to revise ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' and also add the supplemental information about the reign of the Lê dynasty, notably the 23-volume ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư tục biên'' (''Continued Compilation of the Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') was published under the supervision of Phạm Công Trứ in 1665 while the "Nội các quan bản" edition, the most comprehensive and popular version of ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', was printed in 1697 during the Chính Hòa era by efforts of the historian Lê Hi.


Edition

The original 15-volume version of ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' or the Hồng Đức edition (1479), that was named after the era name of Lê Thánh Tông, only existed in form of handwritten manuscript and hence is only partially preserved to this day. The ''Đại Việt sử ký tục biên'' or the Cảnh Trị edition (1665), that was the era name of Lê Huyền Tông has a better status of conservation but the most popular and fully preserved version of ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' until now is the Chính Hòa edition (1697) which was the only woodblock printed version of this work. Therefore, the Chính Hòa version is considered the most important historical text about the history of Vietnam from its beginning to the period of the Lê dynasty and has been often reduced, revised and corrected by later historians for contemporary needs. Today, a complete set of the "Nội các quan bản" edition is kept in the archives of the École française d'Extrême-Orient in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France. This edition was translated into Vietnamese in 1993 by the Institute of Hán Nôm in
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
.


Contents

The format of ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' was modeled after the famous ''
Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...
'' (資治通鑑/''Tư trị thông giám'', ''Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government'') of the
Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
scholar
Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the ''Zizhi Tongjian'', a monumental work of history. B ...
, which means historical events were redacted in chronological order like annals. Ngô Sĩ Liên separated his book and the history of Vietnam into ''Ngoại kỷ'' (''Peripheral Records'') and ''Bản kỷ'' (''Basic Records'') by the 938 victory of
Ngô Quyền Ngô Quyền ( vi-hantu, 吳權) (April 17, 898 – February 14, 944), often referred to as Tiền Ngô Vương (前吳王; "First King of Ngô"), was a warlord who later became the founding king of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned fro ...
in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. This chronological method of compilation is different from the official historical texts of Chinese dynasties which had the layout divided in biographies of each historical figures, an approach which was initiated by
Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...
in the ''
Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...
''. In record of each Vietnamese emperor, Ngô Sĩ Liên always started with a brief introduction of the emperor which provided an overview about the reigning ruler of the record. In listing the events, the historian sometimes noted an additional story about the historical figure who was mentioned in the event, some had extensive and detailed stories, notably Trần Quốc Tuấn or
Trần Thủ Độ Prince Trung Vũ Trần Thủ Độ ( vi-hantu, 陳守度, 1194–1264) was a general and leader of the Trần clan during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng of Vietnam. He was the chief mastermind between the overthrowal the L ...
. Some important texts were also included in the original form by Ngô Sĩ Liên such as '' Hịch tướng sĩ'' or '' Bình Ngô đại cáo''.


Historical perspectives


Comparison with Lê Văn Hưu

While Lê Văn Hưu set the starting point for the history of Vietnam by the foundation of the Kingdom of Nam Việt, Ngô Sĩ Liên took a further step by identifying the mythical and historical figures Kinh Dương Vương and his son Lạc Long Quân as the progenitor of the Vietnamese people. Because of the lack of historical resources about Kinh Dương Vương and Lạc Long Quân, some suggests that Ngô Sĩ Liên's explanation of the Vietnamese people's origin was a measure to extend the longevity of the Vietnamese civilization rather than a literal point of departure. From the very beginning of his work, Ngô Sĩ Liên had another difference to Trần scholars in regard to the Hồng Bàng dynasty, that was while the Trần dynasty scholars only mentioned the Hồng Bàng dynasty as a symbol of excellence in the history of Vietnam, Ngô Sĩ Liên defined it the first Vietnamese dynasty which reigned the country from 2879 BC to 258 BC and thus predated the
Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...
, the first dynasty of China, for more than 600 years. However, Ngô Sĩ Liên's account for that long period was so brief that several modern historians challenged the authenticity of his chronology for the Hùng Vương, kings of the Hồng Bàng dynasty, and speculated that Ngô Sĩ Liên created this specific chronology mainly for the political purpose of the Lê dynasty. Like Lê Văn Hưu, Ngô Sĩ Liên treated the Kingdom of Nam Việt as a Vietnamese entity, an opinion which was challenged by several Vietnamese historians from Ngô Thì Sĩ in eighteenth century to modern historians because the kings of Nam Việt were of Chinese origin. In their comments on the defeat of Lý Nam Đế by
Chen Baxian Emperor Wu of Chen (; 503– 9 August 559), personal name Chen Baxian (陳霸先), courtesy name Xingguo (興國), childhood name Fasheng (法生), was the founding emperor of the Chen dynasty of China. He first distinguished himself as a Liang dy ...
which led to the Third Chinese domination in Vietnam, Lê Văn Hưu criticized Lý Nam Đế for his lack of ability while Ngô Sĩ Liên remarked that the Will of Heaven was not yet favour with the Vietnamese independence.


Other arguments

Different than Lê Văn Hưu who saved his prior concern for the identity of the country from China, Ngô Sĩ Liên, according to O.W. Wolters, Ngô Sĩ Liên took the
Chinese historiography Chinese historiography is the study of the techniques and sources used by historians to develop the recorded history of China. Overview of Chinese history The recording of events in Chinese history dates back to the Shang dynasty ( 1600–1046 ...
as the standard in assessing historical events of the history of Vietnam. In commenting one event, the historian often cited a passage from Confucianist classics or other Chinese writings such as the ''
Book of Song The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. ...
'' in order to rhetorically support his own statements. From his Confucianist point of view, Ngô Sĩ Liên often made negative comments on historical figures who acted against the rule of Confucianism. For example, despite his obvious successful reign, the Emperor Lê Đại Hành was heavily criticized in ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' for his marriage with
Dương Vân Nga Dương Thị Ngọc Vân (楊氏玉雲, 952 – 1000) courtesy name Vân Nga (雲娥) was the only empress dowager of the Đinh dynasty and afterwards empress of Lê Đại Hành, the first emperor of the Early Lê dynasty. When her husband Đ ...
who was the empress consort of his predecessor. One researcher even speculated that since Ngô Sĩ Liên had a bias against this emperor, he decided to attribute the famous poem '' Nam quốc sơn hà'' to Lý Thường Kiệt instead of Lê Đại Hành who was considered by several sources the proper author of the ''Nam quốc sơn hà''. Other decisions of the rulers which did not follow the moral and political code of Confucianism were also criticized by Ngô Sĩ Liên such as the coronation of six empresses by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, the marriage of Lê Long Đĩnh with four empresses or Lý Thái Tổ's lack of interest in Confucianist classics study. Especially in the case of the
Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: triều Trần, chữ Hán: ikt:朝ikt:陳, 朝wikt:陳, 陳), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a List ...
, Ngô Sĩ Liên always made unfavourable remarks on the marriages between closely related members of the Trần clan. The only short period during the reign of the Trần dynasty that Ngô Sĩ Liên praised was from the death of Trần Thái Tông in 1277 to the death of Trần Anh Tông in 1320 while the historian denounced many actions of the Trần rulers such as the ruthless purge of
Trần Thủ Độ Prince Trung Vũ Trần Thủ Độ ( vi-hantu, 陳守度, 1194–1264) was a general and leader of the Trần clan during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng of Vietnam. He was the chief mastermind between the overthrowal the L ...
against Lý clan or the controversial marriage between Trần Thái Tông and the Princess Thuận Thiên. Beside its historical value, ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' is also considered an important work of the literature of Vietnam because Ngô Sĩ Liên often provided more information about the mentioned historical figures by the additional stories which were well written like a literary work. From various comments of Ngô Sĩ Liên, it seems that the historian also tried to define and teach moral principles based on the concept of Confucianism. For example, Ngô Sĩ Liên mentioned for several times the definition of a ''Gentleman'' ('' Quân tử'') who, according to the historian, had to possess both good qualities and righteous manners, Ngô Sĩ Liên also emphasized the importance of the ''Gentleman'' in the dynastic era by pointing out the difference between a ''Gentleman'' and a ''Mean man'' (''Tiểu nhân'') or determining what would be the effectiveness of the example of such ''Gentlemen''.


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dai Viet su ky toan thu 1479 books Lê dynasty texts History books about Vietnam Chinese-language literature of Vietnam