Lĩnh Nam chích quái và việc nghiên cứu lịch sử Việt Nam thời dựng nước

Abstract

The formative history of most nations in the world is closely associated with myths and legends. In many cases, the founding figures are deities or supernatural forces. However, there are also instances in which the progenitors of a nation were historical human beings. As a multi-ethnic country endowed with a rich reservoir of cultural heritage, Vietnam possesses numerous myths and legends about the nation’s founding era. Reading the tales in Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái such as “Lạc Long Quân - Âu Cơ,” “Sơn Tinh - Thủy Tinh,” “Chử Đồng Tử - Tiên Dung,” “Mai An Tiêm,” and others, one can discern cultural messages and “genetic codes” transmitted by earlier generations to their descendants. The study of these myths can provide increasingly profound and comprehensive insights into the mindset of ancient communities during the nation’s formative period; the role of the state and its rulers; social structures and relationships; matriarchal and patriarchal systems; modes of social division of labor; natural resources and the interrelation between sea and land. These cultural elements and messages are perceived, interpreted, and analyzed from multiple dimensions and approaches, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary.