[Book] History and Culture - Multidimensional, Interdisciplinary Approach

History students and historical researchers all seek to dialogue with the past through different “channels” and “ways”. “Channel” here refers to historical data and the means that help people access historical information. “Way” refers to the research method, the approach that historical researchers apply in the process of learning and discovering historical events, characters and processes. “Channel” and “way” are both important and closely interact, supporting each other in the process of history students and historical researchers “dialogue” with the past. If they limit themselves to certain “ways”, researchers may only be able to recognize, collect and use a certain number of historical sources. On the contrary, by boldly accepting and applying new research methods and approaches, historians can recognize, collect and use many other historical sources, or perceive more clearly the value and reliability of existing historical sources. Meanwhile, being able to exploit and use new historical sources and scientific information often forces researchers to change their perspective, evaluation, approach, and innovate their entire system of research methods and techniques.

History, first of all, is the history of mankind and cannot be anything other than human life in different historical spaces and times. Human life and human life are always rich, multifaceted and multidimensional. Therefore, historical science has been an interdisciplinary science from the very beginning. Historical cognition, if it wants to achieve comprehensiveness, positivism, objectivity and authenticity, must be based on a system of research methods and interdisciplinary, multidimensional and multi-perspective approaches.

However, like any human activity, the historical discovery and perception of history by history students and researchers - whether professional or non-professional - depends greatly on the subjective factors of the historian himself. Johann Martin Chladenius, a famous German historian, one of the founders of the subjectTextual studiesand belonging to the school that exalts the absolute objectivity of Western history in the Age of Enlightenment, also had to admit: "Those who demand that the historian must put himself in the position of a person without religion, without a country, without a family, that must be a big mistake, because people do not know that they are demanding the impossible."

Therefore, as Professor Tran Quoc Vuong once pointed out, “there is always a gap between history - reality (Histoire – Réalité) and history - cognition (Histoire – Conscience). Generations of historians have always strived on the arduous journey of discovery, exploration, and overcoming themselves to reach objective historical truth. Objectivity and honesty are therefore considered the fundamental criteria of professional ethics for professional historians. At the same time, scientific theories play the role of both epistemological foundation and guiding torch for their research work.

Nearly a century ago, when leading the patriotic youth - intellectuals to enter the "Revolutionary Path", the patriot Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh once raised a principle in the relationship and role of "ism" (ie revolutionary theory) for the revolutionary party: "If the party wants to be strong, it must have an ideology as its core, everyone in the party must understand and follow that ideology. A party without an ideology is like a person without intelligence, a ship without a compass". It can be said that scientific theory plays as important a role in historical research as revolutionary theory does for the revolutionary party. Extensive reading and the ability to update and apply those scientific theories into research practice are objective requirements, which are the soul of each historical school and at the same time create a core element in the capacity structure of each professional historian.

From the first days of gradually following the path of the Master of the Faculty of History, Hanoi University, up to now, 36 years have passed, the two of us have always kept in mind the principles and professional ethics that have been imparted by our teachers. On each stage of our study and research, we have had more opportunities to learn from masters in other historical backgrounds in the world. The more we practice and expand our knowledge, the more we understand the things that have been imparted from the Me Tri - Thuong Dinh lecture hall and from excavation sites, fieldwork, observation, and research in many regions of the country.

The bookHistory and Culture – A Multidimensional, Interdisciplinary Approachis built on the basis of 25 monographs that we have completed and published in the last 10 years. These are experiments, explorations, and discoveries about a number of issues of regional and world history, of Vietnamese history and culture... Each monograph is an independent study, an experiment in the approach and thinking about a professional issue based on the principle of multidimensional, multifaceted, and interdisciplinary approach. Certainly not all of our experiments and explorations have achieved the expected success. However, what we strive for is honesty and openness in perception, seriousness and caution in professional operations, and efforts to find new approaches and explanations for the professional issues raised.

Hopefully, the book will be a useful reference for colleagues, friends and students in History and some other social sciences and humanities. Your comments and guidance will certainly help us a lot in revising our research in future publications and that allows us to express our most sincere gratitude.

Hanoi, Summer 2017