Dai Viet Su Ky, also known as Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, designates a collection of historical chronicles written by several different authors over a period extending from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Le Van Huu (1230–1322), considered the father of Vietnamese history, wrote the first narrative, relating events occurring between the years 207 BCE and 1225 CE. Phan Phu Tien (fifteenth century) continued Le Van Huu's account to 1446. Both of these works no longer exist as independent works. Ngo Si Lien, an official historian of the court of emperor Le Thanh Tong (1460–1497), reproduced them while comparing them with Chinese official histories, Vietnamese nonofficial accounts, as well as other historical material such as biographies, genealogies, and eyewitness reports. He also added his own commentaries. In the presentation of his work to the emperor, Ngo Si Lien informs us about his conception of history: "History records events; whether good or bad, they can serve as examples for posterity." As for his method, he followed the footsteps of Sima Qian in his Shi Ji and Confucius in his Qun Qiu, which means that events are recorded year by year—earning for these histories the common title of annals—listed under the names of successive rulers.
Further Reading
Ngo Si Lien. (1998) Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu. Hanoi, Vietnam: Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi.
