Vietnamese sea and islands literary history: A view from the Confucian discourse theory

Abstract

Based on the primary resources of literary written by kings, officers, confucians in the Vietnamese medieval time, this article presents a research on historical discourses of the East sea. The result showed that the Confucian discourse played an important role in Vietnamese literary history. The Confucian discourse was the intellectual and cultural context which connected the different realms of a literary phenomenon. In company with the view from the mountain and delta, the literary discourse with the view from the sea laid the political foundation for the Vietnamese’s Southward expansion. This article has partially contributed to developing the medieval literary theory, and awarkening people to the hidden but interesting corner of the Vietnamese cultural history.