PROMINENT TENDENCIES IN CONFUCIAN STUDIES IN VIETNAM DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Tóm tắt

This article provides a systematic overview of the intellectual landscape of Confucian studies in Vietnam during the first half of the 20th century. By categorizing diverse scholarly orientations, ranging from the apologetic tradition and the resurgence of Yangmingism to the Marxist reinterpretation of Confucianism, the paper elucidates a profound epistemological shift: the deconstruction of Confucianism as a state orthodoxy and its reconstruction as an object of academic inquiry. By examining representative figures and their seminal works, notably Phan Bội Châu, Trần Trọng Kim, and Đào Duy Anh, this study highlights how distinct interpretive frameworks emerged to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity. On one hand, this transition underscores the historical particularity of Vietnamese Confucianism in comparison to other East Asian nations; on the other, it recontextualizes the role and status of Confucianism within the broader trajectory of Vietnamese intellectual history.