National scientific seminar looks into Hung Kings era

Hanoi (VNA) – A national scientific seminar on the era of Hung Vuong (Hung Kings), the very first founders of Vietnam, was held in Hanoi on September 24, attracting more than 200 scientists and researchers across the country.

The event aimed to review the findings over the last 50 years about the first nation-building period in the country’s history, and draw experience for future studies.

Sixty-nine scientific reports by 77 scholars from 12 provinces and cities were sent to the seminar.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, head of the Central Theoretical Council and President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said the study of the Hung Kings era will not only inspire the national pride and aspiration for development, enrich the country’s cultural and historical values, but also help resolve issues both at present and in the future through historical lessons.

Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Pham Van Duc, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said the Hung Kings era was recorded rather early, in history documents of different dynasties, but mainly by basing on ancient papers and legends.

In 1968, under the direction of then Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, a national inter-sectoral scientific programme for researching the Hung Kings era was launched, attracting the wholehearted participation of Vietnamese and foreign scientists specialising in many fields, he noted.

Since then, archaeological studies have revealed a large number of relics and artifacts, shedding light on the questionable issues relevant to the Hung Kings era such as origin, date, economy, society, culture and the state apparatus in this period. Researches on old documents, legends, language and folk culture have also helped give people nowadays an insight into the very first period of Vietnam’s history, Duc added.

At the event, participants also proposed measures to help preserve and promote values of the relics dating back to the Hung Kings era./.