New book stakes Vietnam’s claim to archipelagos

Vietnam is about to publish a geographic anthology offering data and important historical evidence to illustrate the nation’s sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.
Vietnam is about to publish a geographic anthology offering data and important historical evidence to illustrate the nation’s sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

The Vietnam Geographic Anthology, to be circulated by the Youth Publishing House, has four chapters that include 40 of the most famous works on geography, starting with the Tran dynasty of the 13th century through 1954.

The writings were composed by the giants of Vietnamese letters and history, such as Nguyen Trai, Le Quy Don, Phan Huy Chu, Truong Vinh Ky, Dao Van Hoi, Bui Duong Lich, Vuong Duy Trinh, Ngo Vi Lien and Dao Duy Anh.

The publication also offers up an ancient map of the Le dynasty and the “Phu bien tap luc” – a miscellany compiled by the 18th century scholar Le Quy Don that identifies the locations, and cites legal documents related to the Vietnamese people’s sovereignty over the two groups of islands that have been preserved through many different feudal dynasties.

According to Chief Author Bui Van Vuong, the anthology is a set of very important and reliable historic data that helps reaffirm Vietnam ’s sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

Vuong and his associates have spent ten years collecting, researching and compiling the Vietnam Geographic Anthology./.

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