The publication of Cultural diversity and dialogue between cultures: A perspective from Vietnam is compiled by Prof. Dr. Pham Xuan Nam, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (Chief compiler), released by Social sciences Publishing House in October 2013. The book is reprinted and supplemented in comparison to a publication with the same name (published in 2008).
In comparison with the first edition, the new publication deeply and systematically presents six major contents as follows:
(1) Awareness of cultural diversity and dialogue between cultures;
(2) The creative activity of original cultural values of the people in Van Lang – Au Lac era;
(3) Combination of cultural dialogue with many different forms of struggle in the period of being a part of and against Imperial China;
(4) Dialogue between the Great Vietnamese culture with some other cultures in the region and the world in the middle ages;
(5) Contact, exchange and dialogue are increasingly open between Vietnamese culture with many other cultures in the world in the early-modern period;
(6) Historical lessons and contemporary issues of promoting the national cultural characters, proactively participating in dialogues between cultures in the current period of globalization.
With each content, the book provides deep analysis of many aspects related to process of creative activities of endogenous culture, associated with process of cultural contact and exchange with the outside of the community of peoples living together in our country through the major historical stages of the nation. In which, culture of the Viet people – the majority - is always a mainstream cultural line with a role of aggregating and integrating featured cultural values of all the other brother ethnic communities.
Besides, the book also relatively clearly presents issues related to history and culture of Champa and Phu Nam. Those two cultural lines had developed quite brilliantly in the antiquity-middle ages in the Central and the South of our current country, before integrated with the Great Vietnamese culture. In addition, such issues as: language, letters, thought, ethics, legislation, literature, art, religion and some aspects of physical culture; Role of cultural dialogue in promoting socio-economic development of the country; Peaceful settlement of wars; Establishment, re-establishment and consolidation of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and other countries in the world, are quite specifically and systematically mentioned in this second publication.
Pham Vinh Ha
