The set "Southern Literature of the Six Provinces" includes 3 volumes: Volume 1 - "The South and local folk literature", Volume 2 - "Han Nom literature during the opening and construction of the new land" and Volume 3 "Han Nom literature and Quoc Ngu literature during the French resistance and French colonial period".
The book series provides valuable documents on the literature of the six southern provinces from the time of land reclamation to the time of resistance against the French. Each period is explained in detail in each book, giving readers a specific and general view of the historical process as well as the literary culture of the six southern provinces.
From local folk literature with folk songs, proverbs, songs, verses, poems to Han Nom literature, Quoc Ngu literature, the great names in the literary world in each period were painstakingly collected, researched, synthesized fully by author Nguyen Van Hau and supplemented many shortcomings of previous generations of researchers, creating a complete anthology of Southern literature at that time. The documents that author Nguyen Van Hau consulted were all reputable and valuable, contributing to the completion of the book series that readers hold in their hands.
"The South and Local Folk Literature" is a research work on the folk literature genre of the Southern expansion period. During the expansion period, people had to fight with nature, reclaim land. The Southern land was a place where "crocodiles swam in the river, tigers roared on the banks", the first residents had to fight with nature, so the literature representing the spiritual life of this period was only oral genres, folk songs, proverbs, riddles and folk songs.
All these literary forms were collected, organized and introduced by author Nguyen Van Hau very elaborately and methodically, but not lacking the author's emotions when commenting on oral literature of this period.
Because Cochinchina has six provinces, when speaking or writing, people often call it the Six Provinces of Cochinchina or the Six Provinces of Cochinchina. Perhaps the name Six Provinces is concise and has a complete meaning to indicate a large place name, so people often cut off the word Cochinchina and call it Luc Tinh for short.
"Han Nom literature in the period of opening up and building a new land" shows the initial stage to the development of Han Nom literature in Dang Trong. When the administrative management of the Nguyen lords was shaped, Han Nom literature of Dang Trong was also born and developed.
When the Nguyen Lords' Dang Trong government was stable, education, examinations, literary works and geographical research were born one after another, and the types of funeral orations in religious activities were also standardized with the nuances and language of the South. Highlights in this compilation are: Early Han Nom literature to the great authors of that period such as: Mac Thien Tich, Vo Truong Toan, Trinh Hoai Duc, Bui Huu Nghia, Huynh Man Dat...
We can say that the literature of the migrants was initially just a preliminary step. Depending on their spiritual life, people composed folk songs, folk songs, and proverbs that were suitable for the common understanding level.
Then, depending on their personal needs, people copied down ballads, songs, and verses in Nom script, or more progressively, poems, introductions, spoken books, medical books, and passages of cultural and family ceremonies in Chinese characters. It was not until the government organization was expanded and the population was more numerous that the need became more urgent, and thus learning and taking exams became necessary.
"Han Nom Literature and Quoc Ngu Literature during the French Resistance and French Colonial Period" is a compilation of literary works expressing the patriotism and indomitable struggle of the Southern people against French colonialism.
This was the period that produced patriotic writers with outstanding literary talent in many immortal works that have been left for posterity, such as: Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Phan Van Tri, Nguyen Thong, Suong Nguyet Anh, Nguyen Quang Dieu...
Poetry and literature expressing patriotism, spirit, and respect for righteousness over money during this period in the South bloomed, creating a glorious period for the country's literature.
Nguyen Van Hau (1922 - 1995) was a writer, researcher of Vietnamese literature, culture and history, famous for his research on the Southern region. He was born in An Giang. Born into a Confucian family, as a child, he learned the national language, French and Chinese. In 1952, he began teaching, writing for newspapers and books. He wrote for many newspapers in Saigon on the topics of research, literature and local history. During this period, he was also the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Torch of Compassion. From 1960 to 1968, he participated in writing textbooks for the Literature subject at secondary schools. In 1971, he taught Literature at Hoa Hao University in An Giang.
