Chungcheongnam-do

▲ Delegation to establish international network for Chungcheong-do's Confucianism sent to Hanoi, Vietnam

Chungnam Institute of History and Culture (President: Lee Jong-su, CIHC) sent a delegation to Hanoi, Vietnam from April 2 to 6 in order to establish an international network for Chungcheong-do's Confucianism. This visit was organized with a goal to promote historical and cultural exchange between local governments following President Moon Jae-in's visit to Vietnam in March.

The delegation, which was comprised of seven members from CIHC, Nonsan City and Chungcheongnam-do Development Corporation, visited the Institute of Philosophy, a subsidiary of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the largest national policy research organization that belongs to the Vietnamese Office of Prime Minister, Institute of Northeast Asian Studies and Institute of Han-Nom Studies and discussed plans for cooperation in the field of Confucian studies.

Since 2016, CIHC has been building an international network with related organizations in China, Vietnam and Japan in order to establish the status of Chungcheong-do Confucianism. In addition, last year, CIHC bolstered cooperation with overseas organizations by hosting the “Chungcheongnam-do Confucianism International Forum” with the Chungcheongnam-do Office and formed a consensus for the necessity of Confucian culture tourism development in Chungcheongnam-do. The visit to Vietnam was also planned with a goal to establish a basis for the exchange of Confucian culture between the countries.

Historically, Confucian culture is deeply rooted in Vietnam. In 1070, a Confucian shrine for Confucius was built in Hanoi followed by the installation of Quoc Tu Giam, an educational institute to foster Confucian scholars. Confucianism was adopted as a national ideology after the establishment of the Le Dynasty in 1428 and the public examination system was introduced as part of the efforts to build a Confucius society.

As such, the national institution of Confucianism was introduced around the same time in Korea and Vietnam. Vietnam, a socialist country, experienced invasion by Western powers and a war in modern times. However, the Confucius values still remain strongly in the family relations and village communities. In addition, Vietnam has a large number of tangible and intangible Confucius cultural assets
Having focused on Confucius culture in Vietnam, CIHC organized this visit by actively discovering cooperation targets for the international network of Chungcheong-do Confucianism.

“To develop Confucius culture in Chungcheong-do, CIHC is performing various research activities ranging from the collection of artifacts to consultation. I hope the Chungcheong Confucius Culture Center will strengthen substantial exchange in research among the related organizations in Vietnam and Korea,” said President Lee Jong-su of CIHC to the heads of the Institute of Philosophy, Institute of Northeast Asian Studies and Institute of Han-Nom Studies. Lee Sang-gyun, the principal researcher, introduced the Chungcheong Confucius Culture Center to be built in Nonsan-si and discussed plans for exchange and cooperation.

In response, Nguyen Tai Dong, the President of Institute of Philosophy, said, “We are very much familiar with Chungcheongnam-do as we have been promoting academic exchange with the Confucianism Research Institute of Chungnam National University. We welcome exchange between the countries.”

In addition, President Pham Honh Thai of Institute of Northeast Asian Studies said, “We have the Korean Studies Research Center in our institute and are promoting studies about Korean Confucianism. I hope we will study and think about the roles of Confucianism in contemporary society through cooperation.” Lastly, Nguyen Tuan Cuong, the President of Institute of Han-Nom Studies said, “We are the largest research institute to collect and study classical data in Vietnam. The Institute of Han-Nom Studies welcomes the establishment of the Chungcheong Confucius Center and looks forward to active exchange and cooperation.”

CIHC signed an agreement for international academic exchange with the three Vietnamese organizations following a meeting. As a follow-up plan for the visit to Vietnam, CIHC, through consultation with Chungcheongnam-do, will invite the Vietnamese organizations to the international events scheduled in the second half of this year that include the “Chungcheong Confucianism International Forum” and “Pan Yellow Sea Forum.” CIHC also plans to actively reflect the items of exchange projects with overseas affiliated organizations in developing international projects of the Chungcheong Confucius Culture Center.