Historical and Archaeological Research on the Pre-1858 Mekong Delta

From david.biggs@ucr.edu Thu Jan 20 10:21:20 2005

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:18:05 -0800

From: David A Biggs <david.biggs@ucr.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: historical and archaeological research on the pre-1858 Mekong Delta

Dear List-

Does anyone know of work being done (historical or archaeological) on early modern life in the Mekong Delta? Major sources available include Nguyen histories, European travel narratives, colonial French materials, Vietnamese secondary works and recently Li Tana and NolaCooke's fantastic contribution on Chinese commerce in the lower Mekong (Water Frontier: Commerce and the Chinese in the Lower Mekong Region,1750-1880). Does anyone know of other primary sources--perhaps Khmer temple manuscripts or village records--or of individuals conducting research in this area in Vietnam? I'm particularly interested in better defining patterns of migration, trade and landscape in the region before it was understood to be a regular administrative region of the Nguyen kingdom.

David Biggs

David A Biggs

6600 HMNSS Building - History

University of California - Riverside

Riverside CA 92521

(951) 827-1877

From cwheeler@uci.edu Thu Jan 20 18:41:01 2005

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 10:39:28 +0800 (SGT)

From: Charles Wheeler <cwheeler@uci.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: historical and archaeological research on the pre-1858 Mekong Delta

Dear David,

You may already know about Choi Byung Wook's study of Nam Ky under Minh Mang (SOUTHERN VIETNAM UNDER THE REIGN OF MINH MANG, Cornell SEAP, 2004), but I mention it just in case. Reading it left me wishing someone would look at the Mekong for this period (something I gave up long ago to focus on Central VN), but I do know the sources you'd need are sufficient, depending on the the topic and methodology. Last I talked with Tana she was not on the VSG list, and she would be your best resource for what you're looking for, so I would contact her directly.

Regards,

Chas.