“Ngoại phiên thông thư” 外蕃通書: tập tư liệu tối cỏ về quan hệ Việt - Nhật

Abstract

Diplomatic Writings (also known as 外蕃通書 which litterally means "pappers and ink of diplomacy") is a collection of diplomatic texts between Bakufu 籍 府 Tokugawa 徳川 and the representatives of neibour-ing nations such as Korea, Philippine, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Those writings were exchanged from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, during which the Edo period had reached its half and the Trinh and Nguyen families of Vietnam were fighting against each other. The writings were collected and edited by Kondo Juzo 近 藤 重 戲(also known as Kondo Morishige 守重) (1771-1829), who was a scholar and vassal of Bakufu Tokugawa. Diplomatic Writings consists of 27 volumes, including a volume for the content list. Diplomatic writings with Vietnam are sorted in the section named "An Nam Nation Writings"安南國書. The collection was composed from 1808 to 1819, presented in traditional Chinese, ancient Japanese, and Katakana 片仮名. The "An Nam Nation Writings" section consists of writings from Bakufu Tokugawa to Lord Nguyen in the South of Vietnam and Lord Trinh in the North of Vietnam, and vice versa, discussing diplomacy, commerce, and protections for Japanese citizens commercing in Vietnam. This is the oldest writing collection about Vietnam - Japan relations. This article introduces and studies the section "An Nam Nation Writings" in Diplomatic Writings.