Farewell to Professor Ha Van Tan - a typical son of Nghe An

Professor Ha Van Tan was born on August 16, 1937, in Tien Dien, Nghi Xuan (Ha Tinh), in a family with a tradition of mandarin examinations. This family has famous people such as Dr. Ha Ton Muc, Minister of Justice Dr. Ha Tong Trinh, Vice-Chancellor Ha Van Dai... At the age of 18, after graduating from grade 9 (at that time), Ha Van Tan packed his bags and went to Hanoi. After 1 year of studying and working, Ha Van Tan decided to study at the Faculty of History, University of Education.

Professor Ha Van Tan. Photo: Hanoi National University

In 1957, at the age of 20, Ha Van Tan graduated from university (ranked second - First Runner-up) and was retained at the school as a lecturer in the Department of Ancient Vietnamese History, University of Education. During his internship, he both taught and studied on his own. During this time, he also founded the Department of Historical Methodology at the Faculty of History, University of Education.

Thanks to self-study, he is fluent in Chinese, French, English, Russian, German, Japanese and has a unique method of learning foreign languages. He learned German through Russian books, Japanese through Chinese books. Notably, he is one of the first historians of modern Vietnam who can read Sanskrit - an ancient Indian language. Regarding Professor Ha Van Tan's foreign language ability, there is a funny story that one day, the teachers were reading books in the National Library, an acquaintance asked: Mr. Tan has learned Czech? The teacher was startled: No!. But when he looked again, it was a Czech book. The teacher said "because I know Russian... and Eastern European (slave) words are close to each other, so I can read them".

The "Four Pillars of Contemporary Vietnamese History", from right to left: Professor Dinh Xuan Lam, Professor Phan Huy Le, Professor Ha Van Tan and Professor Tran Quoc Vuong. Photo courtesy.

Regarding the works of Professor Ha Van Tan, in addition to his works on Archaeology, the most prominent is the editing of the bookGeographical informationby Nguyen Trai written in Chinese characters. At that time, Ha Van Tan was only 23 years old. Regarding this, the late Professor Phan Huy Le said that Professor Dao Duy Anh trusted him with this difficult task and commented on Ha Van Tan's work.: "Very elaborate, serious, I am very satisfied and trust the author"Also according to Professor Phan Huy Le,“His (Ha Van Tan) talent and scientific style were revealed right in this first work. He attached great importance to documents, painstakingly searched for and discovered new documents, appraised and verified every detail before using them.”

Since 1960, Ha Van Tan began to study archaeology, one year later Mr. Tran Quoc Vuong wroteBrief introduction to primitive archaeology of Vietnam, presenting new discoveries about the Stone Age. He also co-wrote with Professor Tran Quoc VuongHistory of primitive communist regime in VietnamandHistory of Vietnamese feudal regime(episode 1).

Many years later, another work by Ha Van Tan (co-written with Pham Thi Tam) caused a big stir. That was the bookThe resistance against the Yuan-Mongol invasion in the 13th centurypublished in 1968. To write that book, Ha Van Tan had to consult a huge archive of historical documents from Persian and Arabic sources. At that time, Professor Hoang Xuan Han affirmed that no one had read these documents before Ha Van Tan. Critic Hoai Thanh affirmed that this was a serious historical work but as captivating as a novel. Some people commented that this was“A historical masterpiece”.Honor to the two authors, the bookThe resistance against the Yuan-Mongol invasion in the 13th centurywas read by President Ho Chi Minh shortly before he passed away. He sent his regards to the two authors Ha Van Tan and Pham Thi Tam…

The four pillars of contemporary Vietnamese history from left to right: Professor Tran Quoc Vuong, Professor Dinh Xuan Lam, Professor Ha Van Tan and Professor Phan Huy Le with Mr. and Mrs. Professor Tran Van Giau. Photo courtesy

During his scientific career, he published nearly 300 works in specialized scientific journals at home and abroad, and guided 20 PhD students to successfully defend their doctoral theses in history and archaeology. With great contributions to research and teaching for Vietnamese history in general and archaeology in particular, Ha Van Tan was awarded the title of professor (in 1980), the title of People's Teacher (in 1997), and the Ho Chi Minh Prize (in 2000). He was honored by generations of cadres and students of the Faculty of History of Hanoi National University as one of the four pillars (“Lam, Le, Tan, Vuong”)of Vietnamese history.

Talking about Professor Ha Van Tan, generations of scientists, lecturers, teachers, students, history students and colleagues all admire a leading scientist, a character, an intelligent and diligent person...

Professor Ha Van Tan has made many contributions to Nghe An. When Vinh Pedagogical University was evacuated due to the war, Professor Ha Van Tan was invited to teach archaeology. Professor Ha Van Tan has also directly excavated archaeological sites in Nghe An many times and made valuable discoveries about the people and this special land. He is also one of the people who participated in writing the book History of Nghe Tinh, volume 1.

As for me (the author of the article), I was very fortunate to have Professor Ha Van Tan directly teach and guide the subject of Archaeology when I was just retained by Vinh Pedagogical University as a lecturer. The days of eating rice balls and packed rice with students and Mr. Ha Van Tan excavating at archaeological sites, being guided by him in a meticulous and scientific manner were truly unforgettable.

Professor Ha Van Tan, the last of the “four pillars” of modern Vietnamese history, passed away at 9:02 p.m. on November 27 in Hanoi at the age of 82. We respectfully offer incense to him - an outstanding son of Nghe An.