Professor Phan Huy Le's research on Asian production modes and socio-economic formations in Vietnamese history

Abstract

"Asian mode of production" and "Socio-economic Modes" are terms coined by K. Marx, the scholar who founded scientific socialism in the mid-nineteenth century. Approaching and applying Marxist theory on historical studies, historians in the past decades have done many studies, compared, supplemented and expanded the theory from Eastern societies’ historical experiences in general and from Vietnam in particular. As a prominent Vietnamese historian and leading expert on Vietnamese history in the ancient and medieval periods, Historian Phan Huy Le (1934-2018) from a very early age was interested in researching and writing many works about this subject. Based on Professor Phan Huy Le's publications, this article focuses on analyzing and presenting some of his views and contributions on the issues "Asian production Modes" and "Economic-social Modes" in Vietnamese history.