Oc Eo culture and the Kingdom of Funan in local history education in Southern Viet Nam

Abstract

Oc Eo culture is considered the foundation for the formation and development of the Funan kingdom existed between the 1st and 7th centuries. The kingdom of Funan is considered one of the earliest states in the Vietnamese territory. The Vietnam’s General Education Program issued in 2018 has made an important change when introducing Oc Eo culture and the kingdom of Funam into the curriculum, made them compulsory learning contents. This is a new step of development when educators bring new historical research results to high schools. This article aims to shed light on the roles and impacts of the research results on Oc Eo culture and the kingdom of Funan on bringing awareness of these topics at schools. At the same time, this research also raises some difficult issues that need to be further studied and supplemented when compiling local textbooks on Southern Vietnamese provinces/cities that associated with the historical framework of the Oc Eo culture and Funan kingdom.