The Urban Population Community and the Bourgeois Culture of Thang Long-Ke Cho in the 17th-18th Centuries

Abstract

Thang Long (Hanoi of present day), the capital-city of traditional Vietnam, was well known with its popular name Ke Cho. During the 17th-18th centuries, the socio-cultural development of the city has reached its peak, witnessed a flourishing commodity economy and an increasing urban population community. However, these inhabitants appeared quite different from the bourgeoisie in European medieval towns, by its multi-strata structure in which nobles, mandarins artisans and merchants co-existed and enjoyed the same culture and way of life. Thus, the bourgeois culture of Thang Long-Ke Cho at that time was a dualistic hybrid mixture of the "great tradition" and "little tradition".

Exploiting a rich documentation, especially the relations of contemporary Western merchants and missionaries, the author wants to draw up a truthful sketch of material, spiritual and cultural life of this urban population community in many aspects.

The bourgeois culture of this city reflected the Vietnamese national identity, at the same time unique characteristics of the capital-city in which prevailed an inclination towards high quality, perfection, courtesy as well as liberalism and renovation.