On Phi Family in Vietnam

Abstract

The Phi family in Vietnam is a rare family and its remembers are not really numerous in comparision with some other families, but it has played an important role to the country in the past centuries. There are lots of people of the Phi family at home and overseas others today. In Vietnam they are living in the provinces such as Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Noi, Ha Tay, Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, Dac Lac, Ho Chi Minh city, Can Tho, An Giang. The problems concerning the Phi family are: When did the Phi family appear for the first time and Where? How is about its dispersion and its ancestor? All of that need to study in details. Although some famous persons of the Phi family was mentioned in the Vietnamese annals, there has been until now no specific study on this family. In this article, the authors try to explain the following issues: 1. Some conflicting viewpoints on the origin of the Phi family in Vietnam (Phi as Ly family or an unique family appeared during time of the kinh Kinh Duong Vuong); 2. Some remarks on the Phi family in China; 3. Some places concerning the Phi family in Vietnam; 4. On the forefather of the Phi family in Vietnam (according to existent documents and basing authors' studies Phi Yem, a Giao Chau leader (r. 547-465), was a founding person of the Phi family and its first rising place over 1550 years was Phi hamlet (Phi familial housing), Kim Thanh district, Hai Duong province today); 5. Some Phi familial celebrities in Vietnamese historical dynasties...