Memoirs and diary as important sources in researching Vietnamese history

Abstract

Without historical data, historians cannot carry out historical research. To have historical works with reliable results, historians need to have access to multi-dimensional historical information because no matter how rich the historical data is, it still cannot fully and completely reflect history. For the researching of Vietnamese history, historians can access different sources, of which memoirs and diaries should not be overlooked. Their values are widely proven in various studies. This article provides a comprehensive view of memoirs and diaries and their advantages and limitations in reflecting historical information. At the same time, the author initially introduces some operations to work with these historical sources to obtain accurate and necessary information.