Indigenous Foundations and National Identity in Traditional Music: The Core Pillars of Vietnamese Culture and Civilization in the Historical Process of Shaping Identity

Abstract

Under the pressure of deep global integration, the preservation of indigenous cultural values faces immense challenges regarding the risks of cultural hybridization and historical rupture. This study was conducted to deeply identify the identity and indigenous foundations of Vietnamese culture and civilization (văn hiến) through the lens of traditional music, explaining how these artistic values have evolved, established their standing, and endured historical trials. The research employs an in-depth interdisciplinary methodology, integrating systemic structural culturology, ethnomusicology, and textual analysis of current theoretical literature. The findings indicate that the traditional Vietnamese musical system possesses a high degree of autonomy in its variant pentatonic modal structures, maintains an organic connection and co-creative relationship with the monosyllabic poly-tonal language, and reflects a distinct aesthetic system oriented toward the core values of "harmonizing the good and the beautiful." Throughout historical eras, these indigenous values have never remained static; rather, they have continuously transformed, adapted, and integrated through twentieth-century modern music (Tân nhạc) and contemporary popular music to reshape national identity on the global stage. The research results confirm that traditional music serves as a core endogenous cultural resource that reinforces the spiritual genetic code of Vietnamese civilization. On this basis, the study proposes strategic policy solutions: deeply embedding indigenous artistic heritage into the national education system in alignment with groundbreaking policy orientations, while outlining a "reverse globalization" (glocalization) approach to develop creative cultural industries rooted in native foundations.