An Nam chí lược

An Nam chí lược

Copy of An Nam chí lược, in Siku Quanshu
Original title
Country	Đại Việt
Language	Classical Chinese
Subject	History of Vietnam, Culture of Vietnam, Geography of Vietnam
Genre	Historiography
Publisher	Yuan Dynasty
Publication date	1335

The An Nam chí lược (literally Abbreviated Records of An Nam) is an historical text that was compiled by the Vietnamese historian Lê Tắc during his exile in China in early 14th century. Published for the first time in 1335 during the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, An Nam chí lược became one of the few historical books about Đại Việt that survive from the 14th and 15th centuries and it is considered the oldest historical work by a Vietnamese that has been preserved.

Lê Tắc (or Lê Trắc) was an advisor of the Marquis Chương Hiến Trần Kiện who was the son of Prince Tĩnh Quốc Trần Quốc Khang and grandson of the emperor Trần Thái Tông. During the 1285 invasion of Đại Việt by the Yuan Dynasty, Trần Kiện surrendered to Kublai Khan's prince Toghan, but he was killed before he could flee to the northern border. As a subordinate of Trần Kiện, Lê Tắc followed his master to China, he survived the ambush that killed Trần Kiện and afterwards lived in exile in the town of Hanyang, Hubei. During his exile in Hanyang, Lê Tắc compiled the An Nam chí lược to recite the history, geography and culture of Đại Việt. A study shows that Lê Tắc wrote his work around the period from 1285 to 1307 and continuously supplemented until 1339, from the foreword of Lê Tắc, one knows that An Nam chí lược was published for the first time in 1335 during the reign of the Emperor Huizong of Yuan, it was subsequently published in the library Siku Quanshu of the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, an author also based on An Nam chí lược to write an extensive records about Vietnam named Việt Kiệu thư.