Le Quy Don as a Representative of the Enlightenment Age in Vietnam

Based on the global history approaches, the article analyzes activities and intellectual heritage of Le Quy Don, a Vietnamese scholar and encyclopedist of the 18th century. Conceptual aspects and substantial issues of the most notable works compiled by Le Quy Don are explored in the context of the global Enlightenment concept suggested by Sebastian Conrad and compared with defining manifestations of the Enlightenment in various countries in the West and the East. As a result of the research, the author concludes that Le Quy Don’s activities for the accumulation, systematization and spreading of knowledge, his ideas and contribution to the social development of Vietnam make him not only an outstanding light-bringer in Vietnam history but also one of the prominent figures of the Enlightenment era which is understood as a universal phenomenon of global history.