He was part of the generation including Hà Văn Tấn, and Phan Huy Lê that had formed the foundation of Vietnamese History Studies since the 1950s.
[3] Born on December 12, 1934, in Kinh Mon Village, Hải Dương province, Trần Quốc Vượng graduated as Bachelor of History-Geography at University of Hanoi.
At Cornell, he focused his research on the "Evolution and Structure of Vietnamese Folk Culture.
Professor Trần Quốc Vượng, who wrote about a variety of subjects ranging from history, archaeology to folklore, was among the first to begin a systematic study of Vietnam's culture.
In 1973, he was the chief author of the two-edition Danh nhân Hà Nội (Hanoi's Famous Personalities) and in 1975, in collaboration with Vũ Tuân Sán he wrote Hà Nội Nghìn Xưa, or Thousand-year Hanoi.