The PREDOMINANCE of CONFUCIANISM in the 15th century
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Prof. TAN, HA VAN
Under the Tran1, particularly in the 14th century, Confucianists attacked Buddhism relentlessly. With the advent of the Le2, Confucianism rose to predominance to become the orthodox ideology of the ruling class. It was the cornerstone for all political and social institutions.
The type of Confucianism that influenced the Court of the Le and the gentry at large was a Song variety generally known as Neo-Confucianism. It was characterised by theories advocated by Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. Neo-Confucianists were interested in ontological categories such as li (spirit or law) and qi (material), which they incessantly resorted to when explaining social relationships and morality. They invoked li, or “mandate of heaven” to defend the existing social
order.
Vietnamese Confucianists, among them Ngo Si Lien3, author of Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu or Complete History of Great Viet, were strongly influenced by the Neo-Confucianist doctrine. King Le Thanh Tong2, in the words of another Confucianist, Do Nhuan4, was well versed in the theory of li. Votive offerings were made twice a year, in spring and autumn, to Confucius5 and his ten disciples6. The offering took place at Van Mieu7 – the Temple of Literature – in the national capital of Thang Long8. From 1465 onwards, the practice was adopted in other places as well.
The influence of Confucianism was felt strongly in education. In 1426, while his troops were closing in on the invading army of the Ming, Le Lai9 organised a mandarin examination at his command post at Bo De in the present-day district of Gia Lam, Ha Noi. Candidates were asked to write a “Letter Calling on the Ming in Dong Quan to surrender“. Thirty of them passed.
In 1428, immediately after his enthronement, King Le Loi2 ordered the establishment of schools in all parts of the country. Quoc Tu Giam7 (National College) in the national capital was the highest educational institution. Another examination was conducted the following year, but regulations were not firmly established until the reign of King Le Thai Tong2. From then on, examinations were held every six years, in three rounds. The first would be conducted in the provinces to select Cong si (bachelors). A second exam followed in the next year called the Hoi examination, through, which Tien si (doctors) would be chosen. In the last round, the Dinh examination, the King himself would choose the three top doctors, Trang nguyen, Bang nhan and Tham hoa.
In his turn, King Le Thanh Tong2 provided for the conduct of triennial examinations. He also set more strict ground rules.
To play up the role of Confucianists, the Le instituted the ceremonies of xung danh (announcement of the prize-list) and of vinh quy (triumphal returns of laureats to their native places). The names of doctors would be immortalised on stelae at Van Mieu7.
Generally speaking, education was less exclusionist under the Le2, and access was even given to commoners. Still, each village had to answer for the good conduct of their candidates (Mo ket huong thi) and candidates had to give a detailed account of their backgrounds for three generations (Cung khai tam dai). People related to criminals or entertainers were barred from all examinations.
Students were taught the Four Books5 and Five Classics5 as well as Zhu Xi‘s books on philosophy and history. These were the books from which themes were derived for examinations. In this way there was no room for personal initiative and students aiming only for academic honours had to conform strictly to Confucianist dictums.
With the surge of nationalism that followed the victory over the Ming invasion, Confucianists saw a need to modify Confucianist concepts to make them better suited to traditional values. This is clear from the concepts of Nhan (humanism) and Nghia (loyalty) advanced by Nguyen Trai. Buddhism and Taoism, despite having lost their ascendancy, were far from extinct. Their existence was maintained in the countryside. Even at court there were quite a number of Buddhist devotees. For its part, Confucianism did not make any serious attempt to oust the other beliefs. King Le Thanh Tong2, a Confucianist stalwart, even called upon the Phap Van Goddess10 at Dau Temple11 for the purpose of invoking rain.
NOTES:
1 Tran Dynasty (1225-1400: 175 years).
2 Le Dynasty (1428-1527: 100 years): Hau Le dynasty: Le So, Le Trung Hung – the national name: Dai Viet – the capital: Dong Kinh (former name: Thang Long), including 14 kings: Le Thai To (Le Loi – 1429–1433: 4 years), Le Thai Tong (1433–1442: 9 years), Le Nhan Tong (1442–1459: 17 years), Le Thien Hung (1459-1460: 1 year), Le Thanh Tong (1460–1497: 37 years), Le Hien Tong (1497–1504: 7 years), Le Tuc Tong (1504–1505: 6 months), Le Uy Muc (1504–1509: 5 years), Le Tuong Duc (1509–1516: 7 years), Le Quang Tri (1516: 3 months), Le Chieu Tong (1517–1522: 5 years), Le Bang (1518-1519: 2 years), Le Do (1519: 2 months), Le Xuan (1522–1527: 7 years). This was the great and golden period of Vietnamese feudalism; Dai Viet flourished in all aspects (economic, cultural, artistic, social, educational, military, …); territory was expanded (merged with the land of Bon Man (Muang Phuan), Chiem Thanh).
3 Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連– 1400-1499) was born in the Đan Sĩ village, Hà Đông, Hanoi, was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê Dynasty2 – participated in the Lam Sơn uprising of Lê Lợi, gained the title Doctorate (Tiến sĩ) and thus became an official in the royal court of three successive emperors Lê Thái Tông (1434–1442), Lê Nhân Tông (1442–1459) and Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497), was appointed Director of the National Bureau for Historical Record (Viện Quốc sử) in 1473. He is best known for being the principal compiler of the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư – a 15-volume (quyển) book – his division of history of Vietnam into two principal periods, he placed all events that happened before the establishment of the Đinh Dynasty in Peripheral Records (Ngoại kỷ) while the independent time from the Đinh Dynasty (10th century) to the creation of the Lê Dynasty in 1482 was narrated in Basic Records (Bản kỷ) – a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of a Vietnamese dynasty that remains today. Until now, Ngô Sĩ Liên is always considered one of the most important figures of the historiography of Vietnam.
… Updating …
BAN TU THU
5. 2020
NOTE:
◊ Source: The Making of Vietnam. Ha Van Tan. thegioipublishers.vn, 2018. Image; wikimapia.org.
◊ All citations and featured sepia image has been set by BAN TU THU – thanhdiavietnamhoc.com.