VIETNAM ACADEMY
OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

NGUYEN THI NGUON

THE THOUGHT ON RULING THE COUNTRY OF
EMPERORS GIA LONG, MINH MENH AND THIEU TRI
AND ITS HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

PhD THESIS
Major: Philosophy

Code: 9229001

HANOI - 2019


THE WORK IS COMPLETED AT
Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr LE THI LAN

Opponent 1: Prof. Dr. Do Quang Hung

Opponent 2: Prof. Dr. Le Van Quang

Opponent 3: Assoc. Prof. Dr . Nguyen Minh Hoan

The thesis is defended before the Board of Thesis Assessment at
grassroots level at

of Vietnam. His thought on ruling the country was the basis for the thought on
ruling the country of the Nguyen Dynasty.
1.3. Research works on the values and limitations in the thought on
ruling the country of Emperors Gia Long, Minh Menh and Thieu Tri.
In the seminar of "Nguyen Lords and the Nguyen Dynasty in the history
of Vietnam from XIV century to XIX century" held in Thanh Hoa on 18 October
2008, most scientists agreed and evaluated that the monopoly of Confucianism
under the Nguyen Dynasty has many negative and irrational impacts. They
agreed that that period is a step backward of the history; however, their onesided assessment failed to provide objective explanations for why the Nguyen
Dynasty promoted the dominance of Confucianism, as well as how such
monopoly had impacts on various aspects of social life at that time. These are
very important contents of the historical period of the Nguyen Dynasty.
Author Do Bang, in the article "Nguyen Dynasty: Institutions for power
concentration and institutions for attenuating totalitarianism" published in
Journal of Historical Studies in 2007, said that when the centralized regime
reached its peak, the totalitarianism also reached an absolute level and
transformed into an extreme absolute monarchy. In order to maintain its
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development, the Nguyen Dynasty had to apply the Eastern doctrine of ruling
the country which proposes solutions to the management mechanism of the
State. The article provided an in-depth analysis of how the Nguyen Dynasty
applied Eastern thoughts on ruling the country; however, it didn't point out the
values and effects of this application in drawing lessons for those in charge of
governance and for the contemporary society.
To date, in the discussion of merits and contributions of the Nguyen
Dynasty, due to objective conditions, the cognitive process of researchers still
reflects an inadequate perspective. Thus, historians often come up with harsh
comments, such as a "completely reactionary dynasty" or a dynasty that "invited

helped the Nguyen Dynasty enjoy the sweet fruit of a unified country that
expands from Nam Quan Pass to Ca Mau Cape.
* Regarding administration and organization:
After ascending to the throne, Emperor Gia Long chose Phu Xuan as
the citadel, re-checked the old administrative units and appointed officials to
be in charge of them. In particular, Emperor Gia Long merged 11 towns of the
North into Bac Thanh province, which was headed by the imperial military
protector Nguyen Van Thanh. He also merged 5 towns of the South into Gia
Dinh province, which was headed by protectors Nguyen Van Nhân (1808 –
1812) and Le Van Duyet (1812 - 1816). Emperor Gia Long ordered the
construction of traffic roads from the central to the local, as well as stations to
send and receive documents. In order to unify the domestic administrative
units, in the 1831-1832 period, Emperor Minh Menh eliminated the two
provinces above and divided the country into 30 provinces and Thua Thien
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city (the centrally-controlled city today). Below provinces, there are
municipalities, districts, towns and communes. Statistics available in 1840
showed that the whole country had 90 municipality, 20 sub-municipalities, 379
districts, 1742 towns and 18265 communes, villages and hamlets. This
division remained until the end of the Nguyen Dynasty.
*Regarding home affairs
Emperor Gia Long advocated the policy of “Confucianism on the
outside, Legalism on the inside”in order to develop the economy and culture,
thus stabilize the society, suppress the rise of forces rebelling against the royal
court and consolidate unification throughout the territory. One of the very
important causes leading to this policy was that the dynasty was newly
established, thus it was not strong enough to control the whole territory.
Therefore, in this period, the Emperor only had the supreme power in the


foundation for the development and survival of the dynasty. Emperor Gia
Long built the army into 3 parts: The Emperor's guards, the Citadel's guards
and crack troops in the citadel and other localities. In addition, there are also
soldiers and guards in charge of ensuring the safety of the court officials [9,
vol.5, p.52]. During this period, the Nguyen Dynasty had a large army which
is fully armed, as well as applied a harsh military service.
However, despite gaining some achievements, the military policy of the
Nguyen Dynasty was unable to improve the army's quality; in fact, the morale
and quality of soldiers were declining day by day, thus rendering them unable
to cope with foreign invasion.
* Regarding diplomatic relations
The Nguyen Dynasty came to power in the context of lots of changes
in the world. The strong development of Western countries led to their
expansion to the market of Eastern countries. At that time, many countries in
the East either were colonized or became subordinates to Western capitalist
countries. Even China became a delicious target. In addition to maintaining
relations with other countries in the region the same way that the previous
dynasty did, it is also notable that the Nguyen Dynasty established diplomatic
relation with some Western countries, namely France, England and the US.
2.1.2. Economic situation
In the year of Ren-Xu (1802), after defeating Tay Son army, Emperor
Gia Long (Nguyen Anh) became the one to rule the country from the North to
the South. As a new chapter was turned, the Nguyen Dynasty had to face many
difficulties and challenges, especially in terms of economy.
* Regarding agricultural production
In the first half of the XIX century, people mainly relied on agricultural
production. Farmland and agriculture were considered the foundation of the
society. Promoting agricultural production was what chosen by Emperor Gia
Long as the basic economic policy to restore the agriculture that had been

limiting people from building Buddhist temples. In addition, the court also
followed the step of the Le Dynasty by announcing the "Ten Articles of
Instruction" for communes and villages to explain to their people. Contents of
education and examination were also consolidated.
In summary, in the first half of the XIX century, there was a strong
development of some major religions, especially Confucianism. Confucian
thought had greatly influenced the spiritual life of the people.
2.1.4. Social situation.
Like the previous dynasties, Vietnamese society in the Nguyen
Dynasty was divided into two classes: the ruling class and the ruled class. The
ruling class consisted of the royalties, court officials, landlords and assistants
in the government system, who had many rights and privileges in the society.
Court officials often came from many different classes in the society; many of
them became opposite to the people; the exploitation and harassment of the
people often took place. However, there were still court officials that were
transparent, honest and truly cared about the life of poor people and social
stability. In the society, landlords accounted for a large number and were
powerful in villages and communes across the country. Despite the
development of our country's private land regime, there were not many big
landlord who owned lots of farmland across the country. Therefore, in
addition to being a foundation, the landlords in the Nguyen Dynasty also
needed to rely on the bullies in villages and the political power of the state to
maintain their existence.

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2.2. Basic prerequisites for the formation of the thought on ruling the
country of the first emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty.
2.2.1. The unification of the country

consolidate the power of the Nguyen Dynasty, the royal court restored the
monopoly of Confucianism and maintained the traditional way of ruling the
country. Thus, innovations and reforms could not be implemented in this
period. Scholars were Confucianists, including both those who worked as court
officials and those who did not. This class was the most prestigious and
influential in the society, as they were the pillars of feudalism. They were
considered the immediate class, the bridge between the emperor and the people.
Because of their reputation, their views were taken seriously by the emperor,
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thus if they could be controlled, then so could the people. Because the
Confucian scholars was always highly regarded as the pillars of the feudal state,
they were also an additional resource for the bureaucracy. This class originated
from a system of education and examination that took Confucianism as the
basis.
2.3. Some information about the biography of early emperors of
the Nguyen Dynasty.
Emperor Gia Long (1762-1820), reigned from 1802 to 1820, born
Nguyen Phuc Anh, was the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. He defeated
the Tay Son rebellion, restored the rule of the House of Nguyen and founded
the Nguyen Dynasty. In 1806, Emperor Gia Long officially ascended to the
throne at Thai Hoa Palace. The history of the country began to turn to a new
page.
Emperor Minh Menh (1791-1841), reigned from 1820 to 1841,
born Nguyen Phuc Dam, was the fourth son of Emperor Gia Long. After
ascending to the throne and inheriting the solid foundation left by his father,
Emperor Minh Menh was determined to build a mighty dynasty. He was one
of the emperors with the most profound knowledge of Confucianism and the
most power of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Vietnam as well as the region, then from the practical sociopolitical life, in
order to directly solve the problems in the most timely and reasonable way for
his reign to survive and develop. In general, it can be immediately determined
that this is the combination of rule by benevolence and rule by law, creating a
flexible way for internal, external and military affairs as well as social and
cultural development.
Before Emperor Gia Long (Nguyen Anh) passed away, he chose Prince
Dam as the heir to the throne. Therefore, after his death, Prince Dam become
the second emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty - Emperor Minh Menh. Being welleducated in Tap Thien Duong (School of Good Deeds) as well as receiving the
education from his father, he had a firm grasp of Confucian knowledge and
became an intelligent emperor with profound knowledge as both a scholar and a
warrior, as well as knowledge of social areas. Among the emperors of the
Nguyen Dynasty, he is considered the most powerful.
As a result, after ascending the throne in 1821, Emperor Minh Menh
developed Emperor Gia Long's way of ruling the country into a complete
system of sociopolitical ideology with his own imprints. It was the clever use of
rule by law combined with rule by benevolence in the ruling policy, along with
the promotion of Confucian moral values such as loyalty, filial piety and
chastity, as well as the strictest punishments for those who violate the laws.
Emperor Minh Menh's thought on ruling the country is clearly reflected
in the appreciation of morality, the emphasis on being an example for the
people, the manifestation of respect to the Heaven and the fulfillment of duties
of the son of Heaven. The key ruling policies had been implemented by him
throughout his reign and had great significance in the strategy of rule by
benevolence. Emperor Minh Menh's ruling policies on the basis of Confucian
morality are clearly reflected in the book of “Minh Menh's principal policies",
whose content can be summarized as follows:
First, about the way to be a ruler. According to Minh Menh, the ruler is
the root of customs and culture, thus he must set an example for his people: "As
the emperor of a whole country, I know deep down inside that I am the root of

ancestors, be diligent and righteous, and love the people”. He said: "Those
are the four qualities of a ruler. Just those four things that make me work hard
day and night, and also them that worry me a lot" [18, p.290].
Thus, it can be said that also the combination of rule by benevolence
and rule by law is both rigid and flexible, the first emperors of the Nguyen
Dynasty were very determined to rebuild the country left to them by their
forebears. If Emperor Gia Long was the one who laid the foundation for the rise
of the dynasty, then Emperor Minh Menh was the one to inherit and develop,
and Emperor Thieu Tri was the one who had merit in preserving those
achievements. In short, the emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty were very
determined to develop the thought on ruling the country on the basis of
Confucianism.
3.2. The thought on organizing and building the state apparatus
The thoughts on ruling the country of the previous generations along
with the forms and ways of running the state management apparatus were
inherited and learned by Emperor Gia Long. In 1802, after unifying the whole
country, Nguyen Anh crowned himself with the reign name of Gia Long, but it
was not until 1804 did he officially name our country Vietnam and ascend to
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the throne. Confucian view of heaven's mandate was taken very seriously by
Emperor Gia Long in choosing the time to officially ascend the throne and
organizing the state apparatus. It was an important ideological premise for
Emperor Gia Long and the successive emperors in the early days of the Nguyen
Dynasty to build the centralized feudal state, in which the emperor calls himself
"son of Heaven" and is tasked by the Heaven to rule over the country in the
spirit of educating all people. Accordingly, the Emperor held full power over
the legislature, executive, supervision, justice, foreign affairs and military.
Thus, it can be said that the administrative reform under the reign of

1812: "In markets and border gates where commodities and traders pass
through, the tax is impose with the rate of 1/40 on the quantity of packages or
boats, or the weight of the commodities" [6, p.52].
Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty from Gia Long to Minh Menh and
Trieu Tri all paid great attention to reclamation. Under the reign of Emperor
Minh Menh, the state issued very specific and appropriate regulations on rewards
and punishments for officials at all levels regarding the work of reclamation.
Since then, plantations were established in many localities, including Tien Hai
(Thai Binh) and Kim Son (Ninh Binh) in the Northern region; An Giang, Gia
Dinh and Dinh Tuong in the Southern region.
The trade economy under the reign of Minh Menh was also paid
attention to, with the construction of transport infrastructure. In the era of Minh
Menh, the 200-mile-long Vinh Te Canal was completed, facilitating the passage
of waterway cargoes. However, Nguyen Dynasty's policies of "promoting
agriculture, limiting trade" and "closed-door" always hindered the development
of foreign trade. This situation was caused due to the Nguyen Dynasty's
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prudence against the practical risk of foreign invasion, especially from the
West; and also because the Nguyen Dynasty's ideology was based on Confucian
political-ethical doctrine, which considered itself the absolute truth for
governing the country and the firm guarantee for every aspect of the society.
3.3.2. National defense and security policy
During the reign of Emperor Gia Long, although the country was
unified, the opposing forces still often sought to rebel against the Nguyen
royal court in many places. Therefore, in the thought on ruling the country of
Emperor Gia Long, one of the most important issues was the preservation of
social security and smashing rebel and opposing factions in order to protect
the integrity of the territory and the rule of the Nguyen Dynasty. His thought

“First, Thieu Tri was inherently gentle; he saw that Minh Menh's
ordinances on religion were so clear and complete, thus he did not want to do
anything more to cause a stir in the people and worry the court.
Second, in the years of Thieu Tri's reign, the relationship between
French missionaries and the French navy in the East Sea was very intimate, and
the French navy did not bother hiding their intention to intervene by force to
protect their missionaries and for Christianity to be freely spread. Thieu Tri was
very afraid of a large armed clash, in which victory could be the French Navy's
because Vietnam was not really ready for such a conflict ”[35, p.197].
Thus, it can be said that in the short reign of Thieu Tri, he also had to
deal with many complicated issues in the country as well as in the region.
Although he did not leave many imprints in the field of law and administrative
reforms like Minh Menh, he also made some basic contributions to the reign of
the Nguyen Dynasty with his determination to preserve the legacy left by the
previous generation.
Conclusion of Chapter 3:
The thought on ruling the country of successive emperors like Minh
Menh or Thieu Tri was in consistence with the one founded by Emperor Gia
Long, which was reflected in the construction of a highly centralized monarchy
in order for the dominant power of the Nguyen Dynasty to last long, for the
country to be powerful and for the people to be well off. That consistency is
reflected in the following major areas:
First, determining Confucianism as the official ideology of the dynasty,
aiming to build a central feudal monarchy, which can be achieved by the
combination of rule by benevolence and rule by law.
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Second, with such a way to rule the country, Gia Long sought a smart
way to deal with the French, who was his partner in the struggle to seize power

time, the country of Dai Nam was nominally dependent on the "all-underheaven" Qing Empire, but in fact, it was completely independent and
autonomous. This was reflected in the determination of the way to rule the
country in the context of very complicated social life in Dai Nam and in the
world. The Nguyen Dynasty had to cope with both the nostalgic forces of the
Le and Tay Son dynasties, and to deal with a series of diplomatic issues
regarding the West and other countries in the region.
In addition to paying attention to education and examination regime,
the Nguyen Dynasty also paid special attention to the academic field, including
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the recording of history. During this period, many books of history had been
completed and became extremely valuable documents. At the same time, the
recording of history that faithfully reflects each events, the assignment of
officials in charge of recording history as well as the way to compile the books
were also some of the most important achievements of the Nguyen Dynasty.
In short, the selection of Confucianism as the dominant ideology in the
course of ruling the country of the early emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty was
an inevitable choice. By ruling the country on the basis of Confucianism, it was
easy for the Nguyen emperors to prove the orthodoxy of the dynasty in
persuading scholars who were still loyal to the Le Dynasty and building the
loyalty of classes of people to the Nguyen Dynasty, thus preventing uprisings
against the royal court. Another great meaning of this was that in addition to
affirming the independence of the nation, the first emperors of the Nguyen
Dynasty also established our country's position in the region at that time.
4.1.2. Limitations
Besides some great values in choosing Confucianism as the ideology
for ruling the country, the fact that the emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty tended
to overvalue Confucianism led to a lot of consequences. This is one of the main
causes that greatly affected their goals of ruling the country and the people.