The two decades of Ming occupation (1407–1427) brought to Dai Viet a much heavier layer of administration than the country had ever experienced before and introduced the Vietnamese to the full measure of contemporary Sinic bureaucracy. The Ming also set up schools (with libraries) and advanced the new Neo-Confucian orthodoxy just being developed in their own capital. For the Vietnamese, the occupation was a time of rapacious efficiency, although a number of local literati did flourish in the system. The Ming power was such that the Northerners were able to crush all resistance in the lowlands and the nearby highlands. Only in the distant mountains of Thanh Hoa to the southwest near the Lao hills was a resistance movement able to survive, just barely. Finally, between 1418 and 1428, Le Loi, a local chieftain based in the village of Mount Lam, led his local forces in a successful campaign to drive out the Ming.
In 1428, Le Loi (Le Thai To [r. 1428–1433]) became the king of a restored Dai Viet, whose capital was Thang Long, with his rough-hewn mountain soldiers forming the new aristocracy. Over the previous sixty years, the old Red River Delta aristocracy had been almost entirely eradicated by Champa, by the Ho, by the Ming, and finally by the Le. The new government of the Le (1428–1527, 1592–1789) continued certain aspects of the Ming rule, including its schools and the concept of a legal code, and quickly created a new fiscal foundation for itself. Now the emphasis was on individual villages and the newly created public lands within them. Revenue from the public lands went to the central government, not to local lords, and powerful families were now seen as a threat to the public domain. The new legal code stated, in no uncertain terms, its opposition to such private power. Yet the government and social structure still were aristocratic, as the lords of Mount Lam continued to dominate both the royal court and the countryside. Another set of laws in 1449 ensured the survival of existing social practices (especially the female ownership of property). The ideology of the monarchy changed, however, as the royal cults and Buddhism disappeared and Ho Quy Ly’s brand of classical thought weakened. The Le royal ideology initially was based on their own parochial belief system, combined with some of the older literati thought. This provided an opening for a new, contemporary brand of Confucian thought, that of the Ming. This latter thought was advocated by a new generation of Vietnamese scholars, especially the younger ones who had most likely been educated in the Ming schools during the occupation and their local successors. Nonetheless, even though Buddhism had lost its place at court, it continued to be popular among the aristocracy and in the villages.
In the three decades after the death of the founder, Le Thai To, in 1433, a struggle ensued between the old aristocratic style of governance and the newly emerging style of contemporary East Asian bureaucracy. This was foreshadowed in the 1430s debate over the old and the new court ritual and music. Because the young Le rulers during this time tended to bring the younger literati over to the side of the throne against the lords of Mount Lam, the contemporary model of Ming rule gained ground, especially in ritual and music. When Le Loi’s son Le Thai Tong (r. 1434–1442) and then the founder’s third (Le Nhan Tong [r. 1442–1459]) and first (Le Nghi Dan [r. 1459–1460]) grandsons were murdered in conflict over the throne, the fourth grandson, Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460–1497), finally emerged to take the throne. Together with his literatus-official allies, the new emperor made the Ming bureaucratic state the new model of political control for Dai Viet. This entailed establishing the triennial Confucian examination system, a centralized administration based on the Northern six ministries model, a provincial system reaching down into the countryside, and a regime of paperwork that made “legible” the realm’s human and material resources through the creation of written records.
In the process of transforming Dai Viet’s political structures, Le Thanh Tong switched from the Tran emphasis on the South’s holding off the aggressive North to an image of the South’s forming part of the North’s broader Sinic philosophical civilization. Le Thanh Tong adopted the term Thien Nam (South of Heaven) and joined Dai Viet to the North’s “domain of manifest civility.” During the fifteenth century, Dai Viet continued to underscore that the Vietnamese were not being influenced by their Southeast Asian neighbors’ popular customs. In addition, as part of the administrative transformation, the king had Dai Viet mapped for the first time—a process described in the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet—which explicitly marked off the land against the territory of its neighbors.
By the 1460s, Dai Viet had become a much stronger and more efficient state, and Le Thanh Tong and his literati advisers joined the remaining Mount Lam lords in a surge of Vietnamese power against their neighboring Southeast Asian rivals. This required not only greater military might but also a fundamental shift in foreign policy. The Vietnamese court no longer tolerated cultural equality and the acceptance of other peoples. Now such people were regarded as hoa ngoai, “outside civilization,” and their capitals no longer would be merely captured, looted, and left for the next indigenous ruler. Instead, the Vietnamese would impose direct political control (the provincial administrative system) and civilization (the proper way of life) over newly conquered territories. In the 1470s, Dai Viet struck back against perceived threats on its borders while playing diplomatic games with the Ming court in Beijing. First, in 1470/1471, Le Thanh Tong’s forces crushed Champa in a masterful campaign, split it up, and integrated its northern territories as Dai Viet’s thirteenth province, a move that the emperor justified in his proclamation of 1470 on the eve of the attack. In this way, the Vietnamese state removed its southern rival and threat and opened the way for further expansion southward. Beginning in 1479, Le Thanh Tong attacked the restive Tai forces on his western borders, pushing all the way across what are now Laos and northern Thailand to the Irrawaddy River and Myanmar (Burma). This action quieted any possible threats from the west.
While pushing outward, Le Thanh Tong’s government worked to consolidate administrative control of the villages and to bring its new philosophy and moral stance to them, all while striving to improve the people’s economic situation. Local officials at the provincial and district levels engaged village headmen in a new way, urging proper behavior and ritual, especially in marriage and mourning; giving men precedence over women; and requiring the population and local resources (such as land) to be recorded in the village registers. The government also worked to maintain the dikes and to encourage the development of agriculture and commerce. Agriculture thrived, manufacturing (especially of ceramics) grew, and foreign trade expanded. The law code sought to provide regulation and standards for dealing with property and other economic transactions. Despite the government’s unprecedented intrusion into the villages, no revolts are recorded, because of the increasing stability and prosperity of the land. Le Thanh Tong and his literati-officials saw their success in cosmic terms (Heaven was blessing their good efforts) and wrote much poetry celebrating this.
This bureaucratic regime lasted for roughly forty years, through the reign of Le Thanh Tong (1460–1497) and that of his son Le Hien Tong (1498–1504). Then, for almost a quarter century, aristocratic conflict and local rebellion badly shook the model of governance that Le Thanh Tong and his literati-officials had put in place. First, the maternal kin of Le Uy Muc De (r. 1505–1509) created havoc across the countryside and in the social and economic sectors, disrupting trade. Then the noble clans, particularly the Nguyen and the Trinh, began fighting, and in 1516 a revolt by Tran Cao, who claimed to be a descendant of the prior dynasty, threatened to end, once and for all, both the Le dynasty and its Sinic administrative model. Finally, the Mac family of the lower Red River Delta, which was led by the military strongman Mac Dang Dung (r. 1528–1541) and claimed its descent from more than two hundred years of literati-officials, seized power in 1528 and restored Le Thanh Tong’s bureaucratic model.
The Mac regime (1528–1592) again emphasized proper Confucian relationships, stressing ritual land (huong hoa, the land set aside on the death of a male landowner to produce income to pay for his ancestral sacrifices) and the role of men. But at the same time, Confucian scholars and Buddhist temples coexisted peacefully in the villages and agriculture prospered.
Nevertheless, the Mac, like the Ming occupation before them, controlled only the lowlands. Once again, the Le and their supporters emerged from the highland base of Mount Lam on the edge of Lao territory, this time to contest the Mac hold on the throne. At the same time, the Mac also had to deal with the Ming court in Beijing and accepted a reduction in tributary status (no longer kings, but effectively just ministers). Nevertheless, by the mid-sixteenth century, the Red River Delta appears to have been prosperous and well governed.
After several decades, the Le Restoration forces, led by the Nguyen and another Trinh clan, intensified their pressure on the lowlands and the capital of Thang Long. Finally, in 1592 they swept across the Red River Delta and drove out the Mac, restoring the Le (1592–1789) to the throne. The rivalry between the Trinh and the Nguyen still had to be resolved. The Nguyen had established their base in the old territory of Champa on the southern border (in the vicinity of Hue) and had begun to link themselves to the new system of maritime trade system on the central Vietnamese coast. From that international contact, the Nguyen brought wealth and weapons to the Le cause, aiding the Trinh in the Restoration. Nonetheless, it was the Trinh who succeeded in holding power in Thong Long. By 1600, the Trinh lords ruled in the capital while the Le kings reigned; the Nguyen lords turned back to their southern maritime base, and the Mac survived on the northern border protected by the Ming court. In essence, two aristocratic military clans, the Trinh in the state of Dai Viet and the Nguyen on its southern fringe, ruled the land, stressing martial achievements, Buddhism, and personal loyalty. The literati had little influence in either regime and generally stayed in their villages, educating the youth.
During these two centuries, 1400 to 1600, Dai Viet’s bureaucratic government took shape in the northern area, modeled on that of the Ming and clearly manifested in the Le Code, which regulated everything from the use of draft animals to the behavior of aristocratic families. Staffed by scholar-officials, the bureaucracy advocated Confucianism for both state and society, with patrilineality and rituals for marriage and mourning. This advocacy of Confucianism can be seen in various scholars’ critical comments on Dai Viet’s historical past, such as Ngo Si Lien’s and Duong Van An’s critiques of the failure of earlier monarchs to adhere to Confucian ideals. Scholar-officials’ memorials and remonstrances to the throne demonstrated their sense of responsibility for the country’s and society’s well-being. In any case, power now lay in the hands of the aristocracy, specifically the Trinh and Nguyen families, and it was their choice whether or not to use the scholars as officials. The ideological juxtaposition of Buddhism, Confucianism, and the spirit cults continued, sometimes shifting in their relationship to one another. Regionalism emerged as a greater element in Vietnamese politics, and scholars’ themes of loyalty to the proper authority became critical. The earlier relativistic approach to other Southeast Asian peoples increasingly became one of the civilized versus the barbarian, as suggested in Emperor Le Thanh Tong’s order of 1472 requiring ethnic groups to conform to Vietnamese surname practices.
GREAT PROCLAMATION ON THE DEFEAT OF THE MING (1428)
The Le dynasty, with its new aristocracy from the southwestern mountains, adopted the Tran dynasty’s conception of itself as the valiant South holding off the aggressive North. This was seen in the scholar-official Nguyen Trai’s “Great Proclamation on the Defeat of the Ming,” written on behalf of Le Loi (Le Thai To [r. 1428–1433]). In the first stanza, Nguyen Trai juxtaposes South and North in parallel terms. This proclamation of final victory, like Gia Long’s almost four centuries later,1 sought to bring the Vietnamese past to bear in integrating the newly conquered realm.
Now, our Great Viet is truly a cultured country;
The features of our mountains and our rivers [our land] are different [from those of the North],
Just as the customs of the South and the North are also different.
From the time of the Viet, Trieu, Dinh, Ly, and Tran dynasties’ establishment of our state,
And from the time of the Han, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties [of the North],
Each emperor has ruled over his own quarter.
[Ung Qua, “Binh Ngo dai cao,” 283; trans. Ungar, “Vietnamese Leadership and Order,” 96]
MAPPING THE LAND (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
As described in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s), the rise of the next generation of literati through the mid-fifteenth century and the transformation of Dai Viet’s government in the 1460s produced a new conceptualization of the Vietnamese state, in the bureaucratic guise of the Ming dynasty. First, with the state’s new administrative organization, Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460–1497) set about for the first time in the history of Dai Viet to map the land, focusing on the newly established provinces and their administrative boundaries. The addition of the thirteenth province in 1490 was the result of Dai Viet’s victory over Champa in 1471.
[In 1467, sixth month], the king [Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460–1497)] ordered officials of the twelve provinces to investigate, within their jurisdictions, the mountains and the rivers, the dangerous points and the easily traversed, the ancient and the modern, and to draw a careful and detailed map of each province and then to send them to the Ministry of Finance. The ministry would then construct from them a map of the entire realm.
[In 1469, fourth month], the king created the map of the realm’s twelve provinces, their prefectures, subprefectures, districts, villages, estates, and highland communities and then listed each province with the numbers of each of these, as well as of the capital region.
[In 1490], fourth month, the king set the new map of the realm, 13 provinces, 52 prefectures, 178 districts, 50 subprefectures, 20 subdistricts, 36 urban zones, 6,851 villages, 322 subvillages, 637 estates, 40 highland communities, 30 upriver communities, and 30 camps.
[Dai Viet su ky toan thu (hereafter, DVSKTT), 12, 37a, 51a; 13, 63b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
A LITERATI VIEW OF THE LAND (1497)
Even as the Vietnamese maintained their strong sense of the heroic nature of their land and of being “South” against the “North” of the Ming, Dai Viet’s growing literati community saw their country as being within the purview of Sinic civilization, or, in Liam Kelley’s translation of the term, the “domain of manifest civility.” Le Thanh Tong chose the term Thien Nam (South of Heaven) as the name of his realm, thus bringing it into the East Asian civilization’s system of shared beliefs. In 1497, the scholar Hoang Duc Luong lamented the missing literary compositions that he felt had prevented the Vietnamese from being fully considered within that domain. He expressed his feelings in the preface to the collection of his poetry, Selecting the Beautiful Poetry Collection, which was preserved in Small Chronicle of Things Seen and Heard by the eighteenth-century scholar Le Quy Don.
There are reasons why not all poetry has been passed on to later generations. The ancients sometimes compared poetry to minced and broiled meat or to fine silk brocade. Minced and broiled meat is the most delicious object under Heaven, while silk brocade is the most beautiful object under Heaven. Anyone with eyes and a mouth knows that these objects are valuable and does not take them lightly. But poetry has a beauty beyond [all other kinds of] beauty and is of a flavor that surpasses [all other] flavors. You cannot view it with a normal set of eyes, nor can you taste it with a normal mouth. Only poets can appreciate it. This is the first reason why not all poetry has been passed on to later generations.
Ever since the Ly and the Tran established the kingdom, it has been called a domain of manifest civility. Poets and talents [during those two dynasties] all did their best to make a name for themselves, did they not? However, the great scholars and senior ministers all were too busy with official matters to take the time to compile anthologies. Meanwhile, those retired from office, lower officials, and scholars studying for exams paid no heed. This is the second reason why not all poetry has been passed on to later generations.
Among those lower officials and scholars studying for exams were those who attempted to make compilations. But they all eventually gave up when they found how difficult the task was and how insufficient their efforts were. This is the third reason why not all poetry has been passed on to later generations.
Of the books from the Ly and the Tran that we have today, most of them have to do with Thien Buddhism. Could it be that Confucianism was not revered as much as Thien? No, it is that the Thien monks were not subject to prohibitions. As a result, they could publish block-print editions of their works, thereby ensuring their longevity. And no one would dare publish non-Buddhist poetry and writing without first receiving the royal imprimatur. This is the fourth reason why not all poetry has been passed on to later generations.
These four factors have inhibited the dissemination of poetry for a long time, covering three dynasties. Consequently, even masterpieces that enjoyed the protection of the spirits have ended up piecemeal and scattered. Then there are the works recorded on thin parchment and left at the bottom of a chest or case; can we expect them to survive intact through times of turmoil?
When I go to study poetry, all I see are works by Tang poets. Writings from the Ly and the Tran cannot be verified. Sometimes when I come across half a couplet on some crumbling wall, I open a scroll [from the past to try to find the rest of the poem] but end up just sighing. I blame this on the worthies from previous generations.
Goodness! How can we call ourselves a domain of manifest civility, a kingdom that has been established for thousands of years, if we do not have a single scroll as proof and everyone goes back to reciting poetry from the Tang period? Is this not pitiful?!
[Le Quy Don, Kien van tieu luc, 4, 15a–16b; trans. Liam Kelley]
A COSMIC VIEW OF THE LAND (1553)
In the mid-sixteenth century, a more cosmic view of Dai Viet’s geographical formation appeared in the opening of Duong Van An’s Recent Record of O Chau (region of Hue), written during the Mac dynasty (1528–1592). A very important aspect of this description was regionalism, which became a matter of growing concern for the Vietnamese rulers from this time onward, as integrating the entire realm became increasingly difficult. The classification of regional populations using personality and other traits can be found in later Vietnamese geographical texts as well, notably in Trinh Hoai Duc’s early-nineteenth-century gazetteer, Gia Dinh Citadel Records, which describes various attributes of the Vietnamese in the far southern reaches of the kingdom.2
There was this Heaven and this Earth, then there were these mountains and these streams, then there were these humans and these creatures. Now, naturally, Heaven and Earth opened and then the mountains and the streams emerged—the mountains piling up, and the streams flowing. And in this way, humans and creatures came into being. If there were no mountains or streams, we would not be able to see the achievement of Heaven’s and Earth’s creation. If there were no humans or creatures, we would not be able to see the forging force [khi] of the streams and mountains. So the cold and heat of Heaven differ and are suitable. Therefore, the mountains and the streams of Earth are finite and the waters and lands of Earth differ and are regular. Therefore, the practices of humans toward one another are difficult to change. Witness, therefore, the lands of Qing and Qi [in China] with their wiles, Chou and Lu [homes of Mencius and Confucius] practicing scholarly customs, with Yong and Yang being able to expand, Jing Han strong and fierce, Wu Han frivolous and shallow, and Yen and Zhao weighty and sincere. Southerners are volatile and careless; northerners are grave and generous.
All over the five places [the center and the four cardinal directions], there are different peoples, but human nature complies with the similarities of old. So, naturally, still more has Hoang Viet [Royal Viet = Dai Viet] established a country. The Celestial Script has determined the lines for it. Beyond the four provinces of the northern Red River Delta immediately surrounding the capital, the people of Ai Chau [Thanh Hoa], individually and collectively, are good at nghia [or] righteous public consciousness, and the people of Hoan and Dien [Nghe An, Ha Tinh], blunt and real, love learning. Long ago, they came to what was the Good Way [Thien Dao]! Our Hoa Chau farther south is linked [by sea] to the Guang territory,3 its land is rustic and rude, its customs simple and mean, its creatures sparse and scattered, separate and quite solitary. So they cannot be compared with those of Ai and Hoan.
[Duong Van An, O Chau can luc, 2a–2b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
In 1427/1428, when the new Le dynasty took control of the capital, the government, and the entire country, the king and his officials quickly addressed the problem of economic liquidity. The court minister Nguyen Trai drafted an edict on this matter for his lord, Le Loi (Le Thai To [r. 1428–1433]), as recorded in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s). The new regime needed a system of coinage in circulation in order to stimulate the economy after years of disruption and warfare during the Ho (1400–1407) and Ming (1407–1427) regimes, especially after the Ho regime’s disastrous experimentation with paper money. Sufficient metal coinage for the growing economy continued to be a problem in the coming centuries,4 as was the Vietnamese state’s growing dependence on the importation of silver. Indeed, the kingdom’s long-term economic and political health was closely bound up with currency issues.
[In 1430], autumn, on the fifth day of the seventh month, the king proclaimed to the lords and the officials, inner and outer, civil and military, subjects and underlings, and others, an edict for a conference on the rules of money, stating, “Now money is the lifeblood and pulse of the people. We cannot be without it! Our land by its nature produces copper veins but, in the past, the copper cash was largely melted down by men of the former Ho regime [1400–1407]. Out of one hundred, scarcely one remains. Today, [therefore,] it is absolutely necessary in the matters of the army and the country that we fill this lack [of copper cash] and seek its circulation for use so as to accord with the desires of the people. How can this lack not be difficult? Recently, Minister Tran spoke of using paper money to replace the copper cash. Morning and evening, we are concerned only with not being able to do this. Now, for those who advocate paper money, [remember that] useless things act on busy people. This is definitely not the idea of loving the people and employing wealth!
“Thus, of old, people took gold and silver, skins and silk, as money. That there were no people who could together resolve this problem is alarming. Each of the lords, the officials, and the inner and outer scholars who grasp the times is deliberating on this edict’s regulations for money. In order to accord with the desires of the people, we should not take one person’s wishes over what a thousand, ten thousand, people do not want, applying it as good law for our generation. We cannot hastily decide this matter just in order to proclaim it. We shall personally select the best response and put it into action.”
[DVSKTT, 10, 68a–68b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS (1430S)
The new Le law code of the 1430s had at its core both the ten military regulations and the thirty-two laws concerning property. As the Le regime moved away from the royal estates of the Tran era, it began to focus on the villages as the basis of its fiscal structure. In the following revolutionary articles, the Le established both land for the soldiers who had defeated the Ming and public lands within the villages. The capital then drew its revenue from these public lands, farmed locally. Private infringement on these lands was thus a serious and recurring problem for the Le government, which did not impose taxes on private holdings for almost three centuries. As Phan Huy Chu pointed out in 1821, resource control remained a major issue for the Vietnamese state.5
Article 342
Whoever sells officially granted land or soldiers’ allotment land shall receive sixty strokes of the heavy stick and be demoted two grades. The scribe who drafts the sale agreement as well as the witnesses shall receive a penalty one degree lower. The sale proceeds and the land shall be forfeited to the state.
In the case of mortgage-sale of such land, the penalty shall be sixty strokes of the heavy stick, and the land must be redeemed from the mortgagee-purchaser.
Article 343
Whoever occupies public land beyond the amount authorized shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick for usurpation of one mau [3,600 square meters] of land, and a one-grade demotion for ten mau. In any case the penalty shall not exceed a three-grade demotion. The income from such land shall be confiscated. Those who clear virgin land shall not be prosecuted.
Article 344
Whoever improperly claims to be proprietor of any piece of land belonging to another person shall be demoted one grade for a false claim of one mau of land or less, two grades for five mau or less, and three grades for ten mau or less. In any case, the penalty shall not exceed penal servitude as a heavy work menial.
Whoever encroaches on the boundaries of any piece of land belonging to others shall be demoted one grade.
The offenders in both cases shall return the income from such lands and pay punitive damages equal to the income from their false claims or encroachments.
If the false claim or encroachment involves public land, the penalty shall be increased one degree, and the punitive damages shall be equal to twice the income from such land. The supervisory official who fails to discover the wrongdoing shall be demoted one grade and removed from office.
Article 345
Whoever conceals public land and ponds shall be demoted for the concealment of one mau or more, condemned to penal servitude for five mau of land or more, and exiled for fifty mau or more. The penalty shall not exceed exile to a distant region. In all cases, the tax that should have been imposed on the land or ponds which have been concealed, shall be collected in conformity with tax regulations, together with punitive damages equal to twice the amount of the tax. Any informer shall be rewarded.
Article 346
Whoever cultivates public rice land but does not make grain payments within the time limit shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick and must deliver to the state granaries twice the amount of grain due. If the delay is protracted, the land shall be forfeited (completely if officially granted land, and in one part if soldiers’ allotment land).
Article 347
After the equitable distribution of rice land by prefectural, district, and village officials, if some land has to be taken back from recipients who are degraded, are dishonorably charged, or die without heir, or, on the other hand, if some land has to be granted to newly promoted public servants or to taxable inhabitants coming of age, the officials at the prefectural, district, or village levels are allowed to make appropriate decisions after careful consideration. If in the equitable distribution of rice land there is some surplus, the regulations on public land shall apply; if there is a shortage, the public land of the village in question or of the ones at the nearest or most convenient location shall be taken for equitable distribution. The land registers shall be amended and submitted to the throne for approval. Every four years, they shall be revised.
Whenever the measurement and distribution of land are not done in timely fashion (“timely fashion” means autumn rice lands shall be measured in spring and distributed in autumn, and summer rice lands shall be measured in autumn and distributed in spring. For example, if an inhabitant reaches the age of fourteen in the current year, the summer rice land shall be measured in the autumn of this year and distributed in the spring of the next; the autumn rice land shall be measured in the spring of next year and distributed that autumn) or do not conform with the regulations on rice lands, the prefectural, district, and village officials shall be fined or demoted in accordance with the gravity of circumstances. If the rice land is not originally virgin land but has been left uncultivated because of a delay in measurement and distribution, the compensatory damages for lost income from land shall be collected from the responsible officials. If the land is misappropriated as private property, the offenders, in addition, shall have to pay to the state treasury punitive damages equal to twice the amount of the misappropriated income.
Article 348
Landowners who, without authority, establish estates where they harbor commoners in flight shall be punished with a fine of three hundred quan [strings of cash] if they are first- or second-rank officials. Their estate managers shall be condemned to penal servitude. Landowners who are third-rank or lower officials shall receive a penalty one degree higher. They shall all be required to pay the value of the missed corvée due from the commoners in flight and punitive damages equal to twice that value. Village officials who conceal and do not denounce these offenders shall be demoted. District officials who fail to discover the facts and to take appropriate measures shall be punished in proportion to the gravity of the circumstances. Informers shall be rewarded in accordance with the importance of the cases. Those officials who have reported the facts to the Throne shall not be prosecuted.
[Le Code (hereafter, LC), nos. 342–48; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:191–93]
FOREIGN TRADE (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Even though Dai Viet remained a heavily agricultural land, foreign trade continued, particularly at the port of Van Don in the islands beyond Ha Long Bay, as recorded in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s). Ships from as far away as Java still came to trade, although, as indicated in the following passages, the government attempted to maintain control over the growing trade. In later centuries, this acceptance continued as the Vietnamese courts did business with a variety of foreigners.
Le Thai Tong [r. 1434–1442] the first year of the Thieu Binh reign [1434]. In the ninth month, Nguyen Ton Tu and Le Dao who were both managing officers of the province of Yen Bang were demoted three ranks and removed from office. The dynasty had prohibited both officials and common people from privately selling foreign goods. When ships from Qua Oa [Java] arrived in the Van Don trading post, Nguyen Ton Tu and others were in charge of investigating and making an accurate count of the ship’s cargo. After they had once reported the actual amount, they schemed to alter the accounts and themselves privately sold goods worth more than nine hundred man [one man is one thousand cash]. Nguyen Ton Tu himself and Le Dao each took possession of one hundred man. They were punished, the facts being disclosed.
Le Thanh Tong [r. 1460–1497], the eighth year of the Quang Thuan reign [1467]. Seafaring vessels of Tiem La [Siam] came to Van Don village and presented to the royal court a memorial of golden leaf and tributary goods. The King refused to accept them.
[DVSKTT, 11, 17a–17b; 12, 41a; trans. Yamamoto, “Van-Don,” 4]
LAWS ON FOREIGN COMMERCE (FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
Four articles in the Le dynasty’s law code attempted to bring Van Don’s inherently loose maritime commerce under state control in ways similar to the official efforts of later ages.6
Public servants who, without good reason, go to an estate in Van Don or to a frontier post in the military territories shall be condemned to penal servitude or be exiled. Any informer shall be rewarded with a grade in the honorary hierarchy.
Article 614
Any person serving at or living on a maritime estate or installation who receives a merchant vessel in order to transport goods fraudulently shall be demoted three grades. The corpus delicti shall be confiscated and punitive damages for transporting contraband in an amount equal to twice the value of the corpus delicti shall be collected for the benefit of the state treasury. Half the damages shall be used to reward any informer. The owner of the maritime estate or installation shall lose his ownership rights.
Article 615
Inhabitants of an estate in Van Don who transport goods of Northern origin to the capital and engage in clandestine trade, instead of obtaining the proper permission of the prefecture and presenting the goods upon arrival at Trieu Dong Bo to the inspection of the merchant marine service, shall be demoted one grade and fined one hundred quan [strings of cash]. Such inhabitants shall receive the same punishment if they clandestinely return to the maritime estate without obtaining the proper permission of the merchant marine service and without presenting themselves at the prefectural office for inspection upon arrival at the transit area. In all cases, one-third of the fine imposed on such offenders shall be used to reward informers.
If the offender stops in a village or hamlet to sell the same goods clandestinely, he shall be demoted three grades and fined two hundred quan. The reward granted to any informer shall follow the preceding rule.
The head of the prefecture or of the merchant marine service who fails to discover the wrongdoing shall be demoted one grade. In the case of condoning the offense, he shall receive the same demotion as the offender and shall be dismissed from public service.
Article 616
Whenever a foreign merchant vessel is heading toward an estate in Van Don for trading purposes, any maritime inspector who privately goes beyond the farthest limits of his maritime post to carry out his task of control and verification shall be demoted one grade. If a foreign merchant vessel must lie in port a long time, the owner of the estate concerned shall present a detailed application to the prefectural office, which shall take note thereof. Only then shall the vessel be permitted to lie in the port.
Any estate owner who privately harbors a vessel shall be demoted two grades and fined two hundred quan, one-third of which shall be used to reward any informer. If such an owner harbors an alien who has not yet reached the age required for registration, he shall be demoted one grade and fined fifty quan. Any informer shall be rewarded in accordance with the preceding rule.
[LC, nos. 612, 614–16; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:263–64]
GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY (1461)
By the mid-fifteenth century, the influence of contemporary Ming thought (Confucianism) on Dai Viet was steadily increasing, which had a major impact on government policy with the ascension of Le Thanh Tong to the throne. Almost immediately, this young ruler expressed—perhaps for the first time by a Vietnamese ruler—the standard Sinic formula for the economy, which was the primacy of agriculture over commerce. The government’s protection and encouragement of agriculture continued under this style of administration into the nineteenth century.7
[In 1461, the third month], the king [Le Thanh Tong] ordered the officials of the prefectures, the districts, and other jurisdictions down to the village level henceforth in agricultural matters to encourage and to admonish all civil and military personnel to work diligently at their callings so as to have enough to wear and to eat. “We must not cast aside the basic [agriculture] and follow the insignificant [commerce]. We need to put aside sharp dealing, wandering, and loafing. If those with land do not cultivate it diligently, the said administrative officials will forward an essay on the crime to the royal court.”
[DVSKTT, 12, 7b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
DRAFT ANIMALS (FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
The significance of beasts of burden and vehicles described in the earlier edicts recorded in Le Van Huu’s Chronicle of Dai Viet (1272) continued to be emphasized in the Le Code. The inclusion of boats in these articles confirms their importance to transportation and communication in the Red River Delta and along the coast.
Whoever unwarrantedly appropriates a buffalo, ox, horse, or boat belonging to other people shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick. He shall return the animal or boat or its pecuniary equivalent to the lawful master or owner and pay as punitive damages an amount equal to its price.
Whoever forcibly takes such property from other people shall be demoted one grade. The restitution of the property as well as the payment of damages shall be governed by the preceding principle.
Whoever beats or stabs to death other people’s cattle or horses shall receive seventy strokes of the heavy stick and be demoted three grades. He shall also pay compensatory and punitive damages as in the preceding cases.
Whoever damages a boat or injures one of the above animals shall receive fifty strokes of the light stick and a one-grade demotion. He shall pay damages commensurate with the degree of the damage or the injury.
Article 585
Whenever buffaloes or oxen owned by two families fight each other, these families shall be allowed to share the meat of the killed animal and use in common the surviving animal for land cultivation. Offenders shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick.
[LC, nos. 584–85; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:258]
One aspect of Vietnamese warfare that followed the standard Southeast Asian pattern was the use of elephants in heavy fighting. Elephants served the Vietnamese well against Northern invaders, who lacked experience in handling these huge animals. The Le Code meted out severe punishment for mishandling or losing control over elephants, while it fined those responsible for any social or economic damage caused by these large beasts.
Article 583
Any person responsible for army elephant stables who releases these animals therefrom and lets them damage people’s dwellings or the bamboos and trees in people’s gardens shall receive the heavy stick penalty or a demotion. Supervisory officers shall be fined.
If the elephants rampage uncontrollably, thereby causing death or injury to a human being, the person responsible for the elephant stables shall be charged with the crime of unintentional killing or injuring, with a reduction in the penalty. In the case in which such person unleashes the animals for the purpose of causing death or injury to people, he shall receive a penalty two degrees lower than that imposed for ordinary killing or injuring. Owners of the property damaged by elephants must call on neighbors for an assessment of the losses and report such fact to the competent officials. Such owners may not thoughtlessly beat or stab the elephants. Offenders shall be demoted or condemned to penal servitude and shall pay damages amounting to fifty quan [strings of cash] in the case in which the animals are injured; if death ensues, they shall be exiled and shall pay damages amounting to three hundred quan.
[LC, no. 583; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:258]
MARKET REGULATIONS (FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
Even though Le Thanh Tong’s government was strongly Confucian and considered agriculture to be the root (the fundamental source of the state’s economic well-being) and other economic forms to be extraneous, his officials were closely involved in other aspects of the local economy. The local marketplace was central to this effort, in which the government tried to be evenhanded. The efforts to standardize weights and measures were calculated to engender trust in market operations and to demonstrate the state’s effort to keep the economy working smoothly, with minimal disruptions.
Article 186
Market supervisors within the capital city who improperly demand contributions for celebration of the New Year festival shall receive fifty strokes of the light stick and be demoted one grade. If they impose excessive taxes, they shall be demoted two grades and removed from their posts. They shall return the exacted money or goods to the people concerned and shall pay punitive damages equal to the value of the corpus delicti. In addition, they shall be subject to a fine designed to reward any informer as prescribed by law. Those who collect illegal taxes for the market supervisors shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick and shall be exposed at the market for three days as a warning to the people.
The collection of illegal taxes at the markets in the prefectures, districts, villages, and hamlets shall be subject to the same punishments increased one degree.
In the markets of the capital, villages, or hamlets, those who disregard the official measurements of weight, length, or volume and privately modify measurement instruments used in the buying or selling of merchandise shall be demoted or condemned to penal servitude.
[LC, nos. 186–87; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:155–56]
PRAYING FOR RAIN (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Although Buddhism no longer was recognized as the central religion of the Le dynasty’s royal court, its temples and rituals remained spiritually significant across the realm. Especially in times of drought, all spiritual powers, Buddhist included, were mobilized in the effort to bring rain, as recorded in the continuation to the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s).
[In 1448, the sixth month], the throne commanded all civil and military officials to fast, prepare themselves, and proceed to the Bao An temple in the Canh Linh palace to pray for rain. The king [Le Nhan Tong (r. 1442–1459)] personally performed the ritual of prayer and ordered the court minister Trinh Kha to travel to the village of Co Chau to greet the image of the Phap Van Buddha and to escort the image to the Bao Thien temple in the capital. The throne ordered Buddhist monks to chant the ritual and to pray. The king and the queen mother prayed and performed this ritual. They bestowed on the Buddhist monks and their disciples ten rolls of thin silk and twenty strings in new cash. That day, the throne released twenty-four suspected and difficult prisoners.
[DVSKTT, 11, 68b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
DEBATE OVER MUSIC AND RITUAL (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Having abandoned the royal rituals of the Ly and the Tran courts, the new Le dynasty faced an ideological void. As courtiers and officials sought to fill it, a dispute arose over whether the old rituals should be brought back (as the minister Nguyen Trai argued) or the new rituals of the contemporary Ming dynasty should be adopted (as the new generation of scholars advised). The continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) illustrates how the young king, Le Thai Tong (r. 1434–1442), at first followed Nguyen Trai’s advice to maintain the old rituals and then reversed himself, switching to the new Ming rituals and music. The rituals described here continued to be observed at the Vietnamese courts into the twentieth century.
[In 1437, the first month], the king ordered the court minister Nguyen Trai, with the official Luong Dang, to oversee the work on the bells and the carriages [royal protocol], the musical instruments, and the training in court music and dance.
Nguyen Trai proceeded to draw up and present to the throne a sketch of a stone chime and declared, “It is said, in times of strife, use military means; in times of peace, apply the proper civilized patterns. Now is precisely the time we need to perform the rites and the music. Yet we do not have the foundation for this and thus cannot establish it. Since we do not have the proper patterns, we cannot perform them correctly. Peace is the foundation of music, and sound forms its proper pattern. Your subject obeys your command to perform the music and does not dare not to give all his heart and effort to it. Yet, because the study and training is weak, I am afraid that it will be difficult to make the prosody harmonious. I request that the throne love and nourish the people so that those in the villages will not have discordant voices—that is the way not to lose the foundation of the music!”
The throne praised and accepted Nguyen Trai’s proposal, ordering stone masons from Mount Giap district [in Thanh Hoa Province, to the south] to carve out stone from Mount Kinh Chu in order to make the stone chimes in the old way.
In the fifth month, Nguyen Trai reported to the throne, “Even though your subject and Luong Dang have worked on the proper music for the court, your subject’s perceptions do not match those of Luong Dang. Your subject asks to withdraw from your mandate.” Before this, Le Thai To [r. 1428–1433] had ordered Nguyen Trai to determine the system of court dress and headgear, but it had yet to be put in place. At this point, Luong Dang presented his own study that, in general, said, “In speaking of ritual, there are the ceremonies of the Great Court and the Common Court. To sacrifice to Heaven and report to the Temple of the Ancestors on sacred days and at Tet Nguyen Dan [New Year], then we do the Great Ceremonies…. We cannot merely use one single general pattern of music but must instead employ a music specific to each occasion. [Then he gave more detail about the carriages and implements for the rites and concluded,] your subject cannot put it all down in writing.”
After this document had been presented, the throne again sent Luong Dang to prepare it. Luong Dang thereupon took the opportunity to present a new set of regulations regarding court clothing and music. In general, the proposals put forward by Luong Dang and Nguyen Trai contained many points that differed. Their discussions on large and small musical ensembles, heavy and light music, had many contradictory points, and their reports did not agree. Because of this, Nguyen Trai withdrew his proposal. The throne listened to Luong Dang’s discussion and followed it. The king visited the ancestral temple where students performed a proper dance. There were no more performances of vulgar, lewd music and dance.
[In the eighth month], the official Bui Cam Ho presented a memorial to the throne, stating, “Since Your Majesty took the throne, there have been many changes in Le Thai To’s institutions, such as those proposed by the official Luong Dang. The founding ruler employed those people with little literacy as his courtiers [that is, his lieutenants from the mountains of Thanh Hoa]. Yet we see that these men are ordinary and rustic, and we cannot work personally and closely with them, resulting in our remaining literati [and not becoming officials]. Today, the royal court also has taken these men as officials. Your subject wishes the throne to consider this.”
In the ninth month, the official Luong Dang, now also officially in charge of the court music, presented the new music, modeled on the system of the Ming court, and began using it. Earlier Luong Dang and Nguyen Trai had obeyed the royal command to create the court music. Music at the upper level had the eight types of sound….8 Music at the lower level included … other patterns.
In the eleventh month, on the ritual occasions, specifically the days of Thanh Tiet [sacred sacrifices], Nguyen Dan [New Year], the new and full moons, ordinary court days, and great banquets, all were newly established. Before this, the king had ordered Luong Dang to set up the ritual for the Great Court events, and now he finished and presented it. The throne immediately had him record the annotations and post them outside the Thua Thien gate. The king visited and performed the new ritual at the ancestral temple. Beginning with this time, the officials wore the courtly garments and performed the new ritual.
[DVSKTT, 11, 35a–36a, 38a–39a, 45b–46b, 47b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
THE TEMPLE OF LITERATURE (1455)
When compiling the first continuation to the Chronicle of Dai Viet, covering the preceding Tran dynasty, in 1455, the scholar-official Phan Phu Tien added a variety of comments on the text. In the comment here, he discusses Confucian scholars (V: nho; C: ru) and the need to maintain continuity in thought through the centuries. The matter at hand was the Vietnamese Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) and who should be commemorated in it.9 This temple was the central site for Confucian learning and ritual in Dai Viet and remained the focus of the public recognition of scholars’ achievements until the early twentieth century when the civil service examinations were finally abandoned.
Those famous scholars through the ages who were able to put aside aberrant thought and transmit Dao Thong [linking ancient thought and the present age] have taken their places in the Temple of Literature. This showed clearly the origins of the Dao Hoc [study of the Way]. Tran Nghe Tong [r. 1370–1394] brought Chu Van An, Truong Han Sieu, and Do Tu Binh into the Temple. Truong Han Sieu was firm in his beliefs and put aside Buddhist thought, while Chu Van An set himself right through his writings, maintained this spirit, and did not seek personal success. These two scholars were fine. As to Do Tu Binh, he was lacking in scholarship and covetous. Now this villain who obstructed the affairs of state—how could he have been allowed into [the Temple]?
[DVSKTT, 8, 4a–4b; trans. Whitmore, “Text and Thought,” 263]
CHANGING THE REIGN NAME (1469)
Northern ritual was at the core of the state’s activities in the new regime. Accordingly, when Le Thanh Tong changed the title of his reign from Quang Thuan (Broadly Conforming [to Heaven’s Will]) to Hong Duc (Overflowing Virtue) in 1469, the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) recorded his discussion of the significance of such ritual acts. The young emperor and his scholar-officials had completed the transformation of the government according to their bureaucratic style, and the crops were good, showing Heaven’s favor for their actions. The emperor thus believed that this warranted a new name for his reign. Le Thanh Tong followed the Ming pattern of ritual, as argued in the 1430s, and quickly established the Sacrifice to Heaven (Nam Giao), which continued until the twentieth century. In the late eighteenth century, the scholar Pham Dinh Ho recorded a description of the Nam Giao ceremony.10 Le Thanh Tong also greatly limited Buddhist activities (as did the Gia Long emperor in 1804).11
[In 1469], eleventh month, sixteenth day, the king proclaimed a great amnesty to mark the change in the name of the reign period [from Quang Thuan (Broadly Conforming [to Heaven’s Will])] to Hong Duc, “Overflowing Virtue,” making the next year the first of that reign period. On the eighteenth day, the king proclaimed to all civil and military officials and the people throughout the realm, “We are that which separates the human from the bestial. We do so by using rites as protective measures. If there are no rites, then reckless emotions will be let loose, and people will let their passions go, releasing mean and low feelings, depraved and extravagant desires—there will be no end to them! From today on, whenever all ranks of officials and their underlings are transferred or promoted, removed or given a position, the Ministry of Civil Service will send a letter to the prefecture, the district, and the village of the particular official, instructing the village headman to prepare a statement on the official’s proper offerings in ritual: Were the official and the people of his jurisdiction in the year past up to standard? Were the marriages performed in accordance with the proper ceremonies? Were the betrothals of the region celebrated and made known? The official will be promoted or removed according to regulation. If there are any men who do not do this and yet rise above their station, the local official shall mark them with ink and banish them.”
[DVSKTT, 12, 51b–52a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
The Book of Good Government of the Hong Duc Era (1540s) includes the following summary of Confucian expectations for personal conduct in Dai Viet. These rules, drawn up in 1471, were conspicuously male oriented and worked against the assertion of women’s authority in Vietnamese society. Their purpose was to guide society’s behavior, especially that of the officials, and to form a model for future royal edicts that sought to impose the same values throughout society. These articles were measures of whether a scholar would be eligible for service, as the state made inquiries all the way down to the applicant’s village. This was the first such set of behavioral expectations to appear in Dai Viet. In later centuries, others followed, and they were periodically reinforced when deemed necessary. In the early eighteenth century, the Trinh rulers drew up detailed guidelines for behavior and conduct, and in the nineteenth century, the Nguyen rulers laid out their expectations for conduct, most notably in the Minh Mang emperor’s “Ten Moral Precepts,” which were expounded in 1834.12
Article 1
Obligation of students toward their teachers: respect. If they show haughtiness and scorn, they shall be punished for lack of respect.
Article 2
Duties of brothers toward one another: mutual respect, love, and harmony. They should not listen to their wives at the expense of (male) blood relatives; if they do, they would attract shame on their family and shall be punished.
Obligations of children toward their parents: strict adherence to moral principles in serving them, feeding them, taking care of their funerals, and providing the ancestral sacrifice for them. No shortening of the mourning period shall be permitted.
Article 4
Duties of friends toward one another: maintain trust, have no jealousy, commit no damaging act. Violation shall lead to punishment.
Article 5
Obligations of men and women vis-à-vis one another: they shall not sit on the same mat, bathe at the same ford and directly hand over objects to each other.
Article 6
After the fiancé’s family has conformed to the demands of the marriage rites and delivered the marriage gift, the fiancée shall, on the wedding day, go immediately to her husband’s house to live. No one shall adhere to the corrupt ancient custom of compelling the husband to live and work in the fiancée’s house for three years.
[Hong Duc thien chinh thu (hereafter, HDTCT), nos. 95–100; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 2:107–8]
In 1479, the historian Ngo Si Lien finished reworking the new edition of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet and, like Le Van Huu and Phan Phu Tien before him, added his own comments. He attacked the classical beliefs of the fourteenth-century scholars that had become embodied in the Ho regime when Ho Quy Ly used classical references to enhance his legitimacy. Ngo Si Lien instead emphasized Neo-Confucian values (those of the twelfth-century Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi) while also commenting favorably on the Trung sisters of the first century C.E. He stressed the continuing efficacy of the Trung sisters’ spirit cult even as he masculinized the two women as scholars and warriors. Yet there was little philosophical discourse among Vietnamese Confucians until the eighteenth century.13 The accumulated practical lore of these northern scholar-officials was compiled by Phan Huy Chu in Categorized Records of the Institutions of Successive Dynasties (1821).
Confucianism
If, in the way of the ancients, there had been no Confucius, there would have been no one who understood it [the Way]. If, after the birth of the ancients, there had been no Confucius, there would have been no one who took it as regulating his life. Since mankind emerged, there has been no one as great as Confucius, yet Ho Quy Ly dared to take him lightly—truly, Ho Quy Ly did not know what was important!
Zhu Xi analyzed clearly and thoroughly and explained broadly. Indeed, he brought together the great accomplishments of the earlier scholars and is the model for later studies.
In the process, Zhu filled in the gaps and refined the results. All who follow need only to consult his work.
The Cult of the Trung Sisters
Trung Trac, angry with the tyrannical Han governor, raising her hand and shouting out, all but united and restored our country. Her heroic courage was not limited to her lifetime achievements of establishing the land and proclaiming herself queen, but after her death she also resisted misfortune, for, in times of flood or drought, prayers to her spirit have never gone unanswered. And it is the same with her younger sister. Because they had both the virtue of scholars and the temperament of warriors, there are no greater spirits in all Heaven and Earth. Should not all great heroes nurture an attitude of upright hauteur such as they had?
[Ngo Si Lien, DVSKTT, 8, 27b–28a, Outer Records, 3, 2a; trans. Whitmore, “Text and Thought,” 265; Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 336]
In the 1490s, the renowned scholar-official Vu Quynh edited the fourteenth-century Strange Tales from South of the Passes and adapted it to Le Thanh Tong’s new state and society, with its Confucian morality.
In ancient times there were not yet books of history to record the facts; therefore nearly all the old affairs have been forgotten and lost. Still, some items were not neglected, having been passed down orally [although] only among persons of special ability…. Now I do not know in which dynasty this collection of handed-down tales was written or by whom. My opinion is that it was initially drafted during the Ly or Tran dynasty [1009–1400], in rough form by an eminent scholar of broad learning, and then enriched and adorned by learned and accomplished gentlemen of the present day…. This material, though wonderful, does not reach the point of extravagance, and this literature, though unorthodox, does not reach the point of fantasy. Although [this literature was] passed down through an unverified tradition, not being found in the classics, it still has something that can be relied on, namely, to warn against evil and to exhort the people to reform, to discard the false and to follow the true, thereby encouraging public morality…. Alas! The wonders of Linh Nam [South of the Passes] are differently reported; these tales have not been engraved in stone or recorded in books but have been kept in the hearts of the people and inscribed in the tongues of men. The leader, able to do what is proper, cherishes and admonishes the young and the old alike, so their deeds will be bounded by principles and rules and enclosed in public morality. Is there not some small use in this?
I first encountered this manuscript in the spring of 1492. I opened it up and carefully read it. It did not lack confusions caused by clerical errors and obscure meanings. So, setting aside the low and vulgar, I revised and corrected it, arranged it into three chapters, and entitled it Linh Nam chich quai liet truyen [Strange Tales from South of the Passes]. I kept it in my home to read at my leisure and to improve it with a view toward publishing. I enriched and adorned it so that it might be brought to perfection; I examined its characters, refined its phrases, and expanded its meanings. All this I did for the benefit of future scholars fond of the past; is it possible that there will be such persons? Thus I have written this preface; autumn, 1492.
[Linh Nam chich quai liet truyen; trans. adapted from Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 355]
LITERATI AND BUDDHIST TEMPLE INSCRIPTIONS (SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Most of the Vietnamese literati grew up and were educated in the villages, returning to them when not in service to the state. Vietnamese Confucianism thus was centered in the countryside rather than in the cities, and in the sixteenth century, Confucian scholars even composed texts for inscriptions at the local Buddhist temples. As members of the village community, these scholars felt an obligation to do so but also to explain why literati like themselves composed inscriptions for Buddhists.
Now how can Confucians be involved in Buddhist services? In addition, I’ve often heard that our Confucian predecessors did not write about Buddhist affairs. However, because of getting pleasure from the goodness of human beings, I’d like to join them [the Buddhists] in promoting goodness.
Inscription from the Linh Cam Temple (1557)
As a Confucian, I always remember the words of my predecessors, which state, “The rise and fall of Buddhist temples does not concern me.” When Buddhist inscriptions are engraved or effaced, how does this require my words? Yet a true Confucian [superior man; V: quan tu; C: junzi] takes joy in the goodness of people of the Middle Path [Buddhism] and cannot limit himself to words. Consequently, I write this inscription to be engraved on the stone.
Inscription from the Thanh Quang Temple (1562)
As a Confucian I do not adore Buddhism. However, I am fond of joining people in doing good things, thus, I dare not reject their demands for an inscription.
I often hear the words “advocating goodness as the master did.” So taught the Shujing [Classic of Documents]. How can those who want to do good things not seek the truth from these words?
Inscription from the Sung An Temple (1578)
[Han Nom Institute Library, nos. 2189, 5433, 8518–19; trans. Nguyen Nam, “Being Confucian in Sixteenth Century Vietnam,” 147, 149]
Even though the Mac government emphasized Confucian rule, Buddhist temples thrived in the villages, as the following temple inscription, written by the famous scholar Nguyen Binh Khiem (1491–1585), makes clear. In this case, the Buddhist temple also included elements of Daoist and Confucian beliefs. Indeed, the “Three Teachings” formed a syncretic belief system integrating the tenets of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, a system that could be found at all levels of Vietnamese society, with the balance among the three elements varying by time and location.
Stele Inscription with a Preface (Composed on the Occasion of) Building the Statues of the Three Teachings at Cao Duong
The ancient temple of Thuy Anh at Cao Duong has been renowned for its spiritual efficacy. The Buddhist hall is so dignified that it makes one look up with reverence. The bell tower is so lofty that it makes people all hear. All who pray here have their prayers answered. It is the most fortunate place in Thai Binh province. This village has enlightened gentlemen and benevolent ladies who, in the years of the Thuan Thien reign [Le Thai To (r. 1428–1433)], offered their seven mau of cultivated land to be the property of the Three Jewels. All people extol their attitude of taking joy in virtue. Now, the village literati Bui Tu Trang, Nguyen Le, Tong Moc, Nguyen Lam, together with monks and nuns, contributed money and directed craftsmen to cast the precious statues of the Three Teachings and of Miao Shan.14
After finishing the work, they asked me to compose the inscription to record the event. I also have a mind and heart fond of doing good and dare not refuse. However, I am a Confucian [V: nho; C: ru]. Although I am not well versed in Buddhism and the Daoism of Laozi [V: Lao Tu], I have read broadly and dispelled my doubts and learned something of their theories. Generally speaking, the Buddhist teaching is rooted in illuminating physical forms and the mind, and analyzing cause and effect. Daoism is based on concentrating on the vital energy [V: khi; C: qi) to make it supple, preserving oneness and keeping to genuineness. The sage Confucius rooted his teachings in morality, benevolence and righteousness, literature, life’s realities, loyalty, and good faith. Aren’t all of them the teachings that follow human nature in order to cultivate the Way?
Miao Shan got her reputation because of her goodness, which is nothing but the dwelling place of the mind/heart and human nature. All these virtuous ones were indeed able to spread the light of this Path of goodness, follow and preserve this teaching of goodness, establish themselves to be good examples for people, so that happiness and blessings would flow forever; their merits are inconceivable.
Accordingly, I have inscribed this on a solid piece of stone so that the transmission of their teaching shall endure through ages. The inscription reads as follows,
What Heaven imparts to man is called human nature,
To follow our nature is called the Way.
It is rooted in the Mind and lodged in the Teachings.
The forms through which it has been bequeathed to us are full of dignity,
Eternal and ageless as Heaven.
[Han Nom Institute Library, nos. 2696–97; trans. Nguyen Nam, “Being Confucian in Sixteenth Century Vietnam,” 143]
After the two decades of Ming occupation (1407–1427), the new Le dynasty sought to establish a more effective model of government for Dai Viet. The outcome was a blend of the leadership styles of the successful warrior chief Le Loi (Le Thai To [r. 1428–1433]), who was from the hills of Thanh Hoa southwest of the capital, and the famous literatus-minister Nguyen Trai (1380–1442). The new administration thus mixed aristocratic and literati rule. These two approaches are presented in True Record of Mount Lam, a description of the successful ten-year resistance against the Ming. Written from the new king’s point of view, this work stresses his and his soldiers’ warfare and suffering in their effort to set up the new government. This collaboration by royals and literati set the tone for later such partnerships, including that between Ngo Thi Nham and the Quang Trung emperor in the late eighteenth century. A similar remembrance can be found in the call for support by an eighteenth-century descendant of Le Loi’s, the rebel prince Le Duy Mat.15
I consider that living things have their origins in Heaven and that man originates from his ancestors. Just as the tree must have its root and water its source, so from ancient times it was with the rise of emperors and kings. The Shang dynasty began with Yu Song, the Zhou with Yu Tai…. If the first generation’s humaneness and kindness had not multiplied so thickly and if the gathering of blessings and favor had not been overwhelming, how could this not be the case?
During the troubled times, I met with many hardships; founding the state yet involved me in more difficulties. How fortunate that Heaven and men rallied to our cause. The fact that our meritorious achievement was completed is surely owing to the attainments of my ancestors in storing up virtue and accumulating goodness by their works of merit. I reflect on these things without cease and therefore have had them recorded in this book, entitled The True Record of Mount Lam, to give weight to the meaning of “origin” and further to describe the toll of my hardships and troubles so as to inform my children and grandchildren for generations to come.
The relationship between prince and subjects is that they dwell together in a great sense of obligation. Their kindness to each other is like that of flesh and blood: How can there be suspicion? How can there be jealousy among them? By this feeling of relationship, we have been able to win the heart of the masses, and people all happily follow us.
With respect to Heaven, it is difficult to make plans, for Heaven’s Mandate is not constant. We must think about the difficulties in order to plan what is easy. With respect to merit, it is difficult to achieve, yet easily lost. We must be scrupulous about the beginnings and yet plan the conclusion.
When you think of delicious feasts, remember the months when I lacked food and went starving and thirsty. Wearing bright brocades and satins, you must think back to days past when my clothes were in tatters with no change be it winter or summer. Gazing on the splendid towers of the palace, remember how in times past I drank the rain and made a bed on sand, running and hiding in the mountain forests. Seeing the palace women, numerous and beautiful, think how, in the past, my fellow villagers were lost to me, wives and children scattered and dead.
We must guard against the causes of rebellion or they will arise from a life of ease. We must admonish all you ministers against pride and arrogance or they will arise from a life of indolence and pleasure.
Truly it is for my descendants to be able to see deeply [into the founder’s principles].
[Nguyen Trai, Lam Son thuc luc, 3, 33b–34a, 12; trans. Ungar, “Vietnamese Leadership and Order,” 88–90, 92–94]
The new Le regime constructed an entirely new fiscal base for its government. Le Thai To used the idea of village registers from earlier centuries to set aside plots whose produce would fund the state. Then, in the 1430s, borrowing the idea of a law code from the Ming (though retaining the framework of the earlier Tang code), the Le compiled their own legal system. The initial portion of the new law code focuses on public land and an indigenous sense of property, reflecting very little influence from Northern law codes. The Vietnamese state continued using these village registers until modern times.
Article 368
If, in the registers of ponds and sandy tracts, and the registers of various taxes presented to the Throne, a large area is reported as a small one, productive as unproductive, a higher tax category as a lower tax category, or if there is any increase, decrease, or change resulting in a loss for the state or damage to the public, responsible prefectural, district, and village officials shall all be punished in proportion to the gravity of the increase, decrease, or change for the crime of concealment of state property. Officials of the departments and agencies in charge of endorsing these registers who negligently overlook such concealment shall be fined; but if they tolerate the fraud, they shall receive the same penalty as offenders.
Article 369
If there are natural resources usable by the armed forces or the state within an official’s jurisdiction and yet he fails to survey them and memorialize the king, he shall be demoted one grade. Informers whose reports prove to be well founded shall be rewarded in proportion to the importance of the case.
[LC, nos. 368–69; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:197]
DEMOTION OF THE QUEEN (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Unlike the Tran and Ho dynasties, during the early Le era the royal family was quite weak and was confronted by the powerful new aristocracy from the hills of Mount Lam. The contest between these two political forces played out in numerous ways. Among them was a struggle in the royal women’s quarters to determine which royal wife would be queen and produce the next ruler of Dai Viet. This issue was significant, since political alliances between powerful regional families and the central court were cemented through the marriages of daughters. In this case, Duong Thi Bi, the mother of the king’s firstborn son, Nghi Dan, was from the Red River Delta, but she found herself being displaced by the Thanh Hoa aristocracy. She did not go quietly, as the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) shows.
Duong Thi Bi produced a son, Le Nghi Dan. The king, Le Thai Tong [r. 1434–1442], made him crown prince. The queen, purposely and willfully, increased her haughtiness fourfold. The king was forbearing and patient, demoting her merely to Chieu Nghi Lady in the hope that she would change her ways. But Duong Thi Bi had become even more discontented and feared nothing. The king, seeing Duong Thi Bi become so distraught, felt that, though she had borne his son, she was of uncertain virtue, and so he demoted her to the status of a commoner. Consequently, he made a proclamation to the realm causing it to be clearly known that the position of crown prince had yet to be decided.
[DVSKTT, 11, 53b–54a; trans. Whitmore, “Establishment of Le Government,” 34]
CONTINUITY IN GOVERNANCE (1455)
Phan Phu Tien, one of the older generation of scholars, began to compose the continuation of the Chronicle of Dai Viet in 1455, adding a section on the Tran dynasty to that on the earlier Ly. His comment on the death of the renowned ruler Tran Minh Tong (r. 1314–1357) a century earlier also may be construed as a comment to his own ruler, Le Nhan Tong (r. 1442–1459), on the politics of his own time when “noisy” officials influenced policy and, in his view, not necessarily for the better. Phan Phu Tien was arguing for continuity over change and the separation of North and South.
Tran Minh Tong was of a humane and generous disposition. Receiving the craft of great peace, which his ancestors had accomplished through their institutions, there was nothing he would have changed. At the time, some scholars proposed a memorial stating that there were many vagrants and wanderers among the people. There was no record of these people, even when they were old, so they [had not been recorded and] did not pay taxes and levies. The official runners did not reach these people. The king said, “If it is not like this, then how does one achieve the craft of great peace? You wish us to make this happen—[but] how will this accomplish anything?”
The court officials Le Quat and Pham Su Manh, each a scholar-official, wanted to change the administrative system. The king said, “This country itself has refined institutions. The South and the North each has a differing pattern. If we listen to white-faced, bookish students seeking to dispense with what we have established and devise new schemes, then disaster will definitely result.”
The one occasion that we can deem regrettable was when King Tran Minh Tong listened to the crafty flattery of Tran Khac Chung and, as a result, killed the prime minister/father of the queen—isn’t this the trouble with such cleverness, of listening to bright people?
[DVSKTT, 7, 21a–21b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460–1497) wanted a new approach to government. In 1463, he addressed his ministers, officials, and lords, stating that he wished the lords to accept his command, whereas the officials were to be quite open with him, as it was their responsibility to remonstrate and to present memorials to him. This was a reversal of Phan Phu Tien’s advice a decade earlier to Le Thanh Tong’s older brother Le Nhan Tong against change or listening to the scholar-officials. In later centuries, such memorials remained the standard for scholar-officials’ action, and the eighteenth-century portion of this book offers several memorials by officials inspired by the scholar-bureaucrats’ emphasis on candor. Le Thanh Tong also established the triennial examination system, for which a commemorative stone inscription was eventually written (1484) for each examination.16 The following proclamation marks the transition from the aristocratic style of government to the bureaucratic approach. It also is the first time that the six ministries of the North (minus Public Works) are described as a functioning entity in the administration of Dai Viet. Later regimes (the Le-Trinh, Tay Son, and Nguyen dynasties) also followed the pattern begun by Le Thanh Tong.17 The continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) describes the new model.
[In 1463], winter, tenth month, the king proclaimed to all the ministers of the royal court, “Recently, the official Nguyen Phuc observed the great drought of the past spring and, in the third month, stated that we must do something, encouraging the throne to be serene while observing change and to be militant in protecting the royal person. The throne did not listen, and consequently nothing happened. So, the true sage examines the Heavenly Script in order to investigate the changing times and reads the writings of men so as to transform the realm. In the future, will we not be able to take this as a warning? Also, how can we doubt the defeat of such plots?”
[In the] twelfth month, the king proclaimed to the court minister Nguyen Xi and the other lords, “The safety or danger of the altars of the land lies with you, sirs! You need to contemplate this deeply and to apply it with your experience—report for me to hear! The power of the throne within the court will be quick to decide on matters of government. You, sirs, on the outside, will undertake them.”
The king called together the minister of civil service, Nguyen Nhu Do, the minister of justice, Tran Phong, the minister of war, Nguyen Vinh Tich, the minister of finance, Nguyen Cu Phap, the minister of rites, Nguyen Dinh My, and quoted Sima Guang, 18 to them, “‘The Superior Man advances to the basis of good government; the Small Man leads to chaos.’ Let us swear to Heaven and Earth to use superior men and to put aside small men. Day and night work diligently. Do not be inattentive to this!”
The king also proclaimed to the ministers and the officials of the Royal Study, “Today, among officials like Le Canh Huy, Nguyen Nhu Do, and Pham Du, some contribute to discussion in the court, [and] some add nothing to government business, whether they flatter and faun or stay silent and say nothing. Though there may be small errors, if you go by the rules, it is all right. Now, Nguyen Mau, Nguyen Vinh Tich, Nguyen Trac, and Nguyen Thien, among others, are able to be concerned about the ruler’s well-being and to love the country. When pursuing matters, they exhaust all their words. While there are mistakes and errors in these words, if they are offered in a generous and concerned manner, this, too, is all right. In the past, the words of Nguyen Mau on matters were not true and did not follow the rules. Here the throne tells Nguyen Mau about the virtue of being able to speak.”
[DVSKTT, 12, 13a–14a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
Le Thanh Tong grew up during the 1440s and 1450s in the palace with his three older half brothers (including the king, Le Nhan Tong [r. 1442–1459], and the future king, Le Nghi Dan [r. 1459–1460]). When he was still a prince, Le Thanh Tong was educated with his brothers by younger scholars who advocated following the Ming model of governance. In the following, the young king, Le Thanh Tong, speaks in the 1460s about one of his tutors who later assisted him in the administrative transformation of Dai Viet. It shows the ideal relationship of ruler and official in the new government, as described in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s).
Formerly, when I was little, you befriended me. You were a graduate of the Dai Bao days [1440–1442] and worked in the Royal Study. When you were a minister and I was beneath you, you were a close friend and exchanged learning and knowledge with me. When I became ruler and you were my minister, you were like the union of fish and water or the meeting of wind and clouds with me. You were able to exhaust your heart and unify your efforts in my cause. You encouraged the plan of repaying the state what was owed it. You achieved the public good with no private advantage. You blocked corruption. Thus I could be a ruler who knew men and you could be a minister who exhausted his loyalty. Illustrious in friendship, exalted in reputation, you gloried in correcting injustice and being dedicated, not pleasure-taking. If you had not been able to be like this, then I would be a ruler who did not know men and you would have been a minister who was dead [useless] to the throne! Of the two of us, it was you who chose what has been followed.
[DVSKTT, 12, 48b–49a; trans. Whitmore, “Establishment of Le Government,” 99–100]
In 1479, when Ngo Si Lien presented to the throne his Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet, he included comments on the events of the past that were described in the Chronicle. In so doing, he followed the Northern pattern of praise and blame in recounting the past, particularly the chronicle form of the eleventh-century Northern historian Sima Guang. As they had for the historian Phan Phu Tien about a quarter century earlier, these comments also acted as contemporary position papers and were directly relevant to current events. Even though his ruler saw a shared world of North and South within “the domain of manifest civility,” Ngo Si Lien discussed the basic reality of the Vietnamese state (the South) and its relationship to China (the North) in the surrender of Ly Phat Tu (Ly, Son of the Buddha) to the new Sui dynasty of China in 602. Military preparedness, as discussed by Phan Huy Chu in 1821, was always a key issue for the Vietnamese state.19
South and North, when strong or when weak, each has its time. When the North is weak, then we are strong, and when the North is strong, then we become weak; that is how things are. This being so, those who lead the country must train soldiers, repair transport, be prepared for surprise attacks, set up obstacles to defend the borders, use the ideas of a large country with the warriors of a small country. Days of leisure should be used to teach loyalty and respect for elders, so the people will clearly know their duty toward superiors and be willing to die for their leaders. If an invasion is imminent, take words and negotiate, or offer gems and silk as tribute; if this does not succeed, then, though dangers flood from every side, man the walls and fight the battles, vowing to resist until death and to die with the altars of the land; in that case one need be ashamed of nothing. But imagine someone who sees the enemy arrive on the border and, without a battle, grows afraid and begs to surrender! The king, Ly Phat Tu, was a coward and none of his officials spoke up; it can be said that there was no one in the country at that time.
[Ngo Si Lien, DVSKTT, Outer Records, 4, 22a–22b; trans. Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 301]
CRITIQUE OF A PAST COURT MINISTER (1479)
During the twelfth century, the rulers had weakened, and strong ministers, in alliance with the queen mothers, were running the state of Dai Viet. In his comment on that period, Ngo Si Lien expressed his intense dislike for the situation and specifically condemned the court minister Do Anh Vu for having usurped royal authority. As had Le Van Huu in the Chronicle of Dai Viet (1272), Ngo Si Lien castigated Do Anh Vu’s opponents for their crude actions.
Do Anh Vu was very wicked. Vu Dai and the others, even including all the royal house, united in conspiracy; they were not able to be heard in the royal court and to deal with Do Anh Vu’s crime clearly and correctly, so they used soldiers to frighten and coerce an immature sovereign, and this pleased Do Anh Vu by providing a pretext for speaking against Vu Dai. How can we know that Do Anh Vu did not calculate that he could depend upon his illicit affair with the queen mother to make heavy use of bribes in order to facilitate his escape and then to proceed with his desire for revenge? It was fortunate for Vu Dai that Nguyen Duong clearly foretold the disaster to come, even to the point that when he saw that his words were not heeded by Vu Dai, he leaped into a well as an omen for Vu Dai. Even so, Vu Dai did not perceive the truth of Nguyen Duong’s words and later suffered disaster, leading others into calamity as well! And as for the queen mother, was she without fault? No, her crime was extreme! When the talent, virtue, and authoritative position of Y Doan [C: Yi Yin] and Chu Cong [C: Zhou Gong, Duke of Zhou] are lacking, and there is a desire to resist what they stand for, it is difficult to escape from great and fateful errors.20
[Ngo Si Lien, DVSKTT, 4, 9a–9b; trans. Taylor, “Voices Within and Without,” 77]
THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT (1485)
During the 1480s, Le Thanh Tong repeatedly reminded his officials of their duties in the new age. For the king, their fundamental tasks were both ceremonial and practical, which he saw as equivalent in the framework of the new government system meant to keep his realm prosperous and in sync with Heaven. The continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) recorded his words to this effect. Two centuries later, in “History of the Country of Annam” (1659),21 the author Bento Thien described some of the ritual practices that Le Thanh Tong referred to. In the eighteenth century, Le Quy Don wrote extensively about ly, the underlying principle of proper administration.22
[In 1485, eleventh month], twenty-sixth day, the king established the rites and ceremonies and issued the order for instructions on agriculture and sericulture. The throne proclaimed to the officials in each of the administrative jurisdictions23 of the realm, “The purpose of ritual is to make good the hearts of the people; the purpose of agriculture is to provide sufficient food and clothing for them. These two matters are the urgent affairs of the government and the responsibility of each office. The throne itself does its utmost to bring this about, in all places transforming the people and refining their customs, through an administration that stresses the positive and removes the negative. In every case, it acts on all the royal instructions, honoring individual effort. Yet some of the people’s wealth does not contribute to the common surplus, and some of the people’s customs do not contribute to great change. How can you all consider books to be an urgent matter and still consider my instructive orders to be merely empty words? How can you all believe that periodic gatherings are paramount and yet dismiss people’s practices as beyond the pale, in order to cause what?
“From today, you will cease all your prior bad habits. You will unanimously accept and act on all orders issued by the royal court. The hunger and cold among the common people in many places need be managed by ly [proper principle], and so each year the officials of the prefectures, the districts, and the subprefectures will take the time to make observations together in the lowlands and the marshy regions and encourage the peasants in agriculture and sericulture. Where there is a tradition of profit, then follow the local patterns and see that they succeed. If people have a strong tradition, then follow it and urge them to work together. When people have a surplus and there are no abuses causing people to be cold or hungry or to flee, tour your jurisdictions each year-go out into the villages and alleyways where the people live. You must also read and consider the texts of the royal edicts of earlier ages, including the instructions for rites and music of the past and today, as well as the reports on the well-being of the adult population.
“To bring this about, follow the results of good governments in the past. If there are matters injurious to morality and ruinous to customs, you must warn against them. Men of loyalty and conviction, filial piety and brotherly duty, must use their hearts and minds to commend and encourage such behavior. The people will all then return to sincerity and abandon their evil and crafty ways. Who among you is able to honor the heritage, observing and fulfilling it? The two types of office [central and provincial] are to decide on awards for the renowned. In the event that you are merely looking for a steady job and are unwilling to put effort into this, you will be dismissed from office and put into the army.”
[DVSKTT, 13, 48b–49a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
In 1542, Nguyen Binh Khiem, the principal intellect of the mid-sixteenth century, laid out his literati beliefs in the following inscription for a local Buddhist temple, in which he applied fundamental Confucian thought to government and society. For Nguyen Binh Khiem, this meant upholding the proper Confucian relationships (between ruler and subject, husband and wife, father and son, among brothers, and between friends). State and society should be ruled by goodness and the restraint of desire.24
Human nature is rooted in goodness. Due to the restraint of the physical [V: khi; C: qi] endowment, or the concealment of human desires, the original goodness may become incomplete in comparison with its beginning, and one may turn out to be arrogant, miserly, wicked, and eccentric, and not hesitate to do anything…. Goodness has been uncultivated for a long time. The Heavenly principle is stored in the human mind and heart and is never destroyed. How nice it is to see the old people of my village encouraging one another to do good things: here and there bridges and temples are renovated! Since my mind is also fond of goodness, I always talk about it…. The building of the temple began on the third day of the eighth month and finished on the 29th. I inscribed the name “Centrality Shore” on its signboard. Someone asked me, “The edifice is named ‘Centrality Shore,’ what does it mean?” I replied, “The term trung means ‘golden mean/exact fitness.’ The completion of one’s goodness is golden mean/exact fitness. The incompletion is not golden mean/exact fitness. Knowing limits is to realize crucial borders. Not knowing limits is to wander at the shore of delusion. The name of the temple is essentially based on these understandings. For instance, being loyal to the king, reverential to parents, responsive to siblings, congruous in the husband-wife relationship, and faithful to friends is the golden mean/exact fitness. Chancing upon wealth but having no greed for it, seeing profits but not striving for them, enjoying goodness and educating people, treating others with fidelity, these are also golden mean/exact fitness. The meaning of the golden mean/exact fitness is stored in perfect goodness; thus it is possible to use this as a delineation. Knowing the crucial delineation, one is able to pick up and handle everything with absolute goodness. How can the prosperity of his merits and virtues be measured approximately enough? Since the old people of the village take pleasure in my words about goodness, they ask me for an inscription to be engraved in stone in order to pass it on to later generations.
The Supreme Lord has given mankind goodness; all the people must hold it as their natural disposition.
Restrained by different endowment of material force, one will find oneself in danger if one follows one’s desires.
[Bui Huy Bich, Hoang Viet van tuyen, 13a–14a; adapted from Nguyen Nam, “Being Confucian in Sixteenth Century Vietnam,” 151, 156–57]
In his geography of what is now central Vietnam, A Recent Record of O Chau (region of Hue), written in 1553, Duong Van An explained his belief of why the Le dynasty fell. Written during the Mac dynasty’s rule (1528–1592), he points out that the Le dynasty had failed in its administration of the land, leading to the succession of the Mac. Later dynasties also described their failed predecessors in such terms. At the core of Duong Van An’s argument was the government’s need for scholar-officials in order to gain Heaven’s will. Accordingly, dynastic change now involved the loyalty of the literati, the question being whether they would be loyal to the old or the new dynasty.
During Le Chieu Tong’s reign [1516–1522], the dynasty was beset with weakness and disaster, so that skilled and talented men slowly began to leave, as stars in the morning and leaves in autumn. In essence, Heaven did not continue the proper seasons, Earth did not continue the generations, and the people no longer prospered…. Thus, when Heaven’s will had gone, the soil went bad, the fields cracked, and war appeared; when Heaven’s will comes back, hillocks become solid ramparts, rubble becomes resplendent palaces, barbarian land becomes civilized…. With the Mac dynasty, the wise are established; Heaven and Earth are cared for; truly it is a time of prosperity. Heaven’s will has returned.
[Duong Van An, O Chau can luc, 2b; trans. Whitmore, “Chung-Hsing and Cheng-T’ung,” 123]
At the beginning of the Le dynasty in the 1430s, Vietnamese society had undergone a number of changes from the time of the Tran dynasty in the fourteenth century. The princely (and other) estates were mostly gone, victims of the chaos during the previous seventy years. The new Le regime established a law code, the first one in the history of Dai Viet, which theoretically would protect independent villages from being absorbed into larger private holdings. The Le Code, drawn up in the 1430s, attempted to keep social levels, such as those of dependents (“serfs”) and commoners, stable and separate from private interests. In particular, the Le government wished to keep powerful individuals and families from gaining control of such individuals and forming their own independent followers and manpower. The property section, excerpts from which follow, was at the core of the new code.
Article 363
Whoever buys a serf but does not submit the sale contract to the authorities for endorsement, and privately takes the initiative to tattoo him or her, shall be fined ten quan [strings of cash].
Serfs who reject their status and act as if they are commoners shall receive one hundred strokes of the heavy stick and be returned to their owner.
Article 365
Whoever tattoos other people’s sons, daughters, wives, or serfs in order to change them into his own serfs shall be condemned to penal servitude. If he is not an official, he shall be exiled. The offender shall, in any case, pay to the parents, husbands, or masters fifty quan as reparation for taking away a person, and the sons, daughters, wives, or serfs shall be returned to them. The scribe who drafted the document and the witnesses who know about the illegality of the act shall be demoted two grades.
Whoever tattoos indentured laborers to change them into serfs shall be similarly punished.
In all cases, the offender shall be required to pay the cost for removing the marks or characters in conformity with the law.
Whoever sells a commoner as a serf to another person shall be demoted five grades and required to pay reparation for taking away a person, half the amount to the state treasury and half to the individual sold. The sale price shall be returned to the buyer and the victimized individual shall be reinstated in his status of commoner. If the buyer knows about the illegality of the sale, he shall be demoted three grades and the sale price confiscated. The scribe who drafted the sale document and the witnesses who knew about the illegality of the sale shall be demoted two grades.
[LC, nos. 363–65; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:196]
CONTROLLING POWERFUL FAMILIES (1430S)
The Le government wished to restrain powerful families and individuals from accumulating land and resources. This was a long-standing problem for the monarchy of Dai Viet, competing with local powers for control over the resources of the countryside.
Members of high-ranking and powerful families who take by force rice lands, dwellings, and ponds belonging to commoners shall be punished with a fine for illegal seizure of one mau [3,600 square meters] of land or more and demotion for five mau or more. If the offenders are third- or lower-rank officials, they shall receive a penalty two degrees higher. In all cases, the offenders shall return the seized property and pay punitive damages as prescribed by law. If a memorial has been submitted to the king, the case shall be treated differently.
Article 455
Princes and members of powerful families of the second rank upward who harbor thieves and robbers on their private estates and let them use these places as havens shall be fined five hundred quan [strings of cash]. In addition, their estates shall be confiscated. Estate managers shall receive a penalty one degree lower than that imposed for theft or robbery. Restitution of all corpora delicti and payment of damages shall be imposed on the estate owners. One-tenth of the confiscated lands shall be used to reward any accuser. Estate owners who, before their unlawful act is uncovered, take the initiative in arresting the thieves and robbers and turn them over to the authorities shall not be charged with any offense.
[LC, nos. 370, 455; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:197, 222]
THE LITERATI AND LOCAL CUSTOM (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Through the mid-fifteenth century, a new generation of scholars increasingly advocated contemporary Ming practices for the government and the state. As recorded in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s), the new morality of these scholar-officials conflicted with cultural patterns in the countryside. The following passage describes such a conflict when the royal procession moved through the countryside toward the royal home in Mount Lam.
[In 1448, second month], giap tuat day, the king [six-year-old Le Nhan Tong (r. 1442–1459)] traveled to Lam Kinh [his family home of Mount Lam, the new secondary capital] accompanied by the queen mother/regent, all three princes [his half brothers], and the lords attending him. The throne commanded the court minister Le Than and the capital official Le Bi to take charge of the capital in the king’s absence. The people of Thanh Hoa Province came out to see the royal procession. Men and women at first led and then followed, dancing the Li Len and singing to the royal party in honor of the king. Equal numbers of men and women danced hand in hand and sang respectfully in the popular Li Len. Together, the men and women alternately crossed their feet and their throats in a dance called “Plant the Flowers, Braid the Flowers,” a most vile display. The censor Dong Hanh Phat told the high lord Trinh Kha, “This is a lewd custom, an evil practice! Such an annoyance cannot be performed before the royal party.” Trinh Kha thereupon banned and put a stop to it.
[DVSKTT, 11, 64a–64b; trans. John K. Whitmore]
In 1449, fourteen articles were added to the Le Code’s property section. This appears to have been the first time an effort was made to ensure that the code would protect the existing practices of private property and inheritance of land. These articles also were indigenous to the country and not of Northern origin. They detail property and inheritance arrangements and, in particular, show the relatively high position of women (compared with that of women in the North) in these arrangements. Women had the right to own and dispose of property; indeed, wills were very important to the Vietnamese.
Article 374
When a husband with children from his former principal wife and none by his later one, or a wife with children by her former husband but none by her later one, predeceases the later spouse intestate, if the distribution of real property between the children of the former wife or the children of the former husband on the one hand and the later wife or the later husband on the other, does not conform to the law, the persons responsible shall receive fifty strokes of the light stick and be demoted one grade.
The law provides: When the husband dies and the former wife has one child but the later wife none, the real property originating from the husband’s clan shall be divided into three parts; two shall go to the child of the former wife and one to the later wife. However, when the former wife has two or more children, the part going to the later wife shall be equal to that of one child. In any case the part allocated to the later wife shall be used to support her during her lifetime, shall not become her own property, and shall be returned to the husband’s children when she dies or remarries. When a wife dies, her later husband shall enjoy the same right, the only difference being that he shall not have to return the property after his remarriage.
Real property newly acquired during marriage with the former wife shall be in case the husband predeceases his later spouse divided into two parts: one shall be allotted to the former wife and shall be allocated to her children, and one to the deceased husband, to be divided in the proportions stated above.
Real property newly acquired during marriage with the later wife shall be divided into two parts: one shall go to the deceased husband, to be divided in the proportion stated above, and one to the later wife with full ownership.
In the case in which a wife predeceases, her later husband shall enjoy the same right.
However, if the parents of the deceased spouse are still living, the case shall be decided differently.
[LC, no. 374; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:198–99]
IDEOLOGY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1462)
By the 1460s, a new social pattern had begun to emerge in the Le state, promoted by scholar-officials influenced by Confucianism, as seen in new articles in the Le Code dealing with huong hoa (incense and fire) ritual land—that is, the land set aside on the death of a male landowner to produce income to pay for his ancestral sacrifices. These articles advanced the status of the male line (patrilineality) and the ideal of the eldest son as the inheritor (primogeniture). Although such concepts became elite ideals in Vietnamese society, they often conflicted with the realities of local social and cultural patterns, in which women continued to have property rights.
Article 388
When a father and a mother have died intestate and left land, the brothers and sisters who divide the property among themselves shall reserve one-twentieth of this property to constitute the huong hoa [incense and fire/ritual] property which shall be entrusted to the eldest brother. The remainder of the property shall be divided among them. Children of secondary wives or female serfs shall receive smaller parts than children of the principal wife.
In the case in which the father and mother have left an oral will or a testament, the relevant regulations concerning wills shall apply. Heirs who violate this provision shall be deprived of their parts.
(Decree of the third year of the Quang Thuan reign [1462])
[LC, no. 388; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:203]
MOURNING (LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
The new Confucian system emphasized correlation with the Heavenly principles. This meant the centrality of ritual, with death ceremonies at its core, binding together the paternal generations. Filial devotion also remained central to this behavior. By carrying out the mourning ritual, human society accorded with Heaven (the cosmos). This was the most important ritual in Dai Viet’s new state system and continued into the modern age.25 According to the Le Code, the punishment for violating mourning rites was as severe as that for violating the space of the royal palace. In addition, the key document of the Hong Duc reign (1470–1497), the Celestial South’s [Records Made] at Leisure, called for burials to be carried out properly. Geomancy was important in this regard, as its purpose was to keep one family from digging into (and blocking) another family’s favorable tomb site and orientation.
Article 130
Persons knowing of the death of their grandparents, parents, or husband who conceal the news and do not publicly show grief shall be subjected to penal servitude as heavy work menials if they are male offenders and as silkworm-breeding menials if they are female. During the period of mourning for the said relatives or spouse, those who wear clothes other than the mourning garb or participate in musical or theatrical entertainments instead of remaining mournful shall be demoted two grades. Those who chance upon a musical party and join it or who attend celebration banquets shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick.
Article 131
Persons who participate in musical or theatrical entertainments while their grandparents, parents, or husband are detained for a crime punishable by death shall be demoted two grades.
Article 317
Persons who marry while they must observe the mourning period for their deceased parents or husband shall be condemned to penal servitude. Those who knowingly contract marriage with such persons shall be demoted three grades, and the marriage shall be dissolved.
Article 141
Whenever there are funerals and burials in a village, neighbors must help one another. The head of the family in mourning shall feed his guests in accordance with his financial situation. Those who adduce vile ancient customs to demand big trays of rice, wine, fish, and meat from the mourning family shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick.
Article 543
Whoever, upon the death of his parents, fraudulently asserts another kind of mourning and fails to wear the proper mourning garb shall be condemned to penal servitude as a heavy work menial. Whoever fraudulently alleges the death of his grandparents, parents, or husband in order to petition for a leave of absence or to avoid some obligation shall be demoted three grades. If the allegation of death concerns his uncles or their wives, his paternal aunts, his elder or younger brothers, or elder sisters, the penalty shall be a one-grade demotion.
Article 408
Fornication in the imperial city’s Forbidden Area shall be punished by decapitation. The same penalty shall be inflicted on persons who commit fornication during the period of mourning for their deceased parents or husband.
Le Code
Decree of 1484
Those who carry out a burial cannot use the pretext that their burial ground is private in order to build a tomb next to a pre-existing one and thereby block the view of the latter. In case of violation of this provision, children and grandchildren of the person buried earlier shall be allowed to file a complaint with the local authorities. The family responsible for the later burial shall have to reinter the remains elsewhere and pay a reparation as prescribed by law.
Celestial South’s [Records Made] at Leisure
[LC, nos. 130–31, 317, 141, 543, 408; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:141–42, 185, 144, 248–49, 208; Thien Nam du ha tap, Legal Section, 31a–31b; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 2:200]
PUBLIC LAND AND POWERFUL FAMILIES (1467)
The new regime under Le Thanh Tong sought to instill proper behavior in Vietnamese society at large while, at the same time, it had to contend with the private forces that sought to undercut the public (that is, state) domain. The continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) describes how Le Thanh Tong traveled to the homeland and tombs of his family (his second capital) in Mount Lam southwest of Thang Long and directly confronted efforts by powerful families to seize the public land meant for the royal family and the Meritorious Subjects who had helped establish the new dynasty, as well as the Subjects’ descendants.
[In 1467, second month], the king commanded the minister of finance, Tran Phong, and other officials to investigate the public land of Mount Lam village. These lands were to be granted to the Meritorious Subjects26 from the top rank down to the sixth and seventh ranks in accordance with these ranks. Then the king proclaimed to all the officials and the local elders, “Lam Kinh [Mount Lam as the secondary capital] is the root and the homeland of our kings and cannot be compared with any other capital. Now, powerful families [the gia] have opposed this, considering the common laws yet seizing land as their own, so that the princes and princesses do have not enough land to plant a stick! We wish to use the law to punish such crimes, to apply the ritual and righteousness previously proclaimed, and to allow the royal family to thrive and have a place to support itself. Now we have set the boundaries of those lands, so that any who dare to transgress them will be punished according to the law!”
[DVSKTT, 12, 27b–28a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
In order to maintain the desired social order, in 1474 Le Thanh Tong’s government began emphasizing the education and control of children. The proper raising of children was fundamental to the social system and hence to the cosmic correlation between the state and Heaven. The Book of Good Government of the Hong Duc Era includes this edict, which applied to both male and female children.
Decree on Disowning Children Who Violate the Law
They shall be considered as belonging to the category of family-ruining offspring, those children and grandchildren who violate the law, who indulge in drinking, love-making, gambling, cock-fighting, hunting, chess-playing, sexual intercourse and vagrancy on public roads, who revile their parents, grandparents or relatives. The parents of such a child shall endeavor to educate him day and night. If he still refuses to follow the moral teachings, fails to correct his mistakes and continues to disobey his parents’ orders, the latter shall enumerate all the grievances against him in a statement, for disowning him as a stranger, which statement shall be deposited for certification at the local government office and their native village. If later on, the child violates the law and is prosecuted, the parents shall not be held liable for his acts.
When becoming weakened with old age, the parents make a will to partition their estate among their sons and daughters, the disowned child shall not be entitled to any part thereof. If the partition of the estate, not determined by the parents, is later implemented by a distribution agreement among brothers, the latter shall conform to the parents’ wishes in the settlement of the estate. Even though the disowned child has returned home to mourn for the parents, it was merely a formality of paying homage to his parents. The fact that he has been disowned bars him from making any claim against his relatives. If, revolting against the parents’ wishes, he files a suit at the local government office, the latter shall not act upon his claim, in order to suppress any dispute and give a severe lesson to those guilty of lack of filial piety and discord.
[HDTCT, no. 269; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 2:220–21]
THE KING ON BAD BEHAVIOR (1476)
Le Thanh Tong was determined to impose on his country and society what he saw as proper behavior. In order to control the wilder proclivities of his people, he ordered his officials and his people to put aside such risqué and destructive activities (and hence follow Heaven’s dictates), as recorded in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s).
[In 1476, first month], the king forbade debauchery [wine and women], proclaiming to the officials, their underlings, and the people, “From today, families that are not having guests or preparing a banquet may not party. Wives who are blameless may not be allowed to go out by themselves. Those who dare to indulge in alcohol are by nature reckless, the way of the family becomes quite irregular as a result, and as a consequence there are no words of the matchmaker [that is, you will never find a marriage partner!]. Hence there is the likelihood of ‘jumping the wall’ [committing adultery]. Resist such errors!”
[DVSKTT, 13, 1a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
MARRIAGE (LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
Like the rites of mourning, those of marriage formed an important aspect of the new system and elicited comments for several centuries. Efforts were made to ensure that these rites, too, were properly carried out for the same cosmic reasons—that is, to keep in sync with the principles of Heaven. Formal guidelines were established between 1476 and 1478, eventually becoming part of the Le Code, and marriage practices were commonly commented on in discussions of local customs.
Article 314
Whoever, instead of bringing adequate gifts to the home of a girl’s parents (if the parents are deceased, to the home of the paternal relatives’ representative or that of the village chief) to celebrate a wedding ceremony, cohabits unlawfully with the girl, shall be demoted one grade and must pay the girl’s parents reparation commensurate with the social standing of her family. (If the parents are deceased, the money shall be paid to the paternal relatives’ representative or to the village chief.) The girl in question shall receive fifty strokes of the light stick.
Article 315
Whoever unwarrantedly breaks off an engagement after accepting the gifts offered by a man in return for his daughter’s betrothal (such as money, silk, gold, silver, pork, or wine) shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick. If such father marries his daughter to a second man and the wedding is already celebrated, he shall be condemned to penal servitude as a heavy work menial. The second man shall be condemned to penal servitude if he knows about the original engagement but shall not be prosecuted if he does not. The female partner shall be returned to the first fiancé. If the latter refuses to marry her, the girl’s parents must return the betrothal gifts and pay a sum equal to the value of said gifts as punitive damages. In this case, the girl shall remain with the second man as his wife.
When a fiancé’s family refuses to celebrate the wedding after offering betrothal gifts, the responsible persons shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy stick and the gifts shall be forfeited.
[LC, nos. 314–15; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:184–86]
In 1494, near the end of Le Thanh Tong’s reign, the king tried to resolve potential conflicts between marriage and mourning, as compiled in the Book of Good Government of the Hong Duc Era. The proper marriage ritual was very important to the regulation of society and hence the cosmos. But to Confucians, mourning one’s ancestors was even more important. Nonetheless, for a planned marriage to proceed, some flexibility was needed.
Concerning mourning of all kinds, as on the day of death it is hoped that the deceased might still resurrect, it is permissible to get married in a hurry to be ahead of the mourning. From the third day, when the corpse is wrapped in shrouds and the deceased is unanimously deemed dead, it is no longer permissible to get married hurriedly to avoid the mourning period. Violation of this regulation shall be punished under the statute on cutting short the mourning period. The village or hamlet official who accepts the marriage fee would be punished for misapplication of the law.
[HDTCT, no. 111; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 2:179]
RITUAL AND PATRILINEALITY (FIRST HALF OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
During his reign, Le Thanh Tong continued to underscore the patrilineal clan, and especially the male head of the clan, as part of the new emphasis on men and patrilineality. Even so, local arrangements provided room for flexibility. This promotion of patrilineality continued after Le Thanh Tong’s death in 1497 and was renewed during the Mac dynasty (1528–1592), as shown in the articles of the Le Code and the numbered item from the Book of Good Government of the Hong Duc Era.
Article 390
A father and a mother should make their testament when they feel themselves approaching old age.
When there is no testament, the patrilineal clan head may establish a distribution agreement on the basis of the land available. He shall follow the above-mentioned rule of reserving one-twentieth of the property as the huong hoa [incense and fire/ritual] property.
This clan head shall take into account all land for the constitution of the huong hoa portion. When one of his sons in turn becomes clan head, he shall combine the huong hoa land inherited from his father with all other land to be distributed to all sons and daughters and, after estimation of each child’s part, reserve one-twentieth of all these lands as the new huong hoa portion. When a grandson in turn becomes clan head, he shall proceed in the same manner.
However, if the family members are numerous and the total land area is small, the family shall be allowed to distribute the land among the huong hoa portion and the other parts to be owned by the heirs in whatever proportion it finds appropriate, provided that there is unanimity and no dispute.
Article 391
The management of the huong hoa property shall be entrusted to the eldest son or, failing that, to the eldest daughter. Such property shall be one-twentieth of the total of the real property in the estate.
(Decree of the second year of the Quang Thieu reign [1517]) Le Code
Number 47
When an eldest son neglects the ritual with which he is charged and does not stay in the locality where he is supposed to carry out the ritual, the paternal relatives shall be allowed to file a complaint against him. The offender shall lose the huong hoa property and shall be charged with lack of filial piety.
Book of Good Government
[LC, nos. 390–91; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:204; HDTCT, no. 47; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 2:22]
LAW AND ETHNIC GROUPS (FIFTEENTH CENTURY)
The Le regime’s law code allowed ethnic groups other than the lowland Vietnamese to handle their own affairs. Only in cases in which more than one ethnic group was involved did state officials intervene. In earlier centuries, the chiefs of ethnic groups outside Dai Viet’s political structure handled their own problems. But under the new bureaucratic system, solutions to these problems were laid out in law.
Article 40
Whenever persons of alien cultures belonging to the same ethnic group commit an offense against one another, justice shall be dispensed in accordance with their customs. If they come from different ethnic groups, the law code shall apply.
Article 451
Persons belonging to ethnic minorities who commit robbery or homicide against one another shall receive a penalty one degree lower than that imposed for ordinary robbery or homicide. However, if they reach a settlement between themselves before the trial, such settlement shall be authorized.
Responsible administrators and superintendents who improperly demand cattle or other domestic animals, money, or goods in return for toleration and concealment of the above offenses shall be demoted or condemned to penal servitude. They must turn over the corpus delicti to the state and pay punitive damages equal to twice its value. Moreover a fine shall be imposed on such officials to reward accusers in accordance with the law.
Article 452
Persons belonging to ethnic minorities living in military territories who rob or loot inhabitants of frontier areas shall be punished according to the general statute on robbery. If such persons pass through a village, responsible officials who do not arrest them shall be demoted or condemned to penal servitude.
Responsible administrators and superintendents who, though informed about the facts, fail to take appropriate measures to prevent such crimes shall be condemned to penal servitude or removed from their offices. If they take bribes to condone the offense, they shall receive the same penalty as the criminals.
[LC, nos. 40, 451–52; trans. Huy and Tai, Le Code, 1:119, 221]
REGARDING CULTURAL INFLUENCES (1435)
While he was helping to draft the law code in the 1430s, the court minister Nguyen Trai, a major scholar-official of the old school, was tutoring the crown prince, who then became the young king, Le Thai Tong (r. 1434–1442). In 1435, Nguyen Trai and his colleagues compiled the first Geography based on his lessons to the prince. The Geography reveals the intellectual developments of the late fourteenth century, including the growing sense by the lowland Vietnamese that they were different from their neighbors.
The people of our land should not adopt the languages or the clothing of the lands of the Wu [Ming], Champa, the Lao, Siam, or Zhenla [Cambodia], since doing so will bring chaos to the customs of our land.
Comment: The word “not to” means “it is forbidden.” To speak Ngo [C: Wu = Northern] follows the tongue and needs to be translated, whereas to know Lao follows the throat, and Thai, Cham, and Khmer all follow the larynx, being like the sounds of the shrike. Thus none of these can be adopted because they do not resonate with the sounds of our land. The Northerners have been affected by Yuan [Mongol] customs—their hair hanging down the back, white teeth, short clothing, long sleeves, [and] caps and robes bright and lustrous as piles of leaves. Even though the people of the Ming have resumed the old ways of Han- and Tang-style dress, their customs have changed. The Lao use Western [Indian] cloth to wrap themselves in, patterned like the irrigated fields of dysfunctional families [robes of Buddhist monks]. The people of Champa use a piece of cloth that covers their thighs but exposes their bodies. The Thais and Khmer use a piece of cloth that joins and envelopes the hands and the knees like a shroud. None of these styles should be followed or worn, since they disregard our customs.
The scholar of the Ly family [Ly Tu Tan] said, “From the time that the Yuan [Mongols] entered the Middle Kingdom, all under Heaven [the empire] changed when the Hu [Central Asian] language and Hu dress alone were used. The only ones who did not change were our country, along with the Golden Tomb of the Zhu family and the Golden Mountain of the Zhao family.27 And when Ming Taizu was enthroned,28 he sent Yi Jimin as ambassador to us to establish good relations. Our ruler, Tran Du Tong [r. 1341–1369], in turn sent Doan Thuan Than to inquire about the Ming. The Ming emperor, Taizu, rewarded and questioned our country’s ambassador closely and then commended his garb and customs as being in accordance with the civilization of the Middle Kingdom. Taizu bestowed a poem of his own that said, “An Nan [Dai Viet] has the Tran clan, and its customs are not those of the Yuan [Mongols]. Its clothing and caps are in the classic pattern of the Zhou dynasty. Its rites and music follow the relationship between ruler and minister, as in the Song dynasty.” Therefore he bestowed on the ambassador of Dai Viet in his own hand the four characters “domain of manifest civility” and promoted our ambassador three ranks to be equal to that of Chosŏn [Korea]. And when our ambassador was leaving, Ming Taizu sent Niu Liang to present the Dragon Phrase [imperial writing] Golden Seal and to reward and bestow favor upon us.
[Nguyen Trai, Du dia chi; trans. John K. Whitmore]
By 1470, Le Thanh Tong (r. 1460–1497) wearied of being attacked by Champa on the southern coast of Dai Viet. Given his new Sinic-style foreign policy, being “civilized” and standing against those “outside civilization” were additional reasons to fight back against his Southeast Asian neighbors. Earlier, the Le state had fought Tai groups to the west. Now the king turned his attention to Champa. Le Thanh Tong decided to lead a massive invasion and, this time, to crush Champa instead of invading, defeating, looting, and returning, as Dai Viet had done in the past. His forces would break up the Cham empire, paving the way for its integration into the Vietnamese realm. In the following proclamation, Le Thanh Tong articulates for the people of Dai Viet his rationale for deciding to invade Champa, as recorded in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s). After defeating the Cham, Le Thanh Tong turned west to attack the Tai (1479) in another major expedition, which reached all the way to Myanmar (Burma).
[In 1470, eleventh month] In times past, our [grandfather] Le Thai To Cao Hoang De [r. 1428–1433] brought peace to hostilities, creating our land. Our father Le Thai Tong Van Hoang De [r. 1434–1442] revered Heaven and felt compassion for the people, carrying on his father’s [Le Thai To’s] work. The small are anxious; the great are feared. Inside, we make improvements; outside, we quell troubles. Those whose garments are made of plants and whose dressed hair is like a mallet go up to the mountains and sail the seas to come here. Myriad peoples look to our virtue; the eight regions [entire world] respect our authority.
How slow-witted is Champa, unsure whether or not to emerge from its rabbit hole! Like a venomous bee, it has been able to nourish itself and sting again; like animals, they eat their fill and forget their moral debt. Of people without the Way and indifferent, each has little wit and is just hanging around. Its bad reputation spreads everywhere, and they forget that they do not have the land to bury anyone; their cruel hearts act secretly and still think that shooting at Heaven is a good strategy.
Our past rulers suddenly grew angry and worked out a distant strategy. But as a result of Le Thai Tong’s death, not one act of great merit could be carried out against Champa. When our Le Nhan Tong [r. 1443–1459] took the throne, the activities of these tribes became even more numerous. The agricultural land of Co Luy in Champa is like a dog’s den, and its citadel of Cha Ban [Vijaya] is like an anthill. Their insanity is thoughtless, and they dare to claim to be the superiors [elders] of our kings. Casting aside virtue as being prestigious, they declare themselves the Heavenly Buddha of the Vietnamese people. Their cruel crimes are many and cannot be hidden; their spoken words are obscene and set no good example. Gathering together their band, they dare to hinder our ways, like dogs sneaking in to steal; deceiving when apparently simple and open, they secretly bring troops in like a gathering flock of crows. Striking and seizing Hoa Chau [on the southern coast of Dai Viet], they kill the soldiers of our guard posts. Claiming the hand of Heaven for their cruel crimes, they speak of greater victories and control.
Yet their ruses have not succeeded, and their schemes have again failed, even more so. Death is about to arrive for them, and their destiny has been decided. Being blind, they do not see anything; opening their mouths, they speak wrongly. Their tricks have thus been foiled and are about to be blocked by us. Then they flattered like a fox in Beijing and twittered so as to disparage other peoples; they planned to invade like silkworms into Tuong Quan and in their guts, intended to strike both sides. They expected to take their old territories all the way to [the old southern border of Dai Viet at] Mount Hoanh, so that the Han army could come down to Bac Dao [in southwestern China]. Champa itself went to report in Beijing, falsely and ceaselessly slandering. They also slandered us for mobilizing soldiers and myriad people, being about to seize the border of the Northern coast, [and] then they said that we were like two suns in the sky rising together and that we revered the emperor of the Southern Country [and not that of the North]. Champa reported that we had seized their tribute of jade and gold and that we disputed the white elephant they sent. They scornfully consider our people as though we were garbage. With hearts deeply venomous, they dare to desire to harm our people; they think that taking our land will be as easy as playing chess—the bones of [the fourteenth-century ruler of Champa] Che Bong Nga still hope to come and take us! Look at the words they speak—they always want to harm our people. Thus, they shrewdly tighten their grip and do it constantly. In order to cause doubt about us in the Ming court, every few years they sharply ask for the Northerners to act immediately against us; only because the bandit officials are clearly arbitrary, the vehicles always follow the same tracks. They deserve both being placed in the cangue and being submerged; worrying about a burning gut is not wrong [that is, the evil will get their just deserts].
Dangerous times are like crows in a high nest, so they contemptuously dare to send embassies; seeing narrowly like a frog calling from the bottom of a well, they all bravely mock our royal edicts. One day past the first month, their people sing back and forth with one another. They follow the path of rebellion and imitate it, saying that cruelty does not harm anything. Taking the stink of a fish, the father of a dog, the mother of a pig, they seized and killed their king, expelling the offspring of King Bo De and usurping the throne; how costly to build the temples and construct the towers, creating catastrophe and fortune for the race of their [present] king, Tra Toan, to be able to follow their barbarian path. It is forbidden to kill and butcher so that people do not have enough to eat; it is forbidden to distill alcohol so that the spirits cannot receive offerings. Males and females alike serve and labor hard; officials apply cruel punishments. Consequently, the people of Champa are heavily taxed and pitifully punished. Those of the port of Thi Nai [present-day Quy Nhon] have high officials and important offices. Our men and women are captured and made slaves; the imprisonment or flight of our people has completely enveloped us. [Consequently, our] wandering people have to gather and suffer together.
Throughout the entire country, our people want to cry out to Heaven and yet cannot find the way. Although we dwell in a completed house that has burned, still we block their wicked ways that bring falsity to our people; Heaven does not leave in peace people who do cruel things, and they also follow their furious path and make policy. When people reach positions like that, the entire country is full of resentment. In their hearts, they always are furtively keeping an eye out; on the outside of their false faces, they pretend to accomplish something. Following the command, they call out to the capital and only then achieve a tranquil heart; it is obvious that they hope to establish and bring together the land and spirits of the capital so as to gain satisfaction. We release the hearts and move the flock to seize them; we urgently open up and, wagging our tail, entreat them. They are people who resent the possessions of our court and make trouble for our people. We think that the whip, though long, cannot reach the belly of the horse, that the wind has reached its end and cannot blow the feathers of the wild geese [that is, that Champa is too far away and cannot strike us]. They dare to grow hearts that love chaos and act arbitrarily; it is precisely such crimes that deserve to be attacked and must be killed. Heroes hear and believe, gnash their teeth, and are furious. Those who are loyal understand the situation and, in their guts, are saddened.
Examining before and after, the wit is small and the desire great. We have texts and regulations, and which laws will pardon those who go against them and revolt? If you do not go out with majesty, do not give up; if you kill cruelly, then the barbarians also will govern like that. We grasp the heart of God on High and connect with the will of the king and the father—to kill people who hate for nine generations according to the sense of the Spring and Autumn Annals [of Confucius], to employ stratagems that will bring peace to our land, to save the court and the people and avoid suffering and a topsy-turvy society, to bring order to the land that has been chaotic and contrary to the Way for a long time. To strike against revolt and rescue the people—a sage shows bravery, the good build up the earth, the bad tear it down, and Heaven and Earth take this as their heart.
… Although employing soldiers goes against the will of the sage, establishing rules for the foolish also is clear. Fog—how does it cover the brilliance of the rising sun? Your bed—do you allow a stranger to lie down on it and snore? Select generals of talent and raise a mass of soldiers. A billion tigers, ten thousand men, ships for hundreds of miles! An army a hundred times as strong, each man of one heart! Everyone turns the wing and heads for war and maintains discipline, waiting for the word to attack. The throne asks you to pile up the dunes to bury the enemy—hope to keep merit for the history books! Take the righteous way and volunteer—do not pardon those who have committed crimes. The throne shall personally command the martial banners and give the orders to the troops. Respectfully bring the Mandate of Heaven, and do the work of striking and killing those cruel people! The shadows of the banners will darken the plains like clouds roiling before the storm; hammers in an instant in the air, resembling the blazing sun or a dazzling star! It will be as easy as opening a bag, as simple as snapping a twig! The enemy is clearly on the lookout for us, and the sound of our thunder will cause them to cover their ears, but not in time. Our army will go out and project its force evenly; the strength of the fire will be hot and, thin as a hair, will burn rapidly. Attack once and that will finish them—the hatred of a hundred generations will be washed clean.
Again, because the people will rid themselves of this deep poison, we can never allow the enemy to exist for our descendants. Mocking the Han emperor Wu [r. 140–85 B.C.E.] for constant fighting without end, praising King Wen of Zhou for opening the land even more broadly—oi! The enemy in the end kills a goat and there is no blood, so when studying antiquity, in the sixth month we go out with the army. In the south, we see a pig wallowing in the mud. Champa should absolutely not wait two months to give up!
Announce this throughout the land so that each person will hear it!
[DVSKTT, 12, 55a–58a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
ORDERING ETHNIC GROUPS TO CONFORM (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
After the conquest and dismemberment of Champa in 1471, Le Thanh Tong sought to ensure that Chams and other non-Vietnamese peoples living in his realm would follow the proper customs that he was establishing for Dai Viet. The king also wanted to make sure that these foreign peoples did not become part of private entourages, which might threaten the central state’s monopoly on power, as the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) records. As the Le Code regulations indicate, the state of Dai Viet was increasingly drawing other ethnic groups into its controlling framework instead of treating them as autonomous outsiders. This pattern continued in later centuries as the Vietnamese expanded their control southward.
[In 1472], ninth month, the king ordered a high official to examine the names, family and personal, of Chams, barbarians, and others dwelling in Dai Viet. For the surnames of the Chams, they were to start anew according to the Vietnamese system. The surnames of the barbarians were to be revived and preserved according to a standardized system. In renewing the names, the only requirement is that they have three characters, so that, for example, To Mon would become To Sa Mon and Sa Qua would become Sa Oa Qua.
In the tenth month, the king forbade officials and the people from taking Chams into their entourages and concealing them from the state.
[DVSKTT, 12, 73b–74a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
RECEIVING FOREIGN ENVOYS (MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY)
Le Thanh Tong had an interest in dealing with foreign lands, and the state’s economic initiatives attracted foreigners to trade with Dai Viet. During this age of increasing Sinification, the royal court in Thang Long modeled its foreign relations on those of the contemporary Ming dynasty. The following is a description in the continuation of the Complete Chronicle of Dai Viet (1540s) of how foreign political envoys should be handled. Later Vietnamese rulers were also concerned with regulating contacts with foreign commercial agents, as evidenced by the Khanh Duc emperor’s 1650 edict regarding such contacts.29
[In 1485], eleventh month, the king set the regulations for all the emissaries of the lands who came to court to pay tribute in the capital. The envoys from lands like Champa, Lao Qua, Siam, Java, Melaka, and others, as well as the mountain chieftains in charge of the border regions, all will come together in the meeting hall. Strong men of the Cam Y Regiment, the Five Citadel soldiers and horses, the banner troops of the generals, and others, all of them must, following correct procedure, guard strictly and attentively, establish the defense so as to show the envoys how to enter the royal court and participate in the royal audience. These troops also must proceed and follow the envoys, leading the procession and chasing away all the lowly palace servants as well as public and private servants. They also are not to allow the envoys to get close to these people and make inquiries or speak with them, divulging matters and inducing them to do ill. Should the supervising officials not be able to follow the rules in providing strict precautions, following their private interests and allowing the envoys to make such contact, the banner- and placard-bearing strong men of the Xa Nhan Office in the Cam Y Regiment are to speak the truth and report what they hear, apprehending and bringing the miscreants for punishment.
[DVSKTT, 13, 48a; trans. John K. Whitmore]
1. See Gia Long Emperor, “Commemoration of the Defeat of the Tay Son” (chap. 5).
2. For excerpts from the gazetteer, see Trinh Hoai Duc, “Climate and Geography of Gia Dinh,” “Customs of Gia Dinh,” and “Temple of the General of the Southern Seas” (all in chap. 5). The concern with regionalism may also be seen in the statements by Nguyen Hoang, “Deathbed Statement to His Son”; Nguyen Khoa Chiem, The Enterprise of the Southern Court; and Nguyen Phuc Khoat, “Edict Declaring Autonomy” (all in chap. 4). For a discussion of khi, see Le Quy Don, “On ly and khi” (chap. 4).
3. The provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi in southeastern China.
4. See Ngo The Lan, “Memorial on the Currency Crisis” (chap. 4).
5. See Phan Huy Chu, “State Use of Resources” (chap. 5).
6. For seventeenth- and nineteenth-century imperial edicts, see Khanh Duc Emperor, “Edict Prohibiting Foreigners from Taking Up Residence Without Restrictions” (chap. 4), and Minh Mang Emperor, “Policy for Trading with Europeans” (chap. 5).
7. An articulation of this principle in the late eighteenth century may be seen in Quang Trung Emperor, “Edict Encouraging Agriculture” (chap. 4).
8. The eight types of sound are stone, metal, silk, bamboo, wood, hide, gourd, and earth.
9. For a mid-seventeenth-century example of the commemorative steles erected in honor of these scholars, see “Temple of Literature Stele for the Examination of 1623” (chap. 4).
10. See Pham Dinh Ho, “Ritual for Venerating Heaven” (chap. 4).
11. See Gia Long Emperor, “Edict Outlining Propriety and Ritual” (chap. 5).
12. See Trinh Cuong, “Edict Regarding Local Customs” (chap. 4), and Minh Mang Emperor, “Ten Moral Precepts” (chap. 5).
13. See Le Quy Don, “On ly and khi” (chap. 4).
14. Miao Shan (V: Dieu Thien) was the Guan Yin (goddess of mercy) of the Southern Seas.
15. See Le Duy Mat, “Proclamation to Rally Troops” (chap. 4).
16. See “Temple of Literature Stele for the Examination of 1623” (chap. 4).
17. See Trinh Tac, “Edict Regarding Official Postions” (chap. 4).
18. Sima Guang (1019–1086) was a historian and scholar-official of the Song dynasty.
19. See Phan Huy Chu, “A Record of Military Systems” (chap. 5).
19. Y Doan (Yi Yin) and the Duke of Zhou were famous figures from classical antiquity.
21. See Bento Thien, “Regarding Festivals” (chap. 4).
22. See Le Quy Don, “On ly and khi” (chap. 4).
23. The administrative jurisdictions included the administrative and legal offices of each province as well as of the prefectures, the districts, and the subprefectures.
24. See Le Quy Don, “On ly and khi” (chap. 4).
25. The significance of proper mourning may be seen in the early nineteenth century in Nguyen Du, “A Dirge for All Ten Classes of Beings” (chap. 5).
26. The Meritorious Subjects (Cong Than) were those who had fought beside Le Loi against the Ming forty years earlier.
27. This may refer to Zhu Yuanzhang (r. 1368–1398), the founder of the Ming dynasty, and Zhao Tuo (Trieu Da), regarded as the founder of independent Dai Viet.
28. Ming Taizu is the temple name of Zhu Yuanzhang.
29. See Khanh Duc Emperor, “Edict Prohibiting Foreigners from Taking Up Residence Without Restrictions” (chap. 4).