Launching the publication "A brief review of Vietnamese imperial examinations"

Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House has just released the publication "A Brief Study of Vietnam's Imperial Examinations" by author Tran Van Giap, annotated by Nguyen Phuc An. The book gives readers a look at the imperial examinations in feudal Vietnam and the way of selecting talented people to serve the nation in ancient times.

The book is excerpted from "Khai Tri Tien Duc Magazine" ( Hanoi 1941)

The imperial examination system is an important issue in the social organization of the feudal monarchy in our country in particular and in East Asia in general.

Considering the history of examinations in Vietnam, our country held its first examination during the Ly Dynasty, in the year of At Mao, the Thai Ninh era of King Ly Nhan Tong (1075), called the Minh Kinh Bac Hoc examination.

That was the beginning of the civil service examination system in our country, for later generations to follow, creating a powerful civil service examination system that lasted for nearly a thousand years.

In *A Brief Survey of Vietnamese Examinations*, the author takes the reader back to the atmosphere of the examination halls of the past, the way our country organized, arranged, and regulated examinations, up until 1918, when the doors of the examination system closed.

The popular exam at that time could be mentioned as the Huong exam. All the candidates from the districts and counties in a province or many provinces took the exam in a certain provincial capital to choose the best students, then took the exam in the capital with the best students from other provinces. Those who passed the Huong exam had different names depending on each period, however, they were usually called Cong Tu or Cu Nhan.

Besides the literary examination, the "Brief Survey of Vietnamese Examinations" also mentions a military examination. In our country, military examinations appeared relatively late; according to historical records, the first recorded form of military examination was in the 8th year of Chinh Long (Bao Ung, 1170) during the reign of Ly Anh Tong.

At that time, the King often practiced shooting at the shooting range south of the capital. During practice, he forced the military officials to compete in offensive and defensive tactics and battle formations.

During the reign of King Tran Thai Tong (1226-1258), examinations were organized to select brave and skilled martial artists to serve as the Imperial Guard. This can be understood as the initial form of martial arts examinations for official positions.

However, it was not until the reign of Le Thai To (1428-1433) that regulations for martial arts examinations were established, and it was not until the reign of King Bao Thai (1720-1728) that a relatively complete martial arts examination system was implemented.

A brief overview of the Vietnamese examination system, spanning 124 pages, includes 15 representative articles covering topics such as the history of the examination system, the rules for literary and martial arts examinations, the arrangement of examination halls, the officials and candidates, the concept of the examination system, and several ancient texts on the examination system…

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ra-mat-an-pham-luoc-khao-ve-khoa-cu-viet-nam-post811770.html