During more than 1,000 years of domination by northern feudalists, the Vietnamese feudal state was established after the state model of feudal China, from state institutions, ruling method, organizational system to mandarin titles. Following the reform initiated by King Le Thanh Tong (1442-1497), the state apparatus of feudal Vietnam was further developed with “luc bo” (six ministries) being key state agencies and the backbone of the central administration.

The mandarin recruitment during the Ly dynasty was conducted mainly in three ways: “tuyen cu” (nomination-based recruitment), “nhiem tu” (recruitment of mandarins’ offspring) and “khoa cu” (examination-based recruitment). In addition, a new way was also used, that was “nop tien” (money payment). In his book titled “Lich trieu hien chuong loai chi” (Regulations of Successive Dynasties), historian Phan Huy Chu wrote: “Under the Ly dynasty, when examinations for public office were not regularly organized yet, the recruitment of mandarins was implemented primarily through nomination-based recruitment, recruitment from mandarins’ offspring and money payment.”[1]

King Le Thanh Tong (1442-1497) recorded great merits in protecting the country’s territorial integrity, expanding the national frontiers and protecting the national sovereignty over land, sea and island borders. The Hong Duc Code in the king’s era appeared to be the most complete and progressive code of the Vietnamese feudal states, containing numerous articles on the defense of national territory.

In order to guarantee the king’s unified power, Vietnamese feudal regimes created and operated consistently a state power-overseeing mechanism with two systems: intra-state and extra-state. This writing only dwells on the system overseeing the operation of the state management apparatus from inside.

Le Thanh Tong ascended the throne in 1460 when he was 18 years old and died when he was 56. He was considered the most talented ruler in feudal Vietnam as assessed by “Dai Viet Su Ky toan thu” (the Complete Book of the Historical Record of Great Viet): “The King founded a strong state, expanded the territory and brought prosperity to the nation; he was truly a talented, heroic ruler who could be compared to Yu Ti of the Han dynasty and Taizong of the Tang dynasty.”

In the historical process, the successive Vietnamese feudal states achieved steps of development in the way of organizing administrative divisions in the country to meet the requirements of social life and national defense. This writing dwells on the formation of administrative divisions in Vietnam from the Dinh dynasty onward and some lessons for the building of a law-ruled state at present.

Recently, the number of Vietnam’s reservations to treaties has risen together with the number of treaties to which Vietnam has acceded. This reality requires Vietnam’s legal system in general and law on treaties in particular be completed in the direction of protecting to the utmost Vietnam’s interests without violating the concluded treaties.

In August 1945, a great revolution broke out in Vietnam, smashing the French colonialists’ 80-year rule, overthrowing the thousands-year old feudal regime, regaining the power for the people and setting up a state of new type, the state of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

History shows that during his 38 year-tenure, Le Thanh Tong tirelessly followed his deep aspiration for a centralized bureaucratic absolute monarchy that guarantees the power and interests of the feudal class represented by the Le dynasty. Immediately after ascending the throne, Le Thanh Tong sped up the introduction of Confucianism into the country on which he developed his conception of ruling the country.

Lang (village) is a Viet ethnic group’s word referring to a traditional unit of settlement of Viet peasants in rural areas, with its own territory, infrastructure facilities, organizational structure, customs and practices, psychology, perceptions, characters and even dialect or accent which are relatively stable over the course of history.