Tran Hong Nhung, LL.D.
Faculty of State and Administrative Law Hanoi Law University
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| Mandarins in the Nguyen dynasty__Photo: https://khamphahue.com.vn |
Following the vigorous administrative reforms initiated by King Minh Menh (1820-1840) of the Nguyen dynasty, the last monarchy of Vietnam, the feudal state apparatus was organized more effectively and efficiently. The King attached importance to the clear and specific delineation of functions, tasks and powers among central and local state agencies while enhancing state supervision over organizations and individuals that were delegated state power.
Power decentralization and delegation principles
In the state apparatus of the Nguyen dynasty in particular and of the Vietnamese feudal state in general, state power was concentrated in the king’s hands. Hence, measures to organize the state machinery aimed to consolidate that power, restrict its abuse and prevent the danger of factional rule.
Positions were linked with responsibilities. Powers of agencies and individuals within the state apparatus were clearly delineated and accompanied by corresponding interests and responsibilities. The higher their positions were, the greater their powers and responsibilities would be. The system of preferences corresponding to positions and duties was also applied to mandarins to encourage them in performing their tasks.[1]
The division of authority between the central government and local administrations was clearly defined, with autonomy and self-determination delegated to grassroots administrations. During King Minh Menh’s tenure, commune-level administrations, as the grassroots level, acted with great autonomy, managing almost all aspects of community life such as organization of production with irrigation being the most important, regulation of relations among various social strata, maintenance of security, management of common property, allocation of public land, education promotion, social security and relief, and organization of cultural and spiritual activities. Even tax collection and military conscription were conducted by communities for the State. Grassroots administrations were headed by village chiefs elected by local people under certain criteria set by the State, rather than appointed by the royal court. The State recognized village conventions, which were considered part of the state law, helping ensure its more efficient enforcement.
Power decentralization and delegation were closely associated with power-control mechanisms and accountability. The supervision of mandarins in the capacity as order enforcers was carried out in various forms: mutual supervision and reporting on one another in state agencies, mutual supervision among state agencies, supervision by the central government over local administrations, unexpected inspections and supervisions by teams set up by the king to inquire into local conditions and punish local mandarins for acts of corruption and harassment. Especially, the establishment of a specialized supervising body called “Do sat vien” with true power and independence contributed to restricting the mandarins’ abuse of power. In addition, mandarins’ reporting responsibility was also clearly prescribed by law under King Minh Menh’s reign.
Factors affecting power decentralization and degation within King Minh Menh’s state apparatus
+ Political factors: The model of the State under the Nguyen dynasty was a centralized, absolute monarchy headed by the king who held all state powers. However, the king could not personally exercise all powers but had to delegate powers to a contingent of mandarins who assisted him in executing such powers. These mandarins served only the advisory and assisting functions while the final decisions rested with the king. This helped consolidate the king’s powers but affected the activeness, creativity and flexibility of mandarins in performing their public duties.
+ Legal factors: The legal system under the Nguyen dynasty was fairly diverse. Legal provisions on mandarins’ responsibilities clearly defined acts of violation accompanied by punitive measures. The clear definition of the regime of public duty responsibility of mandarins helped the latter understand their powers and obligations within the scope of their functions for correct and standard performance of tasks assigned by the State while deterring and restricting violations while performing their duties.
+ Ideological factors: The Confucian, law-based as well as traditional politico-legal ideologies affected the delineation of authority and enforcement of the law on power decentralization and delegation.
The Confucian ideology brought to prominence the mandarins’ loyalty to the king. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese traditional politico-legal ideology, including self-ruled villages and communes, or greater respect for customs and practices than for state law, exerted impacts on the decentralization and power delegation for grassroots administrations towards recognizing, respecting, and delegating broad autonomy to villages and communes.
The promotion of self-rule for villages and communes helped reduce state spending on the commune-level ruling apparatus and reduce the workload for the State while promoting the strength of village communities in implementing the state policies.
However, the self-rule regime applied to villages and communes gave rise to negative consequences. Village officials often colluded with local landlords in manipulating and controlling village affairs, thus rendering state policies ineffective and giving rise to a contingent of village tyrants who reduced the efficiency of state management over the grassroots administrations.
+ Socio-economic factors and local peculiarities: The delineation of local administrative units under King Minh Menh’s tenure according to “tinh” (province), “phu, huyen” (district), and “tong, xa” (commune) levels was based on various factors: history, tradition, natural geography, population and community characteristics, geo-economy, geo-culture, and geo-politics. The classification of administrative units was based on levels of local socio-economic development and local peculiarities.
For example, in 1832, King Minh Menh divided “phu, huyen” into four types: “toi yeu khuyet” (very busy), “yeu khuyet” (busy), “trung khuyet” (not so busy), and “gian khuyet” (little work to do). On the basis of such classification of “phu, huyen,” the organizational structure and staff corresponding to each type would be defined.
+ Historical factors: The organization of the state apparatus and methods of power decentralization and delegation under King Minh Menh were modeled after Chinese feudal states and earlier Vietnamese dynasties, with adaptations to the practical conditions of the time.
Power decentralization and delegation in King Minh Menh’s state apparatus
The central administration
At the central level, agencies controlled directly by the King included: The Cabinet undertaking the bureaucratic functions; “Vien co mat” (Privy Council) attending discussions on important and key issues with the king; and “Luc Bo” (six ministries). These ministries were “Bo Binh” (in charge of military affairs), “Bo Hinh” (in charge of justice), “Bo Le” (in charge of education, examinations, and protocols, “Bo Lai” (in charge of management of mandarins, including recruitment, appointment, promotion, demotion, grade conferment, inspection, transfer, and salary administration, “Bo Cong” (in charge of repair and construction of royal palaces, citadels, roads, bridges and sluices, management of state workshops and workers), and “Bo Ho” (in charge of management of land, household registration, finance, tax, warehouses, state budget, and payment of wages and bonuses for mandarins).
The central state bodies had clearly defined functions, tasks and powers, and had to coordinate with one another in handling their work.
For example, “Luc Bo” was considered the backbone institution of the state administration, assisting the king in directly managing specific domains; and was structured for multi-sector, multi-domain management. Almost all aspects of social life (excluding healthcare) were managed by professional bodies set up by the state.
Six ministries performed the function of comprehensive management of various aspects of social life. There was no overlap of functions, tasks and powers among them, only harmonious coordination in handling their work. For a task requiring coordination among various agencies, the king would assign it to a single agency for coordinating with others in handling the task.
In 1828, King Minh Menh decreed: “If a task concerns any ministry, it will be assigned to such ministry for implementation, or if such task involves two ministries, the ministry assuming the main responsibility will implement the ratified decree, without shifting the responsibility to the other. Meanwhile, mandarins of six ministries attending the meeting must note down what had been discussed and what had been decided by the king. If matters require coordination with their respective ministries, they must do so immediately. If a ministry requires a paper as evidence from the other ministry, the former would record it in a book, agreeing to take the task while the latter issued a written guarantee as evidence.
The central government also applied cross-management to agencies that had no head position. For instance, provincial governors general were appointed to perform part-time the tasks of “ta, huu do ngu su Do sat vien” or district chiefs as deputy “ta, huu do ngu su Do sat vien.” For other agencies such as “han lam vien, thuong chinh su, ty tao chinh, thai thuong tu, kham loc tu, kham thien giam, etc. without chief mandarins, the State would appoint high court officials to take charge.[2]
Local administrations
Prior to significant reforms initiated in 1831 by King Minh Menh, the local administration apparatus was fairly complicated. In the northern and southern regions, “thanh” (municipalities) were placed under the central government and “tran” (town) under “thanh.”
In the central region, “doanh” or “tran” were attached to the royal court. The “thanh-level” administration apparatus was designed similarly as a mini-royal court headed by “tong tran,” under which were four “tao” (departments) of “Ho”, “Binh”, “Hinh” and “Cong”. The existence of “thanh-level administration” as an intermediate between the central government and “tran” was fraught with feuding power. As a result, King Minh Menh abolished “Bac thanh” (the Northern municipality) in 1831, dividing the northern region from Quang Tri northward into 18 provinces, and in 1832 eliminated “Gia Dinh thanh,” dividing the southern region into 12 provinces.
The provincial-level mandarins included “tong doc,” “tuan phu,” “bo chinh,” (in charge of tax, finance) “an sat”(in charge of justice in the province),… Under the province were “phu, huyen, chau, tong, and xa” headed by “tri phu or tri huyen” who were accountable to the provincial-level mandarins. For “tong,” an administrative level under “phu and huyen” and above “xa,” it had no specific authority and only played the role of urging and supervising the commune level.
The power decentralization and delegation at the local administrations under King Minh Menh’s tenure were characterized by the following features:
+ Clear determination of the jurisdiction of local administrations at different levels and the functions and tasks of their mandarins.
At the provincial level, King Minh Menh’s 1831 decree on appointment of mandarins in “Bac thanh” pointed out 15 pluses in abolishing the municipalities and establishing the provincial-level administrative units. The decree clearly defined tasks for every ruling mandarin. “Tong doc” (Governor General) led the army, civil populace, and literary and martial mandarins in the entire locality, inspected mandarins, and looked after the territory. “Tuan phu”(provincial governor) took charge of promulgating the royal court’s statements, calmed the people, and took care of politics and education. “Bo chinh su” took charge of tax-related and financial matters throughout their localities. “An sat su” took care of litigation and criminal cases, promoted culture, maintained principle, and punished mandarins.
In addition, 31 working regulations were clearly prescribed for provincial-level mandarins, including “Tong doc” and “Tuan phu.”[3]
Under the provincial level, “phu, huyen” also had their functions and tasks specified. “Phu” managed districts in the provinces, promoted local economic development and culture, and managed taxation, military conscription, local patrols, security, and court trial. Larger “phu” with heavy workload could use martial mandarins to share the tasks. Meanwhile, “huyen” took charge of taxation, adjudication, promotion of culture, customs and practices, took care of elderly, suppressed robbers and thieves to reassure the populace…”
At the commune level, “ly truong” were the heads of communes or villages, having the following functions:
- Managing land in their communes and villages on behalf of the state.
- Strictly managing young villagers and household registration in communes or villages on behalf of the state;
- Urging prompt and full tax collection;
- Urging communes and villages to carry out military conscription and public labor for the state;
- In addition, village or commune chiefs were responsible for all local activities, including maintenance of social order and security, management of road repairs, river dredging, and irrigation works.
In the commune-level management apparatus, the Nguyen dynasty recognized two councils, namely “Hoi dong ky muc” and “Hoi dong chuc dich.”
“Hoi dong ky muc” was the legislative body of communes and villages. The criteria as well as the number of its members were set by villages according to their respective customs and practices. They were empowered to discuss and decide village affairs, showing the most concentrated political autonomy of villages.
“Hoi dong chuc dich” was a village executive body headed by “ly truong” and their deputies, who were elected by villagers under criteria prescribed by the state. The clear-cut delineation of functions, tasks and powers between these two bodies helped prevent abuse of powers by village officials and oversee the administrative institution while assisting the feudal state in leveraging the positive aspects of the village self-rule institution.
- The delegation of power for local administrations was carried out alongside the provision of resources and conditions for implementation:
+ Budget and financial supply: Based on the provincial sizes, the State allocated budgets at different levels for salary payment according to the provincial, district, and commune levels.
+ Organizational assurance: Based on the classification of provinces, districts, and communes, the State provided different organizational structures. At the provincial level, an inter-provincial region was headed by a Governor General, who ruled the provinces in all aspects, and managed their mandarins. A total of 15 governors general were appointed nationwide, each taking charge of a big province and a smaller one with the headquarters located in the big province. A Governor General was assisted by a number of mandarins: “Bo chanh” in charge of administrative management, finance and civil affairs; “An sat su” in charge of criminal cases, and “De doc” in charge of military affairs in a province. Riverside or coastal provinces were managed by “Thuy su lanh binh” who took care of naval activities. Medium or small provinces were headed by “Tuan phu,” who were tasked to manage the local population, administrative activities, education,… with the assistance of various mandarins. Governors General were usually elected from the rank of “Thuong thu” (minister), “Do thong” of second grade and “Tuan phu” from the rank of “Tham tri” or “Thi lang” of third grade. A big province was staffed with about 120 mandarins, a medium-sized province with about 80, and a small province with between 40 and 60 officials.
Based on types of “phu” or “huyen,” flexible staffing arrangments were determined for different localities, depending on their workload. In his 20th reign year (1839), King Minh Menh decreed that each “phu” was staffed with one “lai muc” (civil servant) and between six and eight “thong muc” (public employees), and a district with one “lai muc” and between four and six “thong muc.”
At the communal level, he provided in his 1828 decree that each commune, village or ward was posted with one “ly truong” and one deputy, for those with more than 50 “dinh” (male young villagers) or two deputies for those with more than 150 “dinh.” A village chief was assisted by his deputy, “truong tuan” and “khan thu,” who took charge of village security and order.
+ Assurance of human resources:
The feudal state under the Nguyen dynasty organized various competitive examinations to select talented people for the state apparatus. Selected mandarins were talented, virtuous, and proficient in ruling skills. Graduates would be appointed to different positions depending on their talents and moral qualities.
Scholars passing “Huong” (provincial) and “Hoi” (inter-provincial) competitive examinations would be appointed immediately, while those passing “Dinh” examinations organized by the royal court would go through practices before being officially appointed to important posts.
A number of agencies only selected mandarins who were “tien si” (laureates of the “Dinh” examinations), such as “Han lam vien,” “Hien ty,” and “Noi cac” (Cabinet). With regard to district-level mandarins, the Nguyen dynasty attached importance to raising the criteria for talents and educational qualifications. In the 1826-1836 period, King Minh Menh provided that laureates and junior laureates would be appointed to be “Tri phu” or “Tri huyen.”
At the communal level, the feudal state also standardized the contingent of village chiefs.
Enhanced supervision of local administrations to ensure the state’s control and strict management
“Do sat vien” functioned as a supervising body with extensive powers to oversee mandarins from central to local levels in the course of performing their public duties. Supervision among local administrations at different levels was also emphasized.
During King Minh Menh’s tenure, the State delegated autonomy to commune-level administrations while also taking supervisory measures to prevent abuse of power. For instance, the results of the election of village chiefs should be examined and verified by superior mandarins. Should any errors or fraud be detected, district mandarins would be punished. If elected persons failed to meet their work requirements, they would face immediate dismissal. After a working period, usually of three years, the state would assess management activities of village chiefs through various examinations in order to dismiss those who were unqualified.-
[1] PhDs. Chu Manh Hao, Doan Trung Kien, and Doan Thi To Uyen: Power decentralization and delegation for state management in present-day Vietnam, National Political Publishing House. H.2024, p. 14.
[2] According to the mandarin rank order under the Nguyen dynasty: “nhat pham” (highest grade) and “thap nhat” (nineth grade). A grade was subdivided into two “trat” (chanh and tong). Mandarins with higher “pham and trat” had greater powers and received bigger preferences, and were recruited under stricter requirements.
[3] In his 13th reign year (1832), King Minh Menh officially set up “Do sat vien” as a professional overseeing body, functioning to oversee the entire central and local mandarin apparatus. This was an independent agency submitting to the control by only the king. It also performed the judicial role together with Bo Hinh (Ministry of Justice) and “Dai ly tu,” called together as “Tam phap ty,” to re-examine judgments.
