>>The state and law of the Tran Dynasty
>>The state and law under the Ly Dynasty (1009-1225)
Lawyer TRAN THI TUYET
State and Law Research Institute
In the latter half of the 14th century, the conflicts within the Tran dynasty grew deeper and deeper. The regents, on the one hand, left no stone unturned to expand their economic influence, grabbing public and private land to enlarge their farms and fiefs, and, on the other hand, engaged in a bitter dispute for more political power. They did not care much for the destiny of the dynasty. The only thing the rulers, including the king, mandarins, aristocrats and lords, concerned themselves with was how to enjoy a luxurious life and consolidate their ruling position.
All this aggravated the already chaotic situation, threatening the survival of the central monarchical State of the Tran dynasty. The feudal lords' farms and fiefs expanded, trampling on the interests of the peasants and communes. With no more land to till, many peasants had to sell themselves as slave‑servants to feudal lords. In addition to natural disasters, crop failures, famines and foreign invasion, which occurred repeatedly, the oppression and exploitation by the State and aristocracy of the Tran dynasty bore heavily on the people, especially peasants and slave‑servants. As a result, public discontent grew stronger and class contradictions became more acute. Uprisings of peasants and slave-servants spread widely in the country, which were all brutally suppressed. A fierce struggle took place for more power and higher positions in the administrative apparatus between the aristocrats and the scholarmandarins. The conflict between the Central Government and local warlords (including farm and fief owners) became more acute.
The profound and all‑round crisis during the last decades of the 14th century weakened the Tran regime and plunged it into inevitable collapse. Seizing upon this opportunity, Ho Quy Ly, an aristocrat having close contacts with the royal family and great influence in the Court, usurped the Tran family's power and deposed the king in 1400, setting up a new reign ‑ the Ho dynasty. Ho Quy Ly proclaimed himself king, renamed the country as Dai Ngu and made Vinh Loc (Thanh Hoa province) the new capital city which he called Tay Do (Western Capital).
In his position as head of the new State, Ho Quy Ly undertook several bold reforms in the economic, political and cultural areas aimed at surmounting the grave crisis. In the historical situation of the then Dai Viet, Ho Quy Ly's reforms aimed to achieve two main goals: consolidating and strengthening the centralized monarchy and solving the socio‑economic contradictions brought about by the crisis.
Though lasting only 7 years, a very short time for a dynasty to consolidate its State apparatus, the monarchy under the Ho was established on a solid foundation of the previous regime which had been built with great contributions from Ho Quy Ly himself during several decades.
From 1380, Ho Quy Ly, having held a high post in the Tran Court, step by step reformed the State apparatus with a view to concentrating more power into the Central Government, restricting the influence of the local warlords. The State under the Ho dynasty was actually a transition from an aristocratic monarchy to an absolute bureaucratic monarchy. Coming into existence at a time when the country had to overcome the severe crisis on the one hand and confront the danger of foreign invasion from both directions: the South (by Chiem Thanh) and the North (by the Sung army), the absolute monarchy of the Ho dynasty was, however, still in its inchoate form, having hardly taken shape. In the political field, Ho Quy Ly sought to gradually replace aristocrats of the Tran dynasty by scholars with reformist ideas who supported him in his reform program. He attached great importance to the selection and promotion of bureaucrats for the new administration through regular exami‑ nations.
The Ho family re‑established the hierarchy of the mandarinate, maintaining the high ranks of the previous regime(1) while also creating some new ones to oversee various ministries in the Royal Court. Within 5 months of his enthronement, Ho Quy Ly selected 20 graduates from the first “Thai hoc” (National College) exams to take charge of those ministries.
Most of the officials working for the central and local administration of the Ho dynasty were scholars. Some were madarins of the previous Tran dynasty and others were aristocrats of the Ho family. The scholars not only made up the largest part but also played an important role in the State apparatus of the Ho dynasty.
The local administration was organized basically in the same way as under the Tran dynasty, comprising “lo” (province), “phu” and “chau” (delta and mountain district respec‑ tively), and “xa” (commune). In order to further enhance the power of the Central Government and concentrate more power into his own hands, Ho Quy Ly readjuted a number of local administrative units. Some far‑flung “lo” were changed into “tran” (city) which were ruled mainly in a military style. The military and administrative management of “lo” was placed into the hands of high‑ranking mandarins called “do ho” and “do thong”. Many ruling posts at the communal level were abolished so as to restrict the power of the former Tran local rulers, thus dealing a heavy blow at the Tran aristocrats and warlords and preventing the consolidation of the “lordism” system. The only ruling post at the grass‑roots level Ho Quy Ly maintained was the “quan giap”.
Ho Quy Ly also paid attention to strengthening the army both qualitatively and quantitatively in an avowed attempt to build a one‑million‑strong army in order to thwart the opposition of the Tran aristocracy and cope with the danger of invasion by the feudal Chinese regime of the Ming as well as the war with the Chiem Thanh. He increased the number of troops in the capital city, “lo” and “tran”; actively recruited men for the army, forced Buddhist monks to do labor in service of the army, enforced the registration of all boys of two years old upward for military service when they came of age. Many military shipyards were built as were ammo depots and military supplies warehouses.
All activities of the State under the Ho dynasty aimed to enforce the reforms initiated by Ho Quy Ly. Though not much was done as planned, it can be said that the Ho family had fulfilled its duty to the then society.
Economically, the policies of “han dien” (land limit) and “han no” (slave limit) adopted by the Ho family in 1397 and 1401 respectively were actually a move to check the Tran regime's policy of farm and feud expansion, thus containing the influence and power of the Tran aristocracy. The State put the ceiling on the amount of land (a maximum of 10 “mau”, about 36,000 square meters) and on the number of slaves that could be owned by a warlord. The excessive mount of their private land and slaves were converted into State property. Moreover, the State increased the tax on private land by 1,5 time, exempted head tax for landless men as well as land tax for orphans and widows (1402). The Ho family also issued paper money (1396), imposed tax on merchant boat (1400), repaired roads, built canals, set up rice depots, moved people to new areas for land reclamation and sedentarization.
The private ownership of land was recognized but restricted by the State to concentrate more power on the Central Government.
With regard to culture and education, the Ho family improved the system of “hoi” (provincial) exami‑ nation (1404), which was organized once every three years to select the best persons for high posts in the Royal Court. It also attached importance to developing the “nom” script (transliteration of the Vietnamese language into Chinese characters), ordered the translation of the “Kinh Thi” (the Book of Poetry) into “nom” to teach the king's harem.
Ho Quy Ly himself and the Ho family as a whole also paid great attention to legislative work. Though no major code(2) was promulgated during its 7‑year tenure, the Ho family issued more than 30 laws and regulations, which were mainly “policies” highly valued as “large‑scale” and “bold” reforms, thus demonstrating its intention to rule the country by law. Its policy of restoring social order and discipline and strengthening the central monarchical State was considered progressive, which conformed with the requirements of the social development at that time.
The laws and regulations promul‑ gated by the Ho family covered various aspects of the social life, focusing especially on the then urgent issues. First of all, the Ho family's laws aimed politically to enhance the central State power and consolidate its ruling position. To thwart the opposition of the Tran royal family and aristocracy, Ho Quy Ly sought to disperse opponents who threatened the safety of his throne and his family's rule. Many aristocrats of the Tran dynasty were murdered, sometimes in a brutal manner, just because of their hostile actions or their association with those who were opposed to the Ho family. Laws and regulations on reforming the State apparatus made up a considerable part while those on changing administrative units, the promotion and appointment of mandarins were also promulgated in great numbers. The laws on the organization of local administration at all levels were issued to ensure the strict and uniform management from the central down to grassroots levels. The State's political security was enhanced through the posting of one intelligence official in each “lo” to spy on the local population and gather information.
The rulers under the Ho dynasty held that the strength of the State depended largely on the strength of the army. So, to enhance the State's power throughout the country and to fight against foreign invasion, they promulgated many laws and regulations with a view to quickly building a large army. Among them were the regulations on residence registration and compulsory registration of all boys aged two upward for military service when they reached call‑up age; the regulations forcing the Buddhist monks under 50 years old to return to secular life and to “temporarily conscript” them if they were physically fit enough; the regulations on the organization of the army and the building of military supplies and arms depots, etc.
In the economic field, besides major policies such as “han dien” and “han no” as mentioned above, the State imposed different kinds of tax, issued the “Thong bao” paper money, stipulated the use and management of the paper money and coins as well as the punishment of counterfeiters, forbade alcohol distillation, set up reserve rice depots, etc.
In whatever field, the laws and regulations adopted under the Ho dynasty were made on the basis of applying penal procedures with severe punishment of offenses against the political security and social order such as burglary and robbery, counterfeiting, moonshining, especially hostile acts against the royal family committed by Tran aristocrats, and peasants' uprising. The criminal law of the Ho dynasty surpassed that of the Tran reign in its severity. This, however, helped ensure more effective law enforcement, making the political security and social order under the Ho dynasty more stable than that under the Tran dynasty. It was recorded in a historical book(3) that the Ho family had planned to promulgate a “penal code”, the contents of which, however, remains unknown.
In addition, amendments were made to laws and regulations on education and examinations in the Royal Court as well as in the localities, on the royal ceremonies and costumes, etc.
Though not in great number, the laws and regulations passed by the Ho family inherited some from the laws passed under the previous dynasties of the Ly and Tran, which had met the requirements of the social life. Generally speaking, they had a higher legislative level with their practicality and firm bases especially with regard to the economic laws on land ownership, taxation, monetary circulation and management.
The reforms carried out under the Ho dynasty had some very positive aspects. Regrettably, those reforms were interrupted by the invasion of Dai Viet by the Chinese feudal empire of the Ming. Being unable to win the people's hearts and minds and to unite the entire population, the Ho family failed in its endeavor to solve the domestic crisis and fight against foreign invaders. The resistance against the Ming invasion was defeated, taking along with it the reforms undertaken by the Ho dynasty. Yet, the Vietnamese have never denied Ho Quy Ly's patriotism, determination to fight the foreign invaders and his dignified personality.-
Footnotes:
(1) Phan Huy Chu: "Lich Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chi" (Bibliology of Monarchical Publications), translation, 1961, Vol. II, p.9.