>>The state and law of Vietnam in the 10th century
>>History of the Vietnamese state and law: The state and law in the Hung Kings period
TRAN THI TUYET, lawyer
State and Law Research Institute
With the decline of the Early Le dynasty after the death of its last King, Le Long Dinh, in I009, the Ly dynasty (1009‑1225) came into existence beginning a new period in the history of the Vietnamese nation. Construction began on a large scale laying a firm and comprehensive basis for the development of the nation and the independent feudal state.
Right after his ascension to the throne in I010 Ly Thai To (Ly Cong Uan ) decided to move the capital city from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Dai La citadel and changed its name into Thang Long (Hanoi). In fact the capital city of Hoa Lu of the Dinh and Early Le (Xth century), with its rugged mountain terrain, served well the defensive strategy of these dynasties which relied on military strength to impose their autocratic rule and prevent secessionist and war lordism tendency. As for Thang Long, "it lies at the center of the country, and occupies a position comparable to a rolling dragon and a sitting tiger, accessible from all directions and well protected from both the front and the rear"(1) "For this reason, Thang Long suits the purpose of " planning the great cause and long‑term planning for the future generations."( 2), "the converging point of all directions and the first‑rate capital of the ever‑lasting empire ."(3)
In 1054, the Ly dynasty changed the name of the country into Dai Viet. Dai Viet was then very small and had an equally small population. However, the move of the capital city to Thang Long and the renaming of the country reflected the new requirement of the centralized feudal state, and also the national pride and the sense of equality with other nations and states. It also demonstrated the capability, self‑confidence and determination of the Vietnamese people to safeguard national independence.
As its predecessor in the Xth century, the Ly dynasty organized the State according to the monarchic system which tended to become more and more centralized. The State apparatus began to be organized according to a formal model from the center to the grassroots. Power was concentrated in the Royal Court headed by the King . Under the King and his direct guidance was a system of civil and military mandarinate.
The system of local administration was built up on the basis of the division of the administrative areas in the whole country into 24 "lo" ( province ) Under the "lo", were the "phu", huyen" and further down the line were the "huong", "giap" and " "thon ". In the mountainous areas, the administrative division were the " chau ", "trai " and "dao" . The capital city was divided into "phuong ". The Ly monarchs installed different civil and military titles for the civil and military administration at all levels of the administration. So far, documents are not available to determine the powers and tasks of each title in this hierarchy. But at the grassroots level (huong ‑ giap), it has been established that the administrative apparatus was elected by the people and operated in the form of mixed representation, i.e, the local administration represented the local population in their relation with the higher level of administration while also representing the State, chiefly in the collection of taxes and the enforcement of the obligatory military service duty.
Understandably, the rising feudal State needed a numerous, capable and loyal mandarinate. That is why the regime of recruitment of the mandarinate under the Ly dynasty combined the "appointment by heredity" system (recruitment of mandarins from among children of the aristocracy ) and " recruitment through examinations ".
The Ly undertook the build‑up of the administration at a time when the country had emerged from the state of scatteredness and warlordism. Moreover, the threat of foreign aggression was a constant threat. That is why, to build a strong army to strengthen the rule of its family and increase the defense capability of the country.
Remained the foremost concern of the Ly kings, the army under the Ly was composed of the "royal guards" and the provincial armies. The royal guards was the regular army of the Court having the duty of defending the Royal Citadel. It was the elite force carefully selected and well trained and organized. It also had the duty of defending and guarding the provinces and districts.
The military service regime was instituted together with a strict regime of household registration and military recruitment. All the male adults of the village from I8 to 60 years of age had to do their military service duty, and had to register in the military rolls. When war broke out, the State based its call‑up on the military roll. When the war ended, the State sent back the troops to their native villages to do farm work according to the policy of "lodging soldiers among farmers ". In the conditions of an agricultural country with a small population, this policy helped the Ly to build a strong regular army which could be mobilized at short notice while ensuring the necessary workforce to work the fields and assure food supply in all circumstances.
Aside from these two kinds of army, the feudal lords and tribal chiefs of the ethnic minorities kept their own armed forces. These were not numerous nor well trained, but when necessary the Court might mobilize them and put them under its centralized command.
The army under the Ly had attained a fairly high level of organization and training. It comprised these main forces: the infantry, the navy, the elephant‑mounted troops. Armaments and equipment included, aside from the weapons which had existed earlier such as spears, scimitars, crossbows, bows, shields, also catapults. This army made important contributions to the defense and consolidation of the centralized monarchical State and to the victories in the fight against foreign aggression to defend the Fatherland.
On internal affairs, the Ly adopted many policies aimed at consolidating the power of the centralized State and ensuring the interests of the ruling class while also caring for the economic development and the welfare of the people and furthering the national culture.
On the economic plane, the State ownership of land was prevalent and constituted the important basis of the centralized monarchic State. Most of the land in the country then was communal land. The commune was vested with the supreme right of ownership over the land which it managed and from which it collected rent for the State. It was also responsible for the mobilization of labor for community work and soldiers for the State. Throughout the Ly dynasty which lasted several hundred years, the commune was granted autonomy in many fields and remained the durable foundation of society and the basis to build the administrative units at the lowest level.
The State under the Ly dynasty attached great importance to agriculture and issued many policies to promote agriculture. Land reclamation and the construction of water conservancy works was undertaken on a large scale. The labor force and the cattle used in ploughing were taken great care of by the State . Traditional handicrafts such as weaving, pottery, metallurgy, art crafts, carving and engraving made substantial progress compared with the earlier period.
Transport and trade among the localities in the countries and with neighbouring countries and countries in the region such as China, Champa, Siam (Thailand) and Indonesia was opened and promoted .There was a brisk trade at the border and sea ports such as the Van Don port in Thang Long.
In particular, the Ly dynasty saw the beginning of a period of blossoming of the national culture. More schools were opened by the State, and examinations were held regularly. The "Quoc Tu Giam", the first higher education institute of Vietnam was set up to teach children of the aristocracy. The first examinations of this school was held in I075 and the "nom" , the national language transliterated into Chinese characters, was adopted as the official script and was widely used in both official documents and in literary and artistic creation. Systematic writing of the history of the nation began seriously.
Externally, the Ly dynasty adopted a flexible but at the same time very resolute policy. Faced with big and rich countries with large populations in the North, the Ly monarchs on the one hand accepted their protection and continued to pay them tributes, and on the other, resolutely fought back when national independence and sovereignty was threatened. The resistance conducted by the Vietnamese people under the command of Ly Thuong Kiet against the Sung aggressors (1075‑1077) was a testimony to the clear‑sightedness and correctness of the Ly external policy. In 1164 the Sung finally had to recognize Dai Viet (Vietnam) as a sovereign kingdom.
Legislation was given a strong boost along with the consolidation and development of the State. Written laws began to be compiled. The first written law of Vietnam saw the light in 1042 and is known as "Hinh Thu ".
According to Phan Huy Chu in his "Chronicles of the different episodes of the courts", the "Hinh Thu " comprises three books which deal essentially with the criminal laws. It is very regrettable that this book of laws was taken away by the Ming (Chinese) aggressors in the XVth century and as a result very little has been known about it until now. Following the Hinh Thu, the successive monarchs of the Ly promulgated other laws too.
The criminal laws of the Ly dynasty defined clearly the principles of punishment. First, there were stipulations about bail. This clearly reflected the class character of the then legislation, but it also tells about the humanitarian nature of the Vietnamese. In I042 the Ly king decreed that old persons of more than 70 years of age and children under 15, the disabled and the relatives of the royal family, the aristocracy, the affluent persons and those with great services to the State might buy themselves out of corporal punishment (excluding capital punishment). In I071, the Ly monarch clearly defined the cash penalty depending on the seriousness of the offenses. In addition, the law under the Ly dynasty provided for collective penal liability in case of theft or slaughter of traction animals (1117), offenses against the king, or the crime of buying, selling or concealing a male child of the royal family (1043).
Generally speaking, the punishment system under the Ly was very severe which is the common character of any feudal legal system It not only applied the five classic forms of punishments of the Chinese feudal State (flogging, cudgeling, hard labor imprisonment, deportation and death) but added some forms of punishment of a purely corporal and humiliating character such as dismemberment ,chopping of one or many fingers ,branding on the face and arms , assignment as slave servant to another family, or demotion or dismissal with regard to officials...
All acts of infringement upon the safety of the court or throne, or on the economic or political interests of the king or the royal family, or on the moral order of the feudal system in both social and family relations such as disloyalty or infidelity were liable to the death penalty. Acts of infringement upon other economic or political interests of the king and the royal family or the social order and morality, such as theft, robbery, murder, desertion, tax evasion, illicit slaughter of cattle, fakery of selling contracts, mutual denunciation by children, slave servants and spouses, imitation of instruments and costumes of an upper caste by a lower one were listed as ordinary crimes and were punished according to their seriousness.
In the domain of civil law, there already appeared the first stipulations on the protection of the private ownership of land and on the State recognition of the selling, buying, transfer and mortgage and pawning of land.
Beside the written laws under the Ly, there remained many widely practiced traditional laws and customs of the Viet communities. These were conventions regulating the relations in the community, first of all and primarily in the domain of marriage and the family, and civil affairs.
Thus, the appearance of written laws under the Ly dynasty, especially the rudimentary of the Penal Code marked an important event in the history of Vietnamese legislation. It not only created the first criteria for the juridical work, but also had the effect of limiting the arbitrariness and abuse of power of the mandarinate at all levels and demonstrated that the centralized State of the Ly dynasty already had a relatively stable character and had been provided with a relative comprehensive organizational and operational mechanism.-
Footnote:
(1)(2)(3) Royal Edict of King Ly Thai To on the move of the capital city
(4) Phan Huy Chu ‑Annals and Chronicles about the dynasties‑History of officialdoms
(5) Only two ministries were set up under the Ly dynasty: Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Rites
(6) Complete history of the Dai Viet, Tome 3, page 220.-