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A mandarin (Vietnamese: Quan thái bộc) was a public official in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence. The word comes through the Portuguese mandarim from Malay mantri, a counselor or minister of state; the ultimate origin of the word is the Sanskrit root man-, meaning “to think.” The Vietnamese word comes from the Chinese word for Guan (or Kuan).
The Vietnamese mandarin is a title bestowed on people who went through rigorous training and examination in scholastic understanding. Primarily based on the Chinese standards, examinations included writing, literature, history and mathematics. The mandarin, appointed to the royal court, was an honour that came with privileges. There are nine ranks (or classes) in the royal court for a mandarin's advancement, starting with Ninth progressing to First, being the rank of Prime ministers. It was considered life time achievements for these mandarins to be named as one of the Quartet Pillars to the royal court. Royal Quartet Pillars was the four most trusted and highest ranking mandarins to the Emperor.
Mandarins in the Nguyen's Dynasty
Under Gia Long's rule, Vietnamese mandarins followed the later Le Dynasty's structure, which was modified from the Chinese Imperial Court. Under Minh Mang's rule, the mandarin system was revised, taken directly from the Manchurian system, and this emperor added the prime and sub-prime ranks to each of the nine levels.
Emperor Duy Tân Cabinet. Left to right: Prime Ministers Tôn Thất Hân Justice(Vietnamese: thượng thư bộ hình), Nguyễn Hữu Bài Law (Vietnamese:thượng thư bộ lại), Huỳnh Côn Interior (Vietnamese: thượng thư bộ lễ), King's brother (Vietnamese: Hoàng thân) Miên Lịch, Lê Trinh Foreign Relations (Vietnamese: thượng thư bộ công), Cao Xuân Dục Education (Vietnamese: thượng thư bộ học)
Traditionally, after a mandarin had served his term, he would retire to his hometown and provided education to the local schools with what he learned at the Royal court. Educated Vietnamese peasants could be estimated at 25% prior to the Imperial French days. During the French Protectorate days, this number dropped to 10% even though more, non-governmental people were educated abroad, either from England or France. This was due to the lack of interest from lower classes or reluctance of the upper class to share their knowledge. After Vietnam government offered public and private education, the number of educated peasants increased somewhat, but not to the previous level. When Vietnam gained independence from France, an explosive effort was put forth from abroad and by South Vietnam to educate the peasant mass.
Wages for the Mandarins
The followings are yearly pay, supplies and subsidies for official robes to serve during audience with the king. The subsidies for official robes determined the type of materials, or silk, that were used to create the robes. This was set with the purpose of preventing a lower rank official from obtaining a higher rank official's robe.
First Rank Prime minister: $400 yuan, 300 rice units, $70 yuan for uniforms
First Rank minister: $300 yuan, 250 rice units, $60 yuan for uniforms
Second Rank Prime minister: $250 yuan, 200 rice units, $50 yuan for uniforms
Second Rank minister: $180 yuan, 150 rice units, $30 yuan for uniforms
Third Rank Prime minister: $150 yuan, 120 rice units, $20 yuan for uniforms
Third Rank minister: $120 yuan, 90 rice units, $16 yuan for uniforms
Fourth Rank Prime minister: $80 yuan, 60 rice units, $14 yuan for uniforms
Fourth Rank minister: $60 yuan, 50 rice units, $10 yuan for uniforms
Fifth Rank Prime minister: $40 yuan, 43 rice units, $9 yuan for uniforms
Fifth Rank minister: $35 yuan, 30 rice units, $8 yuan for uniforms
Six Rank minister: $30 yuan, 25 rice units, $7 yuan for uniforms
Six Rank deputy minister: $30 yuan, 22 rice units, $6 yuan for uniforms
Seven Rank minister: $25 yuan, 20 rice units, $5 yuan for uniforms
Seven Rank deputy minister: $22 yuan, 20 rice units, $5 yuan for uniforms
Eight Rank minister: $20 yuan, 18 rice units, $5 yuan for uniforms
Eight Rank deputy minister: $20 yuan, 18 rice units, $5 yuan for uniforms
Nine Rank minister: $18 yuan, 16 rice units, $4 yuan for uniforms
Nine Rank deputy minister: $18 yuan, 16 rice units, $4 yuan for uniforms
REFERENCE
History of Vietnam. Trần Trọng Kim (1920).
Wikipedia - Vietnam.
Encyclopedia Britannica - Mandarin (Public Official)
Our Vietnam Nightmare.
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