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HO CHI MINH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLITICS
NGHEM THI THU NGA
POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE TRAN
PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS
FIELD OF STUDY: CULTURAL SCIENCE
Code: 62 31 06 40
HANOI - 2018
The thesis was completed at
Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
Supervisors: Prof., Dr. Hoang Vinh
Reviewer 1: ........................................................
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Reviewer 2: ........................................................
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Reviewer 3: ........................................................
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The thesis shall be defended in front of the Thesis Committee at
Academy Level at Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
At ...... hour ...... date ...... month ...... year 2018
The thesis can be found at The National Library
and Library of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
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INTRODUCTION 1. Reason for choosing the topic
- Proceeding from the role of political culture and the necessity of
studying political culture
Political culture is an important part of social culture (besides ethical
culture, legal culture, media culture...). Throughout the history of building
and defending the country, Vietnamese political culture has been created,
gradually perfected and participated in enriching the national culture. The
values of typical political culture have permeated the line of national
management and the personality of many leaders of the country,
contributing to promoting the strength of the nation, breaking out of the
harsh challenges of the calendar, taking the country to grow up
prosperously and immortally.
The study of political culture has a profound theoretical and practical
significance, but so far, in particular in the field of Cultural Science, the
issue of political culture remains unclear views, especially the connotation
and structure of political culture has not been established. Many lefting
open points of this issue require to be studied thoroughly.
- Proceeding from the necessity of studying political culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty
In contrast to the later historical periods, the Tran prosperous
Dynasty was not dominated by Confucianism’s thought, so the rulers had
more favorable conditions to develop their personal capacity, to become
the bright personality, contributing to build a creative political culture with
unique values, particularly marked in the history of the Vietnamese
monarchies, have made important contributions to the national culture.
Understanding political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty is to
understand the national internal and latent strength when facing difficult
challenges, is to contribute to explaine the reason of prosperity and failure
in history. Studying political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty, we
approach the value of national defense and development lessons, the
lesson of building a civilized politics, a culture for human.
From the cultural science approach, up to now, there has never been
a separate, deep, systematic study on the the Tran prosperous Dynasty
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issue. Locating an important conceptual tool in cultural science,
understanding an essential part of the social - cultural life of the nation at
the beginning of radiant, majestic independence, and many unknowns are
essential and meaningful.
- Proceeding from tasks of researching and teaching to meet the
development requirements of the country in anew period
One of the important tasks in the cause of building Vietnamese
culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable development of
the country which was defined by the Vietnamese Communist Party in the
document of the Twelfth National Congress is to pay attention to
cultivating culture in the Party, State agencies and unions. The Document
also confirms that this is an important factor for building a clean and
strong political system.
In the process of performing that task, the contents of political culture
have been researched and taught in many angles, many majors. From the
perspective of cultural science, political culture has just stopped in early
research with modest results,Vietnamese traditional political culture has not
really paid attention. Therefore, the study of the political culture of Tran
prosperous Dynasty will contribute to the field of traditional political
culture in the approach of cultural science, at the same time it will be
helpful for studying and teaching relevant important contents such as:
Cultural history, Political culture, Cultural assignment, etc.
Based on these above reasons, the researcher selects the topic
“Political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty” for the PhD. thesis,
specializing in Cultural Science with the desire to systematically
recognize the face and value of political culture of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty, then contributing to discussing the experience lessons of the
Tran Dynasty for the construction and the development of current
Vietnamese political culture.
2. Research purposes and research tasks
2.1. Research purposes
The thesis studies political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty,
whereby relating and discussing the issue of building current Vietnamese
political culture.
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2.2. Research tasks
+ Clarifying some theoretical issues of political culture (concept,
structure);
+ Describing the face of political culture of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty through the basic elements;
+ Judging about the value of political culture of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty, since then, contacting and discussing some lessons for the
construction of our current political culture.
3. Subjects and scope of research
3.1. Research subjects
The thesis studies political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty (which
focuses on the face, values and historical lessons for the current period).
3.2. Research scope
- Concerning time: The political period of Tran Dynasty (1225-
1329), from the time King Tran Thai Tong came to the throne until King
Tran Minh Tong abdicated the throne in favour of Crown Prince Vuong.
The later period of the Tran Dynasty was not included in the scope of the
study, it was only mentioned at the relevant level of the thesis.
- Regarding space: Dai Viet in the Tran prosperous Dynasty in the
relationship with its neighbours countries, especially China (in the North)
and Champa (in the South).
- Contents: Mainly studying political culture of royal in the Tran
prosperous Dynasty (ie, the ruling subjects: kings, mandarins and generals).
4. Theoretical bases and research methodology
4.1. Theoretical basis
The thesis is based on the methodology of dialectical materialism
and the historical materialism of Marxism to analyze the premise and
historical context whichleading to the formation of political culture of Tran
prosperous Dynasty, to analyze the issue of individual role (the hero) and
the masses (the people) in history, to judge the value and lessons of
political culture in the Tran prosperous Dynasty for current period.
4.2. Research methodology
In order to complete the research purposes and research tasks, the
following methods shall be used in accordance with each specific content
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of the thesis: Method of synthesis of materials and historical materials;
Interdisciplinary method; Logical - historical method; Professional
method; Method of analysis and synthesis.
In order to implement the above methods well, the thesis carries out
specific research activities: in-depth interviews, statistics, comparison, …
5. New contributions of the thesis
5.1. Theoretical contributions
- Systematizing, supplementing and developing some related issues
to the theory of political culture; contributing to establishing the concept
and structure of political culture from a cultural science perspective;
- Through studying political culture of Tran prosperous Dynasty, the
thesis contributed to the methodology of studying a part of the social
culture in a particular historical age.
- The research results of the thesis will contribute to enriching
materials on culture, Vietnamese culture and Vietnamese political culture
as well as become reference materials for study, research and teaching
political culture courses, cultural science, Vietnamese cultural history...
5.2. Practical contributions
- The topic canalyses the face and value of political culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty period, through which to better understand
Vietnamese cultural history;
- From the understanding of political culture of a period in history
with advantages and disadvantages, the thesis draws on experienced
lessons in building and developing current Vietnamese political culture.
- The results of the thesis will contribute to enrich materials on
culture, Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese political culture and become
reference sources for studying, researching and teaching units of study on
political culture, culture of mission, Vietnamese cultural history… culture
of mission
6. Structure of the thesis
In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references and
appendix, thesis is structured into 4 chapters, 11 sections.
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Chapter 1
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION RELATED TO
POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE TRAN PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
1.1. THE REASEARCH SITUATION ABOUT POLITICAL CULTURE
1.1.1. International research situation Political culture was born very early both in the East and in the West.
It can be said, since the politics were born, political cultural issue was also
posed. In the East, ancient Chinese thinkers began the tradition of
approaching political culture in the history of human thought with
ideologies of “rule of virtue”, “rule of law” and “ rule of refraining from
activity contrary to nature. In the West, from the ancient times to the
Enlightenment, political cultural issue was studied as a subject of
philosophy. The term “political culture” was formally cited in 1784 (in the
book The Methods of Philosophy of Human History) by German
philosopher I. Herder (1744-1803) when he studied the interaction
between culture and politics.
Although political culture emerged so early, the study of political
culture was actually born with modern political science in the West. In
which, two main research trends emerged: Firstly, political culture is the
subjective dimension of the political system and the political process.
Secondly, the political culture is an integral part of the overall culture of
the society. With elaborate, plentiful researches from many perspectives,
researchers in the world have contributed to build conceptual formal
system, from which the PhD candidate can have general knowledge about
the theoretical system as well as the political culture approach method. The
inheritance of these research achievements is important and is really
necessary for the implementation of the thesis.
1.1.2. Research situation in Vietnam
1.1.2.1. Study the practical aspects of traditional political culture The study of traditional Vietnamese political culture often refers to
specific elements of political culture such as political culture value,
political culture thought, typical political personality, experience lesson
with the buildinng and developloping current Vietnamese political
culture... With these research results, the general appearance of the
traditional Vietnamese political culture is initially sketched out quite
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clearly. They will be useful references for PhD students when studying
political culture of a period of Vietnamese political culture in the tradition.
1.1.2.2. Study the theoretical aspects of modern science The general point of studies in this direction is that all the authors
mentioned the fundamental issues of the subject of political culture
Research, focusing on clarifying some theoretical contents such as: concept,
content, structure, function and role of political culture. However, each
approach has its own concept of political culture, can be broadly divided
into 3 main trends: 1/ political culture can be considered as a combination
of talent, smart words in political activity, political culture can be replaced
by “political art”; 2/ Political culture is understood as culture in politics,
which refers to the use of cultural elements in this field, in order to create a
moral environment for political activity, so that the political activity is both
healthy and ít can be achieved efficiency to maintain power; 3/ The concept
of political culture is a component of culture.
1.1.2.3. Research is applied/ used in the realities of current political culture
On the basis of theoretical issues on political culture, many
researches have been oriented towards the application to deal practical
problems of current Vietnamese political culture. From the realistic
perspective, the research documents in this trend have made quite
objective and real assessment about the current political culture of our
country, from which making recommendations to building, innovating and
developing political culture, in which the focus is the personality of the
leader and manager. These are important suggestions for the thesis in the
content which links to the issue of building our country’s political culture
in the current stage. 1.2. THE REASEARCH SITUATION ABOUT POLITICAL
CULTURE OF THE TRAN PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
1.2.1. General researches on the Tran Dynasty The Tran Dynasty in general, the Tran prosperous Dynasty in
particular, has always been a fascinating topic for scholars from various
disciplines such as history, philosophy, literature. Those documents have
provided PhD candidate with valuable information, many objective and
honest historical facts. Thus, the economic, political and social context of
the Tran period was reappeared, helping PhD candidate to have the
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necessary scientific basis to identify and interpret political culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty. This is very important when PhD candidate
implements a topic which the source material is mainly secondary
material. The general documents studies on the Tran Dynasty and the Tran
prosperous Dynasty also contributed to create a panoramic view, from
which PhD candidate can visualize and identify the position and
characteristics of political culture of the Tran Dynasty in the common
picture.
1.2.2. Researches on the specific aspects of political culture in the
Tran prosperous Dynasty There is no intensiveand systematic research political culture in the
Tran prosperous Dynasty. This issue is mainly embedded within the
researches on the Middle Ages, the Ly - Tran Dynasty period or the Tran
Dynasty and has only been approached from the individual aspects:
1.2.2.1. Research on valuable orientation in politics Political ideals and political institutions of the Tran Dynasty were the
most studied contents. In general, when discussing the political ideals of
the Tran Dynasty, the authors affirmed the values of patriotism, unity, the
intimate spirit with the people, the spirit of the three religions coexisting...
These values are gathered and shine most brightly during the prosperous
period of the Tran Dynasty. The contents of the political regime of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty (such as the way of country management,
policies for developing the country) are also discussed by many
researchers, especially the issue of diplomacy, training, recruiting officials
policy. The important contents of political valuable orientation such as
power philosophy, political ideology have not been studied deeply.
1.2.2.2. Researches on political operation The issue of political institutions with contents such as the state
apparatus, the officials system, the economic - politic model such as feud -
fields and gardens... are discussed in many documents. The authors have
quite specific descriptions of the appearance of the state apparatus with
analysis and comparison to find the characteristics of the Tran Dynasty
compared to other periods in Vietnamese history. The Tran Dynasty was
associated with three great anti-Mongol resistance wars, so the issue of
keeping the country, which is the focus of military art, is particularly
interested to researchers. In addition, some other political arts and skills
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are also researched meticulously: multi-ownership economic development
strategy; water management and farming strategy; using people strategy...
However, there is no document that describes the aspects of political
operation comprehensively.
1.2.2.3. Researches on political personality The political personality of the Tran Dynasty had a strong attraction
for researchers from both theoretical and practical points of view. In
which, the issue of personality formation, the role of political character,
the noble and necessary qualities of political characters (virtue, talent...) is
deeply clarified. Some portraits of political characters in the Tran Dynasty
have been sketched in a multi-dimensional perspective. In general,
however, the issue of political personality is discussed as “political
person” in general, or the contributions of individual historical characters,
but they have not been systematized into personality qualities that
represent and bring colour to the people the Tran Dynasty. Furthermore,
there is no document that explores the patterns of cultural personality, or
considers the political person as the creator and be influenced by the
political culture.
1.2.2.4. Researches on political external expression
This is the content that has not been thoroughly researched. In
general, the political external expression is only visible in the outlines of
some researches on culture, history and religion of the Tran Dynasty, such
as royal architecture project, royal attire, royal festivals and ceremonies,
religious architecture (temples, pagodas, temples...). Elements of political
symbolism have not been discussed, which has not been studied as a
component of political culture.
1.3. REQUIRED PROBLEMS NEEEDED TO BE CONTINUED TO
RESEARCH
Through the overview of the research situation, it is possible to draw
some observations:
- Although the term of political culture has been mentioned quite
early, but so far, due to the richness of approaching research from various
disciplines, this concept still has many arguments. In particular, the
concept, structure of political culture has not really been interested and had
thorough insights from the perspective of cultural science.
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- Concerning the issue of political culture in the Tran prosperous
Dynasty, there are many documents mentioned in different aspects and
levels. They are valuable and useful sources for PhD candidate to be
inherited, filtered and developed in the thesis.
But in general, due to research objectives, these materials are not
interested in identifying political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty
specifically and systematically, and based on a fundamental structure of
political culture from a perspective of cultural science. Therefore, each
document is almost a single piece and is mainly incorporated into
researches on the Tran Dynasty. Some very important elements of political
culture, such as political personality, external expression factors have not
been studied thoroughly or have not been identified, researched as a
component of political culture.
Thus, a comprehensive, systematic, specialized research in political
culture of Tran prosperous Dynasty as a perfect whole, especially in depth
analysis of appearance and evaluation of the value of political culture in
the Tran prosperous Dynasty - in the light of theories of cultural science -
have never appeared.
From that fact, PhD candidate choses the thesis “Political culture of
the Tran prosperous Dynasty” with the desire to: 1/ Contributing to
systematize and conceptualize the structure of political culture from the
perspective of cultural science; 2/ Analyzing the appearance of the
political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty - according to the basic
elements of the political culture structure which were established; 3/
Identifying the value of political culture in the Tran prosperous Dynasty
and discussing the application of the lesson of the Tran Dynasty in the
construction of current Vietnamese political culture.
Summary of Chapter 1
Overview of the document shows that political culture was formed
along with the advent of human political activity. However, as a research
subject of science, political culture began to emerging, starting in the West
after the Second World War. In Vietnam, the research on political culture
has taken place in many directions, but in general, it is still in the first
steps on theoretical and systematic basis which is not complete.
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Political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty is an important issue
that has been approached by many researchers in a multi-dimensional
perspective. However, up to now, there has not been a comprehensive,
specialized research on political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty
based on the theory of the traditional culture from the perspective of
culture science. That is also a problem that requires the thesis to continue
to study more thoroughly.
Chapter2
THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL CULTURE AND THE
INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE TRAN
PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
2.1. CONCEPT OF POLITICAL CULTURE
2.1.1. Concept of political culture
2.1.1.1. Culture
Cultural terminology has been studied, researched and analyzed by
researchers from ancient times until today to clarify their connotatitive
meaning. However, till this day, there are many different definitions of
culture based on different approaches.
It can be said that the concept of culture in two cases (culture in
general - the whole culture) and culture in particular (cultures) is very
necessary for us to study political culture comprehensively culture.
Political culture is both characterized by the characteristics of culture in
general - the whole culture, and the nature and characteristics of culture in
particular (cultures), However, they mainly emphasize “Identification
factors” of each community, of each culture in political culture.
2.1.1.2. Politics
Politics is a work of organizing social life of a community (nation,
country) by general power. Essentially, politics reflects a cultural level of
humanity in general and of each individual community in particularin
terms of social organization and administration. Politics has always been
associated with mankind since the State was born, and it is one of the most
important activity areas of social life. All the theoretical and practical
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results of human creation involved in winning, holding, and using state
power belong to political culture. With this view, along with the process of
birth and development of the state, the concept of political culture has
formed and gradually improved.
2.1.1.3. Political culture
From a cultural science perspective, the thesis considers political
culture as an element, a field of culture in general, that is, political culture
is a part of the whole culture. I should think, when viewing political
culture as one aspect of culture, we need to put it in the general structure of
a culture to see the intimate relationship between it and culture in general.
Accordingly, culture consists of three sub-systems: social culture, material
culture, spiritual culture. Political culture belongs to social culture sub-
system, besides the elements: ethical culture, legal culture, cultural
communication: Political culture is an element of social culture, stipulated
by the cultural level and quality of a community in the organization of
community life, in the holding and enforcing the power of the community,
manifested as a certain political “type”, “form”, background in history.
Acknowledging political culture is a part of culture meaning that we
consider political culture as “a culture of politics” with a structural system
of many elements, not just subjective elements of individual political
Subject. Aand thus, in the thesis, when researching, identifying political
culture in the Tran prosperous Dynasty, PhD candidate studied the a
culture of politics - as part of the Dai Viet culture, rather than studying
cultural elements in politics, culture in the political activities of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty.
2.1.2. The structure of political culture
Political culture is a unified body composed of four main
components: 1/ Valuable orientation in politics (expressing through
political ideals, political philosophy and political direction); 2/ Political
operation (including operational tools and operational ways); 3/ Political
personality; 4/ Political external expression. When building political
culture all four aspects must be attached simultaneously. In which, the
personality of the political subject should be paid attention to, because this
is the central factor that governs the operation of the remaining elements.
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2.2. INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE TRAN
PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
2.2.1. Overview of the Tran Dynasty The Tran royalty began on December 12th in At Dau year (1225),
when Ly Chieu Hoang - the last king of the Ly Dynasty, ceded the throne
to Tran Canh, until 1400, if not counting the post-Tran Dynasty (Gian
Dinh De: 1407-1409, Truong Quang De: 1409-1413), there existed 175
years with 12 kings.
Tran Dynasty was one of a the peak developed dynasty in the history
of the Vietnamese monarchy, with distinctive features compared to the
previous dynasties and especially different from the later Le, Nguyen
Dynasties.
2.2.2. Concept of Tran prosperous Dynasty Based on the research results of the scientists and PhD candidate,
based on the historical fact of the Tran Dynasty, the thesis supposes that
the Tran prosperous Dynasty was the period from 1225 to 1329, means
from the time King Tran Thai Tong came to the throne until King Tran
Minh Tong abdicated the throne in favour of Crown Prince Vuong. Since
1329 may be counted in the Tran eschatology Dynasty and not belong to
the main subject of the thesis.
2.2.3. The premise to form political culture of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty The prosperity of the Tran Dynasty is a product of the aggregate
impact of many factors: the diversified developed economy associated
with the multi-ownership regime of land; the tyranny crisis resulting from
the end of the Ly Dynasty and the invasion of the Mongol Empire; a
culture based on the tradition of patriotism, humankind, tolerance, plus the
three religions coexisting, especially the appearance of Zen Buddhism; a
multi-level social structure with coming from the fishermen community of
the Tran aristocracy…
Summary of Chapter 2
On the basis of inheriting the scientific achievements of leading
researchers, PhD candidate has outlined a concept of political culture
which was derived from the perspective of cultural science. This new view
is necessary for studying a political culture with a clear structure (in
13
particular that is the identification of political culture in the times of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty which PhD candidate performed in the thesis).
The Tran prosperous Dynasty (1225-1329) was the most proud stage
of the Tran Dynasty, in which political culture was formed and developed
along with the cultural flow of the nation. The economic, political, cultural
and social conditions of the thirteenth century were analyzed and
interpreted by the thesis as the preconditions for the foundation of political
culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty with original values. These early
introductions are the basis from which the thesis is described in depth,
recognizing the appearance and value of political culture of Tran
prosperous Dynasty in the next chapters.
Chapter 3
THE FACE OF POLITICAL CULTURE IN THE TRAN
PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
3.1. VALUABLE ORIENTATION IN POLITICS
3.1.1. Political ideal Due to the historical context of foreign invasion and the
consolidation, development of the monarchy, the independent - strained
ideal became the highest political ideal in the Tran Dynasty. From the
determination to consolidate the court affairs, to restore the country to the
will of preserving the independence, sovereignty, affirming the skill and
spirit and the desire for eternal peace, that is the link between past, present
and future, becoming an oriented political ideology, reflecting the wide
strategic and high-level visibility of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. Thanks
to this orientation, political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty has
taken the self-confident, proud journey and left splendid footsteps on the
way of national history.
3.1.2. The philosophy of power The philosophy of power of the authorities in the Tran prosperous
Dynasty was formed on the awareness basis of the people’s role. People
have an important role to the success of individual hero, the survival of the
dynasty as well as the destiny of the country. For the authorities, the
people became a political entity, a major social force, playing an important
role in the cause of defending our country as well as in maintaining the
14
social order and developing the country. Recognizing the role of the
people, the sovereigns of the Tran prosperous Dynasty were aware of the
limits of power that they held. Thus, in the process of ruling the country,
they had a emancipated attitude to power and knew how to use power
legitimately.
3.1.3. The path of ruling the country In the Ly Dynasty, the path of ruling the country was mainly
influenced by Buddhist thought. From the time of early Le, Mac to Nguyen Dynasty, the political path was influenced by Confucianism, combining it with the rule of virtue, the rule of literature and the rule of law… The political path of the Tran prosperous Dynasty had a mix of Buddhist, Confucianism ideas and national spirit. Thus, the political path of this period was the rule of virtue, flexible, harmonious in the intimate spirit with the people, tolerant emancipation.
3.2. POLITICAL OPERATION
3.2.1. Operational tools 3.2.1.1. Genealogic monarchy In order to consolidate the kingship, especially in the early days, the
Tran Dynasty established a genealogic monarchy. The Thang Long Imperial Court in the thirteenth century was originally Tran's genealogic administration. The holing power genealogic association was considered as a principle that the Tran kings tried to implement. Compared to the Ly Dynasty, the Tran’s aristocracy of the same family was more consolidated, a distinct class that many Tran kings had consciously protected. In order to build and maintain the genealogic monarchy, the Tran Dynasty implemented the regime of elders, the regime of feud - fields and gardens and the regime of marriage within the family.
3.2.1.2. Law Although it had not reached the level of completion or become the
highest monarchy model (which Vietnamese hitory has known) as in the Le Dynasty, the law of the Tran prosperous Dynasty had also shown its progressive, both reflecting the goodwill and the social management capacity of the rulers, and meeting the legitimate aspirations of the people. Therefore, from the king and mandarins to the people heightened law, always strictly observed to the rules, principles, regulations. Obviously, the law of this period had shown a legitimate political institution and hearted people.
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3.2.1.3. Power apparatus In order to run the society and enforce the law, the state apparatus of
the Tran Dynasty was built and consolidated. It was a quite strict,
organized and streamlined governmental machine and mandarinate. It can
be said that, compared with previous dynasties, the Tran prosperous
Dynasty had a higher level of development, both in terms of governmental
machine as well as the mandarinate. With the State’s model of genealogic
monarchy, the State’s model and mandarinatehad left unique markings
compared to other dynasties in the national history.
3.2.2. Method of operation
3.2.2.1. In the domestic operation Domestic operation are mainly expressed through the way of social
management and the mode of training and recruitment of rulers for the
state apparatus.
The social management method of the state of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty was manifested through the development and promulgation of
policies and the implementation of policies of the court. These policies
were always published broadly, publicly by the court for the subjects and
people to know and implement. In order to prepare for policy
development, the court based on the statements of the imperial mandarins,
chapters of localities, mandarins were sent to investigate the reality. In
addition, through the second channel - that was hearing the direct opinion
of the people or the king's traveling incognito, thenceforth, the Tran
Dynasty also could be the basis for putting timely, correc policies.
The method of training, recruiting the rulers of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty brought its own colour. Due to the requirements of strengthening
and developing the state apparatus, it was necessary for the mandarins to
experience Confucian, so the studying and developing of Tran Dynasty
was attached special importance. The training talents of the Tran Dynasty
was more intensive, more formal than the Ly Dynasty. In order to
maximum mobilization the talents into the state apparatus, the court
conducted the selection of people in different ways (System of former
competition-examinations, recommendation - election, candidacy,
genealogic recruitment - inheriting a title of one's father. The method of
using talented people of the Tran Dynasty had three points worthy of note:
choosing the right talent person, choosing the right person, delivering the
16
right job -organizing a close test. The method of training, recruiting the
rulers was the inheritance of the studious tradition of Vietnamese culture,
but had been promoted extremely by the Tran Dynasty and reached great
effectiveness.
3.2.2.2. In foreign affairs In foreign affairs, the issues of fighting foreign aggression and
entertaining international relations with the North and the South were two
greatest concerns of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. With a rather diverse,
battle tested military organization and relatively dangerous weapons, be
carefully trained, with flexible operational Strategic tactics and the spirit of
a high-levelled determination, passionate patriotism, solidarity on the heart,
soldiers and the people of the Tran Dynasty created brilliant feat of arms in
the resistance against foreign aggression. Peaceful but resolute attitude with
Chiem Thanh, shrunk but be brave before the Yuan Dynasty had been the
right behavior of the court. The Tran Dynasty tried to embrace a flexible
diplomacy and took full advantage of the precious moments of peace to heal
the wounds of the war, prepared the forces for the coming wars. These
ingenious diplomacy strategies combined with ingenious military tactics led
Dai Viet to go from this victory to other victory. 3.3. POLITICAL PERSONALITY
3.3.1. The typical qualities of human of the Tran prosperous Dynasty In the face of political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty,
political personality played a very special role, it was a gathering of the
essence of politics. There could not have a political culture of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty with unique characteristics without the role of
political personality.
Political personality of the of Tran prosperous Dynasty was an
interesting point that could be exploited from many different perspectives.
From the cultural science point of view, the thesis mainly emphasizes on
the values of personality through a number of typical qualities: hero -
artist, self-respectful consciousness, selflessness.
3.3.2. “Clearsighted king - loyal subject”- the formal ideal of
human of the Tran prosperous Dynasty It can be said that, in the history of Vietnamese monarchies, never
appeared many clearsighted kings, loyal subjects, honest generals as in the
time of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. This form of personality had brought
17
a particular colour to the political culture, containing the essence of the
dignity of the times and shining the values of political culture of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty. Among them, there were sỏm personalities which
developed to the top, became cultural personality with high moral quality,
dominant wisdom and strong dissemination, powerful influence, the
symbolization was King Tran Nhan Tong and Grand Prince of Hung Đạo
Tran Quoc Tuan. The appearance of the “clearsighted king - loyal subject”
also contributed to explain the survival of monarchs in history. 3.4. POLITICALEXTERNAL EXPRESSION
In the political external expression factors, elements of power and
social order could be considered as typical elements. In addition, because
the Tran prosperous Dynasty was very special period, the time of the
“spirit of Dong A”, therefore, when studying the political external
expression factors, the thesis pays attention to the factors expressing the
spirit of the times.
3.4.1. The factor expressing the power and solemnity Political culture associated with power and power went hand in
hand with the solemnity that a political regime should observe. Like other
monarchies, the power and solemnity of the Tran Dynasty was reflected
in typical elements: temples - state, palaces, citadel and rampart, feud,
throne, banned terrace, the letters which profaned tabooed names, sacret
object, ritual and legendary system... In which, dragon mascot and some
rituals such as state funeral, vow, sacrifice, enthronization, inauguration
were the elements which had strong colour of political culture The most
prosperous Tran.
3.4.2. The factor expressing the social order The social order was expressed through the elements from the
costumes, imperial equipage, the horse, the appellation, the title...
Depending on the high and low position in society, these aspects of
expression would be prescribed symmetrically and orderly. In the system
of external expression factors presenting the social order of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty, the most notable factor was the king’s father, the
ruler. These were two appellations referring to two supreme positions of
power in the Tran Dynasty. At the same time, they carried the meaning of
the ruler's attitude to power and the unique identity of the genealogic
monarchy of the Tran Dynasty.
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3.4.3. The factor expressing the spirit of the times The spirit of the times was clearly expressed in the spirit of Dong A
with patriotism, sense of national self-strengthening, self-respect. That
spirit had been transformed into a symbol of the “really kill” arm of the
generals of the Tran Dynasty, into the meaningful flags of the armies, the
whole army and the whole population conference as Dien Hong, Binh
Than or poetry treasures which praised the divine resistance and the iconic
heros of the era. Tolerance, liberation can also be considered as the spirit
of the Dong A. The spirit of openness, tolerance, acceptance of differences
were expressed through many unique external expression factors, from
literature, art, architectural projects, religious beliefs,...
Through some typical external expression factors, the aspirations of
power had been seen (or the solemn nature expressing power) of the
monarchical centralism dynasty, the generosity of the heroic era, the nature
of the intimate spirit with the people, liberation of politics. It was a
silhouette of a political culture when the caste divisions were not clear, the
distance between the rulers and the people was not too far, the abstinence
was not strict, the ritual did not really stand on ceremony.
Summary of Chapter 3 Chapter 3 describes the appearance of political culture of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty through a four-element system of organic
relationships: valuable orientation in politics, political operation, political
personality, and political external expression. Political value orientation
was the process of cognition, value choice, ideal formation which was
orientated for individuals and communities. That orientation had been
actualized with tools of political operation and ways of political operation.
The politics was operated by the political people whose core was their
personality with the typical qualities that made up the beauty and value of
political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. And finally, the the
appearance and the value of political culture of this period were also
appeared through the unique political external expression. It was a picture
that might be incomplete, but it consisted of the vital components of the
lively and cohesive perfect whole. This view will be the basis for the PhD
candidate to evaluate the values of political culture of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty in the next chapter.
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Chapter4
THE TYPICAL VALUE OF POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE
TRAN PROSPEROUS DYNASTY AND LESSONS FOR THE
CAUSE OF BUILDING THE CURRENT VIETNAMESE
POLITICAL CULTURE
4.1. THE TYPICAL VALUE OF POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE
TRAN PROSPEROUS DYNASTY
4.1.1. Patriotic - solidary spirit Patriotism is considered as the top value in the list of cultural value
of Vietnam. But in the Tran prosperous Dynasty, patriotism attached
highly to the spirit of solidarity and unification. Although the Tran
Dynasty was a genealogic monarchist state model, was built, managed and
operated chiefly by Tran Dynasty’s aristocrats, but at this moment,
between the Tran Dynasty’s aristocrats and their people had the
attachment, family interests and national interests had the harmony and
high unity.
Patriotism attached to the great unity had created a unique value in
political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty, became a banner to
gather power, helped the Tran Dynasty’s people and military get many
honourable victories of building and defending the country.
4.1.2. The intimate spirit with the people The thought of the the intimate spirit with the people was not a rising
up unexpectedly phenomenon of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. But it can
be said that, at this stage, it was particularly prominent, becoming a
orthodox political ideology, dominant not only to political culture of the
times, with more clear and unique expressions than any other monarchies
in Vietnamese history.Tthe intimate spirit with the people in political
culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty could be generalized in three
aspects: sentiments of nearing the people, loving the people; attitude of
respecting the people and policies of reassure the people.
4.1.3. The spirit of tolerance, liberation Unlike some dynasties before and after, the Tran Dynasty in the
period of prosperity was operated by the aristocratic class who were
familiar with waterways craft and rich martial spirit, were raised by the
thought of Nam Tong Buddhism, so political culture in this period had be
20
impregnated with the spirit of tolerance, liberation. This spirit not only
expressed in the policies and ways of country management of the rulers,
but also penetrated deeply in the spiritual life of a hundred families and
spread in the political and social life. We can see this characteristic
expression through the behaviours of the human of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty in the following aspects, which are also the aspects challenging
the most spirit of tolerance: dealing with war, with “human rights” and
with the difference.
* The limitation in political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty The Tran prosperous Dynasty was the most prosperous in the history
of the monarchy of Vietnam. It is the period of clearsighted king - loyal
subject, the prosperous society, all aspects of life were stable and
developed. That proved the superiority of political culture of this period.
However, objectively, even this political culture itself had gotten the seeds
of negation, limitation. There were some outstanding limitations: the
limitation in the conception of the people, in the genealogic monarchy, in
the state machine, in the political personality. At a later stage, when there
was no longer a bright king, loyal subject, the ruler could not take the
political affairs, and the economic downturn, these germs had an
opportunity to flourish and spark internal contradictions. leading to the
degradation and extinction of the Tran Dynasty. 4.2. THE LESSON FOR THE BUILDING POLITICAL CULTURE
CAUSE OF OUR COUNTRY FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF THE
TRAN DYNASTY
4.2.1. The similarity of the political tasks between Dai Viet and
Vietnam today Tran Dynasty far away from us for nearly eight centuries, but there
are similarities or very close together in terms of political tasks, especially
the demands of defending the independent right and sovereignty as well as
building, developing the country, developing the national culture, fighting
for the cause of peace, cooperation...
During the Tran Dynasty, especially during the period of prosperity,
with the cause of defending the country and developingof the great
country, the Tran Dynasty left an extremely rich and valuable treasure of
knowledge and experience in the social management. Assembly, in the
building of a progressive political culture. The Vietnamese people today,
21
follows the traditions, preserving and building the country, enters the
integration period, fully converges the internal and external conditions in
order to be able to unite, develop the country and contribute to the
development of peace and prosperity of all humanity. Thus, the issue of
inheriting and promoting the values of political culture in the Tran
prosperous Dynasty is both a pride, a task and a goal for Vietnam today to
create a modern, progressive and prosperous image.
4.2.2. The lesson on building a patriotic, solidary political culture A bright line of political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty was
to show highly the level of patriotism and solidarity. More than many
other monarchs in our country's history, the Tran Dynasty had built a
harmonious society, a highly unified and solidary politics.
Patriotism today is associated with a sense of accomplishment of two
major political tasks: building and defending the Fatherland. In the task of
defending the Fatherland, the internal strength of the country, the strength
of the political regime, the strength of the economy and national resources,
the strength of great national unity are the decisive factor.
4.2.3. The lesson of building a democratic political culture In their own prosperous period, the Tran Dynasty adopted a line of
national management with intimate spirit with the people, based on the
people. The people was the basis and the target of all Tran's political lines.
At present, we are building a Socialist - oriented legislative State, a
state of the People, by the People and for the People, that is, towards a
progressive and democratic politics, in which the people are guaranteed
their ownership completely. The issue of democracy, the intimate spirit with
the people is considered one of the most important issues of the country.
4.2.4. The lesson of building a political culture that respects
talents, intellectuals Overcoming short-sighted and selfish thought of talent envy, the
Tran Dynasty had a tolerant, open-minded view on talents. The policy of
meritocracy had helped the Tran Dynasty to stabilize their politics,
develop their culture, build a powerful kingdom and dynasty for over a
hundred years.
Of course, some points in the training and recruiting talents of the
thirtteen century, until today are no longer suitable. But the attitude and
behavior which cherished talented people, liberal thinking and practical,
22
progressive policies of Tran Dynasty are not old. From the care of
education, examination, to the open seek men of great talent line to
mobilize the most talented people in the society, then how to use human
with right possibility, choose real talents, especially the attitude of public -
spiritedness and selflessness in recruiting, not letting incompetents,
Dishonest and servile people have the opportunity to abuse their power
and the frustrated real talents... are all precious principles for us to build a
democratic, justice, civilization,a prosperous country as well as be
confident in opening up and integrating with international friends.
4.2.5. The lesson of building a tolerant political culture, towards
peace, cooperation for development Tolerance - the issue of the age and universality of mankind, has
been especially highlighted, valued and practiced very effectively with
unique ways in our country, right from the Tran Dynasty - when
theoretical concepts, the principles of tolerance are unknown and not
mentioned by the political subjects.
In the context of globalization and international integration with many
displacement nowadays, the cause of building and developing our country
can not be separated from the philosophy of tolerance. Tolerant spirit
nowadays is not merely philanthropic, moderate in the way of politics. It is
the openness to open up talents, human creativity, the acceptance of
cultural diversity, the attitude of harmony dialogue to co-exist, develop...,
that means we need to build an “open culture”. However, in the
increasingly complex domestic and international context, with potential
threats to the survival of the regime, the tolerance, peace, cooperation and
development should be based on realistic, sharp intelligence.
4.2.6. The lesson of building political personality for the authorities Political personality was an important component of political culture of
the Tran prosperous Dynasty. The prosperous period of the Tran Dynasty
had created many beautiful personalities, contributed significantly to the
development of politics. In building current political culture, it is necessary to
build up the personality of the authorities, which is the centre is the issue of
awareness, attitude and using of power based on the sense of responsibility,
throw themselves in danger spot, and self-respectful and sense of shame
consciousness. The power associates with interest and authority, the higher
power, the bigger interest and authority. How can a person who is holding
23
power exercise proper authority and do not trample on the public interest for
their personal interest. This is also the solution for the construction of
Vietnamese political culture to meet the requirements of sustainable
development of the country before new circumstances.
Summary of Chapter 4
On the basis of analysing the appearance of political culture in
Chapter 3, Chapter 4 outlines the validity and limitations of political
culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty. It was the political culture, which
showed the spirit of patriotism - solidarity, the intimate spirit with the
people, tolerant emancipation. Besides the great values, political culture of
the Tran prosperous Dynasty also had some limitations in the concept of
people, in the regime of marriage within the family, in the organization of
state machine and in the personality of the ruler.
Due to similarities in political tasks, lessons political culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty such as: Building a patriotic, solidary political
culture; the intimate spirit with the people; meritocracy; tolerant
emancipation toward peace, cooperation for development..., still has
practical significance for the construction and development of political
culture tin in our country in the present period.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Political culture is an important area of social culture that plays an
important role in the history of the national culture and in the socio-political
life of a nation. Therefore, the issue of political culture has been interested in
researching and research approaching by mankind. The research on political
culture in our country has also taken place with a variety of approaches from
various disciplines. That richness and complexity brings a multi-dimensional
prism and also brings not small challenges to PhD candidate, requires
choising and locating on conception from the perspective of cultural science
as a theoretical tool for the process of the thesis.
On the basis of inheriting the internal and external scientific
achievements, from the perspective of cultural science, the thesis considers
political culture as an element of culture in general, belongs sub-system
24
sociocultural. The term political culture here is understood to be a political
culture with a structural system of four components: valuable orientation
in politics, political operation, political personality, and political external
expression. It can be considered as four fundamental elements, having
organic relationship, creating a unified perfect whole that political cultures
in common, forming the political arena of a community.
2. The Tran prosperous Dynasty (1225-1329) was the period of
governing in peace and prosperity of the Tran Dynasty and Dai Viet
nation. In the Tran prosperous Dynasty, the country had developed
synchronously in all aspects and some field had achieved a brilliant peak,
creating a unique political culture that almost not repeated in the history of
Vietnamese royal dynasty.
Political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty has been studied by
many scientists. But the materrials overview shows that there is some
scientific gaps, which require a deeper, more comprehensive study of this
issue from the approach of cultural science. Based on the general cultural
structure, the aspect of political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty has
been described and explained by the thesis.
Due to special premises on economics, politics, culture, society,
political culture of the Tran prosperous Dynasty had full convergence and
sublimated the values of patriotism - solidarity, the intimate spirit with the
people, tolerance - liberation… On the objective dialectical view, the
thesis also evaluated the limitations of political culture of the Tran
prosperous Dynasty from the political path to the political regime, the
organization of state machine as well as the political personality.
3. The renovation and international integration of the country are
posing new problems for political science and for the Vietnamese political
culture. The present culture must both fit the requirements of the times and
inherit the fine quintessences of tradition. Lessons on building a political
culture of patriotism, solidarity; building a political culture of democracy,
respect for talented people; building a political culture of tolerance towards
peace, cooperation for development; building the political personality of
throwing themselves in danger spot, self-esteem, integrity and justice... left
by the Tran Dynasty are profound and valuable lessons that we need to
inherit and promote seriously towards to a civilized political culture, for
human beings, human heart.
LIST OF AUTHOR’S PUBLICATIONS RELATED
TO THE THESIS
1. Nghiem Thi Thu Nga (2014), “The contribution of Confucian scholar
to the Vietnamese education in the middle ages”, Journal of
Education, (327), pp. 12-15.
2. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2017), “Cultural values in policy of using at an
important function of talents of Tran Dynasty”, Journal of Cultural
Studies, (20), pp. 63-68.
3. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2017), “Tran Nhan Tong’s typical contribution
of to Vietnamese culture”, Information about Culture and
Development, (53), pp. 26-33.
4. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2017), “Political culture of the Tran prosperous
Dynasty through the philosophy of power of the ruler”,
Information about Culture and Development, (54), pp. 18-23.
5. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2017), “Some unique points of the intimate
spirit with the people in Tran Dynasty”, Journal of Culture and
Arts, (398), pp. 6-9.
6. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2018), “The value of political culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty - viewed from political personality”,
Information about Culture and Developmen, (56), pp. 41-48.
7. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2018), “Some typical values of political culture
of the Tran prosperous Dynasty”, World Heritage Magazine, (143),
pp. 45-50.
8. Nghiem Thu Thu Nga (2018), “The vitality of the tolerant culture of the
Tran prosperous Dynasty,”, Journal of Culture and Arts, (407), pp.
19-22.
