Few people are aware of the history of pre-U.S. conflict Vietnam at all, and even fewer are familiar with the details of the Vietnamese Empire and it's system of government. Rather than focus on specifics, most Vietnamese are simply thrilled just to get people to realize that Vietnam is a nation and not a war. Collectively, we are more knowledgeable about the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam, but even here the practice is far different from the communist theory. What attention is given to the subject is usually generalized and somewhat vague. Much is made of the admiration that the Nguyen Dynasty had for the institutions and style of Imperial China and with the continuing struggle of the Chinese to control Vietnam; we are usually left with the impression that the government and society of Imperial Vietnam was simply a miniature replica of China.
This idea may hold true to a degree, but it unfairly ignores the unique style of Southeast Asia and the many differences between China and Vietnam. One of the primary differences was in the size of the government bureaucracy. Whereas the Chinese were known for their government constantly growing in cycles until it became too large to function correctly and was replaced by a new dynasty that started expanding in the same way. Vietnam on the other hand was known for having an extremely de-centralized government with little imperial control for what was in name an absolute monarchy.
This can be somewhat confusing given the style of the Vietnamese Emperor. He was, like other Asian monarchs, considered to be the link between the physical world and the spiritual world, the absolute master of the country as well as the private owner of all land (at least in theory) and was considered to be the semi-divine Son of Heaven. However, somewhat similar to perhaps the British example more people are familiar with, there was an unwritten understanding that the Emperor would not use the absolute power available to him and would instead allow a great deal more freedom than many people would think. Part of this was through the influence of Confucius, known to the Vietnamese as Khong Tu, who stressed that an Emperor should lead by example and not through fear of force (legalist ideal). According to the great teacher an Emperor was to act as a moral and ethical role model that would encourage his people to obey and emulate him out of respect and admiration.
The governmental structure of Vietnam was extremely localized. The primary authority that most people ever came in contact with was their own local village elders and maybe a mandarin from time to time. The Emperor, largely isolated in Hue behind the walls of the Great Within, was a distant figure who rarely became involved in the everyday lives of his subjects. Primary government was a council of elders in each village who ruled their own way, laws differing from town to town. In matters of national concern or emergency the Emperor could issue an Imperial Decree that would overrule all other powers, but even many decrees from the Emperor were taken more as advisories or warnings while urging a suggested course of action.
In Vietnam it was the village that was the basic governing unit of the country. They certainly took the wishes and views of the Emperor into account, but the Imperial opinion was not always followed. It did depend a great deal on the individual Emperor and, as a moral force, it is true that popular monarchs were more apt to have their decree obeyed than one they viewed as not having their best interests at heart. The point is, the old Imperial government of Viet-Nam, even before the constitutional monarchy of Emperor Bao Dai, was a great deal more democratic and fair than the current Marxist government in place in Hanoi. It should be a goal of all free people in the world to oppose the Socialist government and support a return to a more traditional and democratic government to the Great South. |
