Tư tưởng nguyễn đức đạt trong tác phẩm nam sơn tùng thoại tt tiếng anh

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TRAN THI NHEN THE THOUGHT OF NGUYEN DUC DAT IN HIS WORK “NAM SON TUNG THOAI” Major: Philosophy Code: 22 90 01 SUMMARY OF THESIS DOCTORAL THESIS HA NOI, 2020 THIS WORK IS COMPLETED AT GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES MENTOR: Associate Professor Dr Tran NguyenViet Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3: The thesis is defended before the thesis appraisal board of the Academy at the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences at: hours, date month 2020 This thesis can be found at: - Library of Graduate Academy of Social Sciences - National Library of Vietnam LIST OF ARTICLES AND RESEARCH WORKS PUBLISHED Tran Thi Nhen (2016),“The "Shu-Fu-Jiao" Thought of Confucius and Mencius and its contemporary meaning” - Journal of Theoretical Education, vol.241 Tran Thi Nhen (2018), "The thought on education of the scholar Nguyen Duc Dat and moral education for young people" - Journal of Education, special edition, 2nd issue, May Tran Thi Nhen (2018), "Nam Son tung thoai and discussions about Confucian issues in Vietnam in the 19th century" - Journal of Philosophy, vol INTRODUCTION Rationale Nguyen Duc Dat was a Confucian scholar who lived and worked in the second half of the 19th century He was known not only as a social activist and a thinker, but also an educator of the 19th century who contributed to the training of many generations of talented students, and who always had the enthusiasm to help the society and the people He always stood on Confucian stance to explain inadequacies and huge changes of Vietnamese society in the second half of the 19th century In his final years, during his time of teaching in his hometown, Nguyen Duc Dat compiled many works in the fields of literature, history, philosophy, aesthetics, etc., which reflected his profound understanding of Confucianism In which, the major and most important work is Nam Son tung thoai This is a rare Confucian book in Vietnam, which is presented in a question-andanswer format similar to the Analects of Confucius The book reflects Nguyen Duc Dat's deep understanding of Confucianism; thus, researching his thought in this book helps us to understand the picture of Vietnamese thought in the 19th century and the influence of Confucianism in Vietnamese society in the early modern and modern periods more accurately On the other hand, in the current process of globalization, due to the risk of our country's cultural identity being violated, the inheritance and promotion of the nation's beautiful culture values is indispensable in the formulation of guidelines and policies to assist the building of socialism Therefore, selectively and constructively inheriting the thought of Nguyen Duc Dat to see the precious values of Confucianism is necessary Research on Nguyen Duc Dat, especially on his work, Nam Son tung thoai is still limited All has just stopped at different slices, or initial systematic and preliminary presentations, without a perspective on and a general analysis of Nam Son tung thoai as well as a description of the general thought of Nguyen Duc Dat in Nam Son tung thoai as the introduction of the integration of Confucianism in Vietnam with the reception, discussion and understanding; from which clarifies the distinctive characteristics of Nguyen Duc Dat, emphasizes on the interpretation, contemplation, practice and indepth evaluation, which commensurate with the ideological heritage that Nguyen Duc Dat left us For these reasons, the graduate student decides to choose the topic: “The thought of Nguyen Duc Dat in his work "Nam Son tung thoai"” as the research content in the doctoral thesis in Philosophy Objective and missions of the thesis 2.1 Objective From the systematic analysis and interpretation of the basic contents of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in Nam Son tung thoai, the thesis gives the assessment of values, limitations and significance of this thought in the history of Vietnamese thought and the modern life 2.2 Missions In order to achieve the above objective, the thesis performs the following tasks: + Studying the situation of research on Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in Nam Son tung thoai, pointing out achievements of the previous scholars to inherit from, while identifying the remaining issues that need to be further studied in the thesis + Presenting and analyzing economic, social and political conditions and the premise for the formation of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in Nam Son tung thoai + Analyzing and clarifying the philosophical thought and the learning of human’s mind and nature in Nam Son tung thoai + Analyzing and clarifying ideas about the way of ruling the country in Nam Son tung thoai by Nguyen Duc Dat Research subject and scope of study 3.1 Research subject: The thesis studies the thought of Nguyen Duc Dat which is reflected in his work Nam Son tung thoai 3.2 Scope of study : The thesis focuses on studying two major contents of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in his work Nam Son tung thoai: one is the philosophical thought and the learning of human’s mind and nature; second is his thought on the way of ruling the country and implementing official works Theoretical basis and research methodology 4.1 Theoretical basis: The thesis is based on the basic principles of Marxism - Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's Thought and the perspectives of the Communist Party of Vietnam, namely on the relationship between social existence and social consciousness, on human and morality, and on the relationship between human and the circumstances, etc 4.2 Research methodology: The thesis uses the research methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, combining with logical-historical methods, comparative method; analysis and synthesis; systematization, etc to clarify the research problem New contributions of the thesis: (1) Clarify Nguyen Duc Dat's philosophical thought and the learning of human’s mind and nature with his concept of Heaven and Heaven's will; of the Way and the ability to attain virtues of human; of "mind-nature-emotions"; of education and cultivation (2) Clarify his ideas about the way of ruling the country and implementing official works in his work Nam Son tung thoai (3) The thesis evaluates the values, limitations and significance of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in the history of Vietnamese thought and modern life Theoretical and practical significance of the thesis 6.1 Theoretical significance: The thesis contributes to the evaluation of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in the work Nam Son tung thoai; points out his contribution in terms of Confucianism in Vietnam in the 19th century 6.2 Practical significance: Findings of the thesis can be used as valuable references for the research and teaching of History of Vietnamese Thought, History of Philosophy (Vietnamese Confucianism) at universities and colleges Thesis structure In addition to the introduction, conclusion, references and list of author's published scientific research related to the thesis, the thesis consists of chapters and 13 sections Chapter OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH WORKS RELATED TO THE TOPIC 1.1 Research on the basis for establishment of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in the work Nam Son tung thoai 1.1.1 Research works on historical and social context of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century In order to understand how the situation of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century affected the establishment of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought, we have studied and analyzed research works in the following specific areas: * Economic research works, including: “Vietnam's economy and society under the Nguyen Dynasty" by Nguyen The Anh; "Vietnamese trade industry under the Nguyen Dynasty" by Do Bang; "Vietnam in the 19th century" by Nguyen Phan Quang; History of Vietnam, vol by Vo Kim Cuong * Sociopolitical research works, including: “Learning about Nguyen Dynasty court officials" by Tran Thanh Tam; "Administrative reforms under the reign of Minh Menh" by Nguyen Minh Tuong; "Organization of the state apparatus under the Nguyen Dynasty during the 1802-1884 period" by Do Bang (chief author); History of Vietnam (vol.6) by Vo Kim Cuong (chief author) and some articles in the scientific conference "Nguyen Lords and the Nguyen Dynasty in the history of Vietnam from the 16 th century to the 19th century" Through these research works, it can be seen that the authors have provided a relatively adequate analysis of the economic, political and social situation of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century, as well as multidimensional perspectives on the Nguyen Dynasty These are also scientific arguments for us to explain the basis for the establishment of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought and its influence on his thought of being close to the people, love the people, devoting to people's life and willingly accept rebukes from the imperial court as long as it helps people to suffer less 1.1.2 Research on premise of the thought * Research works on Confucian thought with typical authors: Dao Duy Anh, Phan Boi Chau, Tran Trong Kim, Doan Trung Con (researching and interpreting classics of Confucianism), Vu Khieu, Le Si Thang, Nguyen Tai Thu (researching the role and influence of Confucianism on Vietnamese social life and people) In addition, there are also studies in the forms of dissertation, thesis or article published on journals, such as Nguyen Hoai Van (2001) with "On Confucian political thought in Vietnam from Le Thanh Tong to Minh Menh", Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai (2007) with "Influence of Confucian morality on morality of officials in leading and managerial positions in Vietnam today", Tran Van Giau with "Principles of Confucian morality in Vietnam in the 19th century", Phan Ngoc with "Vietnamese Confucianism - a refraction", Vo Thi Thu Nguyet with "Vietnamese society today and Confucianism", Phan Dai Doan with "Vietnamese Confucianism", Nguyen Dinh Chu with "Today and Confucianism", Sino-Vietnamese Journal, vol - 2005; Phan Manh Toan with "The key factors in the transformation of Confucianism in Vietnam”, Nguyen Tai Thu with "Some basic characteristics of Vietnamese Confucianism",etc The findings of the above research works help to better understand the positive impacts of Confucianism on all aspects of social life and people, contributing positively to the improvement of Vietnamese people both in feudal time and in the present These works are considered important references for use to seek out Confucian ideas that directly affect the formation of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in the work Nam Son tung thoai in Chapter * Research on Vietnamese thought in the second half of the th 19 century such as: Tran Van Giau with “The Development of Vietnamese thought from the 19th century to August Revolution”, vol 1; Le Sy Thang with “History of Vietnamese thought”, vol 2; “History of Vietnam from 1427 to 1858” (book 2, vol.2) by Nguyen Phan Quang; Nguyen Minh Tuong with History of Eastern and Vietnamese thoughts, Trinh Doan Chinh (chief author) with History of Vietnamese philosophical thought and many articles in the scientific conference of History of the Nguyen Dynasty - a new approach (2002) These works provide us with a very diverse and valuable source of references for our study into the thought of Nguyen Duc Dat - a historical figure under the Nguyen Dynasty - in the work Nam Son tung thoai 1.1.3 Research on family background and career of Nguyen Duc Dat First is the article on “Nguyen Duc Dat” by Ninh Viet Giao in Famous Teachers of Lam Hong which provides an overview of the entire life and writing career of Nguyen Duc Dat Also, there is an article by Nguyen Thi Huong which presents a review of the life and career of Nguyen Duc Dat These works help the student to have a relatively comprehensive view of the family background and career of Nguyen Duc Dat 1.2 Research on the content of philosophical thought and learning of heartmind and nature of Nguyen Duc Dat in Nam Son tung thoai 1.2.1 Research works on philosophical thought Regarding the research on philosophical thought of Nguyen monarchy of Vietnam withdrew from the political area, giving way for Western imperialism to turn the country in to a half-feudal, halfcolonial state Apparently, the power and role of the feudal court was gradually replaced by the power and role of French colonizers, with most domestic and foreign affairs of the country in the hands of them 2.1.2 On culture and society of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century In the second half of the 19th century, Vietnamese culture began to have the exchange between Eastern and Western cultures, namely the traditional culture that was rich in Confucianism and the very refreshing and attractive French culture Education and examination policies of the Nguyen Dynasty in this period was maintained in parallel with education policies of the French colonizers Vietnam's social structure also had a profound division: in addition to the two main classes in the feudal society, namely landlords and farmers, new social classes of workers, bourgeoisies, and urban petty bourgeoisies also appeared in the society of Vietnam back then In the second half of the 19th century, Vietnam was facing two critical historical missions: reforming the country and protecting the national independence from the French colonization Two trends were born to deal with the two missions: pro-peace and pro-war Nguyen Duc Dat was a Confucian scholar who hadn't escaped the influence of Confucianism; thus, he always sought to defend the national independence against the French colonization in a pro-peace manner - always protect traditional education, or Confucianism and willing to make peace with the French colonizers 12 2.2 The premise for establishment of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought 2.2.1 The revival of Confucianism in early Nguyen Dynasty In the first half of the 19th century, the Nguyen Dynasty advocated the monopoly of Confucianism, using Confucianism as the dominant social thought Although Confucianism had become a major impede for the development of the country, it could not be denied that Confucianism also made positive contribution to social stability and gave birth to many talents of the era, including Nguyen Duc Dat 2.2.2 Influence of Confucian thought on the ideology of Nguyen Dynasty Under the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty, imprints of SongMing Confucian doctrine were quite pronounced However, the influence of Chinese Confucianism on the process of history of Vietnamese thought in general and the Nguyen Dynasty in particular had both positive and negative sides with the following contents: First, Confucianism does not acknowledge the role of creating the world of one God and does not assume that God gave birth to all things; however, it believes that Heaven decides the nature and life of human Second, educational contents of Confucianism focuses on teaching people to think and act on certain norms Third, Confucianism detects and provisions stereotypes for many social relationships called "three fundamental bonds" and "five constant virtues", such as king-court officials, father-son, husbandwife, friends, siblings, teacher-student 13 Fourth, the idea of benevolence and righteousness is very respected by Confucianism and considered the principle for people's behaviors 2.2.3 Influence of doctrines other than Confucianism in the early Nguyen Dynasty In Vietnam, during the time of Nguyen Duc Dat, there were four religious and philosophical doctrines imported from the outside, namely: Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity Buddhism and Taoism from the beginning were combined with Confucianism, which is called“Three Teachings coming from one source” which had a great influence on the establishment of national traditions and thought As for Christianity, perhaps due to political purpose, emperors of Nguyen Dynasty always had a sense of discrimination towards this religion, despite the fact that they received great Christian supports in establishing the dynasty It can be said that the integration of three teachings in Vietnam is a clear proof of the existence of a complex of religions and beliefs of Vietnamese people, creating a unique feature in the national culture Despite the existence of many doctrines, Vietnamese people always look to and are interested in meaningful moral and human values which suit the customs and needs of the people, which they received to create a culture rich of traditions 2.3 Overview of family background and career of Nguyen Duc Dat and his work Nam Son tung thoai 2.3.1 Family background and career of Nguyen Duc Dat Nguyen Duc Dat was born in Nam Dan - Nghe An, into a family with academic traditions Since childhood, he was taught by his father and didn't begin to go to school far from home until he 14 reached the age of 19 Therefore, ideas of Confucian education were absorbed in him from very early, rooting deep inside his mind since he was only a child and becoming an important part in his system of thought Nguyen Duc Dat himself was also an intelligent and fast learner with talents He earned the title of Tham hoa (the third highest-ranking scholar in an imperial examination) at the age of 29 In his career, Nguyen Duc Dat used to held many important positions in the contemporary state apparatus However, due to his illness and his parents passing away, his career path was interrupted several times In his later years, he returned to his hometown to work as a teacher and dedicated his mind to teaching and writing books The works of Nguyen Duc Dat focus on many fields with different contents, such as Kha Am van tap, Can kiem vung bien, Nam Son di thao, Nam Son song khoa che nghia, Viet su thang binh, and especially Nam Son tung thoai 2.3.2 The work “Nam Son tung thoai” Nam Son tung thoai is a massive Confucian book which was written during the time Nguyen Duc Dat worked as a teacher in his final years at Nam Son school (Dong Son), after he retired from the imperial court The book consists of four volumes, which are divided into 32 sections including lectures on education, virtues, behaviors, the way of being king, survey, things, etc and is presented in the form of questions and answers, similar to the Analects by Confucius Having an in-depth research on the book will help us to better understand Nguyen Duc Dat's thought Also, through this book, we have the condition to know more about the life and career of Nguyen Duc Dat 15 as a social activist, a thinker and an educator with Confucian spirit of the Nguyen Dynasty Summary of Chapter Nguyen Duc Dat lived and worked in the historical and social setting of Vietnam in the second half of the 19th century, which had many changes From an independent country, Vietnam became a colonial, half-feudal country, and its people was heavily suppressed and exploited by the colonial empire That situation led to the struggles of the people against the imperial court and the colonial empire, which occurred everywhere across the country with the aim to regain independence for the nation and happiness for themselves; however, due to many reasons, those struggles often failed Speaking of those struggles, in addition to the spirit and determination of the people, we must acknowledge the enormous contributions of patriotic officials and scholars, who persisted in fighting despite being hunted and held captive by the enemy, or having their homes burned, etc Among them was Nguyen Duc Dat - a true scholar who was born, raised and educated by standard Confucianism As a result, studying and practicing Confucianism are considered his lifelong goal The book Nam Son tung thoai was compiled for the purpose of presenting in a comfortable and comprehensive way the understanding of Confucianism by Nguyen Duc Dat Chapter THE PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT AND LEARNING OF HUMAN’S MIND AND NATURE OF NGUYEN DUC DAT IN THE WORK NAM SON TUNG THOAI AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE 3.1 Philosophical thought 3.1.1 Concepts of "Heaven" and "Heaven's will" 16 Nguyen Duc Dat mentioned Heaven and acknowledged the existence of Heaven, but he denied the existence of "Heaven's will" as the predestined one From there, we see that his thought is not towards "Heaven's way" but "Human's way", meaning he wanted to emphasize that human and society create blessings and disasters, that human morality and efforts are what can be known of, and human must be proactive and responsible in living their lives Therefore, he asked people to actively practice themselves and strive for what they want; most importantly, people must learn and absorb knowledge in order to earn achievements as they expect, and to turn disaster into blessing, danger into safety 3.1.2 Concept of "the Way" and how to attain "the Way" Nguyen Duc Dat always stood on the stance of Confucianism to interpret Confucian perspectives in his own way He wanted to give the concept of the Way a new meaning, attaching it to human's way, thus affirming that moral behaviors of human are guided by the Way, thus the Way - being the abstract universal principle - is reflected in specific moral behaviors of human Nguyen Duc Dat also explained the origin and consequence of the Way: the Way was born from Nature, the consequence of the Way is Emotions and emotions are born from nature He affirmed that NatureWay - Feelings represents a process of self-cultivation, in which human must preserve justice and eliminate their lust, so that the Way gets clearer and clearer To "let there be justice but no lust" and for the Way to be further lightened up, people must learn to understand the Way Nguyen Duc Dat also proposed the method of cultivation through the resolution of the relationship between knowledge and effort, between knowledge and practice: emphasizing the role of knowledge, considering "knowledge to be more important", and 17 associating knowledge with practice to achieve results, or the Way According to Nguyen Duc Dat, to attain the Way means to control oneself, to give up four things that are not suitable, to amplify the four clues, and to keep the essence to start the cultivation of the Way; this process must be performed gradually throughout one's life through learning and cultivation 3.2 The thought on the learning of human’s mind and nature 3.2.1 Concepts of "Mind", "Nature" and "Emotions" Nguyen Duc Dat considered the mind "as a mirror", for it to shine, people must avoid lust, meaning their mind must be as innocent as the mind of a baby, as Mencius once said Preserving the mind means maintain its "empty" state According to Nguyen Duc Dat, the mind of ordinary people is way below the saints, the sages and the scholars, but very close to barbarians and animals On the other hand, everyone shares the nature and fate bestowed by Heaven, thus nature and fate go together The relationship between mind and nature is very close, because a righteous nature is due to a bright mind, and for the mind to be bright, it's necessary to make friends with those who know a lot, just like for the nature to be righteous, it's necessary to be close to well-behaved people Similarly, there's a causal and interactive relationship between "nature" and "emotions", in which emotions are born from nature, and emotions make nature develop appropriately In order to realize nature, according to Nguyen Duc Dat, there is no other way than learning to understand the Way 3.2.2.Concepts of education, cultivation and transformation by education 18 3.2.2.1 Concept of education In Nam Son tung thoai, Nguyen Duc Dat argued that the purpose of acquiring knowledge is towards awareness of the Way in the spirit of Confucianism, namely the Way of being human Therefore, he asserted that to understand the Way, it's definitely through learning From there, he gave three categories of people corresponding to their capacity of knowledge, including: the scholar, the sage and the saint Among them, scholars depends on books and may lack practical experience; sages understand things and have proper words and actions; saints know all things in advance as well as what has been or might happen In Nam Son tung thoai, Nguyen Duc Dat did not consider knowledge as an independence concept, but rather a philosophical category in close relationship with benevolence and bravery as elements constituting the three bonds of superior people These three categories are closely linked to each other; the lack of or incompatibility between them will lead to inadequacies in personality of the superior person Therefore, in order to gather all three elements to archive virtues and continue to conquer the final goal in the "eight clauses", which is for all under heaven be at peace, the superior person must cultivate himself, starting with investigating things to have knowledge of them 3.2.2.2 Concept of cultivation Cultivation is a process in which people strive to establish their names In that process, people need to pay attention to benevolence, righteousness and propriety; especially it's necessary to distinguish between righteousness and profit in the spirit of "remember what is right at the sight of profit" of Confucius Therefore, in the process of cultivation, it's impossible to avoid 19 making mistakes, thus people must be careful In case of making mistakes, they should be corrected In that way, cultivation is the way to attain enlightenment 3.2.2.3 Concept of transformation by education Education is a key factor in the content of transformation by education of Confucianism; it is also a form of providing natural and social knowledge to people Therefore, Nguyen Duc Dat's concept of transformation by education does not go beyond the scope of Confucian education in general, and Confucianism in particular, and is presented in details as follows: First, about purposes of education: The purposes of education are reflected by Nguyen Duc Dat in the question of: "What is learning for?" and his answer for that question is that the purposes of learning are "to know", "to become a court official" and "to be human" meaningfully, instead of jamming knowledge inside the head like loading things into storage This argument shows that Nguyen Duc Dat directed the purpose of learning towards practical activities, which is completely different from the way of depending on textbooks all the time of some scholars Second, about subjects of education: Nguyen Duc Dat determined that learning is for all people, whether they are old or young, rich or poor, male or female, and always upheld the spirit of passion for learning and the determination to improve moral and personal qualities The new point in Nguyen Duc Dat's perspective on subjects of education is that he did not discriminate against women However, his thought still has limitation in the way that he considered the learning of the superior person as the standard for all who want to learn to attain enlightenment Third, about contents of education: Nguyen Duc Dat focused on educating the necessary qualities of superior person: benevolence, 20 knowledge, bravery and righteousness In particular, he paid attention to educating moral behaviors in family and social relationships At the same time, he was also concerned about the "investigation of things" - considering the nature and its rules as teachers This is also considered a new point in Nguyen Duc Dat's profound expression Fourth, about educational method: From defining the goals and contents of education, Nguyen Duc Dat introduced progressive methods and modes of communication that compliment the Confucian education as follows: communication between teachers and students and between students; teaching method associated with characteristics of learners; being diligent and hard-working, which is considered the key to all success; natural learning, learning anytime and anywhere These methods to date are still used in modern education 3.3 Significance of Nguyen Duc Dat's philosophical thought and learning of human’s mind and nature in Nam Son tung thoai Studying Nguyen Duc Dat's thought and evaluating the values and limitations in his philosophical thought and learning of human’s mind and nature are extremely important to determine the position of his thought in the history of Vietnamese thought and to clarify his contributions to asserting the vitality (of appropriate factors) of Confucianism over centuries First, Nguyen Duc Dat's thought contributed to the renewal of some Confucian philosophical thoughts in the specific historical context of Vietnam in the 19th century Second, Nguyen Duc Dat's concepts of cultivation and transformation by education help to affirm the role and values of 21 Confucian education in training talents for the feudal government apparatus under the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century Third, Nguyen Duc Dat's concepts of cultivation and transformation by education guide us to draw practical lessons to apply in the process of reforming our country's education recently Summary of Chapter Nguyen Duc Dat's philosophical thought and learning of human’s mind and nature presented in Nam Son tung thoai focus on the main issues of heaven and heaven's will, concepts of knowledge, "the Way", "mind - nature - emotions" as well as cultivation and transformation by education (education) These issues originated from Chinese Neo-Confucianism in the early modern period; however, they were perceived and presented by Nguyen Duc Dat in his own way to be suitable for the form of "dialogue", helping listeners to comprehend easily Chapter NGUYEN DUC DAT'S THOUGHT ON THE WAY OF RULING THE COUNTRY AND IMPLEMENTING OFFICIAL WORKS IN NAM SON TUNG THOAI 4.1 The thought on the way of ruling the country 4.1.1 Perspective on the ruling of the king In the relationship between the king and his subjects, Nguyen Duc Dat pointed out that that relationship was no longer one-way, but rather equal and reciprocating By doing so, the king is respected by his subjects and the political situation is prosperous His requirements was the king must love his subjects, respect them and consider them the master A king must not be lazy and idle, he needs to know how to control himself in order to rule over his subjects, to be "hardworking", to build his fortress of morality, benevolence and 22 righteousness, to stay true to his words, to appreciate talented people, etc Obviously, these requirements of Nguyen Duc Dat reflect that the respect and priority in ruling the country are towards the good life of people This thought is still valid today In the relationship between the king and the court officials, Nguyen Duc Dat pointed out the great role of court officials as well as the need to appreciate talents, so that people will make contributions based on their capabilities and nature of the works In the relationship between morality and law in ruling the country, Nguyen Duc Dat had unique interpretations of the king’s ruling policies: he promoted moral factors but still recognized the important role of the law 4.1.2 Concept of subordinate's duty The duty of the subordinates to the king is that they are responsible for considering the way of ruling the country of the king and based on that become a suitable subordinate Their duty is to be loyal to the king, but their loyalty must be pledged to a virtuous king Thus, in Nguyen Duc Dat's opinion, there is a dependent relationship between the king and his subordinates Therefore, he did not consider the loyalty to the king in a rigid manner, but gave the viewpoint of "virtuous and good" to encourage loyalty: in order to be "virtuous", the king must follow the way of a king, in order to be "good", the subordinates must follow the way of subordinate and must be wise in choosing the "virtuous king" to serve, as well as be responsible for helping the virtuous king to keep the law properly This confirms that Nguyen Duc Dat's contribution is not only on the ideological level, but also has great significance in real life About the duty of the subordinate to their parents: this is essentially the practice of "filial piety" of court officials as children in 23 the family Nguyen Duc Dat also highly appreciated filial piety - he considered filial piety on the same level as loyalty, thus, his perspective on loyalty and filial piety as well as the way to practice them as "naturally and automatically" This idea was expressed by Nguyen Duc Dat himself through his respect and care for his parents when they were alive and proper funeral for them when they died 4.2 Thought on official works and their implementation 4.3.1 The thought on official works Nguyen Duc Dat believed that official works are for leading people, but the essential thing is the way of ruling the country The purpose of ruling the country is for the country to be ruled and to overcome the turmoils Therefore, to implement official works favorably, it's necessary to consider what is better and select what bring more benefits and less harm In order for the country to be ruled, the law is needed; however, if the law is not combine with enlightenment, it cannot dominate the world Even if such combination is available, ruling the country must also depend on the situation At the same time, it's essential to uphold the autonomy in foreign affairs so that the way of ruling the country and implementing official works to achieve optimal efficiency 4.3.2 The thought on implementing official works From the perspective on official works or the way of ruling the country, Nguyen Duc Dat came to the perspective of implementing official works, which in essence require the executing subjects to have the ability to perform the assigned tasks and to have true morality, which are expressed in the spirit of being loyal to the king, patriotic and close to the people In order to effectively implement official works, Nguyen Duc 24 Dat paid special attention to the fight against corruption with the policy of "integrity as the essence of official works." Therefore, in using people, Nguyen Duc Dat paid great attention to choosing worthy people into the public authority 4.3 Significance of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought on the way of ruling the country and implementing official works in Nam Son tung thoai First, the outstanding value in Nguyen Duc Dat's thought is that it not only inherits and interprets basic contents of Confucianism, but also complements the doctrine of ruling the country through its interpretation of the way to rule the country and implement official works of Confucianism in Vietnam Second, the thought on the way of ruling the country and implementing official works of Nguyen Duc Dat helps to draw important lessons to apply in the process of constructing and developing the country in Vietnam today Summary of Chapter Nguyen Duc Dat was a Confucian scholar who lived and worked in the second half of the 19th century; thus, his thought on the way to rule the country and implement official works first and foremost was heavily influenced by Confucianism in general and Song-Ming Confucian doctrine in particular On the other hand, due to social existence in the contemporary Vietnamese society, Nguyen Duc Dat's interpretations of basic contents of Confucianism in Nam Son tung thoai always had the presence of practical spiritual life, thus bringing to his thought new points that not many scholars before him had In the talks, Nguyen Duc Dat always sought to explain his Confucian thoughts in a new light to suit the needs of the time and spiritual life of the nation 25 CONCLUSION The history of Vietnam is associated with the national struggle for construction and defense of the country The second half of the 19th century was a period when our country experienced numerous difficulties, both in strengthening and preserving the country and fighting against the colonial invasion of the French The prominent thought in this period was the thought of protecting territorial independence and sovereignty from the invasion and preserving traditional values of the nation Thinkers of this period, in one way or another, presented their theories to explain the problems that were happening in the society So did Nguyen Duc Dat He was an orthodox Confucian scholar who was always enthusiastic in helping the society and the people, therefore he always stood on the Confucian stance to explain the inadequacies of Vietnamese society in the second half of the 19th century In particular, through his work Nam Son tung thoai, his Confucian ideas are expressed most profoundly This was explained by him in his own way through matters of heaven, heaven's will, knowledge, "mind- natureemotions", the Way and how to attain the Way, cultivation, transformation by education, way of ruling the country and implementing official works With the choice of the topic and research findings, the thesis hopes to make contributions to the study of Nguyen Duc Dat's thought in particular and the thought under Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century in general; at the same time affirm that this topic needs to be further studied to accurately sketch out the portrait of the thinker who left the later generations the meaningful work of Nam Son tung thoai in the form of dialogue 26 ... van tap, Can kiem vung bien, Nam Son di thao, Nam Son song khoa che nghia, Viet su thang binh, and especially Nam Son tung thoai 2.3.2 The work Nam Son tung thoai” Nam Son tung thoai is a massive... thought in Vietnam from Le Thanh Tong to Minh Menh", Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai (2007) with "Influence of Confucian morality on morality of officials in leading and managerial positions in Vietnam today",... morality in Vietnam in the 19th century", Phan Ngoc with "Vietnamese Confucianism - a refraction", Vo Thi Thu Nguyet with "Vietnamese society today and Confucianism", Phan Dai Doan with "Vietnamese Confucianism",