VIỆN HÀN LÂM KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VIỆT NAM HỌC VIỆN KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI TÓM TẮT LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ TRIẾT HỌC TƯ TƯỞNG TRỌNG DỤNG NHÂN TÀI THỜI LÊ SƠ (1428 - 1527) Mã số: 9229001 THÂN THỊ HẠNH Hà Nội, năm 2018 Cơng trình hồn thành HỌC VIỆN KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VIỆN HÀN LÂM KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VIỆT NAM Người hướng dẫn khoa học: PGS.TS Nguyễn Tài Đông Phản biện 1: PGS TS Nguyễn Thế Kiệt Phản biện 2: PGS TS Trần Nguyên Việt Phản biện 3: PGS.TS Hồ Trọng Hoài Luận án bảo vệ trước Hội đồng chấm luận án cấp Học viện họp tại, Học viện Khoa học xã hội 477 Nguyễn Trãi, Thanh Xuân, Hà Nội vào hồi….… giờ……ngày…… tháng…… năm 2018 Có thể tìm hiểu luận án tại: - Thư viện quốc gia - Thư viện Khoa học xã hội INTRODUCTION The urgency of the subject We are not undertaking research on history because of history itself, we research on history in order to build the present and lay the foundation for the future Nowadays, on the grounds of the remarkable progress of the scientific and technological revolution along with globalization, human resources quality is becoming the key factor in the development of each country Vietnam, which is an emerging nation, wants leapfrog further into the future with this development and not to be left behind in this age Therefore, it if of the paramount importance that we have to follow this trend of development Recognizing the requirements of the new age, the 12th Congress of Communist Party of Vietnam has continued to affirm the opinion: Developing high quality human resources, attracting and training talented people is one of the strategic steps for the rapid and sustainable development of the country The above-mentioned reality accompanied with the undertakings of the Party is the basis for the management level to impose policy on recognizing merit However, each and every scientific policy, including polices on human resources and talents, finds no way to come into life without the process of gaining experiences from several perspectives, and the experience from the ancients is vitally significant Looking back the history of thousands of years of building and protecting the country, our nation have created a multi-story civilization, in which there have been always a plethora of the talented working in different fields The masses made the history, but it is the individuals and talents that facilitate changes and help the history flourish In recognition of the decisive role which talents play, feudal dynasties in the history of Vietnam established and ceaselessly upheld the tradition of meritocracy In the feudal history of Vietnam, the Early Le dynasty is considered as a period of particular characteristics This was the period when our country gained national independence from the struggle against the invasion of the Minh dynasty of China, and the Early Le dynasty was established afterwards It has been proved through history that Early Le Dynasty, in which the team of talented individuals who were recruited and trained played a key role, did succeed in building a peaceful society and a thriving country, marking the most prosperous period in the feudal history of Vietnam Nevertheless, in the course of the following years, the thought of meritocracy was not adjusted to better fit in the new situation; in fact, that thought of meritocracy was neglected That was one of the reasons why the Early Le dynasty got into in crisis and in the end collapsed in 1527 Considering that, it is of pivotal importance that the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty should be studied meticulously and valuable lessons for the recognizing merits should be drawn subsequently Presently, the innovation of the country requires a large number of talents in multiple fields Therefore, the systematic research and study into the thought of meritocracy in history provides a stepping stone, helping to draw important lessons which act as a foundation in maintaining of quintessence of the traditional meritocracy From that perspective, the researcher selected the topic about "The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty (1428-1527)" with the hope of contributing a small part to this great endeavor Purposes and research tasks of the dissertation Purpose of the dissertation: To clarify the fundamental contents, values and limitations of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty; thence draw the historical lessons of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty with Vietnam today To accomplish the above purpose, the dissertation defines the basic tasks as follows: - Overview of research results on the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty - To introduce the economic, socio-political and cultural conditions together with theoretical premise of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty - Analyze the basic contents of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty - Analyze the values and limitations of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty Based on that analysis, it draws some of the historical lessons of this thought to apply in contemporary society in Vietnam Objects and Research scope of the dissertation Research objects: The contents of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty Research scope: the thought of meritocracy of the Early Le dynasty in Vietnam was mainly shown in the texts (literary, history, Criminal law, biography, et cetera) which have been translated into Vietnamese Research methods of the dissertation The dissertation uses the main methods which are analyzing the documents, comparative method, synthesis method, logical-historical method, historical-specific method, abstracting method and generalization, inductive methods, interpretive method, et cetera New contributions to the science of the dissertation - The dissertation shows and analyzes the fundamental factors which have an impact on the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty - The dissertation analyzes and systematizes the basic ideas of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty, including: the concept of talents and the inevitability of the meritocratic thought, the concept of training talents, the concept of recruiting talents, the concept of using talents, the concept of treating talents and some requirements for meritocratic subjects - The dissertation confirms the values and limitations of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty Based on that analysis, it draws some of the historical lessons from this thought to apply in contemporary society in Vietnam Theoretical and practical meanings of the dissertation In theory, the dissertation has contributed a more systematic approach into the study of the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty The research results of the dissertation form the bedrock of position and role assessment of the thought of training, recruiting and using talents in the Early Le dynasty with the development of this dynasty; Moreover, the dissertation contributes to point out the position and role of intellectuals in the history of the nation In practice, the dissertation can be used as a reference for the authorities in making policy about meritocracy in Vietnam today In addition, the dissertation can be used as a reference for researching, teaching and learning subjects: History of Vietnamese thought, History of Vietnamese philosophical thought, History of Vietnamese education, and some other subjects in the scope of social sciences and humanities Structure of the thesis Apart from the Introduction, Conclusion, Appendix, List of scientific works of the author, List of references, dissertation consists of chapters CONTENT Chapter OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH ISSUES Overview of research works related directly or indirectly to the topic of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty is divided into groups as follows: 1.1 An overview on the factors influencing Early Le dynasty thought on meritocracy 1.2 An overview on the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty 1.3 An overview on the values, limitations, historical lessons of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty A summary of results and directions for further research From the results of the review, there have been many research works about the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty in many different aspects and from many dimensions These research works have achieved great results, and so far, this research problem still show gaps which need further research to resolve Specifically: Firstly, the previous research works have discussed about the fundamental factors influencing the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty such as the fifteenth socio-economic, political and cultural context of Vietnam, the thought of meritocracy of Confucianism and the thought of meritocracy of the Ly-Tran period; those research work have also studied some different aspects of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty; mentioned the thought of meritocracy in feudal dynasties after the Early Le dynasty plus reality meritocracy in Vietnam today Secondly, inheriting the research achievements of the leading researchers, capturing the remaining gaps around the subject of research, sticking to the object, purpose, research task, approaching the problem from the vantage point of philosophy, the author of the thesis aims to deepen and clarify: the context of Vietnamese history in the 15th century, the thought of meritocracy of Confucianism and the thought of the meritocracy in the Ly - Tran period as a factor influencing the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty The author analyzed, presented general concepts around ideological systems of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty, and asserted the value and limitation of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty Based on researching into the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty, the author drew the crucial lessons for the strategy of meritocracy in Vietnam today CHAPTER MAIN FACTORS AFFECTED TO THE THOUGHT OF MERITOCRACY IN THE EARLY LE DYNASTY The dissertation clarifies two basic factors: the economic, socio-political and cultural premise, and the premise of thought 2.1 The economic, socio - political and cultural conditions This is the practical premise, the decisive factor which affected the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty 2.1.1 Economic background The economy of Vietnam in the 15th century was the economy of agriculture - small production village, the management role of the country was featured This was typically seen in land allocation in production; the priority and care for agricultural development; governmental measures to inhibit the development of craft and commerce on a large scale The movement of the Vietnamese economy during this period contributed substantially to form a new class structure in the society 2.1.2 The socio-political background Together with the stabilization of economic and social life, the Early Le dynasty built and constantly improved its administrative apparatus, government and mandarin system, with the basic characteristics: centralization, bureaucracy and Confucianism as the foundation The central government of the Early Le dynasty was continuously reinforced and until the Hong Duc period (1470 - 1497) was completed Accordingly, the central government, the king, has the highest authority and was the most comprehensive Helping the king to manage the country were Civil and Military ordering mandarin’s system Civil ordering mandarin’s system encompassed ministry of home affairs, departments and professional organizations Military ordering mandarin’s system included soldiers which were in the imperial city and in the region Administrative apparatus was also organized uniformly from the Imperial court to the commune Each administrative apparatus had a structure of government and mandarins Mandarins consisted of general management and the management of each field These mandarins were overseen by their branch and area closely Through the organization of the administrative apparatus and government as can be seen, the kings of the Early Le dynasty generally wanted to build a strong, prosperous Dai Viet country, a long-lived dynasty with close centralization To so, the government needed a talent pool which was not only large in number but also, more importantly, must meet morality and talent needs On the other hand, the undertaking of Early Le dynasty did not choose the mandarin mainly based on kinship relations, but mainly based on talent, morality revealed through the actual merits and through the examination Therefore, in order to have enough talent force for the administrative apparatus and government as above, the Early Le dynasty was forced to change the policy of meritocracy Based on the distinction of economic, political situation, it can be said that the class structure in Vietnamese society during the Early Le dynasty consisted of two main classes which are mandarins and people Mandarins were the class of political position, considered as the elite of society Compared with the people, mandarins enjoyed many political and economic privileges At the beginning of the Early Le dynasty, mandarins were largely military order mandarin The later Early Le dynasty was top the list of successful scholars People were the largest social forces, divided into many parts: peasants, craftsman, traders Each of these groups had different role, position and potential, but they all had the same thing in common which was wanting to get out of their political position or changing their current economic position, and the common way which they adopted was through education or marriage to rise to mandarin class 2.1.3 Cultural background Highlights in the situation of culture in the Early Le dynasty was Confucianism which held prioritized and dominant The Early Le dynasty, the Le Thanh Tong dynasty typically, took many measures to make Confucianism become the mandarin thought of the country and dominate in the spiritual life of the people such as deeming Confucianism a primitive tool to build the country; monopolizing Confucianism in education; bringing Confucian thought into the village; promoting the development of the culture of the people, ignoring the folk culture; controlling Buddhism, Taoism and orientating the national religious life; Under the influence of these measures, under the Ly dynasty, Confucian thought predominated over all aspects of cultural life - thought Confucianism also became the dominant thought of the ruling class, so Confucianism on the whole and the meritocratic thought of Confucianism in particular had a profound influence on the meritocratic thought of thinkers and contemporary Vietnamese authorities 2.2 The previous thought achievement 2.2.1 Meritocracy in Confucianism Confucian thought of meritocracy has some basic concepts as follows: The concept of talents and the role of talents in society The Confucian representatives said that talent was gentleman which was seen in two aspects: Firstly, there was a social status; Secondly, the convergence of talents, virtue which was given in the form of the Five Constants (the Five Virtues of human behavior: benevolence, righteousness, proprieties, wisdom, and fidelity) The gentleman expressed these values in all relationships Of all relationships, it was that to god, to society and to himself which were of the utmost concern The inner sage man played an important part in society Specifically: Firstly, when the gentleman, the talent ruled and managed the society, he would help to bring the society back to a stable state, from the war to the peace; Secondly, the talent played an vital role in maintaining social order; Thirdly, the talent was the decisive factor in creating and building an ideal society; Fourthly, the use of talents was inevitable, hence if the king didn’t know how to use the inner sage man, it would lead to great consequences, maybe even dehydration Thus, Confucianism was consistent that the talent had a central role to play, which could determine the stability and prosperity of the nation Therefore, meritocracy was the platform for building peaceful and harmony society; In particular, when the talented people were placed in the position of ruling, they would provide the cornerstone for building a universal and ideal society On recruiting talents Khong Tu laid down the principle of selecting talented people That was to examine people's words, and look at their countenances (察言 而觀色), their motives, their aspirations and their attitudes when they performed the work In addition, talent assessment must be based on job performance On the use of talents, the Confucian delegates said that when they possessed talented people, the ruler must grant them the opportunity to help the king rule the country, even gave the governing power of country if the talented person was worthy On treating talents According to Confucianism, the ruler needs to implement specific measures to treat talents both physically and mentally which included taking care of their lives; operating a fair reward policy; respecting talented people, expecting inner sage man to help the country On educating and training of talents Confucianism believed that the purpose of education was to provide knowledge and moral to train the gentleman to participate in ruling society and to build an ideal society For that purpose, the educational content of Confucianism was mainly focused on fostering knowledge, ethical values, rules of conduct, etc The Confucian educational method was based on two principles: setting an example and optional teaching Confucianism also said that in order to be successful, in the learning process the learner must always be confident, active, dedicated, persistent, humble, proactive, progressive, active in acquiring knowledge and persevering lifelong learning During this education, the teacher played a key role The teacher must step by step use his knowledge to broaden the scholar’s knowledge, use his righteousness to lead the behavior, make the learner explore passionately and relentlessly On some of the requirements with the subject of meritocracy In order to merit many talents, Confucianism suggested that the court, whose center was the king, must: manage the country based on Confucian virtues, cultivate himself, have brilliant intellect, choose people mainly through merit; be generous, tolerant, affectionate when using people, show respect, sincerity, and leave out his ruling power when treating the talent 2.2.2 The meritocracy in the Ly - Tran dynasty The thought of meritocracy in the Ly - Tran dynasty had a direct influence on the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty then Ly - Tran dynasty's the thought of meritocracy included some basic contents: The concept of talent and indispensable meritocracy In the Ly - Tran dynasty, it could be generally understood that the person considered "talent" must combine both qualities as "talent" (knowledge, method of thinking, strategy) and "virtue", besides being noble (patriotism, patriotism, loyalty to the dynasty) These 11 Chapter MAIN CONTENT OF MERITOCRACY IN THE EARLY LE DYNASTY 3.1 The concept of talents and the inevitability of the meritocratic thought 3.1.1 The concept of talents The Early Le dynasty’s thinkers were unanimous in the point: talented people were the convergence of two qualities that were talent and virtue: Talent and virtue of a talented person were expressed in the specific criteria Firstly, he was a knowledgeable person possessing methods of strategic thinking, a person of organizational capacity and practical activities, a person of strategic vision who showed the ability to perceive the laws of motion in nature and society Secondly, he was a person who had noble qualities such as: humanity, patriotism, civilian love, etc Thirdly, he was a person working effectively when undertaking a specific task Talent and virtue of a talented person were concretized through qualities which were lenience, intellect, and bravery Among them lenience was showing affection towards human beings, especially the suffered laborers; intellect was the ability to know people, understand people and to devise strategy; bravery meant daring to accept difficulties, being adventurous, and being persevere Talent and virtue of a talented person were exposed in specific relationships, including relations to nature, to others and to himself To nature, talented people were aware and actively acted in accordance with the law; to nation, talented people were willing to sacrifice for the people and the nation; to ruler and minister, talented people always acted for benefit of the country; to themselves, talented people were invariably smug, modest, actively broadened knowledge, and continuously strengthened morality In short, in the Ealy Le dynasty, talented people were understood as people who possessed both talent and virtue, and under certain circumstances, they made a comparatively phenomenal success through their deeds, contributing to the development of the country 3.1.2 The inevitability of the meritocratic thought 12 "Meritocracy" was give prominence to the use of human capacity and qualities It was expressed through the basic contents which were training talent, selecting talent; using talent; treating talent and requiring meritocracy’s subject Meritocracy from the early times was considered by the Early Le dynasty’s thinkers as the inevitable work of the ruler This was because: Firstly, talent played a particularly important role in the cause of national liberation and stability Secondly, talent was the root of building a peaceful, prosperous country Therefore, the use of talents was a great contribution to consolidating the dynasty's rule and developing the country 3.2 The concept of training talents 3.2.1 The role and purpose of education The thought of training talented people in the Early Le dynasty was given based on the fact that the participants were aware of the role of education to the development of individual and society To individual, education brought knowledge and oriented the development of personality To society, education contributed to the training of talented people who showed the ideal of dedication In other words, training talented people was the lynchpin for the innovation and development of the country Education aimed to develop human personality, creating the ideal stereotype Specifically, education centered on training mandarins who assisted the king in establishing a strong dynasty and a society with hierarchy 3.2.2 Content, method and role of the teacher in the training of talents On the content of training talents The Early Le dynasty’s education was Confucian education However, at different times, the specific training content was emphasized in a distinct way In Le Loi period, the content of training took virtue such as filial duty and humanity as a central point Le Thanh Tong period, on the other hand, placed an emphasis on filial duty and politeness as a sense of hierarchical order, a sense of service to the dynasty and the country On procedures methods of teaching The training procedures of the Early Le dynasty were in the form of teaching, writing and discussing The main teaching methods of this period were to give questions and answers, explanation, memorization and to punish by the rod or cane In addition, the teaching method of 13 setting example which meant the teacher showing a shining example was also applied About standard and the responsibility of the teacher in training talent From the point of view in this period, the teacher played an especially important role in the development of the student, it was required that the teacher, along with his wisdom, be the person of unusual moral and dignity The teacher, on the one hand, must have mastered the knowledge and ideal of Confucianism, on the other hand, must have grasped the training requirements of the contemporary court 3.2.3 The school system In general, the Early Le dynasty had three types of schools: Quoc Tu Giam in the capital was directly controlled by the court; public schools were in circuit (道), government repository (府), district (縣); Private schools were in villages and communes which were opened by people and Confucian scholars Quoc Tu Giam was the highest education organ and the talented training center of the country Public schools in government repository or district was paid attention to be expansion or new construction In circuit (道), government repository (府) had a high school Private schools sprang up everywhere in villages, communes or in families The opening of private schools was not tied to the regulations of the country Thus, education and training talent of the Early Le dynasty had made significant progress However, education and training Confucian talent in the Early Le dynasty still lacked of necessary independence Training martial art talents may still not conducted orderly with the content which was not clear enough, and that type of training did not receive strong attention from thinkers yet 3.3 The concept of recruiting talents The methods of recruiting talented people in the Early Le dynasty which were basically discussed were: Confucian examination (科举), The introduction of talent (引进人才), and The recommendation of talent (保举人才) 3.3.1 Confucian examination In the Early Le dynasty, Confucian examination was the most important way to recruit talents Rulers of the Early Le dynasty had step by step established and made necessary amendments to the regulations In this aspect, there were some points of attention as follows: 14 The contestant To participate in the contest, student must show a clean record, meeting both virtue and talent standard at a certain level Exam time In 1463, the court decided to hold examination of the Huong and Hoi every three years If this year Huong examination took place, the next year Hoi examination would be held The contestants who passed the Hoi examination would continue to go in for competing in the Dinh examination to be ranked (甲第登科) The strict examination process The Early Le dynasty offered many subjects (考题) at different exams with different level of difficulty The marking process was strictly regulated The court also set out many laws to prevent and punish cheating behavior in the examination In addition, in order to select a variety of talents, the court also organized the examinations on an ad hoc basis to look for the talented people The government also paid attention to talented martial arts However, compared with the Confucian examination, the selection of talented martial arts in the Le dynasty had not really developed 3.3.2 Introduction and recommendation of talent Introduction and recommendation of talent were the methods of selecting additional talents for the examination The Introduction of talent was mainly used when the society was in jeopardy, when the new dynasty was established or when the new king was crowned Nominees often had to show talent in a certain area and loyalty to the court In regard to some regulations of nomination in the Early Le dynasty, there were two points which must be assured: Firstly, the nominator must make a painstaking report about the genius, talent and virtue of the nominee; Secondly, the nominator must be a reputable person and be responsible for his nominee The method of recommendation of talent must follow the following procedures: Firstly, when there was a vacancy in a unit, the head of that unit would introduce suitable people to Ministry of Personnel (吏部); Secondly, Ministry of Personnel evaluated, if the introduced person was approved, it would be reported to the King, waiting for the approvement of the King, then would go through the mandarins to examine again, then the department carefully scrutinized that person again Finally Ministry of Personnel made official correspondence to approve for elected mandarins to work 15 In summary, the Early Le dynasty’s thinkers employed a wide range of methods of talented selection, but those methods were based on two main criteria: meritorious people with the court and talented and virtuous people based on Confucian examination There was a trend that Confucian examination gradually became predominant and took place of meritorious people with the court over the period 3.4 The concept to using talents Basically, the thought of using talents in the Early Le dynasty was reflected in the following contents: completing the talented nomination organ; advancing the process of talented nomination; rule of inspection, rule of change of mandarin’s position, and rule of avoidance 3.4.1 The agency was responsible for talented nomination During the Early Le dynasty, the king held the supreme power of nominating, transferring and abrogating the positions of mandarins in general and talents in particular in the whole country However, under the king there were ministry, department, and branch (部, 科, 台) helping the king handle this work; they were Ministry of Personnel (吏部), Office of Scrutiny for Personnel (吏科), Censorate ( 御史臺) 3.4.2 The process of nominating and using talents During the Early Le dynasty, the nomination process was not entirely the same among those talents groups which were selected differently With regard to the selected group based on meritorious people with the court, the nomination process could be as follows: Firstly, determining the merit, then the court issued a title which was commensurate with the merit With regard to the selected group based on the result of examination, nomination is according to principle: people who gained a high diploma were highly promoted and worked at the court People who gained low diploma worked in the government repository ( 府 ), district Those who passed higher were nominated first 3.4.3 Rule of transferring mandarin’s position, early retirement and avoidance with mandarins Transferring of talents limited the negative impacts which the use of talents might bring about such as abuse of power, embezzlement, gang formation in the 16 court, etc The transference might be from Civil order mandarin to Military order mandarin or vice versa, from one level of management to another, from one locality to another The regime of early retirement: The mandarins who were less virtuous and less efficient were often forced to retire early by the court, leaving room for the more qualified people to take charge Avoidance system (回避) in the Early Le dynasty had the following main contents: Not nominating a mandarin to rule the place where he was born or where his relative was in leadership position; during the time of management, the mandarin was not allowed to marry or having concubines that lived in this local 3.4.4 The regime of supervision, the using examination to inspect ability, the evaluation of working stage and imperial commissioner Censors(監察): The Early Le dynasty establishes and directly managed a supervising organization system In the court, six departments and Censorate (御史 臺 ) were responsible for supervising six ministries The system of Censorate included: Censorate in the imperial court and Censorate in cheng-xuan circuit (道 承宣) which closely inspected and examined the administrative apparatus at all levels Using examination ( 考试 ) to inspect ability: The court required that all mandarins should sit for the periodic exam to be inspected the knowledge and the ability of practical working Evaluating of working stage (考核): The evaluation of working stage was divided into two stages: a three-year inspection and a nine-year inspection A threeyear inspection’s stage was made every three years By the end of the term, the mandarin, who was in charge of department, must assess the subordinate mandarins for what had been done in the course of three years based on specific criteria Officials which had been through the first years, then years of re-examination, were passed The head of the agency commented on a three-year work of the respondent, and submitted it to the Ministry of Home Affairs for further consideration In addition, the court set up Imperial envoy system Periodically or suddenly, the king and Imperial envoy would go to inspect the rulers in the localities The 17 purpose of the imperial commissioner’s regime was to check the management capacity, the loyalty of mandarins, and to scrutinize the public 3.5 The concept of treatment of talents The thinkers of the Ealy Le dynasty followed the thought of treating talents, among which the socio-political treatment associated with economic treatment was the most popular 3.5.1 Treating talent in the socio-political aspect The class that showed talent (whether used or not used) was granted many privileges and political - social incentives by the court Talented people who was not used but had already passed and ranked at the top of Confucian examination were allowed to participate in the calling name ceremony, granted hat, shirt and banquet; they were allowed to return home to pay respect to ancestors after achieving academic honors, and their names were engraved on Turtle steles at Temple of Confucius Talented people who had been working were treated generously in terms of politics by the court The most popular forms of political treatment during this period were granting position, promoting, granting his family and Mandarins' titles, granting king’s first name, protecting by law 3.5.2 Treating talent in the economic aspect Talented treatment in the Early Le dynasty, basically consisted of two types: paid salary and divided land The salary was given to mandarins according to Mandarins' titles, merit, whether they were in charge of much or little work, and whether they worked in the court or among the people In addition, mandarins themselves did not have to pay taxes Some mandarins also enjoyed "paid salary by the people” In addition to paid salary, mandarins of the Early Le dynasty were also granted land based on granted land for senior officials (chế độ lộc điền), granted land for low officials (chế độ quân điền) They were granted land and allowed to expand their private field Apart from political and economic interests, the Early Le dynasty’s mandarins also enjoyed a number of other special privileges from the court In contrast, the Early Le dynasty also had many measures to punish the smuggling that might occur in meritocracy with the main forms such as demoting, imprisoning, 18 asset confiscation, erasing the name from the steles, imposing death penalty to three last names 3.6 Some basic requirements for meritocratic subjects To practice meritocracy, the king needed: Firstly, to have "advantageous mandarins for the court", the king must set a shining example as a person of virtue first This was the backbone for an efficient meritocratic policy Secondly, the king had to use people based on justice, giving priority to virtue Thirdly, the king must be humble to look for the talented people, treat the talented with sincerity from his heart, and even admit the fault when hearing the right words Summary chapter To conclude, the Early Le dynasty’s thinkers agreed on the point: talented people were both moral and intellectual These two qualities played an important role and manifested through their own effective work Meritocracy was a belief in talent, morality of talented people, which reflected in: focusing on training talented people; selecting talented people; entrusting them with a task, evaluating justice and treating appropriately In fact, the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty, once formed, had a numerous impact on the quality of the talents and was an essential element that contributed to the vicissitudes of the Early Le dynasty and simultaneously offered great historical values and lessons 19 Chapter VALUES, LIMITATIONS AND HISTORICAL LESSONS OF THE THOUGHT OF MERITOCRACY IN THE EARLY LE DYNASTY 4.1 The values and limitations of the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty 4.1.1 Theoretical value of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty had a great value and meaning This reflected not only in the fact that Early Le dynasty was a period of high development in the history of national thought, but also because this thought created the essential basis for the practical application of meritocracy 4.1.2 The practical value of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty In a comprehensive way, the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty contributed a great and direct part to the direction of the ruling class in the practice of building the state machine and recruiting the talented Confucian intellectual who had the potential to help the king manage society, contributing to the foundation of a strong centrist monarchy At the same time, the thought of meritocracy in this period also had an important role in remarkable accomplishments of Dai Viet in the second half of the 15th century, from quickly declaring independency, taking control of the nation, expanding the country to developing the country in all facets Thanks to the right policy of meritocracy, Vietnam in the second half of the 15th century was a civilized country, standing shoulder to shoulder with developed countries in the region and in the contemporary world, enough to the point of "equal development" to the Minh dynasty of China in the 15th century 4.1.3 The inheritance of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty in the following dynasties The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty were strongly followed by the successive feudal dynasties of Vietnam Among that, the Nguyen dynasty in the early period had a relatively long stable time, so compared with other dynasties, this was a dynastic which had the condition to represent the most obviously the inheritance of the meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty including thoughts on training, selecting, using, treating to talents In fact, the development of the feudatory history in Vietnam showed that the thought of meritocracy according to 20 Confucian norms in Vietnam was basically completed in the Early Le dynasty and had a strong influence on the following dynasties especially the Nguyen dynasty This influence made the formation and development of many good traditions of our nation such as the tradition of “Promoting the worthy” (尚賢), respect for educated people; studious psychology, overcoming difficulties to conquer knowledge; sense of " responsibility" of the intellectual class towards the fate of the nation and the community;… 4.1.4 Some limitations of meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty Despite the values, meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty had certain limitations Specifically: Firstly, the concept of training talented people in the Early Le dynasty aimed to provide the force of mandarins for bureaucratic system at all levels This raised two issues: First, the content and methods of training tended to give prominence to hierarchical order, recognized the contemporary political system, constrained the liberal thinking of learners; Secondly, training did not aim at developing comprehensive capacity within the human Secondly, the concept of recruiting talent In the Early Le dynasty, the range of the eligible contestants was still limited The content of examination centered on culture and history of ancient Chinese Form of the contest did not have profound content The content and form of examination did not encourage the development of logical thinking and scientific creativity Method of nomination could be exploited to put “people work for them” in the state machine Thirdly, at the beginning of the Early Le dynasty, the thought of using talented people was mostly "uneducated" in solving and deciding important administrative affairs of the country, which might be an inconsonant policy of the Early Le dynasty Fourthly, the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty, although on the one hand expressed the spirit of aspiration of talent and virtue, on the other hand must be for the interests of the king Fifthly, the thought of using talents in the Early Le dynasty was political meritocracy, with the aim of building the monarchy, concentrating the tyranny This led to two consequences: about the human, because of the centralized power, all things must be decided by the king, leading to overload, while the talents were 21 mandarins, becoming basic tools to enforce the power of the king; about the state machine, power must be focused on the central government, causing the power of the region being dependent Therefore, this resulted in the rigid management, delay in running the business and not always yielding productivity 4.2 The history lessons of meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty From researching meritocratic thought in the Early Le dynasty, we can learn many useful lessons Those are: 4.2.1 Countries want to develop, must inevitably use meritocracy Under the current conditions, there are two things which should be taken into consideration when applying this lesson: Firstly, the Party, State and scientists need to set a unified criterion in determining a "talent"; Secondly, there should be more awareness of the role of talent in the all stages; having meritocratic policy and mechanisms to ensure that these policies are effectively implemented in practice 4.2.2 To build and improve talent, education is the top "national policy" Today, the application of the above lessons requires conditions as follows: Firstly, development of education and training is the most important task to educate talent to fully satisfy the requirements; Secondly, it is necessary to create a fair and unbiased environment for training talented people; Thirdly, training talent should be performed regularly with appropriate content In which, moral education is always deemed one of the basic contents; Fourthly, the flexible methods of training talents must be employed; Fifthly, enough concerned should be put into building and improving qualified teacher staff and managers 4.2.3 It is necessary to develop a diverse, scientific, objective mechanism for the recruitment talents Under the contemporary circumstances, the application of the above lessons needs condition as follows: Firstly, diversifying the recruitment methods is recommended; Secondly, the recruitment of talent must be basically based on the capacity and virtue of the candidate; Thirdly, the recruitment of talent should be objective, flexible in principle 4.2.4 There should be a scientific approach to using talents, accompanied with serious inspections and effective anti-corruption The application of the above lessons requires conditions as follows: Firstly, the specialized agencies which are responsible for the nomination and using of 22 talents in the units must have power, be relatively independent, work honestly, comply with objective andlucid regulations; Secondly, in the process of using talents, agencies, departments, organizations and units need to follow the principle "using people with their real ability" Thirdly, when the situation changes, the state needs to have appropriate matching policies; Fourthly, expand the range of objects to apply rule of avoidance; Fifthly, it is necessary to ensure the objectivity, strictness and effectiveness of the inspection and examination of the recruitment and using of talents 4.2.5 Need to legalize the treatment regime of talents, and the treatment of talent must ensure the integrity, fairness and encouragement The application of the above lessons need conditions as follows: Firstly, the treatment of talents should be legalized; Secondly, the treatment of talents must be comprehensive, regular, but need specific, flexible division; Thirdly, the treatment of talents should be done in all facets; Fourthly, the treatment of talents should be based on fair, objective, proportional and appropriate principles 4.2.6 At the national level, the political system has an important influence on the policy and practice of meritocracy This is a meaningful lesson for today because: Firstly, the state and the head set the standard for talent, which is the premise to build talent staff; Secondly, the state and the head are the force that set the rules for managing the quality of meritocracy within the national scope; Thirdly, in the meritocracy, it is imperative to allocate proper position to the matching talent so that they can harness their potentialities to the fullest, devoting for the prosperity of the country and the people Summary chapter The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty has many positive values and shows certain historical limitations at the same time However, both these values and limitations provide valuable lessons for planning the talent development strategy and the meritocracy for our country’s endeavor to accelerate industrialization and modernization associated with developing a knowledge economy and enhancing international integration 23 CONCLUSION Vietnam is a nation which acquired reputation through the tradition meritocracy By the time of Early Le dynasty, the thought of meritocracy had been developed to become a quite specific, complete and theoretical ideology, meeting the requirements of the history of Vietnam in the 15th century This is reflected in the following aspects: The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty came into life as an inevitable law It stemmed from the historical context of Vietnam in the 15th century - early 16th century when the country had just scraped through the war of national defense, stepped into the work of overcoming the consequences of war, developing the country and asserting sovereignty over all faces; in history, especially during the Ly - Tran period, a historical lesson about the necessary meritocracy in the defensing and building of the country was drawn The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty was also strongly influenced by Confucianism - the ideology of social construction which existed in contemporary Vietnam In light of those mentioned factors, the thought of meritocracy is formed On the thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty, according to delegates in the Early Le dynasty, talents must own two standards: talent and virtue These two standards must be seen in highly efficient work process, in harmonious behavior exposed in the basic relationships, bringing the benefits for the country and themselves Talents is key to protecting and building a prosperous society Therefore, in every stage of development, the ruling class must inevitably merit talents Meritocracy was the belief in human capacities and qualities The thought of meritocracy was reflected in the thought of actively training and nurturing talent; diversifying the recruitment methods; nominating, using of them in appropriate work, then assessing fairly In order to practice effectively meritocracy, thinkers demanded that the king and the ruling class should have certain requirements, among which the king himself was both a talented person in leadership and a talented person in management The thought of meritocracy in the Early Le dynasty was the succession of the thought of meriting talents in the history of Vietnam which developed in the new historical scenes This thought made invaluable contributions to the protection 24 and construction of the dynasty, the construction of the contemporary country, and had a major influence on the development of Vietnamese history later Today, this thought has taught us innumerable priceless lessons in the striving for accelerating industrialization, modernization and international integration associated with the development of the economic knowledge DANH MỤC CƠNG TRÌNH KHOA HỌC CỦA TÁC GIẢ Thân Thị Hạnh (2014), “Tư tưởng trọng dụng nhân tài lịch sử Việt Nam kỷ XV - XVIII”, Tạp chí Triết học, số 11(282), tr.7481 Thân Thị Hạnh (2016), “Văn hóa làng vùng đồng Bắc Bộ”, Tạp chí Khoa học xã hội Việt Nam, số (98), tr.62-69 Thân Thị Hạnh (2017), “Đào tạo nguồn nhân lực chất lượng cao Việt Nam nay”, Tạp chí Khoa học xã hội Việt Nam, số (110), tr.83- 89 Thân Thị Hạnh (2017), “Đào tạo nguồn nhân lực chất lượng cao gắn với phát triển kinh tế tri thức Việt Nam nay”, Tạp chí Nhân lực khoa học xã hội, số (47), tr.51-58 Thân Thị Hạnh (2018), “Sự phát triển tư tưởng trọng dụng nhân tài Việt Nam từ thời Lý - Trần đến thời Lê Sơ”, Tạp chí Triết học, số (320), tr.82-89 ... Việt Nam nay”, Tạp chí Nhân lực khoa học xã hội, số (47), tr.51-58 Thân Thị Hạnh (2018), “Sự phát triển tư tưởng trọng dụng nhân tài Việt Nam từ thời Lý - Trần đến thời Lê Sơ , Tạp chí Triết học,... economic knowledge DANH MỤC CƠNG TRÌNH KHOA HỌC CỦA TÁC GIẢ Thân Thị Hạnh (2014), Tư tưởng trọng dụng nhân tài lịch sử Việt Nam kỷ XV - XVIII”, Tạp chí Triết học, số 11(282), tr.7481 Thân Thị... NAM Người hướng dẫn khoa học: PGS.TS Nguyễn Tài Đông Phản biện 1: PGS TS Nguyễn Thế Kiệt Phản biện 2: PGS TS Trần Nguyên Việt Phản biện 3: PGS.TS Hồ Trọng Hoài Luận án bảo vệ trước Hội đồng chấm