The Development And Prosperity Of Confucianism In Le Dynasty In Vietnam

Vietnam,bordering on China,shares a close relationship with Chinese history.An Nam,used to fall in the jurisdiction of the Chinese feudal dynasty and was part of Chinese territory before North Song Dynasty.In China,Confucianism has been the official orthodox thought for more than two thousand years.Since the Han dynasty,it has been centered on the central plains and it also imposes strong and continuous influence upon the ideology and culture of An Nam region.With the improved productivity and strengthened central government management,this area has experienced remarkable and steadily development.Concerning the facts above,An Nam’s regional status in the country has been rising and the cultural disparities between An Nam and central plains has been narrowed down.During that period,China’s direct rule played an important role in leading the development of An Nam region,and Confucianism has promoted the development and progress of local ideology and culture.In 968,Vietnam established its autonomous feudal state.Although,politically speaking,this authority has been isolated from the Chinese regime,Confucianism remains being an integral part of the Vietnamese cultures.Confucianism also experienced a bumpy ride,who were suppressed for over four hundred years(from Dinh Dynasty to Ly Dynasty),and it did not bounce back until the Le Dynasty(1428-1787).The development and prosperity of Confucianism was the internal need of the development and maturity of the Le Dynasty,and it is also the cultural expression of the feudal society in the Le Dynasty.There are several reasons for the flourishing of Confucianism.Firstly,the rise of feudalization in the later li dynasty was the fundamental reason for the flourishing of Confucianism.The second point is the long-term accumulation of Chinese culture is the cultural foundation of the development of Confucianism;Besides,China’s good and stable suzerain-vassal relations provided a good external condition,which makes the tributary exchanges possible,enabling folk trade and cultural exchanges.The development of Chinese Neo-Confucianism also provided abundant ideological theories for the development of Confucianism in Vietnam.Last but not least,the fact that Chinese character has been used as the only language should never be ignored.The process of the Confucianism’s development was carried out from top to bottom in the Le Dynasty.The emperor’s respect for Confucianism is the subjective motivations of its development,which makes Confucianism the core ideology of the emperors at that time.They not only attached great importance to the Confucian education of themselves and the royal families,but also applied the Confucian thought to the governance of the country.As the government advocated Confucianism,the later li dynasty established a complete school system with Confucianism as its main content.The system of selecting officials in imperial examinations defined Confucianism as the main content and criterion.The imperial examination system provided the system guarantee for the development of Confucianism.In this way,the thoughts and values of most intellectuals are limited within the theoretical scope of Confucianism.At the same time,Confucianism further penetrated into the grass-roots society through folk education,moral education and other ways.As the core ideology of the social mainstream,Confucianism not only has the normative ability to connect the upper and lower levels of political and social organizations,but also has a strong value identity and cohesion.It had a significant and far-reaching impact on Vietnamese society.Although Confucianism was originated in China,Vietnam Confucianism is distinctively from its origins.It was formed after localization with the basis of Chinese Confucianism.The localization of Confucianism in Vietnam is mainly reflected in the combination of Confucianism with the traditional thoughts and culture of Vietnam.For example,compared with China,the merging of the three religions is more obvious,the transformation of the status of women in traditional Confucianism,and the combination of Confucian ethics,ancestor worship and patriotic thoughts.In addition,due to the unique national thinking characteristics of Vietnam,the localization of Confucianism reflects that the Vietnamese people pay attention to image thinking and practicality,and relatively lack of abstract thinking and speculative characteristics.Such thinking characteristics make the Vietnamese nation show the characteristics of relatively developed history,literature and relatively weak philosophy when accepting and transforming Confucianism.After the development of Confucianism in the Le Dynasty,Confucianism became the dominant ideology in the feudal society of Vietnam.This status continued until the end of feudal society in Vietnam.The development and prosperity of Confucianism in the Le Dynasty had an important and far-reaching influence on Vietnamese society.Confucianism has played an important political function.It ensured the social stability,cultivated a large number of outstanding intellectuals,and raised the cultural level of the whole society.As the ideological and cultural system with the feudal centralization of power,Confucianism gradually became the ideology of the unification of different classes and nationalities in Vietnam,and it has laid a solid and significant foundation for the ideological and cultural unification of Vietnam.The development and prosperity of Confucianism in the Le Dynasty was of great significance in the ideological history of Vietnam.Henceforth,Confucianism has become the dominant ideology in the Le Dynasty.The unified ideology and culture based on Confucianism strongly promoted the formation of the pluralistic and integrated cultural pattern in the later Le dynasty of Vietnam,and it has imposed significant and profound impact on the Vietnamese traditional culture.