Behaviour of Confucian intellectuals in the 17th - 18th centuries: The case of the Vu family in Mo Trach, Hai Duong
Authors
TS. Tống Văn Lợi
Author
Keywords:
Confucian intellectuals,
non-degree Confucian scholars,
the Vu family of Mo Trach,
Vu toc the he su tich,
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
Vietnamese villages.
Abstract
The study of Confucian intellectuals is usually concentrated on those who were successful at examinations and official career. Those, however, were just a part of the larger traditional Vietnamese intellectuals. How about the role of those who failed the examinations? What kinds of contributions did they make? … Unlike successful scholars whose careers and achievements were clearly accounted for, scholars with modest ranks and qualifications were left with few records of their life and career. The Genealogy of the Vu family (Stories of the generations of the Vu family) in Mo Trach, Tan Hong Commune, Binh Giang District, Hai Duong province – a scholarly prestige family, provides information on the life and professional careers of many scholars in the clan. This paper examines several scholars of the Vu family in Mo Trach between the 17th and 18th centuries to explore their pathways to intellectual maturity and career success or failure. What made the difference between the successful and the failed? In addition, this study aims to analyze the impacts of those Confucian scholars on the development of their families, communes, and the state.
