Education and Confucian civil examinations in Ninh Binh during the Nguyen dynasty

Abstract

Based on examining diverse sources (official Nguyen dynasty historical records, scholarships on Nguyen’s education, academic examinations of historians, ...), and local sources (village laws, epitaphs, genealogies), this paper presents the laureate achievement in Ninh Binh province during the Nguyen dynasty. The geographical scale of Ninh Binh province has shifted over time, therefore, this study presents an overview of the place and administrative boundaries of Ninh Binh province during the Nguyen dynasty. The determination of such geographical scope is the basis for the statistics and presentation of laureates in Ninh Binh province in this period. The main content of this paper clarified some issues about the laureates in Ninh Binh province during the Nguyen Dynasty: the local education system (including public and private schools), the number of Ninh Binh people who passed the Nguyen Dynastic examinations (specifically divided by each district, according to each academic title), some of the educational family in Ninh Binh province in the Nguyen Dynasty. This paper also initially points out the characteristics of laureates in Ninh Binh province during the Nguyen Dynasty, including the forming of the educational family, the practicality, and the talent of Ninh Binh province with a few specifics and typical characteristics that were neglected in previous studies.