Emperor Minh Mang

In the palace at Hue lived an emperor who loved books so much that people still picture him bent over a page, a lamp burning beside him, unable to stop reading. He was Emperor Minh Mạng.

Minh Mạng was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. It was Vietnam's last royal dynasty, which reigned from 1802 to 1945. He was born in 1791, a son of Emperor Gia Long. From his earliest years, his schooling was carefully looked after. Perhaps those years planted in the boy a love of the written word, and it stayed with him for the whole of his life.

In 1820 he came to the throne. A man who loved books had become emperor, and the first thing he took up was the learning of the whole country.

In the capital at Hue there was a school called Quốc Tử Giám. It was the highest school of the Nguyễn dynasty, the place where the best scholars from across the country gathered. The National Archives Center records that in 1821 the emperor had it built and put in order again. Lecture halls were made, and the places for teaching and studying were properly repaired. After that, every morning, the sound of students reading aloud rose under the roofs of the lecture halls. The lines rang on in a chant. In that same year he held the first Hương examination he had ever opened, so that students from every region could bring their talent to be tested.

He did not stop there. In 1822 the emperor opened the first doctoral examination of the Nguyễn dynasty. It was the greatest of all the examinations, and whoever passed it was counted a person of high talent and wide learning. Until then, this great examination had been held only once every six years. The emperor changed it to once every three years. Because of this, every few years the country welcomed a fresh group of able and virtuous people, without the weary waiting of the old days.

Learning was not his only concern. He also wanted the whole broad land arranged clearly. In 1831 and 1832 he divided the country into 30 provinces, plus the prefecture of Thừa Thiên. Each province had one official at its head, chosen by the court, so that every region had someone to watch over it. News could travel up and down without a break, and the governing of the land went more easily than before.

One more thing deserves to be remembered. During his reign, the country's official name was changed to Đại Nam. It means a strong and great southern country. That name held a hope, that the country would stand firm and shine, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the world.

He was the emperor who sat bent over a book beside his lamp, and who saw to it that each morning the sound of reading rose in the lecture halls. A whole life of love for the written word lives on in the voices of students today.