The Border Policy of the Nguyen Dynasty as Seen from Pham Than Duat's Work “Hung Hoa Summary”

Abstract

In the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), inheriting the knowledge and legacy of the previous dynasties, the Hue court was always interested in the management of the border areas, particularly Hung Hoa, the northwest border region with a geo-strategic position of the country. Based on the study of the life and career of Pham Than Duat (1825-1885) and his works, especially “Hung Hoa Summary”, the article focuses on clarifying the context, approach, and content of the geographic work, which has a rich and valuable scientific information content.

The real-world experiences Pham Than Duat had while adhering to the imperial court's directives as a Tuan Giao chief magistrate in the province of Hung Hoa during roughly two years (1855–1866) revealed his feeling of responsibility and dignity as a mandarin-intellectual–passionate patriot. In order to carry out his responsibilities and make insightful management judgments, he carefully examined the area's geography, residents, and cultural customs. His initiatives and programs not only help to maintain peace in the Hung Hoa region, one of the more ethnically diverse and politically difficult regions, but they also help to inspire locals to pursue personal and professional growth. encourage communication and interaction between ethnic groups in border regions. Because of the thoughts and contents it expresses, any scientists use the Hung Hoa summary as a valuable reference for researching remote locations, especially those in the Northwest of Vietnam during the nineteenth century.