The Founding of the Bureau of National History

Abstract

The first Kings of the Nguyen dynasty paid a great attention into cultural development and history writing during their building and consolidating their rule. Following the preceding dynasties in building two specific organs for history writing, namely Institute for History and History Bureau, but also following the Chinese example of building a specific bureau for national history writing, in 1811, King Gia Long founded the Historiography Department-precursor of the Bureau of National History. Later, the Bureau of National History was founded under the reign of King Minh Menh in 1820 and it was reorganized and improved under the reigns of Thieu Tri and Tu Duc Kings. The Bureau of National History was the most important specific organs for composing of royal annals and writing of national history during the monarchial time.

The foundation of the Bureau of National History contributed largely to the legitimating of the Nguyen dynasty. It helped the Nguyen to recruit the Confucian intellectuals in the whole country for serving the court, especially with Tonkinese Confucian intellectuals. That founding marked a significant progress of Vietnamese historiography in the monarchial time.