A collection of essays from the imperial examination with subversive ideals promoting the "modernisation" of Vietnamese thought through Classical Chinese texts.
Phạm Quang Sán.
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/pham-quang-sans-attempt-to-revolutionize-the-civil-service-exams-khoa-cu/">Phạm Quang Sán’s Attempt to Revolutionize the Civil Service Exams (Khoa Cử). - NOVEMBER 3, 2016 / LEMINHKHAI</a>. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.wordpress.com/">Lê Minh Khải's SEAsian History Blog</a>).</li></ul><ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/hoidinh1.jpg">Entitled A New Selection of Policy Studies (Sách học tân tuyển 策學新選), this book purported to present model examples of the types of questions that one could expect to be asked in the exams, as well as model examples of how one should answer those questions. - Books that served as guides for answering the questions on the civil service exam were a popular genre of text. For instance, throughout the nineteenth century and continuing into the twentieth century a text known as the Collected Essays from the Palace Exam (Hội đình văn tuyển 會庭文選) which contained the actual questions from the last palace exam and either actual answers or model answers was regularly published.</a>. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.wordpress.com/">Lê Minh Khải's SEAsian History Blog</a>).</li></ul><ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/page1.jpg">There is a question about civilization (văn minh 文明), which asks if civilization is something that is territorial or is developed among human societies, and that if Asia is civilized, then why is it not at the level of development of Europe and America. - Another question asks about the history of Buddhism in Vietnam. It ends by noting that adherence to religions leads to conflicts among the people, and asks how this problem can be alleviated. - Yet, another question cites the (Confucian) classic, the Doctrine of the Mean (Tung Dung 中庸), as saying that “the cultivation of the Way is called instruction (tu đạo chi vị giáo 修道之謂教), and asks that exam candidates explain what this means. The question then notes that Westerners teach students in schools. The question then goes on to say that in recent years many schools had been set up in Vietnam in an effort to become more civilized, but asks why it is that progress (tiến bộ 進步) towards civilization has been so slow.</a>. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://leminhkhai.wordpress.com/">Lê Minh Khải's SEAsian History Blog</a>).</li></ul>