Trần Trọng Kim (; chữ Hán: 陳仲金,
Kanji pronunciation: ''Chin Jūkin''; ; 1883 – December 2, 1953;
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Lệ Thần (, chữ Hán: 隸臣) was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of the short-lived
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
, a
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
established with the support of
Imperial Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
in 1945 after Japan had
seized direct control of Vietnam from
Vichy France
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...
toward the end of World War II. He was an uncle of
Bùi Diễm.
Early years
Kim was born in
Nghi Xuân,
Hà Tĩnh Province, in northern central Đại Nam (as Vietnam was known then) in 1883 during the
Nguyen dynasty
Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people.
Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''.
By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...
.
At the time, Hà Tĩnh was part of the central region, which had become a French
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
under the name of
Annam. In the immediate decade afterwards, the province was the scene of a
guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
movement led by
Phan Đình Phùng that attempted to expel the French authorities. The movement was particularly popular in the
Nghệ An-Hà Tĩnh region, which had boasted a long line of
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
icons.
[Marr, pp. 50–68.]
Nevertheless, the movement was crushed, and when Kim grew up,
he initially studied in
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
at schools reserved for the ruling elite.
[Dommen, p. 85.] He then worked in the public service of the French administration. Kim's early career was as an interpreter, serving in
Ninh Bình in northern Vietnam, then known as the protectorate of
Tonkin. In 1905, Kim was sent to France as an employee of a private company. In 1908, he won a scholarship from the École Coloniale (Colonial School) to begin his training as a teacher at the École Normale of
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
(
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...
). Kim returned to Vietnam in September 1911, commenced his career as a teacher in Annam and slowly rose in the educational hierarchy. By 1942, he had risen to become an inspector of elementary public instruction in
Tonkin.
[Chieu, p. 301.] He wrote many works on
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
and started a review on the topic.
Kim was also a
freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
.
[Hammer, p. 48.]
Academia
In contrast to his career as a politician, Kim was widely known as a scholar for a collection of textbooks published in the Vietnamese alphabet (
chữ Quốc Ngữ), especially for his writings on
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Vietnamese history.
His two best known works were ''
Việt Nam sử lược'' (''A Brief history of Vietnam''), published in 1920, and ''Nho giáo'' (''Confucianism''), published in 1929–1933.
[McHale, p. 77.] In the first book, Kim emphasised the Chinese influence on Vietnamese society.
[McHale, p. 48.] The latter book dealt with examining
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
in China and its impact on Vietnam. Kim strongly praised Confucianism, and his book provoked much intellectual debate on the philosophy's place in Vietnamese society. ''Nho giáo'' was seen as a link between the generations of scholars who were brought up under the Confucian examination system of pre-French Vietnam and those who grew up under the French system. ''Việt Nam Sử Lược'' remains in print as of 2009.
His reputation in literary circles made Kim a leading figure in the Buddhist and Confucian associations, and in 1939, he was appointed to the Chamber of People's Representatives in Tonkin.
He was made a chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
and listed in a French publication in 1943 that profiled prominent figures in French Indochina.
World War II
After the outbreak of World War II, Japan continued its military conquest of Asia. It invaded and annexed Indochina into its
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The , also known as the GEACPS, was a Pan-Asianism, pan-Asian union that the Empire of Japan tried to establish. Initially, it covered Japan (including Korea under Japanese rule, annexed Korea), Manchukuo, and Wang Jingwei regime, China, but as ...
in 1940–1941. As France had fallen to
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, the colonial administration in Vietnam of Admiral
Jean Decoux was loyal to the Axis collaborationist
Vichy France
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...
of Marshal
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...
. As Vichy France was nominally allied to Japan, the French administration was left in charge of the day-to-day affairs of French Indochina, with the Japanese overseeing them.
In the early 20th century, Japan was also seen by many Vietnamese as a promoter of Asian nationalism, and many Vietnamese nationalists had traveled to Japan in an attempt to further the Vietnamese independence movement. Kim was approached by several Japanese experts in Vietnamese studies. The contacts and his ties to a progressive organisation in Hanoi made Kim politically suspect to the Decoux administration. When Decoux implemented his second major purge of pro-Japanese Vietnamese in the autumn of 1943, Kim was reported to be on the list of the
Sûreté (Criminal Investigation Department). On October 28, 1943, Japanese agents escorted Kim to the
Kenpeitai
The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...
(military police) office in Hanoi and put him under protection. There, Kim was joined by Dương Bá Trạc, a co-editor on a dictionary that was currently being written. According to Kim's account, Trạc persuaded him to co-sign a letter applying for an evacuation to
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. At the beginning of November, the Japanese escorted them to
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. After briefly living at the Kenpeitai office, they became the guests of Dainan Kōshi, a Japanese business firm owned by Matsushita Mitsuhiro, which was known as a front for intelligence operations.
On January 1, 1944, Kim and Trạc boarded a Japanese vessel headed for Singapore.
According to
Ellen Hammer, the French threat to Kim appeared "to have been a wholly illusory French menace".
After spending just over a year on the island, and following Trạc's death from
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in December 1944, Kim was transferred to
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
. Three months later, on March 30, 1945, he was unexpectedly recalled to Saigon by the Japanese to be consulted on "history".
That came after Captain Michio Kuga from the Japanese Army's liaison office in Saigon was flown to Bangkok for talks.
[Shiraishi and Furuta, pp. 138–139.]
By now, the
Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the fall of Vichy France meant that Japan could no longer depend on the French colonial administration to co-operate. As a result,
they assumed direct control of Indochina by deposing the French in a coup on March 9 and declared Vietnam to be independent under the newly created
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...
with
Bảo Đại, Vietnam's titular monarch, as its head of state. Japan however, maintained military control. Bảo Đại was then charged with selecting a prime minister and a cabinet. It was believed that Bảo Đại sent a message to
Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...
, who was then living under Japanese protection in
Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, in asking him to form a government. However, the message never arrived, which was put down to Japanese concerns that Diệm would seek to govern independently, rather than toe the Japanese line.
Arriving in Saigon, he met with General Saburo Kawamura, Chief of Staff of the
Japanese Indochina Garrison Army and Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Hidezumi, Kawamura's chief of political affairs. Kawamura told Kim that he was one of the "notables" invited by Emperor Bảo Đại to consult in
Huế
Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
on the creation of the new independent government.
During this time, Kim also met with Diệm for the first time, finding out that he had not been included on the Japanese shortlist.
According to his own account, Kim accepted the invitation to talk with Bảo Đại because
Hoàng Xuân Hãn, a young friend, was also on the emperor's list. Kim departed Saigon on April 2 and arrived in Huế three days later.
Rule
On April 7, Bảo Đại held a personal meeting with Kim,
and at first, Kim refused to accept the prime ministerial post. Kim said that he was too old, an independent with no political party infrastructure and without prior involvement in politics.
However, Kim prolonged his stay for further negotiations and finally agreed to form a new government on April 16. The next day, Kim submitted his proposed cabinet consisting of ten ministers. With the exception of one nominee who refused his cabinet post, the others arrived in the capital by late April or early May to take office.
Most of his cabinet members had been trained in French schools but were regarded as nationalists although they were not regarded as anti-French.
The cabinet (
vi) included Phan Anh as minister of youth. Kim's regime was quickly endorsed by the
Đại Việt Quốc dân đảng and the
Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội
The Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội (Hán-Nôm: 越南光復會; , ''Restoration League of Vietnam'' or ''Restoration Society of Vietnam''Marr 1970 or VNQPH, was a nationalist republican militant revolutionary Political organization, organization ...
, two nationalist political parties.
The Phục quốc were connected to
Phan Bội Châu
Phan Bội Châu (; 26 December 1867 – 29 October 1940), born Phan Văn San, courtesy name Hải Thụ (later changed to Sào Nam), was a pioneer of 20th century Vietnamese nationalism. In 1904, he formed a revolutionary organization called ...
and
Cường Để
Cường Để (, ; born Nguyễn Phúc Dân ( vi-hantu, 阮福民); 11 January 1882 - 5 April 1951) was an early 20th-century Vietnamese revolutionary and nationalist who, along with Phan Bội Châu, unsuccessfully tried to liberate Vietnam from ...
,
two leading anti-colonial activists from the early 20th century who championed co-operation with Japan and pan-Asianism to expel French colonialism.
Kim had the chance to rule for only five months, and most of his policies were not implemented before the
Viet Minh
The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...
seized power following the Japanese collapse at the end of the Second World War. After his government collapsed, Kim returned to his research and academic work.
Kim's actions have caused a debate as to whether he was a Japanese puppet. Milton Sacks and John T. McAlister regard him as such, but others, such as Trương Bửu Lâm, regard Kim and his cabinet as a group of apolitical technocrats.
[Shiraishi and Furuta, p. 113.]
Footnotes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Trong Kim
1883 births
1953 deaths
People from Hà Tĩnh province
20th-century Vietnamese historians
Prime ministers of Vietnam
Nguyen dynasty officials
Government ministers of Vietnam
Vietnamese Freemasons
Vietnamese collaborators with Imperial Japan