The Viện cơ mật or "Secret Institute" (

chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters ('' Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represent ...

: 院機密; chữ Hán: 機密院), established in 1834, was the Privy Council and key mandarin agency of the royal court of Vietnam's final Nguyễn dynasty at

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

, until the end of the dynasty in 1945.

History

The Minh Mạng Emperor established the Viện cơ mật (Privy Council) along with the '' Nội các Viên'' (Cabinet, Grand Secretariat) as the main agencies of the court's administration. The Privy Council, or Secret Institute, comprised four of the most senior mandarins.The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and ... - Page 757 Spencer C. Tucker - 2011 "At the capital of Hue, Minh Mang established the Noi Cac Vien (Grand Secretariat) and the Co Mat Vien (Privy Council). The rest of the bureaucracy was also re- organized with the creation of a nine-rank mandarin corps. It was also under Minh Minh Mạng based the relationship of the ''Nội các'' and the ''Cơ mật viện'' on the relationship of the ''Nội các'' and the '' Quân cơ xứ'' (軍機處) within the bureaucratic framework of the Manchu-led

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in China. In the year 1834, Minh Mạng's political project (''dự án chính trị'') was expanded to

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, the

Siamese army The Royal Siamese Armed Forces (Thai: กองทัพหลวง) were the armed forces of the Thai monarchy from the 12th to 19th centuries. The term refers to the military forces of the Sukhothai Kingdom, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the Thonbu ...

attacked from the Vietnam-Laos border down to Hà Tiên province. At the same time there were widespread rebellions from

Cao Bằng province Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations *Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club * Canadian Assoc ...

Gia Định province ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth ...

. These situations forced the Minh Mạng Emperor to work with a smaller and more flexible close-knit group as he needed to discuss classified communications, military emergencies, and rapid response to the war situation. This was the reason why the ''Cơ mật viện'' was established. In 1897 the Resident-Superior of Annam was granted the power to appoint the Nguyễn dynasty Emperors and presided over the meetings of the Viện cơ mật.Trần Gia Phụng. ''Trung Kỳ Dân biến 1908''.

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada, 2008. Pages: 35-40. These moves incorporated French officials directly into the administrative structure of the Imperial Huế Court and further legitimised French rule in the legislative branch of the Nguyễn government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vien co mat Government of the Nguyễn dynasty 1834 establishments in Vietnam Privy councils