''Zhuangyuan'', or ''trạng nguyên'' in Vietnamese, variously translated into English as principal graduate, primus, or optimus, was the title given to the scholar who achieved the highest score on highest level of the

Imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

, (in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

) and (in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

) in ancient China and Vietnam. In China,

Fu Shanxiang Fu Shanxiang (; 1833 – 1864) was a Chinese scholar from Nanjing who became Chancellor under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a rebel Chinese state opposed to the Qing dynasty in the 1850s. Fu is known as the first (and last) female ''Zhuangyuan'' ...

is known as the first (and last) female zhuangyuan ''(nü zhuangyuan'') in Chinese history, but under the

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Qi ...

, not the regular imperial exams. After the Taipings captured the city of Nanjing, they offered an exam for women in January 1853 in which Fu attained the highest score. In Vietnam, the first trạng nguyên in history was

Lê Văn Thịnh Lê Văn Thịnh (, 1038 – 1096), courtesy name Mậu Phu (茂夫), was an official in the royal court of the Lý dynasty. Ranking first in the first imperial examination of the Lý dynasty, Lê Văn Thịnh was appointed tutor for Lý Nhân T� ...

, who lived in the

Lý dynasty The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...

era and was the one who persuaded the Song to give back 6 districts of Quảng Nguyên (today

Hà Giang province Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ. Notable people with the surname Hà *Hà Kiều Anh, Mis ...

) to Vietnam. The first female trạng nguyên ''(nữ trạng nguyên'') is Nguyễn Thị Duệ who later become a consort of the Mạc Emperor

Mạc Kính Cung Mạc Kính Cung (莫敬恭, ?–1593) was the eighth emperor of the Mạc dynasty. He reigned from 1592–1625. He was the seventh son of Mạc Kính Điển. The emperor Mạc Kính Chỉ was captured by Trịnh lord in 1593, he was enthroned ...

and later become a consort of the

Lê Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-co ...

Emperor

Lê Thần Tông Lê Thần Tông (黎神宗, 19 November 1607 – 2 November 1662) was the 17th emperor of Vietnamese Later Lê dynasty. Biography Lê Thần Tông's birth name is Lê Duy Kỳ (黎維祺). He was born in 1607 and reigned in 1619–1643 followin ...

and well as an official of a

Trịnh lord Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name, which is also common in some countries such as Korea (Jung, Jeong). A considerable portion of families that bear the surname Trinh are ethnically Vietnamese. Notable people *Trịnh Như Khuê, First Cardina ...

after the fall of the Mạc dynasty.

In China

In total, there were 596 zhuangyuan in ancient China.

Noteworthy ''zhuangyuan''

Chen Wenlong Chen Wenlong (, 9 March 1232 – 17 January 1277) was a scholar-general in the last years of the Southern Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty. He became the City God of Fuzhou and Putian. Biography Chen was born on 9 March 1232 (the 16th D ...

Weng Tonghe Weng Tonghe (; 1830–1904), courtesy name Shuping (), was a Chinese Confucian scholar and imperial tutor who lived in the Qing dynasty. In 1856, he obtained the position of ''zhuangyuan'' (or top scholar) in the imperial examination and was subs ...

Hong Jun Hong Jun (; died 1893) was a Chinese diplomat. From 1887 to 1890 he had served as a special emissary of the Qing dynasty government to Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria. Wang, David Der-wei, p103 History In 1887 Hong Jun, then a majo ...

, the first and only woman to become a ''zhuangyuan'' *

Mo Xuanqing Mo Xuanqing (, August 17, 834) born in Zhaoqing, modern Guangdong, was the youngest Zhuangyuan in the imperial examinations during the Tang Dynasty, in Chinese history. He was known as a talented person from the age of 12. In 851, at the age of 17 ...

, was the youngest Zhuangyuan in the imperial examinations during the Tang dynasty * Sun Fujia, ( :zh:孫伏伽 (?-658),

''dali qing'' (chamberlain of the Court of Judicial Review), highly regarded for his candid advice to Gaozu and

Taizong Taizong is the temple name used for several Chinese sovereign, monarchs of China. It may refer to: * Tai Jia ( 16th-century BC), king of the Shang dynasty * Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng (202 BC–157 BC, reigned 180 BC–157 BC), also known as E ...

, the first ''zhuangyuan'' in history. *

Tang Gao Tang Gao (唐皋，1469–1526) was born in Yansi town (巖寺鎮), She county (歙縣), Huizhou (徽州府), South Zhili (南直隸), in Ming China. Tang Gao became the Zhuangyuan, or Number One Scholar (狀元) in the ninth year (1514) of the ...

, became the Zhuangyuan in the ninth year (1514) of the Zhengde Emperor's reign during the Ming dynasty *

Wen Tianxiang Wen Tianxiang (; June 6, 1236 – January 9, 1283), noble title Duke of Xin (), was a Chinese poet and politician in the last years of the Southern Song dynasty. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Southern Song dynasty, and for ...

, was a scholar-general in the last years of the Southern

. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Song, and for his refusal to yield to the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

despite being captured and tortured * Yu Minzhong, who served as chief grand councilor for part of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of

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-speak ...

. *

Lin Hongnian Lin Hongnian (, 1805–1885) was a politician, writer and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty. Lin was born in Houguan county, Fuzhou. In 1836, he achieved the highest score in the Imperial examination and was appointed as the senior compiler in ...

Zhang Sanjia Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

( :zh:張三甲 (1876–1898),

), the last military ''zhuangyuan'' in Chinese history. *

Liu Chunlin / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...

( :zh:劉春霖 (1872–1942),

), the last ''zhuangyuan'' in Chinese history.

In Vietnam

In total, there were 56 trạng nguyên in ancient Vietnam.

Noteworthy ''Trạng nguyên''

, the first ''trạng nguyên'' in history. *

Huyền Quang Huyền Quang (玄光), 1254–1334, his real name is Lý Đạo Tái (李道載), he was born in Vạn Tải village, Nam Sách District, Lạng Giang. Now it is Vạn Tải village, Thái Bảo commune, Gia Bình district, Bắc Ninh province ...

, real name Lý Đạo Tái, a politician and later Buddhist monk who lived during the reign of Emperor

Trần Nhân Tông Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the throne to his son Tr� ...

during the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...

. He was considered to be equal with the first six patriarchs of the Zen Buddhist tradition. *

Nguyễn Hiền Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...

, the youngest to become a ''trạng nguyên'' when he was 13 years old, later died at 21 years old. He also many times become an envoy to meet the

Mạc Đĩnh Chi Mạc Đĩnh Chi (; 1272–1346) was a renowned Vietnamese Confucian scholar who was the highest-scoring graduate in the palace examinations at the age of only twenty-four. He served three Trần dynasty emperors—first Trần Anh Tông until 1314 ...

(莫挺之,1272–1346) a scholar and envoy who served three emperors of the

, as well as the ancestor of the first emperor of the

Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...

Mạc Thái Tổ Mạc ( Hán tự: 莫) is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Mo in Chinese and Mua in Hmong language. It is also of Gaelic origin, meaning son, used as a prefix in many Irish and Scottish surnames e.g. MacDonald, and MacG ...

* Nguyễn Trực * Phạm Đôn Lễ *

Lương Thế Vinh Lương Thế Vinh (1441–1496) was an prominent Vietnamese scholar and mathematician of the fifteenth century. Life Lương Thế Vinh was born in the district of Vụ Bản, Nam Định Province, and during the mid-15th century. He obtained ...

(梁世榮, 1441–1496) a mathematician, buddhist and poet who lived during Emperor

Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning empe ...

's reign *

Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm ( Hán tự: 阮秉謙; 1491–1585) was a Vietnamese administrator, confucianist, poet, prophet and later a saint of the Cao Dai religion and of the new religious movement known as School of Teaching Goodness. Bio ...

* Nguyễn Thị Duệ, the first and only female ''trạng nguyên'' * Nguyễn Đăng Đạo * Trịnh Tuệ *

Phan Đình Phùng Phan Đình Phùng (; 1847January 21, 1896) was a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in Vietnam. He was the most prominent of the Confucian court scholars involved in anti-French military campaigns ...

* Nguyễn Phong Di, the last ''trạng nguyên'' in history.

In modern culture

In modern Chinese, zhuangyuan is used to refer to anyone who achieves the highest mark on a test, or, more generally, to anyone who is at the forefront of his or her field.《现代汉语词典》，商务印书馆，第五版， In mainland China, the term is most often used to refer to the highest score at the provincial level for either the social sciences (文科) or physical sciences (理科) track of the annual ''

gaokao The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the underg ...

'' college entrance exam.

In China

Noteworthy ''zhuangyuan''

In Vietnam

Noteworthy ''Trạng nguyên''

In modern culture

See also

References

Further reading