Cao Xuân Dục ( vi-hantu, 高春育; 1843–1923) was a scholar,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

- mandarin, and court adviser in the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

History

Cao Xuân Dục was born in Thịnh Mỹ, Diễn Châu, Nghệ An. In 1876, he entered Vietnamese

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 ...

and was awarded the degree of provincial graduate (舉人 - cử nhân), in the same class with the famous anti-French patriot

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 ...

from Hà Tĩnh. He served under the Nguyễn Emperors

Đồng Khánh Đồng Khánh (, vi-hantu, 同慶, lit. "collective celebration"; 19 February 1864 – 28 January 1889), born Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Kỷ (阮福膺祺) or Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Đường (阮福膺禟), also known as Chánh Mông (正蒙), was the ...

and

Thành Thái Thành Thái (, vi-hantu, 成泰; 14 March 1879 – 20 March 1954) born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân (阮福寶嶙), was the son of Emperor Dục Đức and Empress Dowager Từ Minh. He reigned as emperor for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907. Biog ...

and held several important government posts including

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Hưng Yên Hưng Yên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the provincial capital of Hưng Yên Province and is a third-graded city according to Vietnam's city classification table. Geography *Hưng Yên is a delta city. It is located in the south of Hưng Yên ...

(1889) and minister of education (1907). He was one of the four top advisers to the Emperor during the Vietnam-France conflict in the early 20th century. When Trương Như Cương, a pro-French collaborator, coerced his colleagues to sign a petition to Thành Thái to promote him to

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

, Dục refused to sign. Instead he wrote a quick poem on the petition. He was later vilified by Cương's group and demoted to a lowly local post in Hoàng Xá outside of

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...

. A

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Cao Xuân Dục was sculptured on a wall in a cave in this local region to commemorate his righteousness. Cao Xuân Dục retired in 1913 to concentrate on building his library, ''Long Cương Bảo Tàng Thư Viện'' (named after his pseudonym), collecting and maintaining

Vietnamese literature Vietnamese literature ( vi, Văn học Việt Nam; chữ Nôm: 文學越南) is the literature, both oral and written, created largely by the Vietnamese. Early Vietnamese literature has been greatly influenced by Chinese literature. As Literary Chi ...

. A street in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

was named after Cao Xuân Dục

Writings

Cao Xuân Dục made significant contribution in maintaining Vietnamese culture and literature in 19th and 20th century.Cao xuân Dục - Nhà văn hoá lớn cận đại
- A/Prof. Chương Thâu (history) He spent many years writing, collecting, copying, re-writing and preserving valuable books including: * Annals of Đại Nam
Quốc triều chính biên toát yếu
* Quốc triều khoa bảng lục - records of biographies of graduates of major imperial exams

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Xuan Duc 1843 births 1923 deaths 20th-century Vietnamese historians Nguyen dynasty officials 19th-century Vietnamese historians

History

Writings

See also

Notes