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 species; as well as the ...

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, and court adviser in the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

History

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

Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

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 campaign ...

from

Hà Tĩnh Hà Tĩnh () is a city in Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 236. It is the capital of Hà Tĩnh Province, and lies in the North Central Coast region. It is located on National Highway 1A. The Vietnamese capital Han ...

. 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 Vietnamese Emperor Dục Đức and Empress Dowager Từ Minh. He reigned as emperor for 18 years, from 1889 t ...

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 official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Hưng Yên Hưng Yên () is a city in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam. It is the old capital of Hưng Yên Province and is a third-graded city according to Vietnam's urban classification table. History Hưng Yên city was originally the expansion ...

(1889) and

minister of education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

(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 (張如岡), a pro-French collaborator, coerced his colleagues to sign a petition to the Thành Thái Emperor to demote him to the position of

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 Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

(副王, ''Phó vương''), Cao Xuân Dục refused to sign - instead he wrote a quick poem on the petition. Because of that, he was demoted to be the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

and

district magistrate The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

of Quốc Oai district, Hoàng Xá prefecture outside of

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 ...

. A

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

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 () is the literature, both oral and written, created largely by the Vietnamese. Early Vietnamese literature has been greatly influenced by Chinese literature. As Literary Chinese was the formal written language for governmen ...

. A street in

Ho Chi Minh City 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 ...

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 Annals (, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between annals and histor ...

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 People from Nghệ An province

History

Writings

See also

Notes