Confucian Constitutionalism in Imperial Vietnam

帝制越南的儒家憲政主義

近來主宰傳統對東亞帝制政府觀點的「東方專制主義」已經被「儒家憲政主義」的學術研究所挑戰。為了展示我們對於儒家憲政主義展現在不同儒家地區的全面探索，本論文將以帝制越南作為個案，並聚焦在阮朝初葉之上。本研究揭示許多體現儒家「禮」精神的憲政規範，亦即先王的典範、儒家經典中的政治規範、祖傳的先例與先朝的制度被用以限縮皇室權力。此外，本論文發現結構化的論壇，包括科舉制度、審議機構、教育機構、諫官制度與史官制度，讓學而優則仕的官員可以運用這些規範來限制皇權。在實踐的面向上，本論文指出這些規範與制度在控制統治者方面，因為缺乏必要的機關獨立性而產生的限制。同時本文亦認為這些規範與制度的相對有效性可被達成，要歸功於傳統的力量。本研究最後指出幾點涵意：首先，傳統憲政規範與體制的可及性是在當代越南推廣現代憲政主義的文化基礎。再者，越南經驗的史實材料有希望用以更進一步研究儒家憲政主義在東亞的實踐，與修正對本區域以「東方專制主義」作為帝制政體基礎的理解。第三，這些發現也對前現代憲政主義作一更普遍的反思有所助益。

The phantasm of “Oriental despotism” dominating our conventional views of East Asian imperial government has been recently challenged by the scholarship of “Confucian constitutionalism.” To contribute to our full discovery of the manifestations of Confucian constitutionalism in diverse Confucian areas, this paper considers the case of imperial Vietnam with a focus on the early Nguyễn dynasty. The investigation reveals numerous constitutional norms as the embodiment of the Confucian li used to restrain the royal authority, namely the models of ancient kings, the political norms in the Confucian classics, the ancestral precedents, and the institutions of the precedent dynasties. In addition, the paper discovers structuralized forums enabling the scholar-officials to use the norms to limit the royal power, including the royal examination system, the deliberative institutions, the educative institution, the remonstrative institution, and the historical institution. In practical dimension, the paper demonstrates the limitations of these norms and institutions in controlling the ruler due to the lack of necessary institutional independence. At the same time, it also suggests that the relative effectiveness of these norms and institutions could be achieved thanks to the power of tradition. The study finally points out several implications. First, the availability of the constitutional norms and institutions in the tradition is the cultural foundation for the promotion of modern constitutionalism in the present-day Vietnam. Second, the factual material concerning the Vietnamese experiences can hopefully be used for further study of the practice of Confucian constitutionalism in East Asia and further revision of the “Oriental despotism”－based understanding of imperial polity in the region. Third, the findings may also be useful for a more general reflection on pre-modern constitutionalism.