2009

FRANCO-VIETNAMESE SCHOOLS AND

HARVARD-YENCHING
THE TRANSITION FROM CONFUCIAN TO A
INSTITUTE WORKING
NEW KIND OF INTELLECTUAL IN THE
PAPER SERIES
COLONIAL CONTEXT OF TONKIN

TRAN Thi Phuong Hoa| Vietnam Institute of History

Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa -1-

Franco-Vietnamese schools
and the transition from Confucian to a new kind of intellectuals
in the colonial context of Tonkin*

Tran Thi Phuong Hoa

PhD Candidate, Vietnam Institute of History
Visiting Fellow, Harvard-Yenching Institute

The first decades of XX century witnessed a mixed picture of the Vietnamese

colonial society when its imperial background was being shaken and replaced with
emerging quasi-capitalist elements. Dramatic changes took place in all aspects,
including political, economic, cultural, creating one of the most turbulent times in
Vietnamese history. One area where these changes found their trajectory reflection is
education, which in turn, resulted in subsequent social changes. The French placed
special attention to developing education, which would be a tool to realize so called
civilization mission on the one hand and to facilitate the French domination on the
other hand. On Vietnamese side, the Vietnamese intellectuals utilized French schools
on their purposes: to gain promotion in the clerk career, to use schools as front for
propaganda of nationalism ideologies, or simply to seek a certificate to make up
positions in the changing society. In Tonkin, the shift from Confucian classes to the
new kind of schools that officially took place in 1906, underwent several educational
reforms. This paper argues that schools with their reforms, teachers, curriculum,
ethics created a new generation of Vietnamese intellectuals, whose images varied
from time to time and from place to place. In Tonkin, where the Confucianism had
the longest influence compared to the other two territories of Vietnam (Cochinchina
and Annam), the new Western-style intellectuals were configured as early as the
1920s-1930s and grasped peaks in press, literature, arts, science. They filled up the

*
This paper was presented at the Harvard Graduate Students Conference on East Asia in February
2009.

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intellectual vacuum that Confucian legacy left behind and created one of the most
dramatic period in Vietnamese cultural history.

I. Educational context in Tonkin late XIX-early XX century

Tonkin was one of the five territories in French Indochina (the other were
Cochinchina, An Nam, Laos, Cambodia). Its area was approximately 105,000 sq km
(equal to one sixth of the Indochinese total area of 720,000 sq km) with the
population of 6,850,000, accounting for 42% compared to 17 million of Indochina
and about 44% compared to 15,580,000 of Vietnam (1922). It was the most
populated region in Indochina with high residential density in Red River Delta.

Map of Provinces of Tonkin (Hoc Bao, January 1938)

Before the French invasion of Vietnam in 1858, there had been two main
kinds of education: Chinese-based or Confucian education and Buddhist education,

Hoc bao, December 18, 1922, according to the first census in 1921

Hoc bao, Nov 13, 1922, according to the first census in 1921

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which had the longest history in Tonkin than in any territories in Vietnam. As soon as
the French conquered Vietnam, they planned to set up their educational system,
starting with schools for teaching French to Vietnamese and Vietnamese to French, in
addition to missionary schools, which existed much earlier to train Vietnamese for
religious purposes. Not until 1870 when the Third Republic was established and
returned to the assimilation principles, that were the first French schools set up in
Cochinchina (as early as 1861, with the arrival of Admiral Charner), and later on in
Tonkin 1886 and in Annam 1896. It means that those schools were organized prior to
the establishment of the official colonial administration and any political
configuration (the French Indochinese administration was officially established in
1897). In addition to abstract assimilation theory, the practical need for training
interpreters or government clerks made this (Annamites learning French)
imperative. Before 1906, the Franco-Vietnamese education did not exist as a system.
Traditional Confucian education still played a key role in Tonkin, though it lost its
advantages as the Vietnamese elite-based dominant scholarship

1. Criticism of Confucian learning

Before 1906, there were at least two Confucian criticizing waves. The first
was headed by Nguyen Truong To (1830-1871) ** , Pham Phu Thu (1821-1882)
Nguyen Lo Trach (1853-1898) , the second was provoked by Dong Kinh Nghia
Thuc (Tonkin Free School Movement). They saw the narrow-mindedness, closeness,
complacence and uncreativeness of Vietnamese Confucianism as hindering forces
toward developing the country.
After the French invaded Vietnam, Nguyen Truong To was likely the first
Vietnamese Confucianism-nurtured literati who pointed out the disadvantageous

Thompson V. (1937). French Indochina. New York: Macmillan Company, p.285

**
Truong Ba Can (ed). Nguyn Trng T con ngi v di tho. Publisher of Hochiminh City, 2002;
Nguyn Trng T vi vn canh tn t nc/ Collection of Conference papers on Nguyen Truong
To and the questions of innovation, organized by the Han-Nom Center, Hochiminh City, 1992; Hoang
Thanh Dam. Nguyn Trng T, thi th v t duy cch tn. Publisher of Arts, Hochiminh City, 2001.

Thai Nhan Hoa (ed). Phm Ph Th vi t tng canh tn. Association of Historian, Hochiminh
City, 1994.

Mai Cao Chuong, Doan Le Giang. Nguyn L Trch, iu trn v th vn. Hanoi, Social Sciences
Publisher, 1995.

3
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situation of Vietnam caused by narrow-minded and complacent people they had

known hundreds of professions, but they were relax-favored and joy- biased, they did
not want to change and innovate their technology. They were confined themselves to
a territory, where they found themselves the superior and nobody could be compared
to them. Therefore they needed nothing more than repeating their old thinking, which
they considered the bestThey looked at the hostile (Western people) as ridiculous,
without knowing that the former had learnt and utilized their technology but with
much more sophisticated improvement. Nguyen Truong To also showed his doubt
in literature-based exams, which was used as the only way to select mandarins as
Nguyen Dynasty practiced, especially when comparing with Western tradition They
(Western) never set up examinations for mandarin selection. Because poetry could
not expel the enemies, thousands words could not make up a strategy***. Nguyen
Truong To himself visited France and some other European countries (he was a
Confucian-scholar Catholic), where he was impressed with the Western technology.
He also encountered the new literature from China, which appraised Western
civilization. These two sources created his pro-Western points of view.
If Nguyen Truong To did not take the direct attack on Vietnamese Confucians,
Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc people exercised much stronger criticisms. Van minh tan
hoc sach (New Book on Civilization) published in 1904 was one of the textbook of
Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc. Its very first pages depicted the shortcomings of arrogant
Confucians Some high ranking mandarins (who made career through exams)
considered themselves the virtues-preservers, only know how to read poems, stick to
old dogma, despise teachers and civilization. The other ones, who are even worse
because the only thing they know is climbing the mandarin ranks. Dong Kinh

Nguyen Truong To. Di tho s 4- K hoch lm cho dn giu nc mnh (thng 5 T c 17

khong 20-6 n 18-7 nm 1864)/ In Truong Ba Can (compiled): Nguyn Trng T, con ngi v di
tho. Hochiminh City Publisher, 2002, p. 157.
***
Nguyen Truong To. Di tho s 18- V vic hc thc dng (23 thng 7 nm T c 19, tc 1 thng
9 nm 1866)/ In Truong Ba Can (compiled): Nguyn Trng T, con ngi v di tho. Hochiminh
City Publisher, 2002, p. 223.

Van minh tan hoc sach. In Chuong Thau (compiled). Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc va phong tro ci cch
vn ha u th k XX. Publisher of Culture and Information, 1997, p.119.

4
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Nghia Thuc also disseminated poems aiming at denouncing old-fashioned scholars

regarding them as elements of preventing the society from development.
Regarding the Confucian classics the unique source of learning, the
Vietnamese used them without any creativeness or modification. That often led to the
situation when teachers read aloud the texts and students repeated without
understanding. Ironically, Vietnamese writers and scholars copied the Chinese ideas
and expressions, regardless of their nonexistence in Vietnamese reality. Meantime,
Vietnamese life, nature, people were ignored. As a result, a poor picture of
Vietnamese livings, learning, entertaining was depicted. Academically, throughout
one thousand years of Confucianism penetration in Vietnam, the Vietnamese learnt
Chinese books without any modification. A few adaptations were made in Tu Duc
time but in general, the conventional way of learning was that the teacher read
aloud the sentence from a book (Tam Tu Kinh for children, who began learning),
gave interpretation (but in some cases, the teacher himself did not understand
thoroughly), then students repeated. Throughout the 1000 year of Confucianism in
Vietnam, Tran Trong Kim (1883-1953) was likely the first scholar who gave the
interpretation of Confucian ideas in his book Nho Giao (Confucianism- 1929-1933).
Although some of his explanations were criticized by contemporary scholars, his
book revealed how the Vietnamese scholars understood Confucius.
The need of replacement of Confucian learning by other kind of education
was aware of by scholars. As soon as the new system was announced (although on
paper) in 1906, founders of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc submitted application to the
Governor Paul Beau requesting for permission to open the school. In fact, this school
could be classified as indigenous in the new system. Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc was an
echo to Duy Tan movement initiated by Phan Chu Trinh, pointing out three
approaching lines to reform the country Enlightening people (Khai dn tr),
Strengthening national spirit (Chn dn kh), Improving living standard (Hu dn

A book Khi ng thuyt c was complied by Ngo The Vinh in 1853 to teach children about
Confucian philosophy in a more simple way. In Tran Van Giap. Tm hiu kho sch Hn Nm. H Ni:
Th Vin Quc gia xut bn, 1970, p. 254

Ngo Tat To. Ph bnh Nho Gio ca Trn Trng Kim. Thi v from No 80 (11/1938)- No87
(12/1938), reprinted in Tuyn tp Ph bnh vn hc Vit Nam. T4. H Ni: Nh xut bn Vn hc,
1997.

5
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sinh). The book New learning of civilization (Vn minh tn hc sch) was
introduced and became guidebook for the school where the teachers directed learners
towards a European-style society with western laws, government, industry, science,
and pushed forward renovating Vietnamese education. In addition to provoking
patriotism, the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc founders strongly advocated modernization
process and stimulated effective economic activities. To raise the funds to run the
Dong Kinh, the former Confucian intellectuals had to do business but most of their
attempts led to losses as they did not have any knowledge and experiences (they even
felt shy when doing trading), and eventually, all activities of Dong Kinh were donated
by some rich progressive benefactors.
In 1907, in his work The New Vietnam, Phan Boi Chau, a brilliant
Confucian scholar, who gave up his mandarin career to pursue national liberalization
goals, figured out his ideas about a perfect educational system to replace the
contemporary imperfect one that he referred to as old-fashioned and
****
conservative . He looked forward to modernization of Vietnamese education
when
..both the royal court and the society will devote all their efforts to education,
moral as well as physical; ..we shall learn everything. Day care centers, kindergartens,
primary and secondary schools, university. ..will be created everywhere from the
vities to the countryside.. We shall invite teachers from Japan, Europe and America.
After a while some of the teachers will still be foreigners, but some of them will be
recruited from among our own people
In the same year 1907, Phan Chu Trinh wrote a letter to Governor-General
Paul Beau, describing the critical situation of the Vietnamese country, including
educational problems.
Yet, Confucian learning and all its accompanying elements still took deep
roots in Vietnamese society in the early decades of XX century. The appearance of
French schools created a specific picture of Vietnamese society when the old learning
was fading but the new was still seeking its position.

****
Phan Boi Chau. The New Vietnam, translated by Truong Buu Lam in Colonial Experience-
Vietnamese Writing on Colonialism, 1900-1931, published by the University of Michigan Press, 2000

Phan Boi Chau, ibid, p.113

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2. Elements of French schools and the mixture with the Confucian factors
Primitive Franco-Annamite schools were built up first in Cochinchina and
then in Tonkin. In the former, by the end of 1869, there were 126 primary schools,
having 4,700 pupils out of a population of more than one million. In the latter, the
first schools were not for children. Instead, they were for training interpreters and
retraining mandarins. When Paul Bert came to Tonkin as its first Superior Resident in
1886, there were 3 French schools. One year later, in 1887, at the Colonial Exhibition
held in Hanoi, 42 schools sent their results, including 9 boys and 4 girls primary
schools. In 1887, according to Dumoutier statistics, there were 140 Quoc Ngu schools
(Romanized Vietnamese language schools) with predominantly adult students (some
of them were 45, 49 or 52 years old). Being an outstanding sinologist, Dumoutier,
the Franco-Annamite school organizer and inspector, a dedicated assistant to Paul
Bert, pointed out the educational aims in 1887 ***** School is the most effective,
strongest and most convincing tool and he also stressed If we (French) want to
exercise our influence in these pays, to draw Indochinese people to follow our way, to
liberate them and raise their spirit, we should deliver our ideas to them, teach them
our language and everything should start from school. Based on the Chinese
philosophy that considered education to be the most important governing instrument,
Dumoutier quoted Kangxi Emperor 200 years ago, Kangxi wrote Law can regulate
people in a period of time, whereas education ties people forever.
But Dumoutier criticized educational plan imposed to Cochinchina when
Chinese learning was totally eliminated and replaced by French, referring as hasty,
awkward schooling policy. Two reasons leading to Dumoutiers reproach of French
education policy in Conchinchina were elimination of Chinese means elimination of
moral lessons since the French do not have any ideas of what will be taught (to
Vietnamese) in moral classes and the French could not immediately be the language

Thompson V. ibid

Dumoutier M.G. (1887). Les Dbute de lEnseignement Franais au Tondin, p.1

*****
Dumoutier M.G. (1887). ibid. p. 1

Dumoutier M. G. (1887). ibid. p.1

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa -8-

of instruction in schools since there were financial and personal shortages when
budget for education was 15p (xu) per person.

Map of French Indochina (1930)- Historical Atlas of Southeast Asia

By the end of the XIX century, French education had only one function of
supplying a small number of interpreters and retrained mandarins for the colonial
administration. Few schools were newly built. Few people learnt French and Quoc
Ngu. Common people still rushed to old style of examinations, though they knew that
Confucianism would soon be of no use under French-control administration.
In 1882, the French burned the Hanoi Examination Square (the place is now
the Hanoi National Library). Since then all candidates of Hanoi and Hanam should
take exams together in one exam square. Tran Te Xuong (Tu Xuong), a contemporary
distinguished satirical poet who took 8 exams in this life (1870-1907), was thought
not to learn French and Quoc Ngu. Although the question if he learnt or not is still
controversial, it is clear that he did not have any enthusiasm toward new kind of
learning. He several times expressed his opinion about this.
Khng hc vn Ty I wont learn Western (French) language

Dmoutier M. G. (1887). ibid. p.9

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa -9-

M bo vn Ty chng kh g You say Western language is not difficult

Cho tin i hc ch thi And you will give me money to learn
Thi thi ly m xanh-cng ly No, no, I beg you with cinquante bows
M t ti khng tng bt ch My ancestors had never used a pencil

In 1894, Tu Xuong gained his first title Tu tai among 11 thousands examinees
(60 tien si, 200 tu tai to be selected), compared to 9 thousands of 1891 exam. In
1897, Tu Xuong ironically described the scene when the General Governor Doumer
and his wife came to the ceremony

Nh nc ba nm m mt khoa The State holds exams every three years

Trng Nam thi ln vi trng H Nam Dinh and Ha Noi candidates sit together
Li thi s t vai eo l Slovenly examinees carrying pots
m o quan trng ming tht loa Mandarins-supervisors announce loudly on
C ko rp tri quan s n speakers
Vy l qut t m m ra There he goes, Governor General with flags
Nhn ti t Bc no ai There she goes, with her long dress
Ngonh mt m trng cnh nc Where are talents of the North?
nh Look back at the Fatherlands situation

Tu Xuong took exams until 1906 but neither Quoc Ngu nor French tests had
been done by him, according to his poetry memoir.
By the end of the XIX century, the Vietnamese society faced a critical cultural
situation inherited from one thousand years of Chinese learning. What we called
Confucianism left extremely poor legacy, which could only be found in scholastic
dreams, all ending in exams. Confucian ideology was weak and incompetentIt did

According to Nguyen Tuan, he by chance got this information on a newspaper which delivered
news about examination of 1897. Nguyen Tuan (1961). Thi v th T Xng/ Vn ngh, May/1961,
republished in T Xng- Th, Li bnh v Giai thoi. H Ni: Vn ho thng tin, 2000.

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nothing but deepening the feeble mind******. There was no identical philosophy, no
national scholarship (Quoc hoc). Vietnamese language was neglected and looked
down. National literature did not depict the real picture of the contemporary society,
but took exotic themes. The country needed a new generation of intellectuals, who
would fill up that vacuum.
When the French invaded Vietnam, French soon took dominating position as
an official language and a medium at schools. And again, Vietnamese were forced to
be a reluctant, but great borrower, imitator. Before we were Chinese, now we are
French, and we have never been ourselves, Vietnamese , poet Luu Trong Lu
bitterly groaned. It was not only violence with military force, it was language and
education that the French rulers wanted to assimilate Indochinese in general and
Vietnamese in particular. Along with the French- controlled administration, French
education, followed by the French culture, found the way to spill over. It took
decades for them to penetrate into Vietnamese society, doing which the Chinese had
spent almost 2000 years.

II. School reforms (1906-1945), new curriculum and its intension of

building a new man
School reforms
General Governor Paul Beaus reform in 1906 started the process of
restructuring school system which underwent three main phases. The first phase was
to maintain the indigenous section in the educational system which could be divided
into three parts: the French schools, the Franco-Indigenous schools and the
Indigenous schools; the second phase (1917-1924) was associated with the General
Regulation of Education, which promulgated by Governor Albert Sarraut who based
the centralized binary educational system on the French and the Franco-Indigenous
schools and the third phase (1924-1945) was associated with Governors Merlin and
Varenne who decided to expand Franco-Vietnamese education by opening
indigenous elementary schools in villages and communes.

******
Tran Van Giau (2003). Tc phm c gii thng H Ch Minh. H.: Khoa hc X hi, p. 527.

Luu Trong Lu (1939). Mt nn vn chng Vit Nam Tao n, s2, ra ngy 16/3/1939. In li
trong Lun v Quc hc. Nxb Nng v Trung tm Nghin cu Quc hc,1998.

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The new educational system officially took shape in 1906 when the Council
for the Improvement of Indigenous Education was established. The Indochinese
Direction Public Education was also founded, headed by M. H. Gourdon, under
which there were Services of Education in all parts of Indochina. In Annam
particularly there was Ministry of Education under the Court of Hue, headed by the
Minister Cao Xuan Duc. In 1881 the French authority required that Quoc Ngu
(Romanized Vietnamese language) should be used officially in Cochinchina and 30
years later this requirement was applied to Tonkin (1910). However, only clerks and
mandarins were motivated to learn Quoc Ngu as it was related to their promotion.
The common people found no need to learn Quoc Ngu because there was nothing to
do with it as few books, newspapers written in Quoc Ngu this time. Meanwhile
Franco-Vietnamese schools developed slowly. Until 1917 there were only 67 schools
of this kind in Tonkin with 1 primary superior (Tonkin had 22 provinces).
The virtual educational reform actually took place after the General-Governor
Albert Sarraut promulgated the General Regulation of Education in 1917, which
aimed at creating a centralized system of education in Indochina. French and Franco-
Indigenous schools were the two major entities of the whole system, where French
was the medium. However, this Regulation was criticized by both French and
Vietnamese by different reasons . The French colons in Vietnam were afraid that
the French medium used in schools might cause deracination and revolt and create
favourable conditions for Vietnamese to attend French schools and universities.
Vietnamese, especially the Vietnamese monarchy in Annam, was not interested in the
new Regulation of Education, as Annam was a part under the King, at least in term of
education. Whereas the Vietnamese urban elites greeted the Regulation with mixed
feelings. On the one hand they worried about the methods and resources to fulfil the
Regulation as it was quite far-reaching ambitious for French to be the instrument of
instruction at schools. On the other hand, they criticized that the Regulation was
aiming at rudimentary education with emphasis on primary, not post primary

Le Tonkin Scolaire, Hanoi: Impr dExtrme-Orient, 1931

Kelly G. (2000). Educational Reforms and Re-reform: Politics and the State in Colonial Vietnam/
in French Colonial Education. Ed. by David Kelly. New York, AMS Press. p.51

11
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education in spite of the re-institution of the university in Hanoi*******, which was in

fact a conglomerate of existing colleges. If Paul Beaus system was unlikely put into
realization and remained a tentative design, the ambitious Albert Sarrauts Regulation
was pushed more forward with gradual completion of 10 year primary cycle (the first
level) and the establishment of 3-year secondary schools by 1924.
The attempt to expand Franco-Vietnamese schools by opening village,
communal and cantonal schools from 1925 to 1927 were subject to criticism. These
poorly refurbished schools with one teacher (sometimes covered all three levels-
infant, preparatory, elementary) showed the trend of localization of French school
model. The new mass- oriented educational policy was in fact a process of
simplifying program, degrading schooling standard. Although it was interpreted as
horizontal development, education in Indochina in general and in Tonkin in particular
was not for wide mass. In 1930, in Tonkin, only 1,400 students were given Certificate
of Franco-Indigenous Primary Study among 4,700 candidates, the number of students
received Primary Superieur Education was 250 and 400 respectively .
According to General-Governor office statistics, by 1940, the children of school age
in Indochina was 3.5 million, whereas the students of all public and private primary
schools were 605,000, that means of 100 school age children there were 18
going to school.

New curriculum
The new subjects were gradually introduced since 1897 when the Governor
Paul Doumer stipulated that calculation, French test and Quoc Ngu test be included in
the exams, in addition to traditional Confucian learning requirements, which based on
Four Books and Five Classics. However, the new curriculum was officially
promulgated in 1910 for both primary and complementary schools. In the total
weekly school time of 27.5 hours, apart from moral lessons (1 h for the first two years
and 2 hours for the last two years), mathematics, science (6 hours), this 3-language

*******
Kelly G. (2000). ibid. p.55

Le Tonkin Scolaire, Hanoi: Impr dExtrme-Orient, 1931, Graphs

No 11&12.

V nh He. Thanh ngh-Hi k.H.: Vn hc, 1999, tr.332

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curriculum (French, Quoc Ngu, Chinese) gave main hours to French instruction (15
hours).

Table 1: Curriculum of schools in Tonkin from 1917- 1945

Schools Length of Students age Subjects Decree
study (years)
Elementary 3 7-9 Moral, Vietnamese, French1, Certificate of
2
Chinese characters , History and Elementary Studies
Geography of Tonkin and
Indochina, Hygiene and Physical
education, Arithmetic, Rudiments
of Manual Skill.
Primary 3 10-12 French, Vietnamese, Chinese Certificate of
2
Characters , Moral, Arithmetic, Primary Studies
Elements of Geometry, Basic
Physical and Natural Sciences,
Geography of Indochina,
Vietnamese History, Hygiene and
Physical Education, Manual Skills.
Higher 4 13-16 French, Vietnamese, Chinese Diploma of
2
Primary characters , Morals and Franco-Vietnamese
Psychology, History and Higher Primary
Geography of Indochina and Education
France, Natural History, Hygiene
and Physical Education, Maths,
Technology
Secondary 4 French, Vietnamese, Morals and Local
Psychology, History and Baccalaureate3
Geography of Indochina and
France, Mathematics, Physics,
Chemistry, Natural History,
Drawing, Technology
1. French is optional in village and communal schools, facultative in infant course and compulsory in
preparatory and elementary courses of schools de plein exercice

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2. From 1933, Programs of Primary and Higher Primary Schools in Tonkin included Chinese
characters (3h/week), but from 1938, Chinese became facultative in all levels
3. From 1930, local baccalaureate was recognized equal to French baccalaureate and the holder can
compete in the Metropolitan universities and at job market with other counterparts who held French
baccalaureate

The 1910 extremely demanding curriculum which had short life and mostly
existed on paper was replaced by the new one, stipulated by the General Regulation
of Education in 1917. As a supplementary to 1910 curriculum, the 1917 curriculum
gave more details to programs contents of Primary and Higher Primary. Since
1917, indigenous education was eliminated (Confucian exams were abolished in
Tonkin in 1915 and in Annam in 1919). The village or commune schools turned into
official elementary schools (3 class schools), schools of main towns or provinces
became primary schools de plein exercice (6 class schools). Elementary courses were
preparing students with sufficient French knowledge so that from the Course of
Moyen onward, French became the medium. Vietnamese occupied a minor place at
schools (3 hours as maximum in the total 28 school weekly hours)********.
The French-control Government put a major target of education at creating a
genuine indigenous modern elite . Since the early school years, the moral
lessons were focusing on training personality of this new elite. The mixed Confucian
and Western aesthetics were aiming at moulding a moral individual with strong sense
of duty, submissive characters on the one hand and building an economic individual
with good organizing habits on the other hand.

Schools planned to develop a moral man

Confucian morals still played a key role in Franco-Vietnamese schools,
especially schools of the first level. In the context of lack of textbooks, when students
owned only a reading book, other materials were mostly supplied by the teachers,

According to Albert Sarrauts General Regulation of Education, there are 3 Degrees : First
(Primary, including Elementary cycle and Primary Cycle); Second (Complementary- or Higher
Primary and Secondary); Third (Superior- University/College)
********
Le Tonkin Scolaire, Hanoi: Impr dExtrme-Orient, 1931, p. 46.

LInstruction Publique en Indochine/ Hc bo, July 1938, p.368

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Hoc Bao, a special pedagogical periodical, provided teaching materials for teachers of
elementary classes included infant, preparation, elementary. It was a main reference
for moral lessons. The first and foremost moral lesson of the all three classes was
duties. Family duty was considered the most important virtue. A man should show
obligation towards all family members: parents, grandparents (obedience, respect,
gratitude), brothers, sisters (love and defend each other), uncles, aunts, cousins,
siblings (politeness, kindness). In addition, he must have obligation to teachers
(obedience, respect), friends, colleagues (friendship, helpfulness). Moreover, he was
supposed to have obligation to his servants, maids (politeness, kindness). A man was
placed in a matrix of relations and he was trained to behave well and correctly. The
moral contents occupied much of Vietnamese-instructing materials (the other were
mathematics, history, geography, science, drawings). Except the moral lessons, the
reading, writing materials also had elements of moral implication.
Yet one of the typical virtue of the Vietnamese- patriotism- was omitted in the
school program. The word Vietnam had never been mentioned in Hoc Bao. All
territories were referred to as parts belonging to French Indochina: Tonkin, Annam,
Cochinchina. Throughout the period from 1922 to 1939, in Hoc Bao, there were two
short pieces of reading named Patriotism and ironically, one referred to a story in
the Chinese classic novel The warring states, and the other was translated
from a French text. The former told a story of an ambassador whose Kingdom
was invaded. This man spent 7 days and nights staying up to insist that the King of
the third country lead army to save his Kingdom. The ambassadors persistence was
considered patriotism. Whereas the French text gave several characteristics of the
genuine patriot who was supposed to be aware of his duties, be ready to fulfil those
duties, try to make the society more prosperous, be patient and tolerant to others.
Patriotism of the Vietnamese in the Vietnamese history was blurred. More critically,
the French were described as wise rulers, who managed to make Indochina more
prosperous.
Schools attempted to build a newly economic and industrial man

Hoc Bao, January 1, 1926, p. 572

Hoc Bao, March 8, 1926, p.327

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Except creating a moral man, schools took responsibilities to train men of

various professions, including commercial and industrial. In Vietnamese society,
there had likely been two kinds of man: intellectual (si) and peasant (nong). Although
the former was put higher than the latter, sometimes he was considered useless (Di
lng tn vi n no li nm- With long back, that costs cloth to make an outfit, he is
one who lies down after eating*********). In early XX century new professionals were
required to fill up the vacancies in administrative offices, commercial companies,
civil works institutions, factories. To meet the rising demands of human resources,
schools put forward the two-fold training aims: to develop economic thinking and to
train new jobs.
Hygiene, physical study and mathematics were the first Western-style subjects
to be imported to Indochinese schools. Students were exposed to the study of man
body for physical development, which their predecessors had never experienced.
Arithmetics, which was unfamiliar to Confucian scholars, now became one of the
main subjects at school. Students were prepared for practical life with budget
management, shopping, household financing, where economical living style was
encouraged.
In Paul Beaus educational system, vocational training occupied a significant
place. Since the early school years, students of elementary classes had lessons
introducing rudiment of manual work such as carpentry, moulding, .. for boys; sewing,
broidery.. for girls. In the second level (primary), in parallel with popular education
there was a separate vocational section, which developed after the General Regulation
of Education promulgation in 1917. Students of the 2 vocational schools in Tonkin
(one in Ha Noi and the other in Hai Phong), who may apply after graduation of
elementary schools (students with Certification of Elementary education had more
advantages), were given priorities as they were exempted from school fee, provided
with meals, learning facilities and an annual allowance of 6-8 dong (whereas
the tax per head in Tonkin was 2.7 dong a year). During the 3 year program,
vocational schools offered various skill training of carpentry, moulding, lathing,

*********
It was a traditional image of an intellectual who lies when reading.

An announcement of the vocational course of 3 years in Hai Phong city to enroll 50 students,
Hoc Bao, Sept 18, 1922.

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa - 17 -

electricity, car repairing (6-7 hours/day) and general education (2 hours/day).

Especially, the traditional professions were paid attention (copper moulding,
handicraft, fine art). In addition, schools of agriculture also provided students with
modern agricultural knowledge and skills.
The gap between urban and rural schools, teachers, students
In spite of holding more than 95% of population (in 1926, according to the
second census carried out by the French authorities, the population of Tonkin was
7,600,000, whereas the population of the four biggest cities- Hanoi, Hai Phong, Nam
Dinh, Hai Duong- totalling 254,780) , rural areas accommodated only
elementary schools (village, communal or cantonal). Some townships (district centre-
huyen)- had schools of de plein exercice (with primary courses). The number of this
kind of schools in Tonkin was 194 (1930). To get higher primary education, students
should go to provincial schools, the number of which was 11 in Tonkin (1930). And
there was only 1 secondary Franco-Vietnamese school (College of Protectorate),
which located in Hanoi.
In contrast to urban schools, which run by state budget, official elementary
and village elementary schools had problems with infrastructure, facilities, teachers
and students. Some official elementary schools were supported by state budget, but a
majority was run by local budget, whereas all village schools operated on local
budget and sometimes on individual donors, resulting in unstable financial situation.
These schools often had a few classes, in most cases only 1 class with one teacher
who covered all three levels- infant, preparatory, elementary. Village teachers were
subject to discrimination in term of salary and working hours. Moreover, they faced
difficulties such as students playing truant and heavy curriculum.
In the countryside, not all families could afford to pay for their children to go
to schools. The annual expenses of approximately 400 dong to pay for teachers, to
provide facilities (to accommodate 10-60 pupils) was contributed by each village.
Although parents did not have to pay tuition fee for children, they should spend
money on clothes, books, that accounted for a significant part in their in-kind income.

Figures collected by Nguyen The Hue in Bc u tm hiu v dn s nng thn Vit Nam
thi Cn i in Nng dn v Nng thn Vit Nam thi Cn i. H Ni: Nh xut bn Khoa hc X
hi, Vin S hc, 1992, tr.251

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa - 18 -

Moreover, as most population in the countryside were peasants, whose work ran
almost the whole year around, childs labour was required. Some parents preferred
their children to do housework rather than wasting time going to school. Hoc Bao
depicted the upset of teachers whenever they took roll-call because sometimes there
were only 6-7 students showed up. Reasons for mass truanting, in addition to those
listed above, were also they (parents, students) do not know where to use knowledge
learnt at schools- Quoc Ngu (writing Vietnamese language) was not often used in
villages). Furthermore, countryside parents, who were adapted to sublime and
enigmatic of the Confucian knowledge, found new learning too simple and
rude**********
Not only students unenthusiastic learning attitude that made village teachers
work thankless, poorly refurbished schools and unfair treatment caused his life
more desperate. Village teachers, who ranked the lowest in the 8-level range of
teachers, were paid much lower than their colleagues in cities or main towns (if
schools were run by local budget, a salary of 10 dong a month was common,
compared to average 30 dong a month for state teachers), but should work more hours
as one village teacher may cover students of 3 classes. Very often unhygienic
village conditions, diseases, village hooligan created more challenges for rural
teachers. Moreover, in the village, where the Confucian study still deeply rooted,
people have never seen a textbook, never read newspaper, teachers, who were
mostly young, would have felt isolated.

III. Responses of the Vietnamese toward the new learning

By 1943, after 37 years of existence, the Franco-Vietnamese schools gained some
results. In Tonkin, its system completed in 1925 with all schooling levels ranging
from elementary to secondary and university as the highest. By 1930, local
baccalaureate was recognized equal to French baccalaureate. In 1943, the population

Hoc Bao (1923). One thing that prevents village school activities (students play truant). 22
January, 1923.
**********
Nguyen Xuan Chu in his memory told that some parents stopped their children going to
school as they heard simple translation from French into Vietnamese such as I eat with sticks, I eat two
meals a day. In Hi k Nguyn Xun Ch. USA: Vn Ha, 1996

Each village school often had 1 teacher to cover 1 class, which comprised students of different
ages and levels. Hoc Bao, May 14, 1923.

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa - 19 -

of Tonkin was 9,851,000. The total number of students attending Franco-Vietnamese

schools during the period from 1906-1943 was 285,130, of which 244,000 going to
elementary cycle, 35,700 to primary cycle, 3,880 to higher primary cycle and 1,550 to
secondary cycle.
Facing the expansion of French education, intellectuals in Tonkin had mixed
responses. The status of being colonized pushed Vietnamese scholars into a struggle
within themselves between nationalism and desire to modernize, between patriotism
and attempt to westernize the country. Deeply absorbed in Confucian ethics,
nationalists such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh early saw the progressive forces
derived from Western (and much from French) civilization and wanted to employ it
to modernize Vietnam. They also attached great importance to education (Duy Tan
movement and Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc as its follow-up activities). The establishment
of Franco-Vietnamese schools, with focus on the combination of French and
Vietnamese language and at times with Chinese language, and the inclusion of
Vietnam-related subjects such as morals, history, literature, geography, inspired
intellectuals welcome the new Western-style learning, seeing it a good approach to
enlighten the people, develop the country, and consequently step towards to national
liberalization.
Franco-Vietnamese schools, in fact, produced a golden generation of
intellectuals of various professions in the 20s, 30s, 40s: talented journalists, who put
foundation to press in Tonkin, writers and poets- who inspired a new wave of
thinking into Vietnamese literature, distinguished artists- who brought Vietnamese
fine art to the world. Many doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers Recently, in an
online newspaper of the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology, Professor
Hoang Tuy claimed
Looking back at the history of the Vietnamese intelligentsia, I wonder why
among the intellectual generations in the last 80 years the most distinguished were
those who received education from Franco-Vietnamese or French schools. In the
period of 1930- 1945 they made up a new national cultural wave in poetry, arts,

France. Ministre de la France doutre-mer. Service des statistiques.Renseignements

statistiques sur lIndochine, 1946

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa - 20 -

music, science. They were people of great personality, talent. And many of those
intellectuals were involved in anti-French movement and devoted themselves to
national liberalization, opposing the concept that Franco- Vietnamese or French
schools only trained lackeys.
Schools were safe destination for many Vietnamese intellectuals. Earning a
living at schools was considered least slavery compared to other professions in the
colonial society***********. Vo Nguyen Giap (the first General of Vietnamese Army),
Nguyen Cong Hoan (famous writer), Nguyen Manh Tuong (earned two PhD degrees
from France at the age of 22) once chose teaching as their career.
Schools also created opportunities for Vietnamese of different opinions and
ideologies to get in their frontiers. A French with his memory as a student in Hanoi
in late 30s, early 40s was impressed by the contemporary revolutionary atmosphere in
the pedagogical environment:
Most of the Indochinese students at school were obviously Nationalists, some with
Communist tendencies, and among my contemporaries at school were some of Vietnams
future independence leaders and top party officials. There were would-be revolutionaries not
only among the students, but among the staff. Two teachers at my school- Maurice and
Yvonne Bernard, a French husband and wife- would later disappear over the border into
China. They were openly members of the Communist Party and would discuss their political
beliefs with anyone who would listen. They said the Communist Party, as part of the
politically legitimate Front Populaire, was very strong in France. My history teacher, who
also taught at the Lyce Thang Long, was rumoured to be a Communist with a police record
for subversive activities. But I could not think of Professeur Giap as a subversive. I felt a real
rapport with him;Many students, including myself, had leftist tendencies, socialist
symphathies, for the colonial system in Indochina did nothing to encourage native
capitalism.
Schools in urban areas, especially higher institutions such as College of
Protectorate, where students from all corners of Tonkin (and some from Laos and
Cambodia) came to study, were likely places for meetings, exchanging ideas,

Hoang Tuy (2008). c lp tr thc xng ng. Retrieved at http://www.tiasang.com.vn on

December 6, 2008.
***********
Nguyen Cong Hoan (1992). Chn dung vn hc. H Ni: Trng vit vn Nguyn Du. P.6.

Mandaley Perkins (2005). Hanoi, adieu- a bittersweet memoire of French Indochina. Harper
Collins Publisher, Australia. p. 34

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Tran, Thi Phuong Hoa - 21 -

propagandizing revolutionary ideologies. Not surprisingly, activists of different

political trends used schools for creating groups of common interests and exerting
their influence to broader audience.
Franco-Vietnamese schools in Tonkin, whose establishment and development
was related to the names of two French Governors-General: Paul Beau and Albert
Sarraut- who were known as developers of the association policy, played a crucial
role in forming the new generation of Vietnamese intellectuals. The new Western-
style intellectuals still maintained in themselves Confucian morals (Jules Ferry
disciplines were to a great degree similar to Confucian virtues), but they developed
new approaches toward life in industrial, economical, commercial perspectives. They
were more practical, more scientific. Consequently, they represented forces to
diversify, modernize and liberalize the Vietnamese society.

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