As I mentioned in the previous post, in English-language scholarship on premodern Vietnamese history, the Lý Dynasty (1009-1225) is usually described as not being Confucian.
In fact, many historians writing in English have argued that we only see clear evidence of Confucianism at the court in the fifteenth century under the Lê Dynasty (1428-1789).
Again, I don’t agree with this. I don’t agree with this because 1) I see lots of evidence of Confucianism in the historical sources (see the previous post) and 2) I see lots of problems in the extant English-language scholarship.
Let’s take a look at what I mean.
There is a passage in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư for the year 1012 which records that Lý Công Uẩn, the founding emperor of the Lý Dynasty, led a campaign against people in an area of what is now Nghệ An Province, to the south of the Red River Plain. On his return journey he encountered a storm.
Keith Taylor wrote about this in his recent A History of the Vietnamese. Let us look at how Taylor described and discussed this event, and then we will look at what is recorded in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư.
In 1011, Ly Cong Uan raised a large army and attacked “rebels” in the southern provinces, in what is now Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. He campaigned there for two years, burning villages and capturing local leaders. While returning by sea in late 1012, a great storm threated to sink his boat, which he understood as a divine judgement upon him for the violence he had brought upon so many people.
A speech was recorded that he reportedly made amidst the storm, addressed to the heavenly power, in which he acknowledged that the innocent might have been harmed in error but that he nevertheless could not refrain from attacking these people because of their wickedness, cruelty, and savage resistance to “civilizing instructions”; he begged forgiveness for his soldiers and expressed his personal acceptance of any required punishment. In response to his appeal, according to the story, the storm abated and the sea became calm.”
This speech in the storm shows the religious sensibility of Ly Cong Uan, which later Confucian historians criticized as “superstitious.” Ly Cong Uan represented his people before the divine powers, and his was a civilizing task. He understood the moral dilemma as well as the necessity of using violence on behalf of a worthy cause. His sensitivity to the supernatural realm became increasingly evident as the years passed. [62-3]
According to Taylor, Lý Công Uẩn gave a speech in a storm, that showed his “religious sensibility” and later Confucian historians criticized this religious sensibility as “superstitious.”
In other words, Taylor is presenting a dichotomy here between some kind of religious perspective that Lý Công Uẩn upheld and the ideas of Confucian historians who lived at a later time.
As for that later time, in this book, Taylor states repeatedly that he believes that Confucianism only began to play a significant role at Vietnamese courts during in the fifteenth century during the period of the Lê Dynasty.
Ok, so let’s now take a look at this passage in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư.
帝親征演州。還至汴灣，會天地晦冥，風雷震怒，焚香吿天曰：「自以菲德，沗居民上，慄慄危懼，若将陷于深淵，非敢自恃兵威，妄行征伐。特以演州之人，不遵厥化，逞行昏暴，殘忍小民，罪惡貫盈，於今不容不討。至於兵刅交攻之際，或枉傷忠孝，或誤害賢良，致使皇天震怒，以彰其過，雖遭傾隕，亦無憾焉。其在六軍，罪猶可怒，惟簡在上帝之心。」言訖，風雷帖息。
The emperor personally led a military campaign to Diễn Châu. Upon returning to Biện Bay, Heaven and Earth became dark and somber, and the wind and thunder raged with anger. [The emperor] burned incense and made a declaration to Heaven, stating,
“With my limited virtue, it is with a sense of shame that I find myself ruling over the people. I am fearful and trembling, as if I am about to fall into a deep abyss. I dare not rely on the might of troops and recklessly carry out military campaigns. It is just that the people of Diễn Châu have not upheld their moral transformation, have wantonly engaged in violence, and have cruelly treated the common people, amassing countless crimes. Now they cannot be allowed to go unpunished.
“As for instances in the midst of battle of the loyal and filial suffering unjustly, or the wise and good being unintentionally harmed, such that August Heaven thundered with rage to reveal these excesses, even if I were to meet with ruin, I would still have no regrets. Among the six armies, there may be crimes deserving of anger, but [the ultimate judgment] rests with the will of the Sovereign on High.” After speaking these words, the wind and thunder obligingly subsided. [2/5a-b]
Vua thân đi đánh [5b] Diễn Châu. Khi về đến Vũng Biện5 gặp lúc trời đất tối sầm, gió sấm dữ dội, vua đốt hương khấn trời rằng: “Tôi là người ít đức, lạm ở trên dân, nơm nớp lo sợ như sắp sa xuống vực sâu, không dám cậy binh uy mà đi đánh dẹp càn bậy. Chỉ vì người Diễn Châu không theo giáo hóa, ngu bạo làm càn, tàn ngược chúng dân, tội ác chồng chất, đến nay không thể dung tha không đánh. Còn như trong khi đánh nhau, hoặc giết oan kẻ trung hiếu, hoặc hại lầm kẻ hiền lương, đến nỗi hoàng thiên [I would capitalize this as Hoàng Thiên] nổi giận phải tỏ cho biết lỗi lầm, dẫu gặp tổn hại cũng không dám oán trách. Đến như sáu quân thì tội lỗi có thể dung thứ, xin lòng trời [actually, the text has Thượng Đế] soi xét.” Khấn xong, gió sấm đều yên lặng.
The first thing that I would say is that it is doubtful that this was a “speech.” The Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư states that Lý Công Uẩn burned incense and made a declaration to Heaven (Cáo Thiên 吿天).
My guess would be that something that important was probably written down first, and then recited. The fact that the sentence, “I am fearful and trembling, as if I am about to fall into a deep abyss,” comes straight from the Venerated Documents (Shangshu 尚書, a.k.a. Shujing 書經), one of the Confucian classics, also leads me to think this way.
In that work, this sentence appears in a document called the “Declaration of [Emperor] Tang” (Tang gao 湯誥) where it reportedly records a statement that this ancient emperor delivered after returning from a campaign of conquest (What a coincidence!). Please remember that name, Emperor Tang, as we are going to see him again later.
Moving on, we see that Taylor uses generic terms to refer to the force that Lý Công Uẩn addressed, such as “the heavenly power,” “the divine powers” and “the supernatural realm.” Such terms could apply to any religion.
However, the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư uses extremely specific terms, namely, August Heaven (Hoàng Thiên 皇天) and Sovereign on High (Thượng Đế 上帝). Those are not general terms. They are references to the supreme Confucian deity.
August Heaven / the Sovereign on High was the divine power that that the men who staffed the Palace of Assembled Scholarly Worthies (Tập Hiền điện 集賢殿), constructed two years earlier in 1010 AD, believed in (see the previous post).
Similarly, Lý Công Uẩn did not generically acknowledge “that the innocent might have been harmed in error.” Instead, he specifically singled out “the loyal and filial [trung hiếu 忠孝] suffering unjustly” and the wise and good [hiền lương 賢良] being unintentionally harmed.” Again, these are terms that we find repeated over and over in the Confucian tradition (hiền lương is more general, but hiền 賢 is central to the Confucian worldview).
Finally, in this declaration, Lý Công Uẩn states that the people he attacked “have not upheld their moral transformation” (bất tuân quyết hóa 不遵厥化). The concept here of moral transformation (hóa 化 or giáo hóa 教化), is also a Confucian concept.
Ok, so from a Confucian perspective, all of this seems to be completely fine. That being the case, why would later Confucian historians criticize this “religious sensibility” as “superstitious,” as Taylor claimed?
Actually, no one did that.
The only later historian to comment on this passage was the fifteenth-century historian, Ngô Sĩ Liên, and this is what he wrote:
史臣吳士連曰：湯遇旱熯之災，以六事自責而雨隨下。帝遭風雷之變，以攻代自責而風隨止。[2/6a] 天人交感之機，影響甚速。孰謂冥冥之中，不日監在我，而敢欺天乎。
When Emperor Tang met the calamity of a drought, he reproached himself for six errors and the rain then started to fall. When the emperor [i.e., Lý Công Uẩn] encountered the change to wind and thunder, he reproached himself for the campaign and the wind then stopped. The moment of Heaven and humans moving each other leads to a very swift response. Who says that in the midst of unseen darkness, there is not a time when the sun is not inspecting us, and dares to deceive Heaven? [2/5b-6a]
Vua Thang gặp tai nạn hạn hán, lấy sáu việc tự trách mình mà mưa xuống ngay. Nay vua gặp nạn gió sấm, lấy việc đánh dẹp tự trách mình mà gió bão ngừng ngay. Trời và người cảm ứng nhau rất nhỏ nhạy, ảnh hưởng rất chóng, ai bảo là trong chỗ tối tăm mặt trời không soi đến ta mà dám dối trời chăng?
Ngô Sĩ Liên did not criticize Lý Công Uẩn’s religious sensibility as “superstitious.” In fact, he didn’t criticize anything at all (which shouldn’t surprise us given what I just presented above and in the previous post).
Instead, Ngô Sĩ Liên saw it as a perfect example of the connection between Heaven and humans, and the need for people to always behave in a morally upright manner, as Heaven was always aware of people’s actions.
Further, by comparing Lý Công Uẩn’s actions with those of Emperor Tang in antiquity, who we met above, Ngô Sĩ Liên also expressed his approval.
So, if Lý Công Uẩn’s declaration is not an example of a Confucian religious sensibility, then I have no idea what is. Certainly, Confucian historian Ngô Sĩ Liên saw it that way.
Why then would a modern historian argue that we can see here evidence of something that is not Confucian?
That view clearly isn’t supported by the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư. So, where does the evidence come from?
This Post Has 4 Comments
Analects: ‘Attend to what are plainly human duties, and do not be
superstitious.” Further: “To attend to one’s duties to the people and
revere ghosts and spirits while observing a respectful distance from them may be called wisdom”
(務民之義，敬鬼神而遠之，可謂知矣)
Yes, but I don’t think Shangdi was considered a “ghost” or “spirit.” This was directed at popular cults. But yes, this passage was extremely important, as it defined what the relationship to popular cults should be.
What about Lý Thái Tổ’s supposed superstitious birth, that his mother was impregnated by spirits. Can this be interpreted as an example of the early Lý’ supposed superstitious belief ?
Prophesies were very big not only in Vietnam, but all over the place at that time. Yes, it’s a part of the belief system.