Current value in Nguyen Truong To's reformist thought

(Baonghean) -At the 140th anniversary of the death of the famous person Nguyen Truong To held in Hung Trung commune (Hung Nguyen) on November 22, 2011, many opinions said that: the current significance in Nguyen Truong To's thoughts on national renewal has many similarities with our current renewal process...

The thoughts of Nguyen Truong To, the great reformer of the 19th century, are reflected in the fields of Politics, Economics - Society, Diplomacy, National Defense, Education and many other fields. We have just recorded a few points that officials and researchers discussed at the ceremony to celebrate "Timeliness in the 3 fields of Economics, Education and Administrative Reform". We would like to present them for readers' reference.

In the field of Economics, Nguyen Truong To had many very new views compared to that time. In his Will No. 5 (plan to make the people rich and the country strong), he affirmed: "The way to make the country strong is to create a lot of wealth". He analyzed that our country had many natural resources that could create that source of wealth. "First is the benefit of the sea, no benefit of the sea is greater than fish and salt; second is the benefit of the forest, nothing is greater than wood in the forest. Third is the benefit of land. Fourth is the benefit of mines". To exploit that benefit in Will No. 8 in 1866, he proposed: "If we let foreigners invest in exploitation, not only will our country benefit, but the people will also have jobs, and be able to study and get acquainted with Western science and technology...". He proposed to the Hue court to expand foreign trade and export goods by: "Allowing state ships to transport our country's products to sell to other countries, then transport back to our country the necessary goods that our country does not have..." Not only exporting goods, he also advocated studying and applying the technology of advanced countries. In the hearing on the purchase and construction of motorboats (Di thao number 6) and the training of people to operate and repair motorboats (Di thao number 7), Nguyen Truong To suggested: "We must choose people to buy the accompanying replacement equipment. At the same time, send people to other countries to learn how to manufacture machinery and equipment to choose the good and the bad" and "send skilled people (select about thirty or forty people from 25 years old and up) to study algebra, differential calculus, and the subjects: gravity, chemistry, optics...". That was also his educational direction.

Regarding the educational perspective, he also had views that are very similar to ours today. He analyzed that the old way of memorizing and quoting chapters and verses was not very helpful for current life. Therefore, in the Draft No. 18 on practical learning, Nguyen Truong To determined: "Studying and cultivating talents is the broad path to wealth and strength". In the Draft No. 27, Te cap bat dieu (Eight urgent tasks), he once again affirmed: "Regulating academics is the great root of the nation". Regarding practical learning, he proposed studying the following subjects: Hai loi (fisheries economics), Son loi (forestry economics), Dia loi (land reclamation and cultivation), Thuy loi (water supply to fields, building dikes to prevent flooding). In academics, the principle of practicality is emphasized. According to him, without a clear academic foundation, customs will gradually become corrupt and people's hearts will become more and more deceitful.

In particular, for our country at that time, it was an agricultural country, so he emphasized the role of agriculture. He wrote: "Agriculture is the root, food and clothing and hundreds of other needs for life all depend on it." Therefore, in academia, there needs to be a faculty of Agriculture. In addition, there needs to be support from the faculties of Astronomy, Geography, Engineering, and Law. In Draft No. 45 on sending students to Singapore to study languages, he said that learning foreign languages ​​is an inevitable need. He explained that the languages ​​of countries in the world are different, but through interpretation, there will be a way to understand each other. Only by understanding their language can we communicate and learn and absorb their good things. Setting an example of learning foreign languages ​​must start from the student class and officials. To encourage learning, he proposed to rank officials according to their foreign language proficiency: "Those who know Italian and English will be ranked 2nd; those who know Chinese and Khmer will be ranked 3rd; those who know languages ​​from countries near our western border such as Cambodia and Laos will be ranked 4th"...

In the field of administrative reform, Nguyen Truong To put forward very good ideas. In the second article of the Eight-Article Te Cap, he "requested to merge provinces and districts to reduce the number of officials and trainees". He analyzed that officials put integrity first and strongly condemned corruption and abuse of power. However, he also analyzed the causes of corruption with reason and emotion. One good idea was that salaries not being enough to live on was also one of the causes of corruption and laziness of small officials. He wrote: "Of the officials of the Southern country, except for those who are too corrupt, there are many others who usually, after finishing their work, receive gifts and gratitude. That is not blameworthy because they have enough food and clothes before talking about honor or shame, and all things in life are basically to sustain life". Therefore, his policy is that officials must be given full salaries to help them maintain integrity, at that time if anyone is not honest, then they can be blamed!

In the conditions of the backward feudal court, the arrogant King Tu Duc, Nguyen Truong To dared to say such bold and straightforward things, contrary to the orthodox Confucian views that had dominated for thousands of years. He was truly a bold and dedicated reformer. Today, reading those views and implicitly comparing them with what we are practicing, we still see that he was a contemporary person. The reason why Nguyen Truong To's thoughts are so relevant is because his thinking transcended the times, his heart truly loved the country and loved the people!

Hoang Chinh