These are rare images of the Huong exam in Nam Dinh in the context of the end of the Nguyen Dynasty.
The image in front of the exam school gate in Nam Dinh, the place where the Perfume exam of the Nguyen Dynasty took place in 1900.
Thi Huong is an inter-provincial examination, which is held once every 3 years on Confucianism by the feudal court to select talented people, study widely and appoint them as mandarins. After passing the Cong Tu, the next year they will be able to take the advanced exam rather than the Hoi exam, and if they pass the exam, the Association will enter the doctoral rank when taking the Dinh exam.
Huong exam school is held in a large area divided into 4 areas (also known as 4 vi): Giap, At, Binh, Dinh cut in the shape of a cross. In the middle is the Ten Dao with a watchtower for the school officials to monitor the candidates sitting for the exam.
Students who pass the Huong exam will be divided into 2 classes: Bachelor and Baccalaureate. The title “bachelor” is to nominate talented people and offer talented people to serve as mandarins. “Treasury” is a nominated scholar. Nam Dinh exam school naming ceremony in the year of the Rat (1888) for the candidates who passed the bachelor’s degree.
Photos of the mandarins participating in the naming ceremony on December 27, 1897.
People gathered to hear the name of the person who passed the exam.
Paul Doumer – Governor-General of Indochina (He stood under the umbrella) participated in the 1897 naming ceremony.
Governor General of Nam Dinh – Ninh Binh Cao Xuan Duc attended the launching ceremony of the new faculty who passed the Huong exam in 1897.
Candidates who pass the exam at schools in Nam Dinh are given hats.
The matriculated student passed the judges in the 1897 exam.
The successful candidate thanked the Governor General of Nam Dinh.