The treaty signed by the Nguyen dynasty in Vietnam in the late 19th century for respective decades made Vietnam a protectorate of France. respective Emperors wanted to endure it, but alternatively of doing it peacefully, they did it by a method of war that had failed anyway, and another Emperors abdicated under pressure. Then the nipponese appeared, who prompted the Emperor to talk him out of law. A period later, the communists came to power and the war began. present I will prove to you that it was unnecessary. The empire was sovereign and could peacefully abolish the protection. It's the biggest entry I've always shared, but it's essential to explain all the gaps and repel all possible contrarguments. I'll be amazed if anyone gets to the end.
From 1 point on, the decrees of the Emperors of Vietnam required the signatures of a French resident during the period of the protectorate, even though the Empire had a blown-out authoritative machine, its own government, the French were fewer (25,000 per 20 million Vietnamese).
Such a evidence does not appear in the treaty with Hue. 1 of the Emperors later issued an additional decree which he established.
What did the legal acts say about the resident's "contrasignation"?
- 6 VI 1884 – Treaty of Patenôtre - global Agreement (France – Nguyễn dynasty) ces. Hàm Nghi ⇄ J.-A. Patenôtreani 1 article does not require a countersignature; France guarantees the interior autonomy of Hu
- 27 IX 1897 – "Ordonnance impériale sur la réforme du gouvernement" imperial edict (Thành Thái) signature of emperor + countersignata Résident supérieur Albert Sarrautart. The decrees concerning the full Empire require the consent of a resident from now on.
The treaty with Huế (1884) did not contain a countersignature clause.
This work was introduced unilaterally by the French in April 1897 by presidential decree; a fewer months later, the Emperor Thành Thái approved by an act of the "ordonance impériale" of 27 September 1897 – from now on all dï and ắc had to wear a resident's visa to enter into force. So it looked formally like a "common" act (cesar + resident).
Answering directly: there was no prior independent decree of 1 of the emperors setting up a countersignate; it was introduced by the Ordonnance of 27 IX 1897, signed by the Emperor Thành Tháia.
Circumvention - first attempt
Referring to the above countersignature - if the Emperor wanted to pass a decree without a resident's signature, how could he effort to circumvent his own decree on a countersignature?
Technically, it seems not. From the minute on 27 September 1897, Emperor Thành Thái signed the "ordonnance impériale on the countersignaate", each dę or sęc on the "general character" had to have a French resident visa to enter into force. Since the higher order standard required the ruler himself, no “passenger” decree without French signature could be — legally — valid. However, it could actually work if the court applied 1 of the following:
- ‘Khẩu dụ’ – oral order. The Emperor gives a individual command (laconic, without seals), known only to the addressee. In Vietnamese law, there was a procudura that the oral order of the ruler was immediately applicable. It was impossible to announce it publicly; an authoritative who would incarnate content contrary to the interests of the resident would immediately be suspended as Minister Thân Trọng Huề (1906).
- ‘Chiếu’ Ceremonial, not "administrative". Issue text as a moral-ritual rescript (e.g. a call to loyalty to the throne). However, Article 3 of the 1897 Ordonance spoke of general and administrative acts; it could be claimed that ‘chiếu’ is just an ideological manifesto. The resident on site assessed the content; erstwhile Thành Thái “attracted” the feast of xátội kkou gēi tiết kiệm lúa (1904), the act was inactive given a check stamp.
- Creation of facts made by state mandarins - The emperor orally orders the satrap to suspend or hide the tax; no written trace in distant districts (Nghệ-Tĩnh, Cao Bằng) of the French contrôleur was rare. However, the taxation counterôleur will rapidly announcement a gap in the cash register; it would have been called off and the court had to "return the difference" – Cao Bằng 1902 precedent.
- Supporting Code La (Quốc triều hình luật) - mention to articles of XVI-w. a code that did not require a countersignature to apply amnesty or punishment. The court's lawyers liked to indicate that hình luật is inactive "source law".
- ‘Double circulation of seals’ - usage the old, unresigned seal of đại ngọc tỷ and send copies to faithful municipal leaders. 1 copy was adequate to incite rebellion (as planned by Duy Tân 1916). However, after the deconspiration, the rebellion rapidly collapsed, but of course that is not what we want.
Why couldn't the de facto emperor change the 1897 Ordonance?
- Ordonans had the same rank as the Treaty of Protectorate – he could only be abolished by another act signed by both parties.
- Any effort to unilaterally "revocation the countersignature" would immediately violate Article 5 of the Treaty 1884 (inviolability of the protectorate) and legitimise intervention.
Counter
Below – "second degree" of game with the law of protectorate: to each of the 5 previously described tricks (to bypass the countersignature) I add respective possible counter-concepts that could neutralize their weaknesses.
- Khẩu dụ (oral order) - Problem: no written evidence → subordinates risk, and another officials may disown. Solution: “Sacral clause” – add a ritual component to the order (e.g. handing a ribbon with an imperial lac). The law recognized that the physical artifact = the will of the throne. An immediate entry in trà-lục (books of palace journals) led by a trusted secretary without date; the evidence is only revealed erstwhile Resident asks “who told you?”. Collective execution – the emperor spends khẩu in parallel 5 mandarins of various ministries, reducing the hazard of catching individual performers. It requires a secretariat that the French have been surfing (difficult after 1907). It besides requires no leaks to the Bureau des Affaires Annamites. It besides had to be faithful to respective officials to bear joint responsibility.
- ‘Moral Chiïu” alternatively of an administrative act. Problem: the resident could inactive consider the content to be “administrative”. Editorial Confucian allusions – the text says "not to lower the tax" but quotes a legal-religious text ("people endure erstwhile the yoke is besides heavy"). Mandarin, citing the work of nhân, reduces the stake itself.
Separation — ‘chiếu’ published openly and detailed bằng sao (instruction) planted in latice envelopes. A advanced level of erudition required to prevent French censorship from “catching” the allusion and liaison discipline between Hue and the province. - Facts made by mandarins. Problem: taxation audit will discover no receipts → mandarin is out. Solution: Grain’ method – alternatively of suspending the full rice tax, each municipality enters 2–3 % lower area of fields. No controller would rise an alarm about the full difference of respective 100 pickles, and the people would feel relief. Mandarin reports flood/damage. In the background: there was no flood, only the disposition of the palace. False calculations in silver currency – usage the passre - franc course swing; real fiscal relief “beholds” in the difference of the conversion factor. Required: good coordination with land measurement officials and municipal authorities of lý trưởng, Silver alternatively of taxation vouchers lasted until 1930, which was beneficial for specified a plan.
- Call for the Code La. Problem: The French recognise hình luật only helpfully. "Hình sự vs. hành chính" – Vietnamese could choose purely criminal cases (e.g. amnesty for convicts), which the resident did not straight supervise. Mixed Court – to bring about a competency dispute before the Conseil de Protectorat; in the meantime, the decree is implemented due to the fact that the appeal procedure takes months. Paste the regulation of Code La to the Palace Regulations before 1897 and claim that it is simply a ‘internal court ceremony’– a essential group of scholars in the law. Required ability to play on chronicity.
- Double circulation of seals (secret “đại ngọc tỷ). Problem: deconspiration threatens conflict. The seal becomes a signal “all troops at once” (plan of Duy Tân 1916). The French won't be able to get a procedural response. “The false imperial” – a secret fraternity issues a decree signed by the name of the deceased emperor (e.g. Hàm Nghi) – legally invalid, but capable of causing mass agitation in villages.
Hiding the trace – (if any): limit the number of copies to one; signals transmit orally through the web of pagogues – requires real preparation We request an immediate domino effect before the French realize that the decree has no countersignature. Counting on the Vietnamese charism of traditions (the cult of erstwhile emperors).
Problems:
- Dense intelligence network Résidence – After the war of 1916, the French held agents in all state and in the office itself C. . . .
- Rapid intervention – The precedent of Thành Tháia and Duy Tâna taught Paris that the first signal of intrigue should be intervened.
Conclusion: Even the smartest maneuver would should be immediately supported by simultaneous political mobilisation. Otherwise, the resident countersignature remained in practice unobtrusive.
Could these courts “recognise” the Code of La as superior to the decree of the emperor who had no countersignature?
Yes – at the level of I and II instances.
If only the court seal was placed in the hands of the parties, the Mandarin justice could ignore it and base the conviction solely on the applicable article hình luēt.
However, the conviction only worked until... an appeal was made.
– In the second instance, the politician could keep the explanation of Code La, but it was adequate for the lost organization to appeal to the Protectorate Council (level 4). The Council mostly ruled:
“No countersignature → decree null and void, but substance itself is administrative and so independent of the average court; delete conviction and pass to the governor.”
In purely criminal cases (stealing, fighting, killing), the French resident seldom intervened – it was only crucial that the penalties considered by Paris not to be “cruel or unheard of”. In specified cases hình luật remained the eventual source. Here, the emperor could NOT "go around" the countersignature, due to the fact that he was not allowed to change the penal code individually without accepting the protectorate.
A method “cuckoo” that could have worked
The court may have given a controversial order the position of a court judgment, not a decree.
The Emperor (in the function of ultimate cassation judge) issues “phán quyết” – a settlement of a peculiar process, citing only hình luật. In the message of reasons, it smuggles the ‘general’ standard (e.g. the actual taxation simplification into the full province) – it is inactive formally a ruling, not a ụ. The Resident does not request to countersign judicial judgments and the cassation of the Board of Protectorates is not ex officio; an action by the organization afraid is needed.
The Emperor never gave the resident legislative power.
What truly “powered” the resident?
Treaty of Huï, 6 June 1884.
– France did not actually grant expressis verbis to the legislative authority or the right to erasure judgments of the native courts.
– he established only 2 key pillars:
Article 3 – “In all external matters and in those concerning the safety of the protectorate, the French Government will direct its instructions to the General Resident in Hu
Article 6 – "The Emperor undertakes not to conclude any contract, nor to issue an act contrary to the interests of France"
Ordonnance imperial of 27 IX 1897 (Thành Thái)
– already signed jointly by the emperor and resident
‘Every country-wide mention shall be given to the stamp of the Resident.’ With this movement, a countersignate was introduced into the interior order of the kingdom.
Why did the resident usurp to cancel sentences even though it is not mentioned in the treaty?
He referred to:
Indochin's executive provisions (also the decrees of Governors-General of 1898, 1902, 1911) defined the Conseil de Protectorat pour la Justice indigène as a "revision body" for all home tribunals. The Resident, by Decree 1897, presided over the body; the College was to delete or keep judgments on the basis of the criterion of ‘compliance with the public interest of the protectorate’. This construction was supported by the rulings of the French Council of State (e.g. the case of Nguyễn Thanh Toàn, 1907).
Was there a purely Vietnamese body that could "overwrite" the countersignate?
- The ultimate Court of Appeal. Each conviction had to receive a resident's approuvé clause before execution
- Viện Cơ Mật (The Secret Office) countersigns all imperial efforts. Since 1898, her protocols have been checked regular by Service officials des Affaires Annamites
- Hội đồng thượng thư (Council of Ministers). Drafts of decrees, budget of court financial decisions >1000 hubs were approved by Résidence supérieure.
The second crow - the countersignate concerns only decisions concerning simultaneously the full Empire.
This means that the Emperor could have bypassed this by creating 2 systems for 2 or more regions. The Ordonans of 27 IX 1897 did indeed say that the resident's signature is required only under the acts “of a national nature” (“actes présentant un caractère d’intéręt général”). However, it was not stated who determined whether the decree afraid ‘the whole’ or only a fragment of the state. This point was immediately intercepted by French lawyers – and they defined it so as to leave more control to themselves.
- 1904 – simplification of the salt taxation in Quảng Bình | decree was called “tạm miễn” (a temporary relief); despite a regulation to 1 state resident in Huế felt that it affected the budget of the full protectorate of |
- 1910 – the task “Mandarin Schools only for Thừ Thien” | Palace argued that it was a local experiment; Indochin School Inspection responded that it concerns the ‘national programme’
- 1921 – 2 fares of fair fees (Huế ≠ Quảng Nam) | accepted after the countersignature due to the fact that the Resident stated: "Different economical conditions justified but budgetary act".
III rabble - treaties with Hue and Imperial decrees did not give the resident the right to classify the act
Neither the Patenôtre Treaty of 6 June 1884, nor the imperial ordonans of 27 September 1897, contain a clear conviction in the kind "Resident Classifies whether a given decree is nationwide". The French referred to another instrument.
Instructions of politician General Doumer to Residents, 16 X 1898 (arch. CAOM Indo Gouv I-22) ‘Vous apprécierez souverainement le caractère général ou local des actes ...’ — ‘you will sovereignly measure the general or local nature of imperial acts, It was an interior service manual that the Emperor did not sign. She was expected to have the rank of the resident guidance.
Rules of procedure ‘Bulletin administration de l’Annam’ (Regulation RS Trung Kỳ 15 I 1901) Article 2: ‘Publications in the Bulletin are subject only to acts recognised by the General Resident as having public interest. Without publication in the Bulletin, the act did not get executive power; and the publication was inactive decided by the resident.
But...
Both the decree of the President, the governor's instructions and the regulations could not give specified a anticipation of qualification from the point of view of Vietnamese interior law, as the emperor had not ratified them by decree, and no decree of the emperor or treaty of Hue gave the French legislative power.
The decree of the president of France 28 IV 1897 was a unilateral act of the head of state. The 19th century doctrine of protectorate innégal the protected state could not pronounce acts of overriding guardian power; presidential decrees operated ‘ex proprio vigore’ throughout the territory. The Treaty Article 6 of the Treaty of Hu
Key procedural gap – "promulgation". Vietnamese law required that all law (dụ/ sắc) be:
- bearing an imperial seal (bạch ấn),
- announced (ban bố) throughout the country.
Since 1898 the only authoritative body of announcements was the Bulletin administration de l’Annam, printed and sold by the... law firm of the Higher Resident.
No publication = no entry into force. There was no alternate law for the "Journal of Laws".
4th Trick - The Treaty of Hue did not establish that only France can decide what is contrary to its interest, and the doctrine of protectorate innégal is simply a Western rule, not Asian and was never passed by the Emperor.
Neither the text of the Hue Treaty (1884) nor any imperial edict explicitly states that ‘only France’ decides what is contrary to its interest.
So where did this practice come from?
French Interpretation
– The protectorate administration, citing Article 6, reads the monopoly of negative control: since the interests of France must protect, France itself – by its resident – decides what this business violates.
"This "interpretation" has never been the subject of any imperial edict or of any common treaty; it is simply a unilateral practice of protector.
No Vietnamese appeal instrument
“There was no “constitutional court” or assembly in the strategy that the emperor could appoint to settle explanation disputes between his own edicts and the requirements of the protector.
A strategy in which the Emperor would have avoided the problem, utilizing the synthesis of all the crows simultaneously
Below is an outline of a comprehensive multi-layer mechanics whereby the emperor could bypass the request of a resident countersignature, simultaneously combining all the comments to date:
Division into "moral-rituaries" vs. "administrative"
- ‘Ritual Chinese’ (moral-principal range) — declared as purely ceremonial rescripts (without fiscal effect, without executive authority) so excluded from the ‘general interest’ clause.
- ‘Local D I fear that the image code (hình luật) recognises local autonomy.
Two-track promotion
- The paper court canal – secret circulars (khẩu dụ) along with tiny lake seals distributed simultaneously to 5 mandarins in each state (allows individual denunctions).
- Pagal oral channel – monks and pagoda judges recite short chiếu texts during yearly agricultural holidays, which shifts the right to the usual circulation, bypassing printing.
Use of the Code of Lie in judiciary
- Central precedent judgments — Viện Cơ Mật sentences (phán quyết) against a peculiar dispute, utilizing virtually článkami hình luật.
- The general standard – in the justification of phán quyết Mandarin courts of the second instance presume that the aim is to "maintain social balance" and extend it to the full province, creating a normative substructure.
Physical manipulation
- Seed taxation relief — each municipality in the state lists in the Appendix to the land dimension books 1-3 % lower area size; the difference ‘reasons’ of the non-existent flood report.
- Temporary natural disasters – the emperor gives generous chiếu about "God's anger over the region" → satraps enjoy the right to reduce the fees contained in hình luật (Article XVI-w.).
Secret firm outside resident control
- Isolation of the Secretariat of VIỆN CƠ MẬT – the transfer of parts of archives and copies of edicts to a private pavilion in Citadel; the resident has an insight into the "official" part only.
- Double circulation of seals – usage of unresigned seals to Paris Tỷ only for interior papers intended for the mandarins of the local tri phủ.
Internal Committee on the explanation of the Treaty
- The convening of Hội đồng phụ chính substantive – consisting of 5 ‘mandarin-laws’ and 2 Taoist monks who, in the name of Confucian law, consider that Article 6 of the Treaty is reciprocal, not purely unilateral.
- Legal opinion – unanimously adopted, formulates couples. 1: “No edicts are contrary to France’s interests if they service to morally rise the people.”
Delaying printing
- Ambiguë editorial office – each time the emperor directs the resident in 2 versions: 1 open, “safe” and the another full, “secret”.
- Controlled Leak – full version sent in manuscripts another tri huyện without resident permission; in the authoritative Bulletin only truncated version is published.
usage of provincial Mandarins
- "Mandarin alliances" – mazurkas saving mandarins by common obligations: a group of 10 satraps signs a collective oath of loyalty to the court and a joint defence of edicts without a countersignature.
- Mutual property guarantees – each mandarin lodges an earthly deposit on behalf of a group bail; in the event of a denunciation, the resident would gotta take all at once, which would be impossible
Smuggled appeal for local rights
- ‘Chinese patent’ – The emperor sends out anonymized copies of the codex Lya as precedent documents, creating the background of “rights for the people”
- Local Quiz – tri phủ organize local cognition competitions about hình luật, making Mandarins and people feel the improvement of the law
Of course, without broad public support, with the first opposition, this strategy would inactive fall apart. But with the synthesis of all the arguments mentioned, he would have created specified an elaborate structure that the resident could not blind its elements.
Additional, peculiar option - strategy of Hương as a gateway for imperial directives
Why Hương ước?
- Municipal law: Hương ước is simply a municipal law of tribes and villages, recognised by both mandarins
- Self-government: agrarian gatherings (hội đồng) have the right to pass them and change them without a countersignature of the resident.
- Binding power: After the village is accepted by the meeting, Hương ước enforces lý trưởng and hương ức; violation subject to sanctions
Step by step: inclusion of the imperial directives in Hương ước
Selection of directives
- Extraction from secret regulations that primarily service culture, social order or tiny fiscal changes (reliefs, taxation reforms < 5 %).
- Examples: relief from rice work in case of drought, regulation of working time in joint works, work to keep roads – so far without large central budgets.
Editorial in the spirit of Hương ước
- Believing content by utilizing classical Confucian language and quotations from the La Code (e.g. “for the sake of the community, according to the tradition of our ancestors”).
- Avoidance of words of the ‘round country’ or ‘protectorate’ kind
- Convening a agrarian assembly (hội đồng làng)
- The court sends to each municipality a five-member delegation of mandarins and Taoist monks, authorized to hold joint chiïu proceedings on the change of Hương ước.
- Meetings are held in parallel in respective municipalities – the coordination of satraps blocks individual denunciations.
Adoption and minutes
- The village gathering votes (rhumously, showing unanimity), the protocol is signed by lý trưởng, 5 hương chức and the envoys of the palace.
- The protocol together with the content of the fresh paragraph of Hương ước is stored in the monastery temple as a manuscript, available only to members of the agrarian council.
Enforcement by municipal courts
- In the event of a dispute, the court of Tri huyện and Phủ uses Hương ước as a "established local law" – it delivers judgments on its basis without waiting for a newsletter.
- Any appeal may be addressed to the Protectorate Board, but provincial Mandarins study that it is ‘internal affairs of the municipality’ – the resident must argue that it concerns ‘general interest’, that is... fiscal interest, which is not possible in this case.
Coordination of provincial mandarins
- The Satrapap (Tun phủ, Tri huyện) receive congratulations from the court for "the beginning of the Emperor's cooperation with the people" – this strengthens their social mandate.
- The ceremonial cord: after accepting the changes in Hương ước, monks from the palace send symbolic ribbons and baskets of rice to the pageants, which gives the act a sacred character.
Protection against denunciations
- Before the resident reacts, the villages introduce fresh rates/responsibilitys into force – local Mandarins begin to collect reliefs or tiny tributes in accordance with Hương ước.
- Apriori resident might have questioned that the "decreased tribute" harmed the treasure, but the fact that most provinces did so with the approval of the communities prevents him from being executed due to their massity.
What does success require?
- A network of loyal mandarins and monks who will believe that “the Emperor is walking through the Confucian mandate of heaven”.
- Discipline of local communities – municipalities request to guarantee that the Hương ước protocols stay confidential and coherent.
- Gradual implementation of changes – avoiding jumping fiscal strokes, building precedent on insignificant reliefs and customized regulations.
The effect: imperial edicts, although not formally promoted by the Bulletin, become part of the legal life of the widest social basis – i.e. the actual law, not the law in request of the French countersignature.
