FROM CONFUCIAN SCHOLARSHIP TO MODERN EDUCATION: INTELLECTUAL TRANSFORMATION IN THUA THIEN HUE (1919-1945)

Abstract

This study elucidates the transition from Confucian scholar-officials to Western-educated intellectuals in Thua Thien Hue during 1919-1945, situated within colonial educational reforms and rising nationalist movements. It aims to analyze the mechanisms by which the Confucian administrative elite was displaced by a new cohort trained in the Franco - Vietnamese school system, while assessing their role in modernization and revolutionary mobilization through the theoretical lens of Antonio Gramsci. Methodologically, the research draws on French- and Vietnamese-language archival sources, contemporary newspapers, and statistical yearbooks, combining historical inquiry with social-science approaches. The findings indicate that, as the traditional civil service examinations were abolished and the authority of Confucian scholar-officials eroded, Western-educated intellectuals emerged as a new force, engaging actively in political organizations, the press, and patriotic movements. This replacement process reflects a fundamental shift in the knowledge regime, social structure, and national consciousness. The study clarifies Hue’s historical specificities within this broader transformation and suggests implications for the cultivation of intellectual leadership in the present.