cửu phẩm
Definition
- Noun (Historical):
- The ninth rank: In the traditional Vietnamese mandarinal bureaucracy, "cửu phẩm" was the lowest of the nine official ranks (cửu phẩm being the ninth, nhất phẩm being the first). It denoted a low-level mandarin or official position.
- A low-ranking official: A person holding this specific ninth-grade rank in the administrative system.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Ông tổ của dòng họ từng giữ chức quan cửu phẩm. (The family's ancestor once held the position of a ninth-rank mandarin.)
- Hệ thống quan lại xưa chia làm chín bậc, từ nhất phẩm đến cửu phẩm. (The old mandarinal system was divided into nine grades, from the first rank to the ninth rank.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used in historical contexts discussing Vietnam's feudal administration, dynastic hierarchies, or family genealogical records.
Variants and Related Words
- Cửu phẩm quan (n): A ninth-rank mandarin/official.
- Vị cửu phẩm quan ấy phụ trách một làng nhỏ. (That ninth-rank mandarin was in charge of a small village.)
- Cửu phẩm văn giai / Cửu phẩm võ giai (n): The ninth rank in the civil (văn) or military (võ) mandarinal hierarchy.
Synonyms
- Ninth grade (in the mandarinal system).
- Lowest mandarinal rank.
Related Terms
- Cửu trùng đài: The "nine-step palace," a literary metaphor for the royal court or the emperor's distant, lofty presence, indirectly related through the concept of the nine-level hierarchy.
- Phẩm hàm: Rank and title within the mandarinal system.
- Cửu phẩm liên hoa: Literally "nine-grade lotus," a term from Pure Land Buddhism referring to the nine grades of rebirth in the Western Paradise. This is a distinct, homophonous term and should not be confused with the historical mandarinal rank.