hương bạ
Definitions
- Noun:
- Village register keeper: In traditional Vietnamese villages, this term refers to the person responsible for maintaining and keeping the village's official registers and records.
- Village clerk/scribe: An official in the communal administration whose duty was to manage documents, record decisions, and keep accounts related to village affairs.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Ông ấy từng làm hương bạ trong làng. (He used to be the village register keeper.)
- Công việc của hương bạ rất quan trọng đối với việc quản lý làng xã ngày xưa. (The work of the village clerk was very important for the management of villages in the past.)
Advanced Usage
- This term is archaic and is primarily used in historical or literary contexts to describe the administrative structure of traditional Vietnamese villages (làng xã). It is not used in modern administrative language.
Variants and Related Words
- Lý trưởng (n): Village chief; the head of a traditional Vietnamese village.
- Hương mục (n): Village elder; a respected senior figure in the village hierarchy.
- Thư ký (n): Secretary; the modern equivalent for a clerical or record-keeping official.
Synonyms
- Người giữ sổ sách làng: Village bookkeeper.
- Thư lại làng: Village scribe.
Related Phrases
- Chức hương bạ: The position or office of the village register keeper.
- Chức hương bạ thường do người biết chữ trong làng đảm nhiệm. (The position of village clerk was usually held by a literate person in the village.)