Definition

1. Noun (Historical):
   • High-ranking civil and military court officials: A collective term for the most senior ministers and generals who held power in a feudal royal court or dynasty. The term often implies a group wielding significant political and military authority directly under the monarch.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Quyền hành trong tay bọn khanh tướng. (Power was in the hands of the high-ranking civil and military court officials.)
  • Ai công hầu ai khanh tướng, trong trần ai, ai dễ biết ai. (Who is a duke, who is a high minister; in this dusty world, who can truly know another?)

Advanced Usage

• The term "khanh tướng" is almost exclusively used in historical or literary contexts to describe the aristocratic ruling elite of pre-modern Vietnamese dynasties, such as the Lê or Nguyễn courts. It evokes a classical feudal structure.

Variants and Related Words

• Khanh (n): A high-ranking minister or dignitary (often civil).
• Tướng (n): A general or high-ranking military commander.
• Công hầu khanh tướng (n): A fixed phrase meaning "dukes, marquises, ministers, and generals," referring to the entire highest echelon of the feudal nobility.

Synonyms

• Grand dignitaries: High officials of state.
• High court officials: Senior officials serving in the royal court.
• Aristocratic officials: Nobles holding top government posts.

Related Idioms

• Công hầu khanh tướng: A classical idiom denoting the highest ranks of the feudal aristocracy.
  • Thời phong kiến, giới công hầu khanh tướng sống trong nhung lụa. (In feudal times, the class of dukes, marquises, ministers, and generals lived in silk and luxury.)

1. High-ranking civil and military court offcials
   • Quyền hành trong tay bọn khanh tướng
     Power was in the hands of the high-ranking civil and military court officials