Definition

1. Noun:
   • Mandarin's house / official's residence: Refers to the home or dwelling of a government official, especially in historical or feudal contexts.
   • The mandarin class / officialdom: Used as a collective term for officials, the ruling class, or the bureaucracy in traditional society.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cổng nhà quan rất lớn và uy nghi. (The gate of the mandarin's house was very large and imposing.)
  • Trong xã hội xưa, con cháu nhà quan thường có nhiều đặc quyền. (In the old society, the descendants of the official class often had many privileges.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a historical or sociological nuance, describing the power structures, lifestyle, or privileges associated with the feudal bureaucratic elite.
  • Truyện cổ tích thường phê phán sự tham lam của nhà quan. (Folk tales often criticize the greed of the mandarin class.)

Variants and Related Words

• Quan lại (n): The bureaucracy; the body of officials. A direct synonym often used interchangeably.

  • Tầng lớp quan lại đôi khi lạm quyền. (The official class sometimes abused its power.)

• Phủ quan (n): The official's mansion or government office.

  • Dân thường không được tùy tiện vào phủ quan. (Commoners were not allowed to enter the official's mansion arbitrarily.)

Synonyms

• Officialdom: The officials of a government or organization collectively.
• The bureaucracy: A system of government in which most decisions are made by state officials.
• The mandarinate: The body of officials in historical Chinese or Vietnamese government.

Related Idioms

• Con quan thì lại làm quan: A proverb meaning "the child of an official becomes an official," highlighting nepotism and inherited privilege in feudal systems.

  • Xã hội đó tồn tại câu "con quan thì lại làm quan". (In that society, the proverb "the child of an official becomes an official" held true.)

• Nhà quan lớn: Refers to a high-ranking or powerful official.

  • Vụ án đó phải có nhà quan lớn đứng đằng sau. (A powerful official must have been behind that case.)