Definition

1. Noun:
   • Mandarinal power; mandarinal authority: The official power, influence, and jurisdiction held by mandarins (traditional Vietnamese state officials) within the feudal administrative system.
   • The mandarinate as an institution: Refers collectively to the system, class, or body of mandarins and their governing power.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Quan quyền thời phong kiến đôi khi bị lạm dụng. (Mandarinal power in the feudal period was sometimes abused.)
  • Hắn ta chỉ biết cậy thế quan quyền. (He only knows how to rely on the influence of mandarinal authority.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily historical and academic, used to discuss the structure of pre-modern Vietnamese governance, bureaucracy, and societal power dynamics.
• It often carries a critical or analytical tone when discussing the concentration of power, corruption, or the social hierarchy of ancient regimes.

Variants and Related Words

• Quan lại (n): Mandarins; the class of state officials.
  • Tầng lớp quan lại nắm giữ nhiều đặc quyền. (The mandarin class held many privileges.)
• Quyền lực (n): Power, authority (general term).
• Chính quyền (n): Government, administration (modern term).

Synonyms

• Official authority
• Mandarinate
• Bureaucratic power

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Cậy quan quyền: To rely on or flaunt one's official power (often implying abuse of position).
  • Kẻ ấy hay cậy quan quyền để ức hiếp dân lành. (That person often relies on official power to bully common people.)