văn quan
Definition
- Noun (Historical):
- Civil mandarin: A government official in historical Vietnamese feudal dynasties who held a position in the civil administration, as opposed to a military official. These officials were typically scholars who passed imperial examinations.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Trong triều đình phong kiến, các văn quan thường phụ trách về hành chính và giáo dục. (In the feudal court, civil mandarins were usually in charge of administration and education.)
- Ông ấy mơ ước trở thành một văn quan. (He dreamed of becoming a civil mandarin.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is primarily used in historical or literary contexts to describe the scholar-official class in pre-modern Vietnam.
Variants and Related Words
- Võ quan (n): Military mandarin; a military official in the historical feudal system.
- Văn quan và võ quan là hai trụ cột của triều đình. (Civil mandarins and military mandarins were the two pillars of the court.)
Synonyms
- Civil official: A government officer involved in non-military administration.
- Scholar-official: An official who entered the bureaucracy through scholarly achievement, especially imperial examinations.
Related Concepts
- Mandarin: The general term for a bureaucrat in historical Chinese and Vietnamese imperial governments.
- Imperial examinations: The competitive exams that scholars took to become văn quan.