89 Private Academies in 18th - Century Vietnam © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi : 10 . 1163/ 9789004424074 _ 006 Chapter 4 Private Academies and Confucian Education in 18th-Century Vietnam in East Asian Context: The Case of Phúc Giang Academy Nguyễn Tuấn-Cường 1 Thư Viện/Shuyuan/᎙䊛 in Vietnam: Library and Academy The foundations of Vietnam’s civil service examination system were laid dur- ing the Lí dynasty (1009–1225) with the first examination being adminis- tered in 1075; examinations would continue to be held until the end of the Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945) with the last examination being administered in 1919. Based on extant Classical Chinese records, we know that 184 examina- tions were administered throughout Vietnamese history, resulting in the grant- ing of the Metropolitan Laureate (tiến sĩ, jinshi ) degree to 1,894 people.1 On average, every five years (4.5 to be exact) an examination for the Metro- politan Laureate degree was administered with each examination resulting in about ten (10.3) new graduates. Before its replacement with a European-based education system, the civil service examination was the means by which peo- ple were selected to fill intellectual and political occupations.2 The present-day Vietnamese language still contains vocabulary which has roots in the civil service examination. For example, the academic term “bach- elor” is translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as ᖂՓ (xueshi, gakushi, haksa), whereas Vietnamese renders it as cử nhân , a Sinitic title carried over from the civil service examination. Similarly, “Ph.D.” is translated into Chi- nese, Japanese, and Korean as ໑Փ (boshi, hakase, paksa) whereas Vietnamese uses tiến sĩ for Ph.D. and bác sĩ primarily for medical doctors. The term for “library” also follows a similar pattern: while other East Asian coun- tries have a united term ቹ஼塢 (tushuguan, toshokan, tosŏgwan), Vietnam uses a different Sinitic term thư viện . 1 Ngô Đức Thọ et al., Các nhà khoa bảng Việt Nam 1075–1919 (Metropolitan Laureates in Vietnam 1075–1919) (Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Văn học, 2006). 2 Phan Trọng Báu, Nền giáo dục Pháp – Việt (The French-Vietnamese Education System) (Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học xã hội, 2015). ("')', (+) /*#/*% ## *" ,.'* #&()**  