LAW AND MORALITY IN CONFUCIANISM RULING OF VIETNAM FEUDAL SOCIETY

Abstract

Based on the Confucianism’s perspective on the role of morality in relation to the application of law, the author analyzes the influences of Confucianism in the development of Vietnam’s law during feudal period. It was aimed at the strengthening of imperial throne and conservation of the social order. The author shows that Confucianism, on the one hand was used by Vietnamese feudal dynasties as the ideological foundation for the establishment of law; on the other hand this law system became an instrument for further development of the Confucianism ideologies. However, the author also assesses that the influences and the use of Confucianism throughout Vietnam’s law were limited to a certain extent being under the influence of Buddhism and national traditions.