The son must evin ce filial piety. Brothers must live in concord. Husbands and wives must love and respect each other.
The principles of education of the people are hereby made known once again.
In brief, the subject (than) must be totally obedient and devoted.
Imperial annotation — in matter of education, nothing is more important than this: the subject must show total and devoted obedience. This text began with this principle, but was it possible to apply it at that time? There lies the question. As for the rest, is it worth mentioning?
The son must evin ce filial piety. Brothers must live in concord. Husbands and wives must love and respect each other. Friends must remain sincere in order to consolidate their virtue of humanity (nhan). Parants must improve themselves in order to educate their children. Masters and pupils must treat each other according to good principles. Heads of families must vie with one another in observing the rites. Sons must respect their fathers, and younger brothers, their elders. Wives must not vex their husbands. In local communities, affection and respect must prevail between old and young people. Multual assistance must be provided in order to increase profit and avoid calamities. One must not take advantage of ones strength to oppress the weak. One must not turn public lanes into ones own garderns. One must not transform rivers and canals into ones own reservoirs and ponds. Profits derived from mountains, forests, rivers and swamps must be divided among the population. Virtuous men must be chosen as chiefs of quarters (phuong), communes (xa) villages (thon) and hamlets (trang). One must devote oneself to ones trades and show temperance in village banquets. One must not ask powerful men to make recommendations on ones behalf in law suits. In quarrels, one must not make use of aged or weak people in order to make innocent people share in ones woe. If bridges are destroyed and roads damaged one must repair them according to ones means. Those officials who keep registers must not alter them. One must not encroach upon the grounds of imperial mausoleums and the tombs of meritorious mandarins and damage them. Men and women must not become sorcerers or soothsayers and practise the wrong doctrines. Families in mourning must not celebrate the Trung Nguyen festival.
One must not be disrespectful or show a lack of eagerness in the presence of mandarins and ones superiors. One must not delude and betray people. In marriage, it is the family background that counts, not wealth. In observing funeral rites, one will do according to ones means, and nobody is allowed to inists on being treated to food and drink (by the family of the deceased).
There are 47 articles in all. The services of administration and inspection (thua hien ty) in each province (xu), the authorities in each prefecture and district (chau) should make a copy of this and display it in public affairs rooms. The village headmen (xa truong) should make a poster and hang it in the communal houses; on the occasion of public gatherings, they will acquaint men and women, old and young, with these principles so that they will how what they must do in order to improve customs.
Kham Dinh Viet Su Thong Giam Cuong Muc (Texts and Commentaries Forming a Complete Mirror of the History of Vietnam Established on Imperial Order, Chap. 33 19th century)
According to Medical Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien
Vietnams foreign language publishing house in 1979