World Historical and Social Conditions for the Formation of a View of Life in Minh Menh's Thought

© The Author(s) 2025. Published by AMO Publisher. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. World Historical and Social Conditions for the Formation of a View of Life in Minh Menh’s Thought Dr. Phan Thi Thu Thuy  Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, Vietnam Article History: Received: 01.10.2025 Revised: 27.10.2025 Accepted: 28.10.2025 Published: 30.10.2025 Abstract In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Vietnam experienced a turbulent period with the prolonged Trinh-Nguyen civil war, which divided the country and created many regional differences. After Gia Long unified the country, the Nguyen Dynasty faced the task of consolidating the government and stabilizing society. Inheriting his father, Minh Mang continued to perfect the administrative apparatus, implementing many policies to unify and develop the country. In the world context at that time, Western capitalism was rising strongly, European countries were stepping up their colonial invasion in Asia, putting Eastern countries, including Vietnam, at risk of being threatened. In that situation, Minh Mang promoted orthodox Confucianism, valuing morality, discipline and humanity as the foundation for protecting social order and preserving national identity. Therefore, Minh Mang's philosophy of life both reflected the internal requirements of national consolidation after unification and was influenced by the changing world context and the pressure of colonialism, expressing a profound and consistent philosophy of life in the goal of maintaining national stability and social stability. Keywords: Minh Mang, outlook on life, Minh Mang's outlook on life, historical-social conditions of the world in the late 18th century - early 19th century. Suggested citation: Thuy, P.T.T. (2025). World Historical and Social Conditions for the Formation of a View of Life in Minh Menh’s Thought. European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, 3(6), 105-113. https://doi.org/10.59324/ejtas.2025.3(6).09 Introduction In the early 19th century under the Nguyen Dynasty, Vietnam was a unified country after hundreds of years of conflict and turmoil. For the first time in history, Vietnam's territory was the most extensive, stretching from Nam Quan to Ca Mau Cape. Gia Long, the first king of the Nguyen Dynasty, had to face the challenges of the times and the country in terms of politics, economy and culture. There were even unprecedented issues in the history of Vietnam that needed to be resolved, such as: eliminating the complexes about the division of the country for nearly two centuries to create national harmony; building the country in peacetime posed new requirements for the country's management apparatus, diplomatic relations not only with countries that had had centuries-old relations such as Siam, Vientiane, Ai Lao or China, but also with Western countries such as England, France, Spain... which were different cultures, different civilizations and especially more highly developed in technology and military potential. However, with his dedication, efforts, perseverance and cleverness, Gia Long made decisions to stabilize the political situation, reassure the people and restore the economy, and was clever in diplomatic relations with neighboring countries as well as Western www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 106 countries, initially helping our country stabilize the situation after years of war. It can be said that the process of forming Minh Mang's ideology was closely linked to the process of building and consolidating the Nguyen Dynasty of his father, King Gia Long. He inherited the achievements as well as had to solve the unfinished work of his father, continuing the wish to build a unified and prosperous nation that Gia Long always wanted. During his reign, Minh Mang left our nation many valuable ideas, which are very helpful in the process of developing our country today. One of the important ideas that he cared about and pondered the most in his ideological system was the idea of human life. Therefore, studying Minh Mang's thoughts in general and his thoughts on human life in particular is a work of profound theoretical and practical significance, a useful lesson in the process of building and developing Vietnam today. Research Content and Results Overview of the Research Problem Based on the research on the world historicalsocial conditions for the formation of Minh Mang's philosophy of life, the author has consulted related research works of previous scientists, inherited research achievements from many documents and materials on history, culture and society of Vietnam and the world in the late 18th century, early 19th century to provide specific evidence and analysis on the influences and impacts of historical-social conditions in the country and the world on the formation of Minh Mang's philosophy of life. The author would like to summarize into two research directions as follows: The group of documents studying the world historical-social conditions in the late 18th century and early 19th century has the following typical works: World History by the group of authors Luu To Xuong, Quang Nhan Hong, Han Thua Van and Ngai Chau Xuong, published by Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House in 2002; Medieval World History by the group of authors Nguyen Gia Phu, Nguyen Van Anh, Do Dinh Hang and Tran Van La published by the Education Publishing House in 1999; Medieval World History, volume 2 by authors Luong Ninh, Dang Duc An, published by the Education Publishing House in 1980; Medieval World History Textbook, volume 1 by authors Hoang Diep, Trinh Nhu, Do Van Nhung published by Hanoi University of Science in 1981; Famous geographical discoveries by author Le Trong Tuc published by the University and Vocational Education Publishing House in 1991, History of World Civilization by Vu Duong Ninh (editor-in-chief) published by Hanoi Education Publishing House in 2002, Vietnam in World History by a group of authors from the Faculty of History, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, published by Hanoi National University Publishing House in 2018, Brief History of Vietnamese Diplomacy in Previous Periods by author Nguyen Luong Bich published by Hanoi People's Army Publishing House in 1996, Thesis on Diplomatic Relations of the Nguyen Dynasty in the First Half of the 19th Century by author Dinh Thi Dung, Doctoral Thesis in History, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. Ho Chi Minh, 2001. First of all, we must mention the work World History by the group of authors Luu To Xuong, Quang Nhan Hong, Han Thua Van and Ngai Chau Xuong, published by Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House in 2002. The work consists of 6 volumes, presenting world history from ancient times: primitive society to contemporary times: the world situation after World War II. In particular, volumes 3 and 4 of the work introduced the modern period: the revolution of the bourgeois class, starting from 1640 and ending in 1900, this is the period of advancement and development of capitalism. The new achievements in the development of industry, commerce, culture and science and technology in Western countries during this period led to important changes in many aspects such as innovation in ideology, leapfrog development in culture, changes in class structure, those changes have influenced and impacted countries across continents. The book also analyzed in depth the situation of typical countries in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa that had developed and changed during that period, so the data of these two volumes were used most by the author for his research when studying the historical context of the world in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 107 The work Nguyen Dynasty and Our History, by many authors, reprinted for the 5th time by Hong Duc Publishing House in 2017, analyzed how the domestic and international contexts influenced the kings' thoughts and policies on governing the country, thereby giving many comments and assessments about the reigning kings of the Nguyen Dynasty. The Brief History of Vietnamese Diplomacy in Previous Periods by author Nguyen Luong Bich, published by the Hanoi People's Army Publishing House in 1996, analyzed the international and regional context in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, affirming the general situation of Western countries in this period with the strong development of the capitalist economy, analyzing the situation of Eastern countries such as Japan and Thailand in this period facing the common historical task of having to protect national independence by all means against the expansionist trend of capitalist countries to the East. In that social context, the work analyzed the foreign policy of each period of the Nguyen Dynasty kings with Western countries, in which when analyzing the reign of Minh Mang, the author affirmed that Minh Mang implemented a clear diplomatic policy with orientation and adjustments to suit the new historical circumstances at that time. Thesis on the diplomatic relations of the Nguyen Dynasty in the first half of the 19th century by author Dinh Thi Dung, PhD thesis in History, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, 2001. The thesis analyzed the domestic and international situation in the early 19th century, with the strong development of the capitalist economy in major countries increasing the demand for colonies, so the colonial wars were increasingly intensified, in that context, the reaction of Asian countries was analyzed by author Dinh Thi Dung through studying the policies of countries in the region. From there, the work analyzed the foreign policies and guidelines of the Nguyen Dynasty kings, in which during the reign of Minh Mang, Vietnam became a prestigious country and demonstrated its self-reliance in the region. The group of documents studying the historical and social conditions of Vietnam in the late 18th and early 19th centuries includes the following typical works: The development of Vietnamese thought from the 19th century to the August Revolution by Professor Tran Van Giau, republished by the Hanoi National Political Publishing House in 1996, including 3 volumes; the work "Brief History of Vietnam" by Tran Trong Kim, published by the Literature Publishing House in 2015; the work "Some issues of the Nguyen Dynasty's mandarin system" by a group of authors Phan Dai Doan, Nguyen Minh Tuong, Hoang Phuong, Le Thanh Lan, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, published by Thuan Hoa Publishing House; The Nguyen Dynasty and Our History by many authors, published by Hong Duc Publishing House in 2017; Hue Research by the Hue Research Center published in 1999. First of all, we must mention the work "The development of Vietnamese thought from the 19th century to the August Revolution" by Professor Tran Van Giau, republished by the Hanoi National Political Publishing House in 1996 consists of 3 volumes. The work has analyzed very clearly the social basis of the Nguyen Dynasty's thoughts, which was not only determined by the social and historical conditions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but was also greatly influenced by the social and historical conditions of many previous centuries. The author analyzed the practical social life of the Nguyen Dynasty in terms of politics, economy and society; in which, in terms of politics, the author affirmed that the Nguyen Dynasty established an absolutely centralized central government. In terms of economy, the author analyzed the situation of agriculture, industry and commerce in our country, from which he drew out the basic characteristics of our country's economy at that time. In terms of society, the author distinguished the class structure in our country's society and the people's lives in that period. The author analyzed the historical context and the demands of social life as the social basis of the feudal ideology. The author affirmed that the feudal ideology of our country at that time was Confucianism, from that presented the history of Confucianism's development in Vietnam and Vietnamese Confucianism in the 19th century. Finally, the author affirmed the powerlessness of the feudal ideology, leading to its failure in the face of the www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 108 new historical tasks set for our country at that time. The work "Brief History of Vietnam" by Tran Trong Kim, published by Literature Publishing House in 2015. This work divided our country's history into 5 eras: The first era is the ancient era, from the Hong Bang dynasty until the end of the Trieu dynasty; the second era is the period of Chinese domination, from when King Vu De of the Han dynasty took over the land of Nam Viet from the Trieu dynasty, until the Ngu Quy dynasty, when on our side there were the Khuc and Ngo families who proclaimed independence; the third era is the era of autonomy, from the Ngo dynasty, the Dinh dynasty to the Later Le dynasty. In Part V, the modern era, the author analyzed the domestic and international context in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, analyzed the economic, political and social conditions of our country at that time, analyzed Minh Mang's foreign policy with neighboring countries as well as Western countries. Thereby, helping readers visualize the domestic and international context during Minh Mang's lifetime, which is the basis for explaining how Minh Mang's thoughts and policies were influenced by historical limits. The work “Some issues of the Nguyen Dynasty’s mandarin system” by the collective authors Phan Dai Doan, Nguyen Minh Tuong, Hoang Phuong, Le Thanh Lan, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh published by Thuan Hoa Publishing House, this book consists of 4 chapters, mentioning the socio-political situation, the principles of building the state apparatus of the Nguyen Dynasty, and some internal policies of the Nguyen Dynasty in the first half of the 19th century, in addition to mentioning the brief history of the mandarin system of the dynasties before the Nguyen Dynasty, the main officials under the Nguyen Dynasty, the way of declaring mandarins and the rules of conferring titles, the duties and rights of mandarins, measures to control and punish law-breaking mandarins… The above research works have recreated historical events as well as historical figures that had a direct influence on the formation and development of Minh Mang’s philosophy of life. Thus, the study of Minh Mang's ideology in general and the conditions and premises for the formation of Minh Mang's philosophy of life in particular has been of interest to many authors under many different aspects, but there has not been any work that is in-depth and focuses on the study of the conditions and premises for the formation of Minh Mang's philosophy of life. In the process of implementing this topic, the author has inherited the above works as documents for the study of the socio-historical conditions in the country and the world, the premises and subjective factors that influenced Minh Mang's philosophy of life. World Historical and Social Conditions for the Formation of Minh Mang's Philosophy of Life The Nguyen Dynasty was born in the context of a world with many strong changes in all fields. In particular, the improvement of technology and the change of production capacity disrupted the old social order and ideology, building a new civilization, starting a new period of world history, the Modern period. The world entered a period of strong capitalist development. In the West, marking the development and victory of capitalism, the industrial revolution from the 18th century to the mid-19th century brought about great changes in the economy, thereby making social life change accordingly in all aspects. Western countries, especially England and France, were carrying out the industrial revolution, expanding invasion and colonial trade, including in Asia. This had a strong impact on the world situation and affected Vietnam. Economically, the invention of the steam engine in England at the end of the 18th century marked the birth of the industrial revolution. A process of industrialization that took place rapidly in Europe changed the way of production from manual labor to the use of machines and gradually formed a complete industrial structure, from small-scale production to large-scale production with the birth of factories and industrial zones. According to Engels, England has completely changed: “…The history of English industry in the last 60 years is unique in mankind. 60 or 80 years ago, it was a country like other countries, with small towns, poor industry, www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 109 very simple, and a relatively important scattered peasant population; now it is a country unlike other countries, with a capital of 2.5 million people, many large cities with factories, an industry that supplies the whole world and produces almost everything with very complicated machines, a very large, industrious, intelligent population, and industry that requires 2/3 of that population…” The development of the capitalist economy in the first half of the 19th century affirmed the great role of the bourgeoisie in history, at the same time it also created changes in all aspects of social life, that is, the leap forward of capitalist industry and commerce, mechanization in agriculture, the need to sell goods and Expanding the foreign market is increasingly urgent and especially in terms of population and society there are great changes, workers dominate over farmers, forming two basic classes in society: industrial bourgeoisie and proletariat. Thus, it can be affirmed that in terms of economy, the West in the early 19th century had a strong development of productive forces. This development will be the basis leading to profound changes in all other aspects of social life such as politics, ideology, culture, society, ... not only in European countries but will affect other countries worldwide. The economic and scientific and technological achievements of this period affirmed the superiority of capitalist society over feudal society, under the conditions of a corrupt feudal regime. The bourgeoisie, as an advanced class, was gradually consolidating its role, and would be the representative force leading the masses to carry out the revolution, overthrow the old society, build a new society, and pave the way for the development of capitalism. The early 19th century was a multi-faceted preparation for the mid-19th century, when revolutionary situations would appear in many European feudal countries. A new revolution would inevitably break out, establishing a capitalist mode of production with new values and new standards suitable for a rapidly changing society. This development required Western capitalist countries to find sources of raw materials and places to consume goods. Colonial wars of aggression were increasingly intensified, in which Asian countries were not outside the goals of imperialist countries. Faced with that situation, countries must prepare mentally to deal with foreign invasions. Protecting national sovereignty is one of the historical tasks of nations and of course Vietnam is no exception. Minh Mang was very aware of that problem, he was very intelligent and perceptive when building a strong and self-reliant domestic policy: "In doing national affairs, we must be self-reliant, we should not rely on others. If we know how to cultivate morality and strengthen the border, people from far away will also have to obey and will have local products to contribute, not just help us with weapons", and Minh Mang implemented a flexible foreign policy: "England Cat Loi is a country that is considered to be powerful and extremely dangerous and cunning; wherever it goes, it always causes trouble with people there. We need to handle it skillfully, we should not let their people come and go freely" (National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty, Minh Mang Chinh Yeu, volume 6, pp. 259, 227). For him, implementing a strong domestic policy and flexible foreign policy was a way to protect the existence of the dynasty, from which he implemented many economic, political, cultural, diplomatic, military policies... to achieve that goal. Minh Mang's philosophy of life was clearly revealed in his policies and in the implementation of those policies. Socially, the development of the capitalist economy changed the class structure in Western societies. The proportion of workers was dominant over farmers. "In England in 1831, ¾ of the population were workers, ¼ of the population were farmers". The distribution of population was carried out again: in prosperous industrial areas, with abundant resources, cities were built quickly and attracted a large population. The development of the capitalist economy gave rise to two basic classes in society: industrial bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie increasingly occupied an important position in society because of its growing economic power. The industrial bourgeoisie in the early 19th century began to make political and economic demands. The proletariat grew in number and its www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 110 class consciousness became more and more solid. The industrialization process was accompanied by the mass bankruptcy of craftsmen, who did not enjoy safe working conditions and labor protection, so their situation became more and more tragic, and they were pushed to the path of fighting against the bourgeois government. Therefore, the first half of the 19th century was also a period of fierce struggle between the two basic classes in society, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. When the social structure changed, the socio-political situation also changed, which had a great influence on the formation of Vietnamese ideology during this period. In terms of politics, modern world history in the late 18th century, early 19th century is the development and total victory of the capitalist regime worldwide. Along with the development of the capitalist economy, the democratic and national revolutionary movement also developed strongly. The reactionary feudal forces tried their best to suppress and prevent the people's movement, but could not avoid the danger of the bourgeois revolution that began to threaten. In terms of science and technology, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the first industrial revolution took place. This was a revolution in the field of production, a fundamental change in socio-economic, cultural and technical conditions, originating from England and then spreading throughout the world. During this period, the simple, small-scale economy based on manual labor was replaced by large-scale industry and machine manufacturing. The milestone that opened the mechanization process was the invention of the steam engine by James Watt, from which the revolution also took place in the transportation industry such as the invention of steam-powered ships to replace oars or sails, the steam locomotive was born, this success exploded the railway system in Europe and America. In the field of chemistry, Joseph Priestley, an English lawyer, discovered oxygen. The metallurgy industry also made great strides with the invention of the blast furnace by Henry Bessemer, which was capable of smelting molten iron into steel, meeting the high demand for quantity and quality of steel at that time. The field of medicine also made many advances: Andreas Vesalius, a Belgian scientist, published a book on the structure of the human body; William Harvey, an English physiologist, did a lot of research on the circulatory system of birds, fish, and frogs. He described the blood circulation system in the human body in the book “Anatomy of the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals”. In particular, Isaac Newton's physical theory is considered the greatest work of the 18th century. Newton's greatest contribution lies in the three laws named after him, notably the law of universal gravitation. Newton can be considered the cornerstone of classical physics. Newton's great work is the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. The scientific and technological revolution in this period caused the capitalist production to rapidly transition to large-scale mechanical industry, creating the material basis of the capitalist mode of production. Karl Marx used the image to generalize the great historical effect of science and technology. He acknowledged that: "science is a powerful lever of history", "a revolutionary force of supreme significance", from which it also strongly and widely promoted the division of labor and labor cooperation, making the process of socialization of production to be raised to a higher level, leading to the transformation of production relations. In addition, it can be seen that the industrial revolution, through changing living conditions, promoted changes in people's ways of thinking, such as expanding communication space, broadening people's horizons, helping people to have awareness of themselves, their position and role in the world, thereby allowing people to increase creativity in scientific, artistic and educational activities. Regarding literature and art. The development of capitalism made the fate of workers and the masses increasingly miserable. Writers and thinkers living in this period used materials from the reality of life to point out the evils of capitalist society, criticize and condemn capitalist relations in capitalist society. Modern history has been vividly reflected in European literature, especially French literature. Victor Hugo is a typical writer of the progressive romantic movement. He expressed his sympathy www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 111 for the poor through his works Les Misérables, Notre Dame de Paris. Through his works, Hugo expressed his desire to reach a good, fair and humane society. The harsh and brutal capitalist society was also reflected through the realist literature, typically by Honoré de Balzac. His typical works include Eugénie Grandet, The Ass's Skin... and many others. Those works of Balzac were collected in the series The Comedy of Life. Works such as Stendhal's Red and Black, Guy de Maupassant's The Tallow also reflect the unjust and brutal capitalist society. Russian literature of the 19th century also made important contributions with works such as War and Peace by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Other famous writers of Russian literature of the 19th century include Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Bielixki.... Realist writers delved into reality to reflect in their works, they exposed the evil nature of bourgeois society, the fierce competition of capitalism, the cruel exploitation of the rich by the poor. While truthfully describing life, realist writers spoke up, criticized and denounced capitalist society. Delving into the nature, discovering the contradictions in social reality helped people have a deeper understanding of nature, society and human life. The great advances in science and technology have helped the bourgeoisie in Western countries to go further in their journey to search and discover distant lands that they had not previously had the ability or conditions to set foot on. This is a prominent feature of this period, it affects the fate of countries if there are no appropriate steps and policies to deal with the expansion of Western countries. It has a very strong impact on the political thinking of thinkers at that time, including Vietnamese thinkers. The path that countries choose to maintain their stability also had a significant impact on the formation and development of Minh Mang's thoughts on human life. In the Latin American region, right at the dawn of capitalism, in the 16th century, the majority of Latin America became a colony of the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Western colonialists tried every way to establish their order in this region to suppress the weak and backward Latin American peoples to easily dominate and enslave them. Until the end of the 18th century, Central and South America still belonged to Spain and Portugal; the majority of the population was mixed-race people and some indigenous Indians, along with black slaves who suffered from heavy oppression and exploitation by the mother country. White people born in the colonies were also looked down upon. Therefore, all were dissatisfied, rose up against the mother country and were influenced by the bourgeois revolutionary ideology of the United States and France. At this time, African countries were in the development stage of the feudal system, in some countries there was still a tribal state and even primitive communist regimes still existed. In addition, African countries also weakened themselves by constant conflicts and civil wars and therefore Africa could not escape the fate of becoming a colony of Western capital. Asian countries in the late 8th and early 19th centuries were in the development stage of the feudal regime. Most countries were based on the development of agricultural economy, backward farming techniques, low labor productivity, and the feudal land ownership system partly eliminated the production motivation of workers. The East became a place of fierce competition between Western powers eager to conquer markets and colonies: priests, merchants and soldiers landing on the mainland for any reason caused a negative perception of the threat to security in Eastern countries, making the dynasties here always in a state of alertness and response. Faced with the expansion trend of imperialist capitalist countries to the East, the common historical mission of Asian countries at this time was to protect national independence by all means. During this period, China, Japan, and Siam all refused to open their doors to the outside world. In Japan, the policy of “seclusion” was implemented, a policy that almost every Asian country adopted as a way to protect itself from the threat of Western invasion. During the Tokugawa shogunate, Christianity was completely banned in Japan. Japanese Christians were executed. Under the Sakoku policy, merchants, except Dutch and Chinese, were banned from entering Japan, and the Dutch were www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 112 limited to a small island in Nagasaki harbor. In China, the Qing Dynasty only opened one seaport, Guangzhou, for foreign trade. During the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain wanted to form an alliance with China but was rejected by China. When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, world trade grew rapidly, and because China’s large population provided an unlimited market for European goods, trade between China and European merchants flourished in the early years of the 19th century. As trade grew, hostility grew between European governments and the Qing Dynasty, which officially believed that China had no need of European goods and would not open itself to trade with European countries. The Philippines and Indonesia were annexed in the 16th century, Malaysia in the 17th century, and Siam and several other countries also rejected all offers of trade from the West. But the challenges of history did not come only from outside the borders, but within each Asian country at this time, a series of problems were revealed that needed to be solved. Firstly, during this period, the feudal regime in Asian countries weakened, the yoke of domination weighed heavily on the people, the conflict between the royal court and the working people, especially the peasants, became increasingly fierce, leading to many large peasant uprisings. According to the research of Vu Duong Ninh & Nguyen Van Hong (1997b), "in Japan in the 17th century there were 188 uprisings, then in the 18th century there were 514 uprisings, in Myanmar in the early 19th century, a large peasant uprising broke out in 1810 to fight against feudal oppression" (p. 10). Although the peasant uprisings failed one after another, they still made the feudal regime more shaky. Secondly, the weakening of the feudal regime was shown in the trend of national modernization with many different levels and forms. The opportunity to contact the West awakened many Eastern intellectuals, and reformist ideas began to appear during this period, from which new ideas appeared in social life. Thus, it can be seen that during this period, Asian countries were all entrenched and did not open their doors to trade with the West. However, even though they closed their doors, during the process of colonial conquest, capitalist countries still brought to new lands products of Western civilization. It was not only tin ships, bronze ships, rifles, cannons, but also scientific knowledge, technology, new industries, new lifestyles and new streams of thought... so this was not only a military confrontation between countries but also a "clash of civilizations" and different cultures. This was also one of the strong impacts on the formation of Minh Mang's thoughts, including his thoughts on life. Impact of East-West exchange on Minh Mang's thoughts on life. In the early 19th century, the East-West exchange process took place increasingly strongly. Along with the colonial expansion of Western countries, Christianity and new streams of thought began to enter Vietnam through missionaries and merchants. This introduction not only had religious elements but also included Western cultural values, ideology, and lifestyle - which the Nguyen Dynasty, especially King Minh Mang, considered a threat to the traditional social foundation. In this situation, Minh Mang reacted strongly to protect orthodox Confucian ideology. He considered Confucianism a tool to maintain social order, morality, and national identity, and at the same time a barrier against the influence of "foreign" ideas. Therefore, Minh Mang promoted discipline, humanity, etiquette, and loyalty, considering them as means to strengthen national spirit and stability of the country. In addition, the emergence of Christianity - with its ideas of equality, individualism and absolute faith in God - was completely contrary to the hierarchical, loyal and patriarchal system of Confucianism. Therefore, Minh Mang was concerned that if Western ideas were allowed to spread, they would destroy the foundation of morality, ethics and feudal social discipline. From then on, he applied a policy of restricting Christianity and strictly controlling missionary activities. The impact of East-West exchange made Minh Mang more determined in protecting and strengthening Confucianism, considering it the spiritual pillar of the nation. His philosophy of life therefore had a conservative and defensive color, aiming to uphold traditional morality, www.ejtas.com European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (ISSN 2786-7447) 2025 | Volume 3 | Number 6 113 protect national identity and maintain political and social stability in the context of a changing world. Conclusion Thus, the historical and social conditions of the world in the early 19th century had a strong impact on the formation of Minh Mang's philosophy of life. In the context of Western capitalism rising strongly, expanding colonial invasion and spreading new civilizational values, Vietnam - under the leadership of the Nguyen Dynasty - faced many political, economic and cultural challenges. As the ruler of the country, Minh Mang was forced to face the requirement of both protecting national independence and maintaining feudal social order. From there, he chose to consolidate orthodox Confucian ideology as the foundation of governing the country, considering morality, courtesy, humanity and discipline as core values to stabilize society and preserve national identity against the wave of influence from the West. However, because of being constrained by feudal ideology, Minh Mang's philosophy of life was conservative, limiting the ability to absorb progressive elements of the times. In short, in the context of turbulent world history, Minh Mang's philosophy of life was both a product of the declining feudal era and a demonstration of the efforts of a monarch who wanted to protect the independence and cultural identity of the nation against strong pressure from Western trends. References Doan, P.D., Tuong, N.M., Phuong, H., Lan, L.T., & Quynh, N.N. (2017). Some issues of the Nguyen Dynasty's mandarin system. Hue: Thuan Hoa Publishing House. Giau, T.V. (1996). The development of Vietnamese thought from the 19th century to the August Revolution (3 vols.). Hanoi: National Political Publishing House. Kim, T.T. (2015). Brief History of Vietnam [Viet Nam Sử Lược]. Hanoi: Literature Publishing House. National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty. (1974). Minh Menh Chinh Yeu (vols. 1– 6). Saigon: Ministry of Culture, Education and Youth. National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty. (2006). Dai Nam Thuc Luc (vols. 1–5). Hanoi: Education Publishing House. Thanh, N.V.. (1994). Hoang Viet Luat Le (vols. 1–5). Hanoi: Culture and Information Publishing House.