Viện cơ mật

The Viện cơ mật or "Secret Institute" (chữ Nôm: 院機密; chữ Hán: 機密院; French: Conseil privé, Conseil d’État, Chambre haute), established in 1834, was the Privy Council and key mandarin agency of the imperial court of Vietnam's final Nguyễn dynasty at Huế, until the end of the dynasty in 1945.

History


The Minh Mạng Emperor established the Viện cơ mật (Privy Council) along with the Nội các Viên (Cabinet, Grand Secretariat) as the main agencies of the court's administration. The Privy Council, or Secret Institute, comprised four of the most senior mandarins. Minh Mạng based the relationship of the Nội các and the Cơ mật viện on the relationship of the Nội các and the Quân cơ xứ (軍機處) within the bureaucratic framework of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China.

In the year 1834, Minh Mạng's political project (dự án chính trị) was expanded to Cambodia, the Siamese army attacked from the Vietnam-Laos border down to Hà Tiên province. At the same time there were widespread rebellions from Cao Bằng province to Gia Định province. These situations forced the Minh Mạng Emperor to work with a smaller and more flexible close-knit group as he needed to discuss classified communications, military emergencies, and rapid response to the war situation. This was the reason why the Cơ mật viện was established.

In 1897 the Resident-Superior of Annam was granted the power to appoint the Nguyễn dynasty Emperors and presided over the meetings of the Viện cơ mật. These moves incorporated French officials directly into the administrative structure of the Imperial Huế Court and further legitimised French rule in the legislative branch of the Nguyễn government.

Bắc ty and Nam ty
The Cơ mật Viện was divided into two offices, the Bắc ty (北司, "Northern office") and the Nam ty (南司, "Southern office"). The Bắc ty was in charge of affairs relating to the area ranging from everything north of the southern border of the Hà Tĩnh province and the Nam ty was in charge on everything south of the northern border of the Quảng Bình province.

Each Ty had 1 Deputy Director of the Bureau (員外郎, Viên Ngoại lang), trật Chánh ngũ phẩm, 1 Chủ sự trật Chánh lục phẩm, 2 Tư vụ hoặc Biên tu, trật Chánh thất phẩm, and an inspector (Kiểm thảo), trật Tòng thất phẩm.

Seals
Immediate after the Cơ mật Viện was established during the reign of the Minh Mạng Emperor a seal was issued for the institution, this seal bore the seal script inscription Cơ mật viện ấn (機密院印), was made from silver, and had a seal knob shaped like a camel. The great seal of the Cơ mật Viện during the reign of the Minh Mạng Emperor was 7 cm by 7 cm in size, while the Cơ mật viện ấn seal seen during the reign of the Đồng Khánh Emperor was only 5 cm x 5 cm. During the reign of the Đồng Khánh Emperor a new great seal was made with the inscription Cơ mật chi ấn (機密之印) and a kiềm ấn (small seal) with the inscription Cơ mật (機密) that was 3 cm x 3 cm. During the reign of the Bảo Đại Emperor the great seal had an inscription that read Cơ mật viện ấn (機密院印) and was 6,7 cm x 6,7 cm and the kiềm ấn was 2,8 cm x 2,8 cm.