Nguyen Binh Khiem was well-known not only as a teacher highly esteemed for the morality and literary talent, but also as a prophet who foretold the developments of Vietnam – he is considered the forecaster in the country’s history. People pass to one another words of predictions thought to have been spoken by him, which are called the Oracles by First Doctoral Candidate Trình (named after the title conferred on him by the royal court). | Civil Service Examination Policy of Mac Dynasty and Role of Nguyen Binh Khiem Nguyen Huu Tam1 1 Institute of History, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. Email: youxin210@ Received: 7 December 2016. Accepted: 23 March 2017. Abstract: Among the talented and renowned Confucian intelligentsia trained under the Mac dynasty, Nguyen Binh Khiem is one of the most influential characters of the Vietnamese history and culture in the 16th century. His wholehearted service towards the dynasty was the result of a process of studying the reality and apprehending the course of development by a Confucian scholar who was abreast of his times. Nguyen Binh Khiem was well-known not only as a teacher highly esteemed for the morality and literary talent, but also as a prophet who foretold the developments of Vietnam – he is considered the forecaster in the country’s history. People pass to one another words of predictions thought to have been spoken by him, which are called the Oracles by First Doctoral Candidate Trình (named after the title conferred on him by the royal court). Keywords: Civil service examinations, Nguyen Binh Khiem, Mac dynasty. Subject classification: History 1. Introduction Mac dynasty came into existence in the background of the State of Dai Viet (Great Viet) sunk in a profound crisis at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century with court affairs disturbances, factional brawls and revolts arising everywhere. Nevertheless, in a short period of time, the dynasty rapidly built and consolidated the organisation of the central and local administrative apparatuses. After more than 60 years of reigning in Thang Long, Mac dynasty bequeathed achievements in political, economic and military fields. Especially, it devoted attention and attached great importance to the education with “khoa cử” (civil service), or royal/feudal competitive examinations, for the purpose of “using literature and education to train talents, repairing schools to
