Chu Văn An
Vietnamese teacher and Confucian
Chu Văn An (born Chu An, 25 August 1292 – c. 1370) was a Confucian, teacher, physician, and high-ranking mandarin of the Trần dynasty in Đại Việt. His courtesy name was Linh Triệt (靈徹), while his art name was Tiều Ẩn (樵隱). He was later given the posthumous name Văn Trinh.
Early life
He was born in Văn Thôn village, Quang Liệt commune, in present-day Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. In the early life, he was famous as a straightforward man who passed the doctoral examination (Thái Học Sinh / 太學生) but refused to become a mandarin. Instead, An opened a school and began his career as a Confucian teacher in Huỳnh Cung village in Thanh Tri. An's teaching played an important role in spreading Confucianism into what was at the time Buddhist Vietnam.
Under the reign of Tran Minh Tong (1314–1329), he became a teacher at the imperial academy (國子監) where he was responsible for teaching crown prince Vuong, the future emperor Tran Hien Tong. Under the reign of emperor Tran Du Tong, he became a high-ranking mandarin.
Later, he resigned and return to his home village because Tran Du Tong refused his request of beheading seven other mandarins whom he accused of corruption.
“Chu Văn An” enters the record as vietnamese teacher and Confucian. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Vietnamese, teacher and Confucian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Chu Văn An” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Vietnamese, teacher and Confucian provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 23, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1155893. VIAF identifies the subject as 53111850. The Library of Congress control number is n85047514. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1292, 1370, 1314 and 1329.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Chu Văn An”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Chu Văn An primary sources, Chu Văn An archive and Vietnamese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Chu Văn An”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Chu Văn An” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.