The Order of Kim Khánh (, vi-hantu, 金磬) was an

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

of the

Empire of Vietnam The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Japanese language, Contemporary Japanese: ; Japanese language, Modern Japanese: ) was a short-lived Japanese puppet state, puppet state of Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan between March 11 and Abdicat ...

. The order was altered when

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

became a republic. The emperor awarded this decoration to his mandarins or high officials. It is suited for their silken gowns. It consists of a golden plaque in the shape of a traditional Vietnamese gong with Chinese characters and symbols like dragons, dragon's paws with a

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

, fo-dogs,

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s and phoenixes. Attached to the plaque are a traditional depiction of a

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in orange and white pearls, beads of red and white

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, fresh water pearls and gold. The Chinese characters mean "A visible sign of thanks and good will". On the back the words "awarded by the Emperor

Khải Định Khải Định (; chữ Hán: 啓定; born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo; 8 October 1885 – 6 November 1925) was the 12th emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam, reigning from 1916 to 1925. His name at birth was Prince Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đ ...

" are written. In 1875 a Special Class of the order was given to the

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

.In 1875 to President Thiers, see the ''Bulletin des Amis du Vieux Hué'', n°4, 1914, p. 392 In a more simple version the Khim Khanh was awarded to French colonial administrators and princes in Asia like the

Susuhunan Susuhunan, or in short version Sunan, is a title used by the monarchs of Mataram and then by the hereditary rulers of Surakarta, Indonesia. Additionally in Bali and Surakarta, so-called " Kings of kings" reigned with this title, while their k ...

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

Pakubuwono X Pakubuwono X (also transliterated Pakubuwana X, sometimes abbreviated PB X; Surakarta, 29 November 1866 – Surakarta, 22 February 1939) was, despite his regnal name, the ninth Susuhunan (Monarch) of Surakarta. He reigned from the 1893 to ...

. The jewel is 85 millimeter wide and 153 millimeter high. It was awarded in a rectangular silver or gold box with a decor of dragons and a red silk lining.

History

The initial ''Kim Khánh'' were issued either during the reign of the

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

Emperor or

Minh Mạng Minh Mạng (), also known as Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu), was the second emperor of the Nguyễ ...

Emperor and it is not known when the decoration was first issued or what classes they initially had. An example of one of these early ''Kim Khánh'' dating to the reign of

Thiệu Trị Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...

had a design of two embossed

dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

facing the sun, enhanced with fine pearls, with two

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

reading ''Ân tứ'' (恩賜, " mperor'sMerciful Gift") composed of pearls. This early ''Kim Khánh'' was intended for a member of the imperial family or for one of the four eminent dignitaries advisers to the Emperor, the "Pillars of the Empire". The ''Kim Khánh'' was rarely granted to people and it was intended to reward the achievements of general and superior officers as well as the distinguished service of civilian mandarins. Only high rank civil mandarins and military mandarins had the right to wear the ''Kim Khánh'' in public, other recipients had to keep them at home. These people would receive either the ''sapèque d'argent'' or the ''sapèque d'or'' to wear in public (these decorations were introduced by decree by the

Đồng Khánh Đồng Khánh (, vi-hantu, 同慶, lit. "collective celebration"; 19 February 1864 – 28 January 1889), born Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Kỷ (阮福膺祺) or Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Đường (阮福膺禟), also known as Chánh Mông (正蒙), was the ...

Emperor in the year 1885). The Emperor awarded a ''Đại hạng Kim Khánh'' to high-rank mandarins having reached an advanced age (60 or 70 years) that have earned it, bearing a reverse inscription celebrating his wisdom, his great age, or his merits.

Classes and variants

By decree of the Đồng Khánh Emperor in 1885 the gong-shaped plate of the ''Kim Khánh'' was either made of gold (''Kim Khánh''), imitation gold (''Tử Kim Khánh''), or in silver (''Ngân Khánh''). Its design features two dragons in relief facing the sun (or a flaming pearl). Until 1885 the ''Kim Khánh'' only had 2 classes: In 1885 the Đồng Khánh Emperor divided the ''Kim Khánh'' into 3 classes, creating a total of 4 classes: In the year

Thành Thái Thành Thái (, vi-hantu, 成泰; 14 March 1879 – 20 March 1954) born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân (阮福寶嶙), was the son of Vietnamese Emperor Dục Đức and Empress Dowager Từ Minh. He reigned as emperor for 18 years, from 1889 t ...

12 (1900) the ''Kim Khánh'' for Vietnamese mandarins were given the following inscriptions: For both the French and foreigners, the Thành Thái Emperor created 3 classes of ''Kim Khánh''. The obverse side of these all bears the inscription ''Đại Nam Hoàng Đế sắc tử'' (大南皇帝敕賜, "Awarded by the Emperor of the Great South") but have different reverse inscriptions.

''Ngọc Khánh''

The '' Ngọc Khánh'' (玉磬, "jade gong") is a higher distinction to the ''Kim Khánh''. The ''Ngọc Khánh'' were only reserved for the deserving First Class Mandarins. This decoration was made of

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

and had the inscription Trân bửu (珍寶, "Precious treasures") preceded by the name of the Emperor.

South Vietnam

There is a later version of the ''Kim Khánh'' where the dragons and inscriptions are replaced by a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

grove, a

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...

(representing civil mandarins) and a

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

(representing military mandarins). This was the

national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag. Other national symbols, such as national ...

of the

First Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

during the presidency of

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( , or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam ( Republic of ...

References

External links