During the Nguyen Dynasty, the concepts of Confucianism played an important role in the court as well as in the wider society. Confucian families set great store in the four great virtues of men: hieu, le, trung, tin (filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, and trustworthiness). Society measured men's success by their progress in scholarly study and in their careers.
Meanwhile, the determining factors for women were: cong, dung, ngon, hanh (good work, good countenance, good speech, and good nature). Of these four feminine virtues, society considered the first the most important. Although "good work" included skill at sewing and weaving, the most prized talent was cooking. Hue women raised on this philosophy used their refinement and skills to transform cooking from daily drudgery into an artistic profession and a way of life.
The central place of cooking in women's lives persisted into the twentieth century. In 1915, Truong Dang Thi Bich wrote a book of poems with recipes for over a hundred local dishes (see entrybelow). During the 1920s, a number of cooking schools started up in Hue: When Mrs. Dao Duy Anh opened her school, the patriot reformer Phan Boi Chau gave a famous speech on what women needed to know. In 1943, Mrs. Hoang Thi Kim Cuc, a teacher at the Dong Khanh Girls' High School, compiled the first comprehensive Hue cookbook,Mon an nau loi Hue (Dishes made in Hue style), where she introduced the diversity and subtlety of cooking in central Viet Nam.
Confucian philosophy no longer dominates as it did during the Nguyen Dynasty. These days, Vietnamese women and men share involvement in society. Women cannot invest the time and energy in housework as they did in the past. Nevertheless, Hue women remain renowned for their cooking skill. Ms. Hoang Thi. Nhu Huy, a chef at a Hue hotel, has become a member of France's National Culinary Academy. Another hotel chef, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, recently won two gold medals in a cooking contest held by the Viet Nam Administration of Tourism.