Put simply, Confucianism is the quest for order. Most of the ideology dictates that the primary focus of Confucian doctrine is to balance the relationships of individual family, and society with the Five Agents of the Universe. More a method of management than an actual religion, it became a mode by which rulers and civic leaders could run the bureaucracy of the state.
For the most part, Vietnam was considered a Confucian state until the mid nineteenth century.
The Confucian state is often stratified into classes, and only the most scholarly elite need conform to Confucian ideals. Leaders were decided by examination over sacred texts. As a result, the peasant or farmer had little to say over the workings of their government. Confucianism is not an exclusionary doctrine, it works well with other moral codes and can synthesize easily. In Vietnam, Confucianism was used primarily for the running of the state, and Taoism and Buddhism for the morality of its citizens. Most of the issues that the Confucian scholars concerned themselves with, during their tenure in power was the proper regulation of the state from the top down and the division of communal property among the citizenry. The Confucian system of philosophy lost prominence in more recent history, but is still common among government bureaucrats and leaders.