Personal Kim Bai of the Emperor of Annam Khai Dinh

Bài /牌, Plaque/ insignia has been in use in China and Annam for centuries. The earliest known were of ivory and apparently were worn as a badge of office. During the reign of Gia-Long about 1802, the Ngân-Bài, or silver plaque, is said to have been worn by members of the Co-Mat, or Secret Council, as indicative of their position. In 1824/1825 the Emperor Minh-Mang seems to have issued regulations for the wearing of the Bài rather than, as some writers have supposed, rules for its creation.

After reforms of Emperor Thanh-Thai in 1889 the Sovereign wore a rectangular plaque, made of jade, enriched by precious stones and bearing characters, "Peace and prosperity to the Son of Heaven." Gold plaques or Kim-Bài were worn by the members of the Royal family, the high court dignitaries, members of the Co-Mat, and are awarded to the higher French officials. The plaques were made in various shapes and sizes for all the different classes, generally oblong rectangles, though those of other wearers, like the women of the household, are oval. The material is silver, ivory, horn, ebony and lead according to the grade. On the face they bear the title of the individual wearing it, be he an official of the Palace, an officer of the army or a servant of the Royal household. There are at least twenty different shapes and sizes. Sixty different classes of persons are entitled to wear the plaque or Bài.​

Gold, pearls, diamonds /total weight of six carats/.
Size 93 x 73 x 53 mm.
Weight 70.81 g.

 

Khải Định ( 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 Đảo. He was the son of Emperor Đồng Khánh, but he did not succeed him immediately.

Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo became the nominal ruler of Annam on 18 May 1916, after the exile of Duy Tân (Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San) and took the name Khải Định for his reign, meaning "auger of peace and stability." He said he wanted to restore the prestige of the empire, but this was not possible with his close collaboration with the French occupiers. Although not satisfied with his position, Khải Định enacted a policy of close collaboration with the French government and was effectively a puppet political figurehead for the French colonial rulers, following all of their instructions to give "legitimacy" to French policies.

Because of this, Khải Định was very unpopular with the Vietnamese people. The nationalist leader Phan Châu Trinh accused him of selling out his country to the French and living in imperial luxury while the people were exploited by France. Nguyễn Ái Quốc (later known as Hồ Chí Minh) wrote a play about Khải Định called "The Bamboo Dragon" that ridiculed him as being all grand appearance and ceremony but a powerless puppet of the French government.

From 1919 onward, the Emperor made a decree that Vietnam cease to use Chinese as official written language and was replaced by Romanized Vietnamese.

In 1922, the Emperor's visit to France to see the Marseilles Colonial Exhibition was also ridiculed by nationalist leaders, who hated Vietnam's status as a colonial subject of France and saw nothing in the exhibition worth celebrating.

Emperor Khải Định's unpopularity reached its peak in 1923 when he authorized the French to raise taxes on the Vietnamese peasants, part of which was to pay for the building of his palatial tomb, and which caused a great deal of hardship. He also signed the orders of arrest against many nationalist leaders, such as Phan Bội Châu, forcing them into exile and having their followers who were captured beheaded.​