The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty ( or , , ), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, having ruled Đại Việt () from 1428 to 1789 with an interregnum between 1527 and 1533. The Lê dynasty is divided into two historical periods: the Initial Lê dynasty ( or , , ; 1428–1527) before the usurpation by the Mạc dynasty, in which emperors ruled in their own right, and the Revival Lê dynasty ( or , , ; 1533–1789), in which the emperors were figures who reigned under the auspices of the powerful Trịnh family. The Revival Lê dynasty was marked by two lengthy civil wars: the Lê–Mạc War (1533–1592) in which two dynasties battled for legitimacy in northern Vietnam and the Trịnh–Nguyễn Wars (1627–1672, 1774–1777) between the Trịnh lords in North and the Nguyễn lords of the South.
The dynasty officially began in 1428 with the enthronement of Lê Lợi after he drove the Ming Chinese army from Vietnam. The dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Lê Thánh Tông and declined after his death in 1497. In 1527, the Mạc dynasty usurped the throne; when the Lê dynasty was restored in 1533, the Mạc fled to the far north and continued to claim the throne during the period known as Southern and Northern Dynasties. The restored Lê emperors held no real power, and by the time the Mạc dynasty was finally eradicated in 1677, actual power lay in the hands of the Trịnh lords in the North and Nguyễn lords in the South, both ruling in the name of the Lê emperor while fighting each other. The Lê dynasty officially ended in 1789, when the peasant uprising of the Tây Sơn brothers defeated both the Trịnh and the Nguyễn, ironically in order to restore power to the Lê dynasty.
The Lê dynasty continued the Nam tiến expansion of Vietnam's borders southwards through the domination of the Kingdom of Champa and expedition into today Laos and Myanmar, nearly reaching Vietnam's modern borders by the time of the Tây Sơn uprising. It also saw massive changes to Vietnamese society: the previously Buddhist state became Confucian after the preceding 20 years of Ming rule. The Lê emperors instituted many changes modeled after the Chinese system, including the civil service and laws. Their long-lasting rule was attributed to the popularity of the early emperors. Lê Lợi's liberation of the country from 20 years of Ming rule and Lê Thánh Tông's bringing the country into a golden age was well-remembered by the people. Even though the restored Lê emperors' rule was marked by civil strife and constant peasant uprisings, few dared to openly challenge their power for fear of losing popular support. The Lê dynasty also was the period Vietnam saw the coming of Western Europeans and Christianity in early 16th-century.
History
Lam Sơn uprising (1418–1427)
During the Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam, Lê Lợi led an uprising against the rule of the Ming dynasty in 1418,Asia: Local Studies / Global Themes – Volume 3 Hue-Tam Ho Tai – 2001 – Page 91 "... an anti-Ming resistance — the Lam Son uprising, begun in 1418 — and the two men became the movement's key exponents. As emperor (1428–33), Le Loi would retain Nguyen Trai as his chief official; thereafter, their relationship was made ..."Lonely Planet Vietnam 10 -Nick Ray, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Iain Stewart – 2009 Page 30 "In 1418 wealthy philanthropist Le Loi sparked the Lam Son Uprising by refusing to serve as an official for the Chinese Ming dynasty. By 1428, local rebellions had erupted in several regions and Le Loi travelled the countryside to rally ..."H. K. Chang – From Movable Type Printing to the World Wide Web 2007 Page 128 "However, in 1418, another leader, Lê Lợi, staged an uprising, which led in 1428 to the establishment of the Lê dynasty, from which time Vietnam broke free of China and became independent".Ngọc Đĩnh Vũ Hào kiệt Lam Sơn: trường thiên tiểu thuyết lịch sử Volume 1 – 2003 "The Lam Sơn uprising, 1418–1428, is one of the greatest historical events in Vietnamese history, when a small country tried to gain independence from the firm grab of a bigger neighbor".Laurel Kendall Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind, and Spirit 2003– Page 27 "Le Loi led a successful ten-year (1418–1428) uprising against the Chinese. According to legend, Le Loi returned the sword that gave him victory to Hoan Kiem Lake (now the center of Hanoi), where it was retrieved by a giant turtle". after resistance forces of two Trần dynasty princes Trần Ngỗi and Trần Quý Khoáng were crushed by the Ming army. He joined a secret Taoist swearing commentary in Lũng Nhai, Thanh Hoá in winter 1416, with other 18 men, who all swore they would fight against the Ming Chinese and restore Vietnamese independence and sovereignty.Chan Chung Jin, p. 149
The Lam Sơn ("blue mountain") campaign began on the day after Tết (Lunar New Year) in February 1418.Le Loi. The Encycloaedia Britannica. Micropedia, Volume VI, 15th Edition. In November 1424, the Lam Sơn captured the Nghệ An citadel in a surprise attack from their base in Laos, leading to the retreat of the ethnic-Vietnamese Ming commander Lương Nhữ Hốt (Liang Juihu) to the north. From their new base in high-density population Nghệ An, Lê Lợi's rebel forces captured the territory in modern-day central Vietnam, from Thanh Hoá to Đà Nẵng.Trần Trọng Kim, Việt Nam sử lược, vol. I, part. III, sec. XIV(1418–1427) By August 1426, the Lam Sơn rebellion launched an offensive to the north with new forces against a fresh Ming army commanded by Wang Tong in charge of defending northern Vietnam.History of Ming, 王通传 The new Ming ruler, the Xuande Emperor, wished to end the war with Vietnam, but his advisors urged one more effort to subdue the rebellious province. Consequently, the Ming sent a large army of approximately 100,000 men to Vietnam. After the pivotal Battle of Tốt Động – Chúc Động in October 1426, the Ming dynasty withdrew by 1428. By early 1427, Lê Lợi's forces had controlled most of northern Vietnam, advancing as far as the southern tip of modern-day Guangxi. Following negotiations with the Ming, Lê Lợi selected Trần Cảo as a puppet king of Annam who nominally ruled from 1426 to 1428.Ngô Sĩ Liên 1993, University of Tokyo's Toyo Cultural Research Institute, p，546－548
Early period (1428–1527) Lê Lợi (1428–1433)
In 1428, Lê Lợi established the Lê dynasty and took the reign name Lê Thái Tổ, receiving recognition and formal protection from the Ming dynasty in a tributary relationship.In 1429, he introduced the Thuận Thiên code, largely based on the Tang Code, with severe charges for gambling, bribery and corruption.Việt Nam sử lược, p. 96.Ngô Sĩ Liên 1993, pp 361. Lê Lợi granted a land reform in 1429 that took lands from people who collaborated with the Chinese and distributed them among landless peasants and soldiers. He distrusted many of his former generals, resulting in the 1430 execution of the two generals Trần Nguyên Hãn and Phạm Văn Xảo that is considered by Vietnamese historians as a political purge."...Our Thái tổ majesty just had retaken the Tianxia, the country was not recovered, and Hãn, Xảo wanted to conspired against the court...", Nguyễn Trực 1441Lê Lợi's reign would be short-lived, as he died in 1433.
Lê Thái Tông (ruled 1433–1442)
Lê Thái Tông (, ruled 1433–1442)Theobald was the official heir to Lê Lợi. However, he was just eleven, so a close friend of Lê Lợi, Lê Sát, assumed the regency of the kingdom. Not long after he assumed the official title as Emperor of Vietnam in 1438, Lê Thái Tông accused Lê Sát of abuse of power and had him executed. In December 1435, Thái Tông ordered general Tư Mã Tây to subdue the Tày chief Cầm Quý who having a ten-thousand army of raiders in the northwest region.Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Ngô Sĩ Liên, 1993, volume XI, p. 391
In January 1436, the emperor ordered to make roads and canals from northwest region to the capital for showing the superior power of the Imperial court to the local tribes men.Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Ngô Sĩ Liên, 1993, volume XI, p. 392 From 1437 to 1441, tribe men from Ai-Lao crossed the Annamite Range, raided in Thanh Hóa and southern Hưng Hóa (now Sơn La province) with the help of the local raiders led by Nghiễm Sinh Tượng were suppressed by the Imperial army.Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, Ngô Sĩ Liên, 1993, volume XI, p. 397–403. The Lê dynasty started treating hostilely to the ethnic minorities in western region. On a stone monument that was carved in 1439 under Thái Tông's reign said "Bồn-Man (Muang Phuan) barbarians were against our assimilation, they need to be exterminated to their roots, and with the Sơn-Man (Mường and Chứt) barbaric raiders, we need to eliminated all of them,..."
According to a Mạc–Trịnh version of Complete Annals of Đại Việt, the new Emperor had a weakness for women. He had many wives, and he discarded one favorite after another. The most prominent scandal was his affair with Nguyễn Thị Lộ, the wife of his father's chief advisor Nguyễn Trãi. The affair started early in 1442 and continued when the Emperor traveled to the home of Nguyễn Trãi, who was venerated as a great Confucian scholar.
Shortly after the Emperor left Trãi's home to continue his tour of the western province, he fell ill and died. At the time the powerful nobles in the court argued that the Emperor had been poisoned to death. Nguyễn Trãi was executed as were his three entire relations, the normal punishment for treason at that time.
Lê Nhân Tông (ruled 1442–1459)
With the Emperor's sudden death at a young age, his infant heir Bang Co was made emperor - although he was the second son of his father, his older brother Nghi Dân had been officially passed over due to his mother's low social status. Bang Co assumed the throne as Lê Nhân Tông (黎仁宗) but the real rulers were Trịnh Khả and the child's mother, the young Empress Nguyễn Thị Anh. The next 17 years were good years for Vietnam – there were no great troubles either internally or externally. Two things of note occurred: first, the Vietnamese sent an army south to attack the Champa kingdom in 1446; second, the Dowager Empress ordered the execution of Trịnh Khả, for reasons lost to history, in 1451. In 1453 at the age of twelve, Lê Nhân Tông was formally given the title of Emperor. This was unusual as according to custom, youths could not ascend the throne till the age of 16. It may have been done to remove Nguyễn Thi Anh from power, but if that was the reason, it failed and the Dowager Empress still controlled the government up until a coup in 1459.
In 1459, Lê Nhân Tông's older brother, Nghi Dân, plotted with a group of followers to kill the Emperor. On October 28, the plotters with some 100 "shiftless men" infiltrated the palace and murdered the Emperor (he was just 18). The next day, facing certain execution the Dowager Empress committed suicide. The rule of Nghi Dân was brief, and he was never officially recognized as a sovereign by later Vietnamese historians. Revolts against his rule started almost immediately and the second revolt, occurring on June 24, 1460, succeeded. The rebels, led by Lê Lợi's surviving former advisors Nguyễn Xí and Dinh Liêt captured and killed Nghi Dân along with his followers. The rebels then selected the youngest son of Lê Thái Tông to be the new Emperor, who they proclaimed to be Lê Thánh Tông.
Lê Thánh Tông (ruled 1460–1497)