Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (Vietnamese: triều Hậu Lê, chữ Hán: 朝後黎[b] or Vietnamese: nhà Hậu Lê, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎[c]), officially Great Việt (Vietnamese: Đại Việt; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, having ruled from 1428 to 1789, with an interregnum between 1527 and 1533. The Lê dynasty is divided into two historical periods: the Initial Lê dynasty (Vietnamese: triều Lê sơ, chữ Hán: 朝黎初, or Vietnamese: nhà Lê sơ, chữ Nôm: 茹黎初; 1428–1527) before the usurpation by the Mạc dynasty, in which emperors ruled in their own right, and the Revival Lê dynasty (Vietnamese: triều Lê Trung hưng, chữ Hán: 朝黎中興, or Vietnamese: nhà Lê trung hưng, chữ Nôm: 茹黎中興; 1533–1789), in which emperors were figures 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.
For the earlier Lê dynasty who ruled from 980 to 1009, see Early Lê dynasty.
Great Việt大越國
Đại Việt Quốc
Đại Việt Quốc
Tributary state of China[1][2][3]
- Ming (1428–1644)
- Southern Ming (1644–1662)
- Qing (1662–1789)
Xam Neua (1531–1540)
Written Văn ngôn[4]: 207 [a]
Middle Vietnamese
Other local languages
Absolute monarchy (1428–1527)
Government in exile (1531–1540)
Monarchic feudal military dictatorship (1533–1788)
Rump state under Qing dynasty's protection (1788–1789)
1418–1427
29 April 1428
15 June 1527
December 1592
30 January 1789
7,700,000
The dynasty officially began in 1428 with the enthronement of Lê Lợi after he drove the Ming 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.[8]
Vietnamese alphabet
nhà Hậu Lê
Hậu Lê triều
茹後黎
後黎朝
Culture, society, and science[edit]
Clothing and customs[edit]
After ending the Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam, people of Đại Việt started to rebuild the country. The dress regulation for emperor and the bureaucracy was learned from the previous dynasties of Vietnam and Ming dynasty of China. In later Lê dynasty, cross-collared robe called áo giao lĩnh was popular among civilians.[116][117] A imperial edict was issued by Vietnam in 1474 forbidding Vietnamese from adopting foreign languages, hairstyles and clothes like that of the Laos, Chams or the Ming "Northerners".[118]
Before 1744, people of both Đàng Ngoài (the north) and Đàng Trong (the south) wore giao lãnh y with thường (a kind of long skirt). Both male and female had loose long hair. In 1744, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát of Đàng Trong (Phú Xuân) decreed that both men and women at his court wear trousers and a gown with buttons down the front. That the Nguyễn Lords introduced áo ngũ thân. The members of the Đàng Trong court (southern court) were thus distinguished from the courtiers of the Trịnh Lords in Đàng Ngoài (Đông Kinh), who wore áo giao lĩnh with long skirts. The partition between two families over the country too long so caused the some major differences in Vietnamese dialect and culture between Northern and Southern Vietnamese.
