Le Dynasty

Le Dynasty, 1428-1789, Vietnamese dynasty founded by Le Loi, a rich landowner from Thanh Hoa province. Le Loi struggled against the Chinese, who had occupied the area under the Ming dynasty, for ten years before ascending the throne in 1428 under the name of Le Thai To.

During the reigns of the early Le emperors, many reforms were made. These emperors promoted art, literature, education, and agriculture. They also strengthened the mandarin class by holding official examinations every three years, and protected communal lands against the greed of large landowners. Under Le Thanh Tong, Vietnam had the most advanced legal code of Southeast Asia. Externally, the Le continued the policy started under the Tran dynasty and expanded southward at the expense of the kingdom of Champa. This was especially true under Le Thanh Tong, who extended the Vietnamese frontier to the vicinity of Nha Trang. The dynasty suffered a decline after Le Thanh Tong’s death. In 1527 General Mac Dang Dung deposed the Le king and declared himself ruler. The Trinh and the Nguyen families, Le nobles who supported reinstatement of the Le king, led the struggle against Mac Dang Dung and regained control of the entire country by 1592. By that time, however, the Trinh had become dominant in the Le court, leaving the Le rulers in name only. The Nguyen, meanwhile, had been granted a fiefdom in the south, and a rivalry developed between the Trinh and the Nguyen. This effectively divided the country into two quarreling regimes. The country remained divided for more than 150 years, when a peasant rebellion under the leadership of the Tay Son brothers succeeded in overthrowing the Nguyen in 1783 and the Trinh in 1789.