Lê Lợi

Lê Lợi (, Chữ Hán: 黎利; c. 10 September 1384/1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietnamese rebel leader who founded the Later Lê dynasty and became the first emperor of the restored kingdom of Đại Việt after it was conquered by the Ming dynasty. In 1418, Lê Lợi and his followers in his homeland rose up against Ming rule, was called the Lam Sơn Uprising. He was known for his effective guerrilla tactics, including constantly moving on the wing and using small bands of brigands to ambush the regular Ming units. Nine years later, his resistance movement successfully drove the Ming armies out of Vietnam and liberated the country. Lê Lợi is among the most famous figures of Vietnamese history and one of its greatest heroes.

Background

From mid-1300s, Đại Việt faced serious troubles that damaged much of the kingdom. The fourteenth century ecological breakdown led to a social crisis as the ruling Trần dynasty weakening. Even in the capital, Thăng Long, turmoil broke out in 1369–70, provoking a princely coup and a short, bloody civil war. From the south, the Chams under Chế Bồng Nga repeatedly were fighting off Đại Việt, sacked Viet capital Thăng Long in 1371. In 1377 Champa defeated and killed Đại Việt's king Trần Duệ Tông in a battle near Vijaya, then marched north and against sacked Thăng Long four more times from 1378 to 1383. The sacks of Hanoi led to the rising of a radical intellectual and reformer, Hồ Quý Ly (c. 1336 – 1408). In 1399 Hồ Quý Ly deposed the Trần royal family and established himself as ruler of Đại Việt. This led to the massive military response from the Chinese Ming dynasty to the north, who inherited some interests in the world empire. In November 1406, 215,000 Ming troops under skilled generals Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng invaded Đại Việt and quickly defeated Hồ Quý Ly's army, annexing Dai Ngu and renaming it to Han-era name Jiaozhi.

The Ming Chinese began building up their colonial administration in Jiaozhi Province, encouraging the Ming Confucian ideology, bureaucratic and Classic Chinese study to the local people, forced the Vietnamese to wear Chinese clothes and adopt Chinese culture. The Ming government enjoyed some support from the Vietnamese, at least in the capital of Thăng Long, but their efforts to assert control in the surrounding countryside were met with stiff resistance. A general popular dissatisfaction with the colonial arrangement seems clear. Between 1415 and 1424, 31 uprising and revolt leaders against the Ming emerged in Lạng Giang, Nghệ An, Hanoi, Ninh Kiều, Lạng Sơn and other prefecture capitals where the Ming troops were stationed.

Early life

Lê Lợi was born on the sixth day of August, 1385 in Lam Giang village, Lam Sơn, Thanh Hóa province in a noble family, and he was the youngest among three sons. His father Lê Khoáng, was a wealthy Vietnamese aristocrat nobleman/land owners in the village, although there was opinion said his family was ethnically Muong. The Lê/Lê Duy clan was the powerful clan in Lam Sơn for hundreds of years. The area of Lam Sơn, Thanh Hóa back then in late 14th century was a mixed region with various ethnic groups such as Vietnamese, Muong and Tai villagers.

During Lê Lợi's early adult time, the Ming invasion and occupation suddenly happened. During two Trần princes's revolts against the Chinese rules (1408 – 1414), Lê Lợi joined the revolt as nominally in charge of the royal guard. He was arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese from 1413 to 1415 after the Trần princes were defeated, and other revolts were suppressed in 1411 and 1420. After his release, he worked as a tutor officer and translator for the Ming colonial administrator in Ngã Lạc county, Lạng Sơn (modern-day Bình Gia District, Lạng Sơn Province). He then became involved in a feud with a neighboring strongman who denounced him as a rebel to the Ming. The Ming chased him back to his village. It was widely reported that when Lê Lợi's daughter was nine years old, a Chinese eunuch, Ma Ji (fl. 1410–1427) had taken her away from her parents and sent her into Yongle's harem. Yongle's grand secretary Yang Shiqi noted that Zhang Fu time and again criticized Ma Ji's wanton behavior in Jiaozhi. Although Ma Ji did the bidding of His Majesty, his conduct provided the catalyst that brought the new uprising. The Chinese also said that Lê Lợi escaped to Laos and Cambodia several times. In early 1418, Lê Lợi again raised the flag of resistance at his home village of Lam Sơn, declaring himself Bình Định vương (平定王, Prince of Pacification).

Revolt against Ming rule

Lam Sơn revolt (1418–1423)

Lê Lợi began his revolt against the Ming Chinese on the day after Tết (New Year) February 1418. He was supported by several prominent families from his native Thanh Hóa, most famously were the Trịnh and the Nguyễn families. Initially, Lê Lợi campaigned on the basis of restoring the Trần family to power. A relative of the Trần king was chosen as the figurehead of the revolt but within a few years, the Trần pretender was removed and the unquestioned leader of the revolt was Lê Lợi himself.

From the start, the Ming had tried to ensure that local opposition forces would not obtain the new weapons technology, including the Chinese
musket known as the magic handgun. The Yongle Emperor had ordered all firearms counted and well-guarded. The Ming occupying army of Jiaozhi consisted 87,000 regulars, scattered in 39 citadels and towns in Northern Vietnam, but clustered in the Red River Delta areas. They also employed a significant number of local auxiliaries. Chinese armies had employed firearms before the fifteenth century, but they came to possess superior weapons from Annam during the Vietnamese campaigns of the early fifteenth century. They also captured one of the leading Vietnamese firearms experts, Hồ Nguyên Trừng (1374—1446), the eldest son of Hồ Quý Ly, who was charged with manufacturing their superior muskets and explosive weapons. The Artillery Camp was thus built around these Vietnamese firearm specialists, who instructed Ming soldiers under the supervision of palace eunuchs. The first record of firearm usage in Đại Việt was in 1390 when Vietnamese soldiers used cannons and killed the Cham king Chế Bồng Nga. Lê Lợi's Lam Son rebels employed firearms, copied in rebel-built arsenals from Ming weapons used against Hồ Quý Ly army ten years earlier.

When the Lam Son uprising took place, the Ming commanding officer was Marquis Li Bin, who stern attitude toward the Annamites of Jiaozhi and disregard for their sensibilities and political aspirations only intensified their hatred for the Chinese. In early 1418, Lê Lợi and his men successful managed and ambushed a Ming patrol column on the upper Chu River

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases