The Anterior Lê dynasty, alternatively known as the Former Lê dynasty (; chữ Nôm: ; ) in historiography, was a dynasty of Vietnam that ruled ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât (chữ Hán: 大ç¿è¶Â) from 980 to 1009. It followed the ÃÂinh dynasty and was succeeded by the Lý dynasty. It comprised the reigns of three emperors.
After the assassination of the emperor, ÃÂinh Tiên Hoàng, and the emperor's first son, ÃÂinh Liá» n, the third son of the emperor, ÃÂinh Phế ÃÂế, assumed the throne at aged six with the regent Lê Hoàn. During the regency of Lê Hoàn, members of the imperial court skeptical of Lê Hoàn's loyalty to the true emperor, such as the Duke of ÃÂá»Ânh Nguyá» n Bặc and General ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, led an army to the imperial palace in an attempted coup. The failure of the undertaking caused those two to be executed. In 980, the Song dynasty of China under Emperor Taizong ordered a Chinese army to invade ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât. Because the young emperor was unable to lead the country against the invader, the mandarins of the imperial court discussed with Empress Dðáng Vân Nga about enthroning the most trusted general and regent, Lê Hoàn. Most of them voted in the affirmative to the plan; consequently, the empress dethroned her own son and gave the crown to Lê Hoàn. He accepted the emperorship, establishing a new dynasty named the Early Lê dynasty. Lê Hoàn is often referred to with the posthumous name Lê ÃÂại Hành.
Following war threats from Song China, Lê ÃÂại Hành made preparations for war while the Song forces advanced toward ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât. Later at the Battle of Bạch ÃÂằng River, Lê ÃÂại Hành's forces, under the command of General Phạm Cá»± Lðợng, were successful at halting the overland advance of the Song forces, although they incurred some losses. Seeking peace, Lê ÃÂại Hành sent emissaries to negotiate for peace; thus the annual show of homage and offerings to the Celestial Emperor of China were resumed as a means to appease the Song dynasty.
In 982, Lê ÃÂại Hành began expeditions to Champa, a nation south of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât. Lê ÃÂại Hành's army met the combined forces of Champa, Chenla and Abbasid Mercenaries in ÃÂá» Bàn, (Quảng Nam province today) and be able to defeated all of them. Champa king Paramesvaravarman I had been beheaded and Champa capital of Indrapura was sacked by the Vietnamese. The new king of Champa agreed to be a vassal state of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât in 983.
Some domestic achievements of Lê ÃÂại Hành include constructing new monuments and galvanizing agricultural and handicraft production in order to make economic progress. Many spiritual etiquettes were developed, and Lê ÃÂại Hành's government was the model for that of the succeeding dynasty. Lê ÃÂại Hành died in 1005 at the age of 65 and after 25 years of rule. In his will, Lê ÃÂại Hành gave the throne to his youngest son, Lê Long Viá»Ât.
Out of his many princes, Lê Hoàn appointed his first prince Lê Long Thâu as the crown prince in the early years of his rule. Thâu died in 1000, and Lê Hoàn was forced to choose another crown prince. The fifth prince Duke of Khai Minh, Lê Long ÃÂénh, nominated himself as crown prince. According to the ÃÂại Viá»Ât sá» ký toàn thð, Lê Hoàn viewed him as the favourable to become the next emperor, but imperial court mandarins suggested him not to do it because they viewed other candidates as more viable. Lê Hoàn followed the advice and chose his older brother Lê Long Viá»Ât, the duke of Nam Phong. In 1005, Lê Hoàn died after reigning for 24 years at Trðá»Âng Xuân Palace. After the death, there was a succession dispute between the princes Lê Long ÃÂénh, Lê Long TÃÂch, and Lê Long KÃÂnh and crown prince Lê Long Viá»Ât, preventing a government to take control over the entire country for eight months. In the winter of 1005, Lê Long TÃÂch was defeated by crown prince Lê Long Viá»Ât. He fled to Thạch Hàprovince, now HàTénh Province, and ordered the massacre of the locals there. After a few months, Lê Long Viá»Ât was able to proclaim himself emperor Lê Trung Tông but was assassinated after ruling for three days by Lê Long ÃÂénh, who replaced him as emperor.
Lê Long ÃÂénh mustered large military forces, defeating the other princes. After stabilizing his rule through war, he enhanced foreign relations with the Song dynasty with a gentle and friendly policy. The emperor gave full support for Buddhism and sought Chinese Buddhist canon and scripture for practice in Vietnam. He also supervised the national economy and began the construction of bridges, roads, and other infrastructure for easy transportation of people and commodities, especially water. In 1009, he established the exchange of goods and products in Nanning with the Song dynasty, albeit it was limited as the Song emperor only allowed Vietnamese businessmen to trade at specific locations near the border like Hepu County, Guangxi.
The emperor was famous for suffering from hemorrhoids, which made him unable to sit on the throne and instead forced him to lie on his throne. His famous lying sessions earned him the name Lê Ngá»Âa Triá»Âu throughout his reign, meaning "the one who rules while lying on the throne."
Despite his supposed achievements in diplomacy, religion, infrastructure, and the economy, Lê Long ÃÂénh's rule was characterized by debaucheries, wild orgies, and decadence according to ancient sources, although modern historians have dismissed these stories as legend, while other historians compare him to the Roman Emperor Nero as he was well known for his cruelties, not the least of which was sadism and torture of not only many types of criminals but also his own relatives, with him only promoting and partaking in these infamous acts. According to these stories, his favorite execution and torturing methods were immersion, Lingchi, and the burning of live victims, all of which he perceived as entertainment. Although Buddhism played a key role in his life and politics, the emperor often used Buddhist monks for so-called entertainment such as by exfoliating sugar canes atop a monk's head until it began to bleed. Employing many corrupt or otherwise incompetent officials into important court positions only further encouraged these tendencies of the emperor. As a result of the emperor's poor health, according to some sources, most power was actually controlled by one of the members of the Lý family Lý Công Uẩn. High resentment from the public and the imperial court culminated for a long period preceding Lê Long ÃÂénh's death. After Lê Long ÃÂénh died the court agreed to enthrone the high-rank mandarin and aristocrat Lý Công Uẩn as the new emperor under pressure from the public and from the Buddhist monks, thus ending the Early Lê Dynasty. In its place, the Lý dynasty ushered in a new age for Vietnam, with a combination of Confucian and Buddhist influences recurring in the new dynasty.
The Early Lê dynasty retained the traditional government form of the ÃÂinh dynasty, although it modified some parts of it. In 980, Lê Hoàn appointed several men to court positions: Há»Âng Hiến as the grand chancellor, known in Vietnamese as Thái sð; Phạm Cá»± Lạng as the vice-chancellor, or Thái úy; Từ Mục as grand governor of court, ÃÂại tá»Âng quản; and ÃÂinh Thừa Chinh as imperial capital interior military commander, in Vietnamese Nha ná»Âi ÃÂô chá» huy sứ. A major reform, however, was the distribution of specific duties and powers to each mandarin in contrast to the ÃÂinh dynasty's centralizing all power to the emperor.
In the ruling era, Lê emperors often faced the revolts of some local Tribal chief and viceroy, especially in remote areas, retaining the specific authorization to quell them. In 980, Lê ÃÂại Hành ordered Dðáng Tiến Lá»Âc to collect taxes from Hoan and ÃÂi province, now Nghá» An Province and Thanh Hóa Province. However, Dðáng Tiến Lá»Âc opposed it and seized the two provinces, proposing to place them under the control of the Kingdom of Champa, which refused him in order to maintain a friendly relationship with ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât. Lê ÃÂại Hành led an army to defeat and kill Lá»Âc along with a general massacre of citizens in those two provinces. This, however, is only an example of rebellion: there were more than ten rebellions against the imperial court during a reign of five years.
After victory over Champa in 983, Lê ÃÂại Hành merged the seized territory into the country and started to build more roads from the south estuary to Quảng Bình Province at the south of his realm. Then he ordered the dredging of the ÃÂa Cái canal in 1003. In 1009, the country started the massive construction of transportation infrastructure for trading among the regions and to facilitate travel for soldiers heading south.
The Early Lê dynasty imposed taxation based on land property. Taxes included a public benefit tax, which was ten days' worth of labor for public projects; a household tax on property paid annually; and a military tax added to the household tax specifically for military operations, including public security at home. The taxation on property was borrowed from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties of China, only collecting goods and not money. Simultaneously, the government implementing trade-promoting policies by not taxing the property of traders except for land owned.
Agriculture was the fundamental element of the economy of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât during the Early Lê dynasty. Most of the land of villages was under the control of the imperial court and owned by it by law. Land was given one of four types. The emperor's land was cultivated with a spiritual significance, intended to have the people to take part in agricultural activities, mainly prisoners and peasants, with all products going to the imperial court; it was first implemented by Lê ÃÂại Hành in 987. Meanwhile, distributive land was distributed to mandarins for the benefiting and contributing to the country or to princes as an accommodation. It was not private property and was returned to the imperial court when the landowner died. Religious land was set aside for the practices of Buddhist monks; private land was owned and sold freely between individuals without government interference. Besides that, the government encouraged subjects to exploit wild and untouched land by settling it, providing property at a lower cost while simultaneously expanding its influence in unsettled regions. Peasants shared the land equally and cultivate it, regularly paying taxes to the government for the government's budget.
The emperors were focused on an open new trade route through roads and waterways. Records report that such infrastructure projects were undertaken mainly in the years 983, 1003, and 1009. The main trade partner of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât was China, and both sides agreed to establish bilateral exchanging of goods at borders. Some local high officials supported commercial activity among local parties. A delegation of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât acted as a government arbitrator in trade disputes. Some typical exports of Vietnam were gold, silver, and bronze products.
There are not much sources describing the culture under Early Lê dynasty. However, it is known that Buddhism was the most widespread religion, affecting the flourishing of Buddhism in China's Tang dynasty. Monks were given an elevated status in government affairs, being allowed to participate in politics and national planning.
ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât was a tributary state of the Song during the Early Lê dynasty, maintaining a delicate balance of peace with China and independence. Lê emperors, however, were sometimes threatened by the nomadic Khitan people in the north of China.
After a failed invasion in 981, the Song emperor accepted Lê Hoàn as the ruler of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât but just regarded him as the Jiedushi, or regional military governor, of the Annam protectorate, as the Chinese called the ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât.
Between 982 and 994, Lê Hoàn sent five tribute-bearing diplomatic envoys to the Song dynasty requesting title investiture. In 986, Emperor Taizong of the Song dynasty appointed Lê Hoàn as Annan duhu, or Superior Prefect of Annam. At the end of 993, the Song emperor appointed Lé Hoàn as Giao Chi Quan Vuong, or King of Giao Chi, after being convinced of his future loyalty.
The relation of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât in the north and Champa in the south was regarded as hostile. In 981, Lê ÃÂại Hành sent an envoy to Champa, who was captured by them. The diplomatic incident sparked a war between the two countries. In 982, Lê Hoàn victoriously took part in the campaign against Champa, killing the Cham king at the battlefield. Then he sacked the capital of Cham and captured a hundred soldiers and concubines along with one Indian monk, taking home precious goods such as gold and silver. Moreover, he burned the fortresses and tombs of former Champa kings. In 992, the Champa king Harivarman II sent an envoy to ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât to ask for the release of 360 prisoners back to the homeland.