List of Vietnamese dynasties

Prior to the abdication of BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i on 25 August 1945 during the August Revolution, Vietnam was ruled by a series of dynasties of either local or Chinese origin. The following is a list of major dynasties in the history of Vietnam.

Background

Naming convention

In Vietnamese historiography, dynasties are generally known to historians by the family name of the monarchs. For example, the ÃÂinh dynasty (; ) is known as such because the ruling clan bore the family name ().

Similar to Chinese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasties would adopt a (; "name of the state") upon the establishment of the realm. However, as it was common for several dynasties to share the same official name, referring to regimes by their official name in historiography would be potentially confusing. For instance, the "" () was used by the LÃÂ½ dynasty (since the reign of LÃÂ½ ThÃÂ¡nh TÃÂ´ng), the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, the Later TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, the Later LÃÂª dynasty, the MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡c dynasty, and the TÃÂ¢y SÃÂ¡n dynasty.

In the Vietnamese language, the word for "dynasty" may be written as either () or () depending on the context. The former is generally used to denote the ruling family whereas the latter refers to the dynastic regime. For instance, the MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡c dynasty can be rendered as "" () or "" ().

Origin of dynasties

Apart from over one millennium of direct Chinese rule, Vietnam was ruled by a series of "local" dynasties, although some of which could have their origins traced to China.

The founder of the legendary HÃ¡Â»Âng BÃÂ ng dynasty, LÃ¡Â»Âc TÃ¡Â»Â¥c, was recorded as a descendant of the mythical Chinese ruler Shennong.

According to two historical Vietnamese texts, the Complete Annals of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât and the Imperially-commissioned Annotated Text Reflecting the Complete History of ViÃ¡Â»Ât, ThÃ¡Â»Â¥c PhÃÂ¡n of the ThÃ¡Â»Â¥c dynasty was from Sichuan, China, which was previously under the rule of the ancient Chinese State of Shu.

The TriÃ¡Â»Âu dynasty, established by Zhao Tuo from the Chinese Qin dynasty, was considered an orthodox local regime by traditional Vietnamese historiography. However, modern Vietnamese historians generally regard the TriÃ¡Â»Âu dynasty to be a foreign regime that ruled Vietnam.

The founder of the Early LÃÂ½ dynasty, LÃÂ½ BÃÂ´n, was descended from Chinese refugees who fled Wang Mang's seizure of power in the final years of the Western Han in China.

The first emperor of the LÃÂ½ dynasty, LÃÂ½ CÃÂ´ng UÃ¡ÂºÂ©n, could have his paternal bloodline traced to modern-day Fujian, China. LÃÂ½ CÃÂ´ng UÃ¡ÂºÂ©n's father, LÃÂ½ ThuÃ¡ÂºÂ§n An, escaped to Quanzhou from Hebei after LÃÂ½ CÃÂ´ng UÃ¡ÂºÂ©n's grandfather, Li Song, was wrongly accused of treason and executed by the Emperor Yin of Later Han.

The origin of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty was traced to modern Fujian, where the ancestor of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n imperial clan, TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n KÃÂnh, migrated from in the 11th century CE. The Later TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty was ruled by the same imperial clan as the earlier TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty.

The HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty was ruled by the HÃ¡Â»Â family which migrated from present-day Zhejiang, China to Vietnam under the leadership of HÃ¡Â»Â HÃÂ°ng DÃ¡ÂºÂt during the 10th century CE. The HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty claimed descent from the Duke Hu of Chen, the founder of the ancient Chinese State of Chen. The Duke Hu of Chen was in turn descended from the legendary Emperor Shun, who was recognized by HÃ¡Â»Â QuÃÂ½ Ly as the progenitor of the HÃ¡Â»Â imperial family. Accordingly, the HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty adopted the official "" (; "Great Ngu"); "Ngu" () was derived from the Emperor Shun's lineage name, Youyu (). Rulers of the TÃÂ¢y SÃÂ¡n dynasty, initially surnamed , were descended from the same line as the HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty.

Familial relations among dynasties

Several Vietnamese dynasties were related:

DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng VÃÂ¢n Nga was originally an empress consort of ÃÂinh TiÃÂªn HoÃÂ ng, the founder of the ÃÂinh dynasty; she later became an empress consort of LÃÂª HoÃÂ n, the founder of the Early LÃÂª dynasty
LÃÂª ThÃ¡Â»Â PhÃ¡ÂºÂ¥t NgÃÂ¢n, the empress consort of LÃÂ½ ThÃÂ¡i TÃ¡Â»Â, the founder of the LÃÂ½ dynasty, was the daughter of LÃÂª HoÃÂ n and thus originally a princess of the Early LÃÂª dynasty
The final monarch of the LÃÂ½ dynasty, LÃÂ½ ChiÃÂªu HoÃÂ ng, was the spouse of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThÃÂ¡i TÃÂ´ng, the founder of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty. Later on, he would marry her elder sister, Princess LÃÂ½ OÃÂ¡nh, the biological mother of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThÃÂ¡nh TÃÂ´ng.
HÃ¡Â»Â QuÃÂ½ Ly, the founder of the HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty, was the maternal grandfather of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n An, the last emperor of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty
GiÃ¡ÂºÂ£n ÃÂÃ¡Â»Ânh ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¿, the founder of the Later TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, was a son of the ninth TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n monarch, TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n NghÃ¡Â»Â TÃÂ´ng; he was also an older brother of the 12th emperor of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn TÃÂ´ng
The Primitive LÃÂª dynasty and the Revival LÃÂª dynasty are collectively called the Later LÃÂª dynasty; the founder of the Revival LÃÂª dynasty, LÃÂª Trang TÃÂ´ng, was a son of LÃÂª ChiÃÂªu TÃÂ´ng, the 11th Primitive LÃÂª emperor
The ruling house of the TÃÂ¢y SÃÂ¡n dynasty was descended from the same paternal ancestor as the HÃ¡Â»Â dynasty
Gia Long ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¿, the founder of the NguyÃ¡Â»Ân dynasty, was a paternal grandson of NguyÃ¡Â»Ân PhÃÂºc KhoÃÂ¡t, the eighth NguyÃ¡Â»Ân lord

Champa

Champa (; ) existed as an independent polity until its annexation by the NguyÃ¡Â»Ân dynasty in 1832 CE, thereby laying the foundation for the territories of the modern Vietnamese state. Most of the rulers of Champa were of Cham descent, an Austronesian ethnic group distinct from the majority Kinh ethnicity of Vietnam.

There were 15 dynasties in the history of Champa. According to Chinese historical sources, Champa officially used the "" () from the 1st to 4th dynasties, "" () during the 5th dynasty, and "" () from the 6th to 15th dynasties.

List of dynasties in Vietnamese history

This list includes the various dynasties in the history of Vietnam, of both local and Chinese origins. Dynasties of China that ruled Vietnam are highlighted in orange. The TriÃ¡Â»Âu dynasty is highlighted in light orange due to its disputed status.

Timeline of dynasties in Vietnamese history

<onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Legend:

denotes local Vietnamese dynasties
denotes dynasties during the First Era of Northern Domination
denotes dynasties during the Second Era of Northern Domination
denotes dynasties during the Third Era of Northern Domination
denotes dynasty during the Fourth Era of Northern Domination

Notes

References