Tây Sơn Dynasty
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domination 207 BCE – 39 CE
domination 43–544
Triệu Việt Vương 544–602
domination 602–905
domination 1407–1427
of Vietnam 1945–1949 and
1955–1976
of Vietnam from 1976
The name of Tây Sơn (西山) is used in many ways referring back to the period of peasant rebellions and decentralized dynasties established between the eras of the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties in history of Vietnam. Sometimes the name Tây Sơn is used to refer to the leaders of this revolt (the Tây Sơn brothers), sometimes it is used as the name of the war (the Tây Sơn Uprising) or it could also refer to the brothers' form of innovative governmental rule (the Tây Sơn Dynasty).
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[edit] Background History
During the 18th century the country of Vietnam was under the symbolic rule of the officially revered but politically ignored Lê King. Real power was actually in the hands of two warring feudal families, the Trịnh Lords of the North who controlled the Emperor and ruled from the court in Hanoi and the Nguyễn Lords in the South, who ruled from their capital at Huế. Both sides fought each other for control of the nation, while they both claimed to be loyal to the king.
Like China at this time, life for the peasant farmers was poor. Most of the land was owned by fewer and fewer people as the years passed. The mandarin bureaucracy was oppressive and often corrupt; at one point royal-sanctioned degrees were up for sale for whomever was wealthy enough to purchase them. The ruling lords by contrast lived lavish lifestyles in huge palaces.
The war between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn had ended in 1673 and life for the northern peasants under the Trịnh Lords was fairly peaceful. However, the Nguyễn Lords engaged in a nearly constant series of wars with the weak Khmer Empire and, later, the fairly strong state of Siam. While the Nguyễn usually won their wars, and the new lands they conquered offered new opportunities for the landless poor, the frequent wars took their toll on the popularity of the Nguyễn rulers.
[edit] Conquest of the Nguyá»…n
In 1769, the new king of Siam, P'ya Taksin, launched a war to try to regain control over Cambodia. The war generally went against the Nguyễn army and they were forced to retreat from some of the newly conquered lands. This example of governmental failure coupled with heavy taxes and corruption at the local level caused three brothers from Tây Sơn to begin a revolt against the Nguyễn Lord, Nguyễn Phuc Thuan.
The three Tây Sơn brothers styled themselves as the champions of the people. Over the next year the revolt gained traction and they won some battles against the Nguyễn army sent to crush their rebellion. The Tây Sơn had a great deal of popular support, not only from the poor farmers but from some of the minority tribes. Also, the leader of the three brothers, Nguyễn Huệ, was a very skilled military leader.
Nguyễn Huệ said that his goal was to end the people's oppression, reunite the country and restore power to the Lê Dynasty emperor in Hanoi. The Tây Sơn also promised to remove corrupt officials and redistibute land.
In 1773 the Tây Sơn army captured the city of Qui Nhơn, where the merchants, who had suffered under restrictive laws put in place by the Nguyễn, gave the Tây Sơn army financial support.
The Nguyá»…n, at last recognizing the seriousness of the revolt, made peace with the Siamese, giving up some lands they had conquered in the previous decades. But now a heavy blow came down. The Trịnh Lord, Trịnh Sam, choose to end the 100 year peace and he sent his army south to attack Phu Xuan (modern day Huế), the Nguyá»…n capital. The Trịnh army captured the city, forcing the Nguyá»…n clan to flee to Gia Äịnh (now called Saigon).
The Trịnh army continued to head south and the Tây SÆ¡n army continued its conquest of other southern cities. The Nguyá»…n were not very popular at this time and the forces against them were too powerful. In 1776 the Tây SÆ¡n army captured the last Nguyá»…n stronghold of Saigon. The entire Nguyá»…n family was killed at the end of the siege, except for one nephew, Nguyá»…n Ãnh, who managed to escape to Siam.
While they said they wanted to restore power to the legitimate authorities, in 1778, one of the brothers, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor. A conflict with the Trịnh was thus unavoidable.
[edit] Conquest of the Trịnh
The Tây SÆ¡n spent the next decade consolidating their control over the former Nguyá»…n lands of south Vietnam. Nguyá»…n Ãnh proved to be a stubborn enemy. He convinced the King of Siam, P'ya Taksin, to invade Vietnam in support of his claim to rule. The Siamese army attacked in 1780 but in several years of warfare, it was unable to defeat the Tây SÆ¡n army. In 1782, the Siamese king was killed in a revolt and less than a year later, Nguyá»…n Ãnh's forces were driven out of Vietnam. However, he would be back.
Nguyá»…n Huệ decided to destroy the power of the Trịnh. He marched north at the head of a large army in 1786 and after a short campaign, defeated the Trịnh army. The Trịnh were also unpopular and the Tây SÆ¡n army seemed invincible. The Trịnh clan fled north into China. Huệ married Lê Ngá»c Hân, the daughter of the nominal Lê Emperor, Lê Hiển Tông.
[edit] Defeat of the Qing
A few months later, seeing the writing on the wall, the Lê Emperor fled north to China as well. Lê Chiêu Thống formally petitioned the Qing Emperor Qianlong (Vietnamese:Cà n Long) for aid. The old Emperor agreed to restore Lê Chiêu Thống to power and so in 1788 a large Qing army marched south into Vietnam and captured the capital Thang Long.
Nguyễn Huệ gathered a new army and prepared to fight the Qing army. He addressed his troops before the battle saying:
In a surprise attack while the Qing army were celebrating the Lunar New Year festival, Nguyá»…n Huệ's army defeated the Qing at the Battle of Äống Äa and forced them, along with Lê Chiêu Thống, to retreat back to China. Even though Nguyá»…n Huệ won the battle, he eventually submitted himself as vassal of the Qing Empire and agreed to pay tribute annually.
[edit] Emperor Quang Trung
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Nguyễn Hue was now in control of a united Vietnam that was much larger than it had been during the reign of any previous ruler of Vietnam. He took the title of Emperor and gave himself a new name: Quang Trung. The new Emperor distributed land to the poor peasants, encouraged the artisans that had been suppressed, allowed religious freedom, re-opened Vietnam to international trade and abolished Chinese as the official language of the nation. The new official language was Vietnamese written in the script called Chữ Nôm.
The ambitious character of Quang Trung is legendary. He ordered the melting of Vietnamese coins to make cannons, and hoped to "restore" the territories of Guangxi and Guangdong that had been a part of Vietnam during the first century AD. Several stories tell of his ambitious plans and indirect challenge to the Emperor of China Qian Long. Quang Trung even proposed to marry one of Qian Long's daughters; an indication of his intention to claim Chinese territory. Another fact was his indirect prowess over his two brothers, who had less cumulative territory, standing army, and power.
In early 1792, Quang Trung planned the final assault on the remaining Nguyá»…n Ãnh's base around Saigon, both by sea and land. While waiting for the favorable weather direction (blowing from North to South) to carry his Naval troops to the South, he suddenly collapsed and died of unknown causes at the age of 40. Many Vietnamese believe to this day that if he had ruled for another ten years, the fate of the country would be a lot different.
[edit] Decline and fall
After Emperor Quang Trung's death, his son Quang Toan (also known as Emperor Canh Trinh) succeeded the throne at the tender age of ten. But the real power was in the hand of his uncle, Bui Dac Tuyen. There was a massive political purge by Bui Dac Tuyen. Many who served under Quang Trung were executed. Many were also discouraged and left the regime. Thus, the Canh Thinh reign was weakened considerably paving the way for Nguyen Anh to capture the entire country within 10 years, with the help of French and European mercenaries hired by a French bishop Pigneau de Behaine. In 1800, Nguyen Anh occupied Quy Nhon citadel. In 1801, Anh occupied Phu Xuan, made Quang Toan to flee to Thang Long. In 1802, Anh blocked Thang Long. Failing to fight with Anh, Quang Toan escaped from Thang Long but then was captured and executed. Thus ended the Tây Sơn Dynasty after 24 years, and the Nguyễn, the last imperial dynasty of Vietnam, took over the country in 1802.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
[edit] External links
[edit] References
Lê Dynasty (nominal)
Trịnh Lords (north)
Nguyá»…n Lords (south) Dynasty of Vietnam
1778 - 1802 Succeeded by
Nguyá»…n Dynasty
