Lê dynasty

The Later Lê dynasty (Vietnamese: Nhà Hậu Lê; Hán Việt: 後黎朝) sometimes referred to as the Lê dynasty (the earlier Lê dynasty ruled only for a brief period (980–1009)) was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief six-year interruption of the Mạc dynasty usurpers (1527-1533). Vietnamese historians usually distinguish the 100-year Later Lê dynasty early period (1428 to 1527) from 256-years of figurehead emperors of the Later Lê dynasty warlord period (1533 to 1789) following the dynasty's restoration by powerful warlords.

The dynasty officially began in 1428 with the coronation of Lê Lợi after he drove the Ming army from Vietnam. In 1527, the Mạc dynasty usurped the throne; when the Lê dynasty was restored in 1533, they still had to compete for power with the Mạc dynasty during the period known as Southern and Northern Dynasties. The restored Lê emperors held no real power, and by the time the Mạc dynasty was confined to only a small area in 1592 and finally eradicated in 1677, actual power was in the hands of the Nguyễn lords in the South and the Trịnh lords in the North, both ruling in the name of the Lê emperor while fighting each other. Their rule officially ended in 1788, when the peasant uprising of the Tây Sơn brothers defeated both the Trịnh and the Nguyễn, ironically in order to restore power to the Lê dynasty.

Lý dynasty

The Lý dynasty (/liː/ LEE; Vietnamese: [ɲâː lǐ]), sometimes known as the Later Lý dynasty, was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Early Lê dynasty (nhà Tiền Lê) and ended in 1225, when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng (then 8 years old) was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. During Lý Thánh Tông's reign, the official name of Vietnam became Đại Việt.

History

The Lý dynasty was started by Lý Công Uẩn. The Lý was the first Vietnamese dynasty that was able to hold onto power for more than several decades, allowing them to secure and expand the territory. Domestically, while the Lý Emperors were devout Buddhists, the influence of Confucianism from China was on the rise, with the opening of the first University in Vietnam in 1070 (Temple of Literature, Hanoi) for selection of civil servants who are not from noble families. Politically, they created a system of administration based on rule of law rather than on autocratic principles. The fact that they chose the Đại La Citadel as the capital (later renamed Thăng Long and subsequently Hanoi) showed that they held onto power due to economic strength and were liked by their subjects rather than by military means like prior dynasties.