Pham Diem
The State and Law Research Institute
After more than one thousand years of staunch struggle, Vietnam freed herself from the Chinese feudalists’ rule. In 939, Ngo Quyen proclaimed himself king, ushering in a period of Vietnam’s independence and the establishment of the Vietnamese monarchical state. In 1858, the French colonialists opened fire, officially starting their invasion of Vietnam and turning the country into a French colony where the local independent and sovereign feudal regime came to its end.
Feudal dynasties in Vietnam
During nearly 1000 years of its existence, the independent and sovereign feudal regime in Vietnam was ruled by various kings of the following feudal dynasties:
1. The Ngo dynasty (939-965) established by Ngo Quyen, which lasted for 26 years under three kings. When the Ngo dynasty was on decline, the country saw disturbances and troubles due to the power struggle among local feudal factions. This troubled time was recorded in historical books of Vietnam as the 12-faction chaos.
2. The Dinh dynasty (968-980): Dinh Bo Linh (later called Dinh Tien Hoang) defeated the feudal factions, unified the country and set up the Dinh dynasty, which lasted for 12 years under two kings.
3. Tien Le (Pre-Le) dynasty (980-1009) was built up by Le Hoan and lasted for 29 years under three kings. In order to distinguish it from another Le dynasty in the later years, the dynasty of Le Hoan was recorded in the historical books of Vietnam as “Tien Le” (Pre-Le) dynasty.
4. The Ly dynasty (1010-1225), set up by Ly Cong Uan, lasted for 215 years under 9 kings, which was one of the famous feudal dynasties in the history of Vietnam.
5. The Tran dynasty (1226-1400) was ruled by 12 kings in 175 years. This was also one of the famous feudal dynasties in Vietnam.
6. The Ho dynasty (1401-1407) existed for only 7 years under two kings before it was overthrown by the Ming feudal regime of China, which later ruled the country for many years.
7. The Le dynasty (1428-1789): was set up by Le Loi who had led the Vietnamese people in the patriotic war of resistance against the Ming invaders. It was referred in Vietnamese historical books to as Hau Le (Post-Le) dynasty in order to distinguish it from the Tien Le (Pre-Le) dynasty of Le Hoan. This dynasty lasted for the longest period of time in the history of Vietnam (360 years) under the rule of 28 kings. It was also one of the most famous dynasties in the Vietnamese history.
8. The Mac dynasty (1527-1592): The Hau Le (Post-Le) dynasty was interrupted for a short period of time when Mac Dang Dung in 1527 dethroned the Le king and set up the Mac dynasty, which lasted for 65 years and ruled by 5 kings.
9. The Tay Son dynasty (1778-1802) was set up by the three brothers Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Lu, who had led the people in the uprising to topple the feudal forces that had divided the country. Because the trio were born in Tay Son of Central Vietnam, their uprising was referred to in Vietnamese historical books as the Tay Son uprising and the feudal regime they set up as the Tay Son dynasty which lasted for 24 years under the rule of three kings.
10. The Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945) was set up in 1802 by Nguyen Anh and maintained by the French colonialists throughout their domination with the local kings being made the puppet kings. The last feudal king in Vietnam was abdicated in August 1945 Revolution. So, the Nguyen dynasty existed in 143 years and was ruled by 13 kings, including the puppet kings during the French domination.
The kings’ role and powers
Vietnam was once ruled for more than one thousand years by feudal China, a northern neighbor of Vietnam and a big country with age-old civilization and glorious development under various political-legal regimes which reached the perfect development and became a typical model in East Asia. Therefore, the Vietnamese feudal regime in general and the Vietnamese kings in particular could not help bearing the influence of Chinese feudalism and being acceptive to the feudal model of China. Yet, as they ruled in a specific country with specific geographical, economic and historical conditions, the Vietnamese kings and rulers saw their dissimilarities from the Chinese emperors.
According to Chinese feudalists’ conception, there were two grades of king: “de” (emperor) and “vuong” (king). “De” was also called “hoang de”, meaning the emperor in golden cloak; and only the Chinese kings could proclaim themselves “de” while kings of satellite countries were only entitled to proclaim themselves “vuong” (king). After Vietnam gained independence, Ngo Quyen, the first Vietnamese king, proclaimed himself “vuong” (king) in order to avoid confrontation with the then Chinese emperor when Vietnam was still young and weak. The first Vietnamese king to proclaim himself “de” (emperor) was Dinh Bo Linh who, by doing this, confirmed his equality with the Chinese emperor. Therefore, he was referred to in Vietnamese historical books as Dinh Tien Hoang, the first Vietnamese emperor. From then on, Vietnamese kings proclaimed themselves “de” (emperor) though they were only consecrated “vuong” (king) by the Chinese emperors.
According to political practices by feudalists in China then in Vietnam, a king used to bear the following names:
- Tabooed name: The name he bore before he was enthroned, which is forbidden to be mentioned of in speech or writing by anyone. For instance, king Le Thai To (the 15th century) was actually Le Loi with “Le” as his family name and “Loi” as his tabooed name.
- Alias: When coming into the throne, a king used to give himself an alias. For instance, Dinh Bo Linh, when crowned, gave himself the alias: “Dai Thang Minh Hoang De” meaning the victorious and enlightened emperor who just defeated various feudal factions.
- Death name: When a king died, the son who succeeded to the throne used to give his king father a death name which was usually “Dai hanh hoang de” meaning the passing away emperor or the emperor with great virtue.
- The shrine name which was also a name given after the king’s death to the place where he was worshipped. In each dynasty, the shrine name was given to the first king as “Thai To”, the second king as “Thai Tong”, the third king as “Thanh Tong”, the fourth king as “Nhan Tong”, with “To” as the ancestors and “Tong” as descent. For instance, in the Ly dynasty there existed kings Ly Thai To, Ly Thai Tong, Ly Thanh Tong…
- Name of a reign’s years: When coming to the throne, a king often gave himself one or several names of a reign’s years. By then, the year had been calculated not according to solar calendar but to the king’s reining years’ names. For instance, king Le Thanh Tong (the 15th century) gave himself two names of his reign’s years: “Quang Thuan” (corresponding to the years from 1460 to 1469 of the solar calendar), including the first “Quang Thuan” year (1460), the second “Quang Thuan” year (1461),…; and “Hong Duc” (1470-1497) including from the first to the 27th Hong Duc year.
- The country’s name: According to the feudal view, the country belonged to the king, not to people; so, the country had to be named by the king. During the period of independent feudal regime, Vietnam was given the following names:
+ Dai Co Viet was given from the Xth century, meaning the Great Vietnam which suggested that Great Vietnam was well matched with “Dai Han” (Great China), having brought to the fore the Vietnamese people’s national pride.
+ Dai Viet was given to the country from the XIth to the early XIXth century.
+ During the Nguyen dynasty, the country bore such names as Nam Viet, Viet Nam, Dai Nam.
Kings and emperors were considered “Thien Tu” (Sons of the Heaven) who represented the Heaven to rule the people. With such a position, the kings held in their hands all State powers, including:
- The legislative power, whereby the king was the only person entitled to make laws.
- The executive power, whereby the king was fully entitled to appoint, promote, demote, reward, punish, transfer, pay salary and bonuses to, mandarins.
- The judiciary power, whereby the king was the only person to have the final say on any judgement. Only the king could give amnesty to convicts.
- The heavenly power. The king was the leader of all deities in the country. He had the power to confer titles and positions on deities.
This, however, does not mean that the king’s powers were unlimited and absolute. His authorities were restricted by following socio-political factors:
First, according to Confucian conceptions, if a king wished to be known and remembered as an enlightened king, he had to love people as his own children and to care for their life even though he had great powers and was considered father of all people. For example, when people faced crop failures, then hunger, the king had to reduce taxes for people.
Second, due to the royal court proceedings. Usually before making any important decision, the king had to consult relevant mandarins on the matters.