Answer to How prosperous was the Later Le Dynasty in ancient Vietnam?

How prosperous was the Later Le Dynasty in ancient Vietnam?

The Le Dynasty (1428–1788 AD) was essentially the Vietnamese “Golden Age”; its most prosperous era in a civilization with 5,000 years of history.

Indeed, during the 360 long years for which the Le Emperors ruled over their great “Southern Nation”, the Empire was certainly for one able to make its transition from what was formerly a neglected, and decentralized Buddhist polity characterized by Feudalism and disorder, into a powerful and centralized Confucian superstate capable of actually influencing affairs in the international community, from that moment onwards.

Territories of the Le Dynasty at its greatest extent under Emperor Le Thanh Tong in 1460–97 AD at approximately 371,500 km^2 (violet for the vassalized Kingdom of Champa, light red meanwhile to indicate the temporary territories held by the Vietnamese from 1478–1480 AD) :

The Golden Age was characterized not only by a great many deal of new heights attained in the realms of economy, technology, art, architecture and science, but also saw the eternal preservation of Vietnamese independence from Han Chinese rule henceforth.

Even more so in fact the opposite was now the case; a trend which saw Vietnam even begin to rapidly expand its territories to such an extent, that by the end of the Empire in 1788 AD, the territories of the Le Dynasty were already almost as expansive as it is today within the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1945-Present Day).

Well defended geographically, economically prosperous beyond measure, culturally impervious ironically owing to Chinese influence, and politically stabilized by a vast, competent and highly qualified Confucian led bureaucracy, Le Vietnam at its heights not only emerged as the sole hegemon of Southeast Asia in all its entirety, but was arguably even master of the Far East second only to the “Middle Kingdom” itself.

It was precisely resultant of these aforementioned reasons and more, that the Le Dynasty still to this day is seen by many as the Golden Age of Vietnam, a phenomenon which is further backed up by the fact in addition, that it was Vietnamese civilization’s longest reigning Imperial dynasty.

Warning: Long answer dead ahead of 13,200 words, a “TL;DR” is attached near the bottom, in the “Final Summary” section.

Here are the contents of the answer for ease of navigation:

Chapter I: “Escalation”: Rejecting Chinese Rule, Establishing the Golden Age
Chapter II: “Tranquility”: Reforming and Repairing a Dishevelled Nation
Chapter III: “Pinnacle”: The Achievements of Le Imperial Civil Society
Chapter IV: “Expansionism”: The Vietnamese Campaigns, and the Arduous March to the South
Final Summary (and TL;DR)
Sources Utilized

Chapter I: “Escalation”: Rejecting Chinese Rule, Establishing the Golden Age

Sensing that the Tran Empire (1225–1400 AD) was gasping for its last breath of air, Ho Quy Ly, a government official under the eponymous ruling family, rebelled against Imperial authority, and in doing so overthrew the last Tran Emperor, proclaiming his very own Ho Dynasty (1400–07 AD) as an eternal replacement.

Unfortunately for the newly proclaimed Ho Empire however, all was not well. The last remnants of the former Imperial family, unwilling to “go quietly into the night” instead begun to rally supporters amongst a disgruntled Vietnamese populace which simultaneously still recognized the legitimacy of the Tran Family, whilst rejecting that of the Ho.

Seeking to dispel any last resistance to his reign, Ho sent an emissary north, to the Celestial Empire of Ming (1368–1644 AD), requesting for its then ruler, the Yongle Emperor to recognize the legitimacy of the Ho Empire. The Chinese Court, which had enjoyed extremely cordial relations with the former Tran Dynasty, and unaware of Ho’s illegitimate usurpation, reluctantly accepted the Ho Family’s request, upon being falsely informed that all surviving members of the Tran had perished.

An artist’s impression of Ho Quy Ly, First Emperor of the Ho Dynasty and Great Usurper of the Tran Empire:

This was not to be the case for long however. A dissenter, Tran Thien Binh soon arrived in the Chinese capital of Nanjing in 1404 AD, not only claiming to be a Prince from the House of Tran, but also that the Ho had treacherously displaced his family from their rightful position at the apex of Vietnamese society; an issue which he insisted that the almighty “Son of Heaven” needed to sort out immediately.

The Yongle Emperor agreed, but only acted to harshly rebuke the Ho Empire initially, insisting that Ho was to immediately return the Imperial throne to the Tran Family but otherwise refusing to take any military action, as his father before him had specifically instructed that China was never to invade Vietnam as they had once tried to do, so many times prior in the 469 years in which the latter had been liberated of the former’s rule.

Yet, such a status quo could never truly everlast, especially when Ho, under the guise of co-operation with regards to the Yongle Emperor’s commands brutally executed a Chinese escort, which had been complementing both the Ming ambassador and the Prince of Tran. And not only that, but to further exacerbate what was a steadily deteriorating relationship between the Vietnamese and Chinese empires, Ho took it one step further and even begun to taunt the Yongle Emperor, by harassing the Middle Kingdom’s southern borders.

An artist’s impression of the Yongle Emperor, Chinese counterpart to Ho Quy Ly (the latter who had actually abdicated in favour of his son merely one year into his rule, but remained the new Emperor’s advisor):

Such an action was deemed dishonourable by the Imperial Chinese Zhu Family, and was by far enough to warrant military action by the Yongle Emperor against the usurper Ho Quy Ly. And thus naturally began the Ming Dynasty’s invasion of the Ho Empire. 215,000 Chinese soldiers were sent southwards, and within merely a year, all of Vietnam was once again under Chinese occupation as it formerly was from the years 204 BC to 938 AD.

Now, Vietnam had of course been under Chinese rule before, and whilst occupations of any kind were never great regardless of neither the time period, nor place in the world where it had occurred, the Ming Empire took the meaning both of “domination” and “humiliation” to a whole other level. Indeed, as much as some Vietnamese individuals may like to claim today otherwise, the occupations of Vietnam under the mighty Han and Tang Dynasties (206 BC-220 AD and 618–907 AD) were actually quite peaceful and prosperous, both relatively and absolutely.

At least new infrastructures (eg. bridges and roads) were being built each and every year, and at least Vietnamese society was amongst the most prosperous and advanced in the entire world under their “lenient” rulings, in which both education and stability were encouraged and made possible respectively. The city of Hanoi for example under the Tang, had become so prosperous that Arab merchants seeking to trade with China would sometimes dock in favour of the port city instead of its more wealthy counterpart, Guangzhou.

The same however, could not be said meanwhile for the tyrannical Ming Empire, by stark contrast. In a period of merely 21 years, the Mongol influenced Ming managed to bring about more suffering, misery and anguish onto Vietnam than all of its predecessors’ struggles to do so over a period of 1,000 years combined. In an effort to forever assimilate Vietnam back into China as a permanent province under the title of “Annam” or “Pacified South”, the Ming Chinese rested not even for a mere second as they ruthlessly tried to exterminate any last notions of a common Vietnamese identity.

A map of the Ming Empire at its heights from 1407–28 AD under the Yongle Emperor with a land area of 6.5 million km^2, clearly depicting Annam under its control in the South:

Vietnamese intellectualism was targeted first and foremostly, following an executive command from the Yongle Emperor himself who asserted the following:

“Once the Imperial Army enters Annam, with the exception of Buddhist and Taoist texts; all books and notes, even those with a focus on mythology and children’s stories, should be incinerated. The stelas constructed by the Celestial Empire should be protected carefully, while those erected by Annam, should be completely annihilated, spare not even one character.”

-The Yongle Emperor of Ming, July 1406

Directly as a consequence, history spanning over 400 years of an independent Vietnam was purposefully and permanently discarded by the Ming Empire. Fortunately, the manuscripts of the Vietnamese were not all incinerated however, some of them for example were lucky enough to be carried back to the Middle Kingdom for record keeping, but this was the best case scenario really truth be told. As for the rest, they were described by those who had survived the Chinese invasion to have been burnt in piles, “as high as mountains”.

Day after day, book after book no matter how vital to the Vietnamese peoples socially and culturally, was indiscriminately discarded with neither meditation nor mercy.

So many books were burnt in fact, that a Chinese Official who was originally of Vietnamese origins, Ho Nguyen Trung, though he could of course not directly criticise the Ming Administration, described the effects of the purge as follows in his book published many years post-invasion under the title, “Dream Memoir of Nam Ong”:

“The words originating from the legends of the past are certainly of the highest interest, but wars and fires have otherwise rendered them null and lost to time, pitiful is it not? Considering that I of all have sort to write down the ancient stories though be it fact that many of them are lost, only one or two tales amongst one hundred are preserved.”

-Ho Nguyen Trung, Dream Memoir of Nam Ong

No consideration was spared, and not even the most fundamental of books dating back to the earlier prosperous eras of the Ly (1009–1225 AD) and Tran Dynasties were spared. Even to this day, contemporary experts know very little with regards to the 400 years between the nation’s initial independence and the “Fourth Chinese Domination of Vietnam” (1407–28 AD). Specifically, knowledge of clothing traditions prior to the Ming Conquests oscillate from very little to even nothing at all depending on the relevant topics of concern.

And not only that but to further, “add salt to the wound”, the Ming Chinese kidnapped and forcibly abducted the very best of Annam’s human capital including occupations from diverse areas as that of architects to generals and poets. All were forced on pain of death to journey to the far north, in order to assist the Middle Kingdom in rebuilding their land after it was ravaged by the brutality of the Mongol Yuan Empire (1279–1368 AD).

The Forbidden City in Beijing depicted below as follows was famously constructed (partly) by the aid of a Vietnamese individual known as Nguyen An (阮安), who acted as its Master Architect:

For years, such an aforementioned brutality was the norm in the Chinese province of Annam. Whilst the citizens of China prospered, endless toil was the way of the Vietnamese, tortured and oppressed beyond belief, and with no end in sight, the spirit of the Annamese was broken at last. All was well for the Middle Kingdom, Vietnam’s future was with China, or so it seemed at the time.

Yet, for every scenario where there is a majority in favour of a specific inclination, so too shall there be those who oppose them, and this too was no exception for the occupied state of Annam.

Nationalistic tendencies fighting in favour of a liberated Vietnam, soon sallied forth all over the southernmost Ming province as early as 1418 AD, merely 11 years into the reign of the Celestial Empire. Arguing that the Vietnamese were not destined to be enslaved, but rather instead to be a free peoples with their own country in their own land, they fought hard for the freedom of Vietnam.

And yet, how could this dream of theirs ever be accomplished, when there was no single, coordinated effort against the might of China? Indeed, the rebels were divided into many smaller groups, and there presently existed not a single person to lead them all. Fractured and divided amongst themselves, Vietnamese independence was a dream at best still, in the face of not only tyranny but stability also, under the Ming Empire. Fortunately, the forces of nature and destiny had decided otherwise and soon gave the rebels the help they so deserved.

Amongst those who had been kidnapped in the initial Chinese invasion of Vietnam, there was one very particular man, who the Ming had been all too eager to acquire. As he was being taken to the borders of the Celestial Empire, his heartbroken son had followed him the entire way, tearfully pleading that he stay for the sake of the family, as he was far too young to take care of them all by himself.

However moved his father was, not even for a mere second did he show any signs of weakness in front of the Chinese soldiers who were escorting him away, instead he made one response, and one only. Insisting that should his son truly still desire to avenge the injustices which had befallen onto their family, then the youth would have to not only completely abandon even the mere mention of him, but instead exclusively aspire to liberate the nation, and in doing so restore freedom to the Vietnamese people from the tyranny of Merciless Ming.

The Ming Imperial Army preparing for war:

As a result, in time when the son imminently matured fully into a man, still remembering the pleas of his father all those years ago, he knew there was only one path he could take: Revolution. Which brings us back to our original story, with regards to the Vietnamese rebels, of which there were still many rivalling factions. The man from the story was of course none other than Nguyen Trai, an intellectual with superior capabilities when it came to stratagem and cognitive thinking.

He knew by what means it was possible to overthrow the Chinese, but had no manpower with which he could do so. Essentially, he had “the brains, but no brawn” with which to accompany it as they say. Naturally, this was an issue which required immediate attention, and Nguyen knew it. Journeying all around the Pacified South, he eventually came across a wealthy aristocratic landowner called Le Loi, who just so happened to also be the leader of a certain rebel group based out of Thanh Hoa province, a coastal region in the northern-central sections of Modern Vietnam.

Le Loi had the military capabilities to win a war, but no one to act as his strategist, the opposite was of course true for Nguyen Trai meanwhile as mentioned prior, naturally as such the two soon not only became close collaborators but also good friends. They were determined to defeat Merciless Ming, and in doing so permanently restore Vietnam’s independence, forever. Both however agreed that in order to do so, would mean putting an end first to the internal rivalries between the Vietnamese peoples.

Unity had to be achieved amongst the figureheads of the revolution, this was the prevailing fact. And it was one which Nguyen fortunately believed he had a solution to.

An artist’s impression of Nguyen Trai (depicted in his last days), Master Strategist of the Vietnamese Rebels:

Nguyen’s plan was simple, understanding the Chinese concept of the “Mandate of Heaven” which attributed the legitimacy of a ruler, to the approval of the Universe, he had Le Loi’s troops inscribe onto many different leaves en masse the following message:

“Join Righteous Le Loi, Defeat the Ming Empire.”

He then commanded that the leaves be thrown into a nearby river which flowed downstream. It was hoped that by doing so, the nearby villages and cities which were located along this particular stream of water would locate his leaves, read the writing which had been etched onto Nguyen’s leaves, and finally if all went well, interpret it as a sign from Heaven that Le Loi was the one and only true leader of the Revolution, and thus also the exclusively legitimate future Emperor of a free Vietnam therefore.

It worked, and sooner rather than later, all the forces of Vietnam had rallied together under one banner. With both the might of Le Loi and ingenuity of Nguyen Trai working together in unison, a strength which was only exacerbated by the national solidarity of Vietnam, it was finally time for the tyranny of Ming China to end. Never again would they let Han Chinese supremacy dominate what they clearly saw was an independent nation, with its own language, its own culture and most importantly, its own civilization.

The Chinese would either leave Vietnam amicably, or to the sword they would all have to go. Le Loi, and not the Ming Emperors as the people saw it was the true “Son of Heaven”, and therefore their revolution was justified. There was no longer any doubt, Vietnam’s destiny was one of liberation and independence not slavery and subjugation.

An artist’s impression of Le Loi, wealthy aristocrat and Leader of the Vietnamese Rebellion against the Ming Empire:

Death, was the fate of all who were brave enough to do battle with the Vietnamese. For 10 years this was the case during an event known today as the “Lam Son Uprising” (1418–28 AD).

Under the command both of Le Loi and Nguyen Trai, the Vietnamese were able to lead preemptive strikes all over the province, against their Chinese nemesis. As the Ming Imperial Army was both well organized, and greatly outnumbered Le Loi’s forces, the Vietnamese initially resorted to Guerilla Warfare for a period of roughly 2–3 years, in order to negate the advantages of China on the open fields.

Supply lines were interrupted as the Vietnamese assaulted and ambushed the Chinese whenever they could, only to mysteriously disappear as quickly as they had come. The rebels often utilizing psychological warfare to fully exploit any Chinese weaknesses, gained great success both on and off the battlefields by doing so. In one particular case for example, leaflets were disseminated by the rebels into the enemy camps at night, written with pro-Vietnamese propaganda rebuking the Ming for brutally occupying their beloved country without mercy.

Life during such a turbulent time for the Resistance was often quite difficult. Both wild and “tamed” Horses and Elephants often had to be purposefully killed in order to feed the rebels, whilst assassination attempts on Le Loi were many in numbers. To make matters worse, the Chinese had hired mercenaries from the region which is known today as “Laos”, and yet, still the Vietnamese prevailed, and prevailed to such an extent in fact that by 1427 AD, the original Imperial garrison stationed in Annam had all but been decimated.

An artist’s impression of one of Le Loi’s greatest general; Le Lai, who can be seen below, mounted upon his steed (the latter had allowed the former and the vast majority of the Resistance to escape a Chinese ambush, by dressing up as the Rebel leader himself, and enacting a Kamikaze charge along with a squad made up of some of Vietnam’s greatest warriors, directly headfirst into the Ming forces. Sacrificing his life all for the sake of the Rebellion, without his heroism, Vietnam would likely still be part of China to this day otherwise):

And yet, still the Chinese came. Though the Xuande Emperor of Ming refused to continue China’s campaigns against Annam, his eunuchs persuaded him otherwise. The result was a new force of 100,000 men being sent down to quash the Rebellion, in a final desperate attempt to bring the Resistance to heel. This final campaign too however ended in failure when the Ming General, Liu Sheng clashed with Rebel forces, only to fatally divide his army into two in order to chase the retreating Vietnamese army.

The Resistance, who had only been executing a mock withdrawal soon rallied together and decimated the pursuing forces. The last portion of Liu’s army meanwhile was lured out towards Thang Long (Hanoi) where it too suffered a further series of losses resulting in the deaths of 90,000 men in total at the end of the campaigns. China was all but spent, but it wouldn’t be for another year until they would finally accept defeat.

To this extent, the Chinese occupation was at last lifted when such times came, and Annam was subsequently abandoned forever. At last, after years upon years of death and destruction, Vietnamese civilization refusing to submit against all odds, despite being heavily outnumbered in their own country, emerged victorious over the forces of the mighty Middle Kingdom. From North to South, and West to East, using both psychological and guerilla warfare, they had at last accomplished the impossible, and finally triumphed over the tyranny of Merciless Ming, winning their freedom at last.

Naturally as the leader of the Revolution, the consensus of the people was one which was overwhelmingly in favour of upholding Le Loi as First Emperor of his newly proclaimed Le Dynasty. Liberated for the first time in 21 years, in order to mark what he interpreted as a new beginning for Vietnamese civilization, the famous poem; the “Great Declaration on the Victory Over China” was composed by the Emperor’s right hand man, Nguyen Trai as follows, in order to make clear the differences between Vietnam and China forever:

“Our Great Viet is a country where prosperity
abounds. Where civilization reigns supreme.
Its mountains, its rivers, its frontiers are its own;
Its customs are distinct, in North and South.

Trieu, Dinh, Ly and Tran
Created our Nation,
Whilst Han, Tang, Song and Yuan
Ruled over Theirs.

Over the Centuries,
We have been sometimes strong, and sometimes weak,
But never yet have we been lacking in heroes.
Of that let our history be the proof.”

-Nguyen Trai, Mastermind of the Vietnamese Revolution

And thus begun, the Vietnamese Golden Age. Long gone were the days of oppression, instead advented onto the stage a state of Vietnamese superiority. It was a feat which could not have been made possible without the combined efforts of the ingenuity of Nguyen Trai on one hand, and the great strength of Le Loi on the other.

The eternal partners Nguyen Trai (left) and Le Loi (right), the muscle and brains of the Revolution respectively:

Chapter II: “Tranquility”: Reforming and Repairing a Dishevelled Nation

Making peace with the Chinese was the foremost priority of the Le Empire, of this Emperor Le Thai To (formerly Le Loi) was all too certain. China was still the hegemon of East Asia, and by extension one the most if not the most advanced civilization in the world in the early 1400s (due to Zheng He’s International Voyages (1405–33 AD)), not angering a behemoth which was immediately next door was thus considered to be the wisest course of action for a newly emerging, and independent nation such as Dai Viet (as it was known from 1428 AD onwards, courtesy of Le Loi) could take.

Voluntarily, Le sought to win back the “affections” of the Celestial Empire by offering Vietnam up as a loyal tributary once more, condemning the nation towards providing an annual offering of luxury gifts to the Ming Dynasty sure, but at least it would give Dai Viet the chance to prosper with its borders secure, and external political stability guaranteed. When the Xuande Emperor of Ming accepted this proposal, the most important task had finally been accomplished, as was once the case also under the Ly and Tran Dynasties.

Because of Emperor Le’s generous nature as well in addition, all remaining Chinese forces who had missed the initial evacuation back to China (as they left too quickly), were officially sponsored by the new Vietnamese Empire on their journey home, and were allowed to return to Beijing in one piece via Vietnamese naval vessels, as well as also being supplemented with the Southern Empire’s food and supplies.

An artist’s impression of Le Thai To in his newly embroidered Emperor’s garbs (credits to Tim Tran for the image):

With the northern borders of Dai Viet finally secure, the attention of Emperor Le turnt inwards. Urgent reforms were required, but what was to be done first however? Everything seemed equally important in the eyes of the Emperor. The soldiers who had fought with Le Loi wanted to be rewarded, yet the Peasantry also demanded land on which to farm, and even the National Economy required urgent attention.

In the event that none of the parties could be pleased, the wisest course of action was to appease none at all, at least not initially. This the Emperor did and focused instead on political reformation rather. As had been the case under the Ly and Tran before it, Le reimplemented a Confucian led bureaucracy, where aspiring candidates were chosen based on the Meritocratic Examination System, which was initially only partly reintroduced (and not fully implemented for at least another 35 years, until the reign of the great Emperor Le Thanh Tong).

The governing departments as per tradition was split into two, with the roles of both the Civil and Military spheres officially defined and exclusively segregated, to avoid both conflict and confusion in a particular “Mandarin” Official’s prescribed roles.

The Meritocratic Exams meanwhile were not radically different from what it was then still under their contemporaries in the Ming Empire, nor the legends of the past; Ly and Tran which had preceded it meanwhile.

Ever relevant during the Le Era, was a good off by heart knowledge of the greatest and most influential Confucian texts, with regards to politics, the military, and philosophy was still the best way to make a potential candidate successful. “Interrogations” to test one’s sincerity still existed, and thousands of new characters still also needed to be memorized in order to merely sit the exam.

The result was the transformation of Vietnam into one of the best governed countries in the world, along with Ming China and Joseon Korea (1392–1897 AD). The highest, most refined quality with regards to human capital, could all be found, congregated in one solitary place whensoever the Imperial Court was in session.

An artist’s impression both of the Military (left) and Civil (right) Mandarin Government Officials, which administered the martial and peacetime activities of their related departments respectively (credits again to Tim Tran for the image):

When this was so, the next pivotal policy of the Emperor Le’s was to ensure that the loyalty of his soldiers had been well rewarded, on pain of rebellion should their service rewards be deferred any longer. Naturally, all who had served him during the long and arduous years, including the talented Nguyen Trai were thus elevated to official positions, with Nguyen himself being promoted into a Civil Mandarin. Ordinary yet equally heroic soldiers meanwhile were generously rewarded with their own plots of land.

With regards to the National Economy meanwhile, the Emperor commanded that a great many deal of new infrastructures were to be built en masse nationwide, including but not limited to roads, dikes, bridges, and canals. In turn, such projects acted to spur economic growth because they made trade and commerce more efficient essentially. Roads for example, cut travel time down significantly, making it more profitable for Le Capitalists to make a living, increasing National Consumption directly as a result.

This added prosperity, negated the initial effects which had brought about poverty and misery to the Vietnamese Peasant, allowing Vietnam’s “99%” to greatly thrive as well in addition. New laws to regulate the minting and printing of Imperial Vietnamese currency meanwhile was passed, which acted to control inflation, further ensuring that general living standards were never all too adversely affected as a result.

Understanding the importance of the Peasantry meanwhile as the Emperor recognized their interconnected vitality with regards to national strength and prosperity, land reforms were also carried out. The lands of the traitors who had sold out Vietnam to the Chinese Empire, namely those of the Tran princes, and others who had fought on the side of the Ming Dynasty, were revoked, and redistributed instead to the Peasantry.

The Bridge of Lam Kinh, one of many of its kind built during the reign of Emperor Le Loi, as part of his pro-infrastructure building policies:

A portion of this land was also reserved for the Mandarins of the State, but the Emperor also passed new laws to discourage the resulting power abuse, which would have otherwise been incentivized by such an privilege. Now compared to before under the Tran Empire (to use one example), Mandarin Officials were not permitted to mistreat the common people in any way, just because they were higher on the social hierarchy (of which they were the highest, second only to the Emperor himself).

Contrary yet again in fact, to the status quo which once existed under the Tran Empire, Mandarins could also henceforth no longer actually possess neither serfs nor large estates, nor were permitted to own their own private armies as was once the case in the past. A Mandarin’s only state sanctioned role under the Le from then on, was with regards to tax collection purposes. However, the Mandarin was still allowed to enjoy other special privileges of course, such as that of donning a distinct costume, and also whilst smaller than in the past, was in addition given an luxurious manor within which to inhabit.

Such an Imperial policy had the effect of appeasing the vast majority of Vietnam’s populace, who rested well at night knowing that their toils in the fields would not be in vain after all. Under the wise leadership of the First Emperor, a precedent was set which would henceforth limit the power of the Mandarin class, acting to further discourage corruption and in doing so improve the non-material happiness of the common people.

Paper money, formerly utilized en masse under the Ho Dynasty was meanwhile abolished, as the Emperor argued (and correctly so) that its convenience led to an overabundance of the currency in too short a frame of time, leading to rapid, and undesirable rates of inflation. In response to such an issue, copper coins were reinstated, the units of measurement with regards to length, weight, volume, and area, along with the sizes of certain goods including paper was standardized. And foreign trade initially was restricted to assist in the development of National Industry.

A coin dating back to the Le Dynasty under Emperor Le Thai To’s “Thuận Thiên” Era:

Under the wise rulings of Emperor Le, true centralization for the first time in Vietnam’s independent history was also allowed to occur, due to Le Thai To’s reforms which removed power away from the local and state governments until they only had the authority to carry out public constructions, and even then such an activity was largely placed under the supervision of the Imperial Government. The Le Administration thus was to henceforth take care of the spheres regarding the military, alongside judicial and religious matters.

Directly as a result of the Emperor’s reforms, Le Vietnam had stabilized, and was back on the fast track to reclaiming the glories which once existed under the former Ly and Tran Dynasties. And in doing so, it ensured that the way was set for the rest of period to flourish under Vietnamese civilization’s greatest ruler yet: Emperor Le Thanh Tong (reigned 1460–97 AD). The dawn of a powerful Vietnamese Empire was just at this point in time, beginning to emerge.

Chapter III: “Pinnacle”: The Achievements of Le Imperial Civil Society

Vietnamese supremacy, already rapidly on the rise since the very beginning of the dynasty, finally reached its ultimate heights under the “Prosperous Era of Hong Duc” in 1460 AD, when former Crown Prince Le Hao ascended to the throne of Dai Viet at the young age of 18, assuming the title of Le Thanh Tong.

The benevolence of Le Hao could be explained by the circumstances which had haunted his early years as Prince. Le was historically described to be a scholar first and foremostly, interested primarily with study, a luxury which was further exacerbated by the efforts of Imperial specialists - the best which money could buy - who tutored him in a variety of different aspects for years on end. Naturally as a result, from an early age the prince was already known to be an extremely intelligent, and gifted individual.

As such, when his uncle led the pivotal coup of 1459 AD against the Emperor and had him executed, Le already knew exactly what he then had to do, in order to avoid the same fate himself. Quite simply, he presented himself merely to be a harmless individual interested only in study, and not the brutal practicalities of everyday life and was therefore seen as not a threat by his treacherous uncle.

Such an effort was not in vain however, and did eventually pay off when individuals loyal to the previous Le Emperor, violently removed the treasonous usurper after merely 9 months of tyranny, and placed him on the throne instead. In this way, Le Hao was able to assume control of the Vietnamese Empire.

An official Le Era portrait depicting Emperor Le Thanh Tong, seen below as follows:

Though his rise to power was not all too original (as those familiar with Chinese history will recognize, since it almost perfectly mirrored the circumstances which brought the great Xuanzong of Tang to power roughly 700 years prior), it did however as mentioned before, have the effect of making him more appreciative of his role as ruler of Dai Viet, and in doing so paved the way for 37 years of Vietnamese superiority, in which the Empire became one of the most advanced political entities in the entire world, first in Indochina, and second in East Asia meanwhile only to Ming China.

Known today as the “Vietnamese Hammurabi”, the reign of Le Thanh Tong was one characterized by further widespread reforms enacted nationwide, all of which acted to further make Dai Viet one of the greatest countries in the world, by the end of the 15th Century.

Like Le Loi before him, Emperor Le’s initial improvements to the State of Le were both political and philosophical, but this time were done with a twist. Recognizing that the great prosperity of the former Vietnamese dynasties of Ly and Tran were resultant of adopting the latest intrigues from their neighbour at the time, the Chinese Song Empire (960–1279 AD), Emperor Le decided to defy tradition and “renovate” the nation based on the Song model of governance, rather than their contemporary Ming Empire’s as Joseon Korea had done.

Objectively speaking, this made all the difference in the world. The Song was the zenith of Chinese civilization regarding not only culture, but science, sociopolitics and civility also. The Ming by stark contrast was a mere shadow of this former glory, and was instead technologically stagnant, brutally totalitarian and strongly xenophobic. The Le Emperor therefore could be said to have made a most wise choice indeed by adopting the Song model, itself based on the earlier Tang model.

An artist’s impression of Emperor Le Thanh Tong in his ceremonial attire (credits to Tim Tran yet again):

Imperial governance for one was defined by an enlightened ruler based on the Song model. There was no “Oriental Despotism” in Vietnam, as there was in Ming China at the time. The nation belonged not to the Emperor despite being its head of state, but to the people, to the army, to the government and to their ancestors. The Emperor not only did not, but could not become an autocrat who could just tell tell his subjects what to do without question.

No, there were limits to his power, a power shared by the Imperial Administration (despite being inferior). Speaking of which, was actually modelled on the Tang rather than Song model under the famous “Three Departments, Six Ministries” System which divided the hierarchy of governance (as implied) into 3 different political sections, in what was an early version of the “Separation of Powers”.

In such a system, the 3 departments were all equal in power to one another, each acting as a check on the others’ authority much like the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary do today with regards to modern Western Style Multi-Party Liberal Democracies such as the Commonwealth of Australia (1788- Present Day), or the United States of America (1776-Present Day). The Departments were still inferior to the Le Emperor however on the political hierarchy, who was still situated above them, but it mattered not as the power was shared between the Emperor and the Le Government, as mentioned prior.

The first of these sections was titled under the “Department of the Central Secretariat”, and was in charge of policy-making and legislation. The second was called the “Department of State Affairs” and focused on the implementation of policies which had previously been created by the Central Secretariat. The last political section inside the Imperial Government meanwhile, was that of the “Department of the Chancellery”, which would move to review the policies which had been implemented by the Department of State Affairs.

Under the Department of State Affairs itself in addition, was the 6 Ministries. This included that of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Punishments and Public Constructions; the 6 being in charge of many different, yet mutually exclusive civilizational facets of Vietnamese society. The effects of such an implementation in both the 3 Departments, and the 6 Ministries was immediate internal stability with regards to the political sphere.

A brief outline of the hierarchy within the 3 Departments, 6 Ministries System utilized under the Le Empire based on the Tang Chinese model with regards to the Vietnamese Administration:

Philosophically meanwhile, whereas the former dynasties of Ly and Tran had been primarily Buddhist polities (at least with regards to the common people) Emperor Le reinstated Neo-Confucianism as the official, National Ideology of the Vietnamese Empire. Neo-Confucianism was of course originally a Chinese introduction which had also first advented under the Song Empire, and was essentially, both more radical yet secular than its original variant birthed over 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Period (771–476 BC), which it was primarily based upon.

Most importantly, a key idea of the ideology asserted that the government should be run by men of noble character as opposed to men of aristocratic origins; a fact which finally saw to it that the full reimplementation of a triennial Meritocratic Examination System as opposed to before under Le Loi, where it was only partially so, was carried out. In due course, the first full scale exam was soon held in 1463 AD. And not only that, but indirectly, it also served to transfer power away from the nobility, further acting to assist the Le Government in centralizing the nation further.

And as for the Mandarins themselves, they were organized into a hierarchy comprising of 9 different ranks, further acting to make the administration of Vietnam, a highly ordered one. Because Vietnam was such a well run country by this point in time, due to the vast concentration of the very best of Vietnamese talent, much of which worked within the Imperial administration, a great many deal of achievements soon followed suit. Chief amongst which was with regards to demography, historiography, cartography and matters regarding the Legal sphere.

Good progress for one as mentioned prior was made in the realms of Vietnamese History writing and record keeping. During the Hong Duc Era, the famous “Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư” (大越史記全書) for example was written by a Le Historian by the name of Ngo Si Lien, completed and published first by 1479 AD, which was 15 volumes long and covered all of Vietnam’s history from the times of the legendary Hong Bang Dynasty (2879–258 BC), to the immediate years prior to the reign of the Emperor.

Most importantly, this acted to at last finally and officially support the notions of a common Vietnamese national identity, in which an ethnicity known as the “Kinh” peoples were bounded together not by blood, but through a common culture and history. It was a fact which would from that moment onwards, serve to strengthen the unity of the Vietnamese nation to such an extent, that no matter how many times Vietnam was invaded by a foreign army, notions of, “us and them” would always dominate the psyche of the Vietnamese.

This would prove to be especially effective in the 20th Century when Japan, France and of course the United States all failed to triumph against a culturally impervious, and united Vietnamese peoples.

A page from the original Completed Annals of Dai Viet, written by Ngo Si Lien:

A National Census meanwhile, upon being sponsored by the Emperor, covered the entire population of Vietnam for taxation purposes, and recorded a number which was roughly around 4 million individuals by that point in time during the mid-1400s; making Dai Viet the largest Empire in Southeast Asia, with regards to the number of citizens living within its vast boundaries at roughly 20%.

From the times of the first census onwards, one was initiated every 6 years to keep track of the Empire’s demographic development. The censuses listed also listed a total of 13 different circuits (based on the Chinese model), each under the reign of Emperor Le Thanh Tong of which came attached with its own Judge, Governor and Military Commander. With regards to cartography similarly, all of Vietnam was finally mapped in full during the Le Era, allowing the Vietnamese to achieve further efficiency with regards to governance and general administration of the nation.

Since Neo-Confucianism was also the new ideology of the Vietnamese Empire, the Emperor made it difficult for any new buildings constructed in the name of Taoism or Buddhism to be built, giving foremost priority to Confucian temples instead. This had a greatly positive effect on State Tax Revenue also, as it meant under the reign of Le Thanh Tong, that both Buddhist and Taoist monks were no longer tax exempt, and instead had to pay their fair share just like everyone else.

Most importantly, this allowed the Government to have access to added capital, in order to fund large scale projects of indispensable vitality. The likes of such which included further infrastructure funding, and even the went towards the salaries of state physicians, who were deployed all over the nation in times of disease outbreaks.

Despite the Le Emperor’s new policies however, it didn’t completely halt the construction of neither Buddhist nor Taoist temples, many of which were still built both during the Hong Duc Era and even long afterwards, such as this one seen below called the “Temple of the Jade Mountain” (constructed (in the 1700s) to simultaneously celebrate both the philosophy of Buddhism and one of the greatest heroes of Vietnam; a man whose genius allowed him to defeat the Mongols on three separate, but consecutive occasions: Tran Hung Dao (1228–1300 AD)):

Being the wise and benevolent ruler he was, the Emperor often also personally travelled around the country, especially during the year of 1467 AD, seeing to it himself that corrupt officials were punished by being dismissed from office altogether. And not only that, but land which he discovered to have been illegally and unjustly stolen from the common people, was forcibly removed from the treacherous landlords, and returned back to the Peasantry instead.

Emperor Le’s greatest achievements in the civil sphere, as time would have it however would actually prove to be none of the aforementioned above. Instead, it would have to be the creation of the Hong Duc Legal Code, which would in time prove to be Vietnam’s fullest, and longest lasting Legal System. A passage from an analysis conducted by the United States’ Library of Congress Country Studies particularly noted the key features of this new system, below as follows, noting that it was:

“…based on Chinese law but included distinctly Vietnamese features, such as recognition of the higher position of women in Vietnamese society than in Chinese society. Under the new code, parental consent was not required for marriage, and daughters were granted equal inheritance rights with sons.”

Promulgated in 1483 AD and based on China’s Great Tang Code, it was to remain Vietnam’s most complete system of laws, until the very end of the 18th Century under the succeeding Tay Son Dynasty (1788–1802), and was comprised of 721 unique articles, arranged into 13 chapters, divided into 6 different books. The “10 Capital Crimes” foremost of which included that of rebellion and neglection of filial duties were especially and harshly punished.

And in the event that there was no male offspring, the laws even permitted a daughter to automatically be able to inherit the entire family fortune. Women could even repudiate her husband if he was absent away from the household, for extended enough period of times.

Most importantly however, the Code had the effect of further promoting order in what was already a highly civilized, and supremely organized society. Vietnam, now protected by righteous laws thrived as it had never before under the watchful eye of the Hong Duc Code.

An artist’s impression of Vietnamese Mandarins (again), it should be noted that some were also chosen to specialize in the assessment and overseeing of legal matters as Judges, and did not always just as political officers contrary to popular belief (this applied to all nations of the “Sinosphere” as well):

And of course the Agriculture facet was also further developed in 1477 AD, with the enactment of policies by the Emperor to regulate and improve the distribution of communal rice fields based on the following principles (paraphrased by me):

All shall be entitled to distribution based primarily on your title and rank.
Distribution will to take place every six years.
And of course rent shall be paid to the state, but will generally be lower than that demanded by your landlords.

The reforms proved to be immediately effective of course, leading to increased agricultural production. And since the Vietnamese Economy like all of its Sinospheric neighbours (China, Japan and Korea) was still primarily agrarian based, growth increased rapidly as a result, allowing Vietnam as mentioned prior to sustain the largest population in Indochina, a fact which would later allow them to defeat their neighbours in a series of vicious military campaigns in the southlands.

A focus on Agriculture was in line with the Emperor’s beliefs anyway, one which he once expressed as follows:

“Concentrate our strength in agriculture and increase our potential”

Naturally, it should not be a surprise to anyone reading my answer then, to learn that not only were there was there a serious absence of any large scale famines in 15th Century Vietnam, but the Imperial Army as well was also used in times of peace to contribute to the Agricultural sphere.

It would be a mistake however, to think that the pinnacle of Vietnamese achievements, with regards to the civil sphere was limited to the Hong Duc Era alone. Far from it in fact, the Vietnamese Empire continued to thrive for the entire 360 years for which it survived.

Case in point specifically, was the mid-17th Century’s most advanced musket on the face of the Earth; a native Le Era Vietnamese invention:

The Jiaozhi Arquebus (交銃) was a native Vietnamese designed weapon which first entered service during the course of the Le Dynasty, but was steadily adopted also by the Late Era Ming Dynasty upon discovering its existence from the southern minority tribes who had been skirmishing with the Vietnamese Empire a couple of decades earlier.

And not only the Ming, but the men of Li Zicheng (a Late Era Ming anti-establishment Rebel) and also the forces of the Manchuria soon utilized it to such an extent, that the Arquebus became the most common handheld firearm during Ming-Qing transition period during the mid 1600s.

Considered both by the European and Ming observers to have been the, “finest gun in the world” (surpassing even Japanese, Ottoman and European matchlocks), the musket was reported as having been able to pierce through several layers of iron armour, and could kill 2–5 men in one shot, yet could do so stealthily.

Now, how was the rifle able to be designed such that it then became the most advanced in the world? Simply because Dai Viet by this point in time had become a huge, diverse melting pot of different cultures (owing to its outstanding Economy, which by the times of 1600s was strongly integrated into the International economies, via flourishing commerce in Vietnamese “port cities”) of course.

Japanese rifle technology, itself assisted by Portuguese theory, combined with Chinese technology (also powered by Western assistance), exacerbated by Central Asian influence, and finally also strengthened with native European ingenuity, allowed the Vietnamese to create an all new rifle which could incorporate the best from all of the aforementioned civilization, and in doing so surpass them all when it came to gunpowder technologies.

The former Port city of Hoi An (as seen below, built during the Le Dynasty) was one of Vietnam’s many international oriented metropolises, which not only allowed the Vietnamese Economy to thrive, but also allowed for foreign influence into the borders of the Empire in addition, thus permitting a great diversity of knowledge and learning to occur (naturally, the preconditions to making such an advanced rifle were already there, all it required was a precipitant; “the match to the fuel” for it to actually happen, something which eventually occurred with the onset of the Trinh-Nguyen Civil War (1627–72 AD)):

Speaking of which, the Vietnamese Economy too was no force to be reckoned with. Under the periods of prosperity established both by the Le Loi and then Le Thanh Tong, and finally their successors, the Empire of Vietnam became richer than it had ever been before in its independent history thus far.

Ceteris Paribus in fact, given that commercial developments in both the Ming and Le Empires was similar, and with a population which was 5% of China’s, it should not have been unreasonable thus to suggest that Vietnam’s national, total wealth at its peak in the 1600s as a percentage of all Southeast Asia, was roughly 25%, making Dai Viet the economic hegemon both of Indochina, and the Malaysian kingdoms further down south.

Most famously also, during the 360 year course of the Le Empire the nation became so prosperous even, and to such an extent that the inhabitants of Don Kinh (Hanoi) especially, were called the “Silk-wearing peoples”, to reflect the clothes which they wore. Silk of course was highly expensive to don in everyday life, so if it was utilized en masse as the aforementioned quote claimed, then this only serves further to reveal the great prosperity of Vietnam, under the reign of the Le Dynasty.

A Jesuit missionary in Vietnam, by the name of Christoforo Berri in fact, indeed had much to say with regards to confirm such a fact at the time (translated below as follows):

“Cochin-China abounds in all other things necessary for the support of human life; and in the first place for clothing: there is such plenty of silk, that the peasants and mechanics generally wear it; so that I was often pleased to see men and women at their labour, carrying stone, earth, lime or the like, without the least fear of spoiling of tearing the rich clothes they had on.

Nor will they wonder at it, who shall know, that the mulberry-trees, whose leaves feed the silk-worms, grown in vast plains, as hemp does among us, and run up as fast; so that in a few months, the silk worms appear unto them, and feed in the open air, spinning their thread at the proper time, and winding their bottoms in such plenty, that the Cochin-Chineses have not only enough for their own uses, but they furnish Japan, and send it to the kingdom of Lais, whence it afterwards spread as far as Tibet; this silk being not so fine and soft, but stronger and more substantial than that of China.”

-Christoforo Berri, Monk from the Society of Jesus

An artist’s impression of the clothing of both Imperial and common (but presumably wealthy) women during the course of the Le Empire (from the 1500–1700s only however, also sourced as mentioned below from http://iridescentdream.com):

Berri also mentioned with regards to the Vietnamese National Economy however, as one which was immensely prosperous, filled both with many a delicious fruits, and was perhaps even more prosperous than Ming China itself with regards to some civilization aspects (which as mentioned earlier was not really saying much however, since the Ming Dynasty was a former shadow of what it once was under the Tang and Song Empires):

“There was an abundance of rice, oranges, bananas, and a fruit called “Can” that was not seen anywhere else. Can is similar to pomegranate in the outward form but within tastes like a substance of almost liquid, which is taken out and eaten with a spoon. The taste is aromatic, and the colour like that of a ripe medlar. They also have gnoo which is similar to raisons, and watermelons that are large and delicate, and durion which is one of the most delicious fruit in the world.

To conclude, Cochin-China abounds in rich mines of the most precious metals, especially of gold, and to reduce to a few words, what might be said more are large on the plenty of this country, I will conclude with that which the European merchants trading thither commonly say of it; which is, that in some measure the wealth of Cochin-China is greater than that of China itself; but that might not dilate too much, I will only treat of the elephants and abadas, or rhinoceros, chiefly found here.”

-Christoforo Berri, Monk from the Society of Jesus

Indeed, with regards to mining, mines for the commodities of silver, tin, iron, lead, gold and copper were opened all across the nation, the resources resulting from which were at any given time always in high demand by the citizens of Vietnam all over, but was especially the case also for Imperial workshops, which produced luxurious items required by the Le Court and as such could not be sold in a commoner’s market.

An artist’s impression of two Imperial women, and a male child based in Hanoi, as interpreted by the Japanese contemporaries of the Le Era, who visited the Vietnamese Capital regularly:

With regards to International Trade meanwhile, Berri yet still had no shortage of words to describe such a phenomenon, detailing in full the economic relations of Dai Viet with regards to its neighbours all over the Far East:

“Due to their great wealth and fruitfulness of their country, they traded with many nations near and from afar.

They traded with Tonchin, Cambodia, ‘Chincheos’ (a province in China south from Canton), they also traded with China, Macao, Japan, Manila, and Malacca, all of them carrying silver to Cochin-China, and to carry away commodities that were native to Cochin-China. The Chineses, in their vessels, they call ‘junks’, bring the value of four or five millions in plate; and the Japanese, in their ships called ‘sommes’, an infinite quantity of very fine silk, and other commodities of their country.

The Cochin-Chineses applying themselves very little to arts, because plenty makes them lazy; and being soon taken with the curiosities of other countries, it comes to pass, that they put a great value upon, and buy at great rates, many things, which to others are very small worth; as for instance, combs, needles, bracelets, and pendants of glass. In short, they out-bid one another in buying anything that is new and strange without sparing for price.

They were fond of European hats, caps, girdles, shirts, and all other sorts of garments, because they were different from theirs; but above all, they put a great value upon coral.”

-Christoforo Berri, Monk from the Society of Jesus

A model of the military variant of a Vietnamese gunboat (called in Vietnamese as “Mông đồng”) which was also commonly utilized in the civil sphere, and used quite often by the Le citizenry, to participate in maritime trade with all their neighbours:

Art and culture meanwhile under the wise rulership of the Le Family, also reached its pinnacle in Vietnam’s independence history during this period of time. Great feats in the realms of sculpture, construction, and even painting, were all attained during the Le Era in short.

Handicrafts during the Le though still a subsidiary activity, was however still widely practiced as before under the Ly and Tran Empires. Many local villages throughout the country came to specialize in certain facets of artistry, including but not limited to the occupations concerned with silk weaving, wine making, pottery, porcelain making, and lime burning.

Leather processing at this point in time, was also introduced from China, and within the vast towns and cities of Vietnam themselves, especially for that of Thang Long (Hanoi), craftsmen were given certain private quarters within which they could live, lorded over by strict rules imposed upon by a crafting “guild” made up of like minded individuals, which acted to regulate the quality of their products.

This was thus how the artistic peak of Dai Viet came about, a trend which saw the creation of many different type of art forms, including but not limited to Buddhist Statues (since as mentioned previously, Buddhism despite the efforts of Le Thanh Tong had not completely been halted with regards to its activities):

Calligraphy, embroidery and paintings likewise were also produced en masse during the Le Era (Vietnamese calligraphy most notably during the Le Era begun to not be written with Classical Chinese as was formerly the case under the Ly and Tran Empires, but rather with a Han influenced script called “Chữ Nôm”, as Quora User has already mentioned down below in his own, highly detailed and well written response to this question.

Nom was quite complicated however, as it also required that one learn the Chinese written language first before being able to be write fully in Vietnamese. Though fundamentally based on Chinese itself, entire new characters still had to be created in order to properly accompany the Vietnamese language. Like its Chinese counterpart however, it was indeed a logographic rather than alphabetic script, unlike Latin):

Porcelain goods in addition during the Le Era, formerly exclusive (largely) to the Chinese dynasties, was now also beginning to be reproduced within the borders of the Celestial Empire’s southern neighbour, the quality of which, being expertly crafted further allowed the Vietnamese Economy to thrive since as was the case with their Chinese counterparts, they were widely renowned and therefore highly demanded all over the world by empires, kingdoms and principalities alike:

Similarly, “Nghê” styled statues were also created during the Le Era, which were glazed with different colours, this particular one for example with the colours of Green and Brown, the material was stoneware, and the product itself dated back sometime to the 17 Century meanwhile:

And even architectural sciences were improved to quite an extent. One particular example of notable constructions finished under the Le Era, included that of Doan Mon Gate. Recorded as being 47.5 metres in width, 13 in length and 6 in height, and made primarily of wood and brick, it can be taken to represent Le architecture as a whole.

Vietnamese architecture during the Le Era had evolved into a highly distinct form of art, but beared quite the resemblance to not only its contemporary Ming counterparts, but also that of the Song and Tang’s in addition most notably, unlike Joseon Korea, whose traditional architecture was (and still is in contemporary buildings) primarily Ming influenced.

Likewise, Vietnam also differed from Japan in that the architecture from the “Land of the Rising Sun” was foremostly influenced by the Tang Era. Unlike both countries however, Vietnam was uniquely located in the subtropics, which further acted to change certain features of Vietnamese buildings. Case in point was a structure’s exterior paintings, which were not nearly as “immodest”; brightly coloured as Ming China and Joseon Korea’s buildings were, during the same time period. The Gate is seen down below as follows:

Similarly on the topic of architecture, one of Vietnam’s most internationally recognized building to this day, was also built during the Le Era under the great Emperor Le Thanh Tong, dedicated to the memory of the First Emperor of Le.

The Turtle Tower as it was (and is still) called, was situated in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake (the Lake of the Returned Sword), the legendary body of water which Vietnamese myths had asserted that a Golden Turtle, sent from the Heavens had arisen from in order to deliver unto the hands of Le Loi a legendary sword (like Excalibur) belonging to the “Dragon King”, which it then insisted was to be used in service of the Vietnam exclusively, against the tyranny of the Ming Empire.

When such a task was at last completed, the sword was returned to the turtle (who was said to have come from this lake) willingly by Le Loi, lest its power and allure corrupt him, or so the story went; which alone would also be a testament to the great feats of literature which also occurred during the course of the Le Empire. The Turtle Tower naturally (seen below) was built to honour this great animal savior therefore:

Thus as should be self-evident then, that the Le Era was indeed the Golden Age of Vietnam, bearing witness to many a great unprecedented feats in the fields of technology, art and culture. which was never before attained, and amazingly still was not equalled even later by the last Empire of Vietnam, the Nguyen Dynasty (1802–1945), and in some areas perhaps yet still, not equalled by Modern Vietnam.

Chapter IV: “Expansionism”: The Vietnamese Campaigns, and the Arduous March Down to the South

Imminently in time, the Vietnamese Empire became so powerful that even its neighbours were deathly terrified of it, but not without reason of course. The Kingdoms of Lan Xang (1354–1707 AD) and Champa (192–1832 AD), the Malacca Sultanate (1400–1511 AD) and even the Middle Kingdom itself begun to complain that the “rogue” nation of Dai Viet both respected and feared none, whilst brutally silencing all who were either brave or foolish enough to encroach on the sacred territories of the Vietnamese Imperium.

Case in point foremostly, was Le Vietnam under the illustrious Hong Duc Era, led by Emperor Le Thanh Tong (introduced previously back in Chapter III); the great sorrow of Vietnam’s neighbours. The foremost example here was the unnecessary ambushing and capture of several of the Sultanate’s envoys by Imperial forces in 1469 AD whilst they were returning to Malacca from China, who then had every single last captive either enslaved, castrated or both. For those who were unfortunate enough to have been castrated, to forever serve as a Vietnamese Eunuch was their fate with no end in sight.

This was the power of Le Vietnam such, that the Vietnamese could do whatsoever they wished to foreign emissaries, without even the slightest fear of repercussion from abroad. And indeed, no retribution from the militarily and demographically “inferior” Malacca Sultanate ever arrived. The same was the case also for Ming China meanwhile, whose brave men also suffered a similar fate as officially recorded by the Ming Chinese in 1472 AD.

The geographical status quo in Southeast Asia as of 1469 AD, prior to Vietnam’s great conquest of the Champan Kingdom, along with its temporary occupation of Lan Xang (Source: World History Maps & Timelines):

In the “Veritable Records of the Ming” (明實錄) for example, the Chinese noted that a few fortunate individuals had been lucky enough to have returned to the Celestial Empire, after their ships were blown off course, landing them deep into Vietnamese waters. The subsequent result was being forced to serve in the Imperial Vietnamese Army on pain of death. Of those who had tried to escape, 100 men were recaptured by the Le Vietnamese and castrated.

As a result, the Ming Empire’s Ministry of Revenue, both annoyed and afraid that similar consequences would apply to all future travellers to Vietnam, ordered that no Ming Chinese, be it civilian or military personnel was to even travel near the coasts of Dai Viet henceforth. In fact, the Vietnamese did this often to wandering Chinese individuals to such an extent, that the entire relationship between Vietnam and China during the Hong Duc Era, was marked by the forceful castration of Chinese individuals, by their Vietnamese captors, and all the while the power of Vietnam was such, that it brought about absolutely zero consequences whatsoever for the Le Empire.

As should be evident thus by now, the Hong Duc Era being the heights of Vietnamese supremacy was also the pinnacle of Vietnamese arrogance also. The citizens of Le, believing fully in the power of their Empire begun to respect no foreign countries at all. In their minds, Vietnam came first, Vietnam was above all else. No one could defeat the new Celestial Empire, and no one could bring about the destruction of the world’s new “mightiest” country.

And of course such a nationalistic, but initially harmless attitude was destined to imminently in time degenerate into a violent and militaristic fervour, which took the nation by storm. For it to have remained peaceful after all, would have made no sense, given the circumstances leading up to such an attitude. As such, when the Ruler of the Hindu Kingdom of Champa, King P'an-Lo T'ou-Ts'iuan foolishly invaded the Empire of Vietnam, the Emperor made sure it was to be his last mistake.

Military Class sabres originating from the Imperial Le Period (18th century origins, however they had not changed much from under the Hong Duc Era):

How dare they attack the Son of Heaven, this was the attitude of the Vietnamese at the time. And therefore in due course, battle plans were drawn up, targets were set right, armies moved into formation, and in the pivotal year of 1470 AD, the greatest Vietnamese campaign in their 700 hundred year crusade had just begun. “Nam tiến” as it was called, meant the “Expansion to the South”, so called because it was what Vietnam had been doing ever since the 11th Century, merely decades after receiving its freedom, against Champa and its other neighbours even so far as back then.

Such efforts, were never all too vicious, nor completed in such a small amount of time as it was soon to be, as under Le Thanh Tong however.

Prior to the invasion, as per tradition, the Emperor sent an envoy to Beijing, the new Capital of the Ming Empire and provided his Chinese counterpart with a justification for his invasion, in order to not only inform him as to the motives behind the war, but also to forewarn him accordingly, as military conflicts often led to a steep decline in trade and therefore tax revenue for any side unfortunate enough to have enjoyed economic relations between the two sides currently engaged in a war.

After this was so, the Imperial Army was mobilized, and off to war they went. November 6th, 1470 AD, Generals Dinh Liet and Le Niem were commanded to lead a vast army of 100,000, down south towards the Cham Kingdom in order to lead the initial preemptive strike onto their sworn enemies, where upon arriving they refrained from assaulting the hostile nation initially, and instead camped out on their borders, taking great pains in the meantime, to surveill the enemy and scout out the route ahead.

In the “calm between the storms”, the Emperor having long recognized for years in advance what the implications, of such a large scale momentous event as that of the potential subjugation of the Cham Kingdom, composed a poem to commemorate the occasion:

“One hundred thousand officers and men,
Start out on a distant journey.
Falling on the sails, the rain,
Softens the sounds of the army.”

-Le Thanh Tong, Emperor of Dai Viet

The main strike force then arrived soon afterwards, composed of 150,000 men, mobilized in order to regroup with the initial Vietnamese invasion force 10 days later, and was personally commanded by the Emperor of the Le State himself. There the two groups rendezvous, and in doing so the two armies then became one. Now existed only a singular cohesive behemoth of 250,000, all ready and willing to die for the motherland should she have required it be.

A set of Le Era muskets, bows, pistols, swords, and spears, some of which were already put to good use by the Le Imperial Army during their war with the Cham Royal Military:

When this was done, the invasion swiftly followed thereafter. And indeed 2 days later, December 18th, Vietnamese soldiers made history when they set foot onto the Kingdom of Champa itself and marched towards the Cham Capital of Vijaya, with the intention of “cutting the head of the snake”, in order to quickly end the war, but little did they know otherwise, this was not to be so.

In quick succession, the Cham King, most unwilling to surrender without a fight first against a truly invincible enemy sent a counteroffensive force of 5,000 men north on February 5th, commandeered by 6 general, and armed with several divisions of War Elephants in order to charge the Vietnamese head on, and thus buy Champa’s domestic militias more time to act and plan accordingly.

Vietnamese counter-intelligence operatives saw the bringing to light of such a plan to the Emperor however, making all the efforts of the Cham in vain. 30,000 Imperial soldiers went sent to counter-attack against their vastly smaller Cham counterpart in what was in hindsight, a completely one sided battle which began initially with an ambush, and ended in the complete decimation of all 5,000 Cham soldiers. Victory thus belonged to the Vietnamese, whilst their enemies withdrew in tatters, haunted both in the knowledge of their defeat, and that imminent fate which would soon befall upon the Capital itself.

The relentless march of the Vietnamese down south, was thus allowed to continue, unmatched and unchallenged. 22 days later on February 27th, the single most important port city to the Cham peoples, that of the harbour of Thi Nai; the gateway to what is today the South China Sea, was captured, and brought under Vietnamese control, thus severing what little access left the Cham Royal Navy had to their ships. Escape by sea was now a mere dream for the remaining Cham peoples. Defeat was all but certain.

And merely two days later, on February 28th 1471 AD, Vietnamese forces had managed to strategically surround the Cham Capital of Vijaya, which they then proceeded to besiege and raze to the ground after careful planning. In doing so, 60,000 Cham citizens were brutally, and mercilessly slaughtered that day, an additional 30,000 meanwhile were enslaved, including King P'an-Lo T'ou-Ts'iuan, who perished on the way back to the Vietnamese Capital of Thang Long.

Cham ruins in contemporary Vietnam at My Son (note the Indian influences with regards to its architecture, characteristic of the ideologically official Hindu Kingdom):

The Cham Kingdom, once an outstanding example of Indian influence and majesty in a continent rivalled by the spectres of Han Chinese power, was now little more than a former shadow of itself. There it would remain for several hundred more years until the later Nguyen Dynasty removed it off the face of the Earth altogether.

A once proud and mighty peoples, was brought to its knees in merely 114 days, due to the unstoppable brutality of the Vietnamese Imperium, which knew not the notions of neither when to stop, nor the meaning of hesitation. All who resisted were immediately crushed beneath the iron fist of the Empire. The Cham never stood a chance, its entire military having only estimated to have been 100,000 men altogether, or 40% of the Vietnamese invasion force alone. This was the perks of having a numerically superior population after all.

The Fall of the Capital however,had actually put an end to neither the anti-Vietnamese resistance efforts in the lands of the Cham Kingdom, nor to the efforts of the Empire to assimilate and preserve the territorial gains, which had been hard fought, and sorely won however. Economic development, exacerbated by the forceful resettlement of “Kinh” Vietnamese into these newly conquered lands, was the policy advocated by the Emperor, in order to allow Imperial Le rule to be brought to these “barbarian” lands.

Cannons and their ammunition originating back to the Le Era, utilized during Vietnam’s campaigns against their “barbarian” neighbours:

To this extent, the famous Chinese influenced, “Don Dien” (屯田) System was fully utilized by the Vietnamese in order to maintain a steady grasp, over all their newly acquired territories. The United States’ Library of Congress once again, has much to say with regards to this particular Vietnamese wartime policy, which insisted that:

“Under such a system, military colonies were established in which soldiers and landless peasants cleared new areas, began rice production on the new lands, established villages and served as a militia to defend them. After three years, the villages would be incorporated into the Vietnamese administrative system.

A communal village meeting house (dinh) would be built, and the workers were given an opportunity to share in the communal lands given by the state to each village. The remainder of the land belonged to the state. As each area was cleared and a village established, the soldiers of the don dien would move on to clear more land.”

Like with the ethnic minorities of the Vietnamese Mountain “Highlands”, local strongmen (or chieftains in the case of the Highlands), were promoted to Mandarin status, which not only acted to pacify them, making such individuals into an asset for the Vietnamese rather than liability, but also acted to largely quell any thoughts of a counter-rebellion against the power of Dai Viet.

Centralization in these rare cases, was often null at least initially with the former Cham territories (but permanently with the Highlands), but the “illegitimate” Mandarins still largely succeeded in keeping Vietnamese order intact for the most part.

Not satisfied enough with all they had gained however, the Vietnamese Empire soon also expanded westwards as well in addition, invading the Laotian Kingdom of Lan Xang, which had bordered Vietnam for nearly 100 years by that point in time. Similarly, the Capital of Luang Prabang was sacked as was the case before also with the Cham metropolis of Vijaya, but this time, Laotian forces managed to actually repel their completely exhausted Vietnamese counterparts, which only managed to occupy the kingdom for roughly 2 years from 1478–80 AD.

Nonetheless, the Vietnamese successfully did however manage to permanently retain the formerly Laotian provinces of Lai Chau, and Dien Bien, which belong still to the 21st century polity of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam even to this day.

Final Summary (and TL;DR)

The Le Empire was Vietnam’s Golden Age, of this one can be certain.

Under the illustrious reign of Le Loi, the Vietnamese state rose once more the ashes, expelling Chinese influence forever whilst repairing the Empire in every way possible. Infrastructure was repaired, corruption negated, the civil service was repaired, and copper currency which was not prone to hyperinflation unlike with paper currency was reinstated, allowing the Economy to flourish.

Under the reign of Emperor Le Thanh Tong meanwhile, the might of Imperial Vietnam reached its almighty zenith meanwhile. This was also a period of Vietnamese belief in their own superiority and exceptionalism, one which coloured the way in which they saw the world such, that they thought there was nothing wrong, with arbitrarily castrating the envoys and civilians from both the Malaccan Sultanate or Ming China without fear of repercussion also for the most part.

And indeed, no consequences from doing such a violent action ever came about just as they had foresaw, since the power of Dai Viet was so internationally recognized to such an extent, that none could ever dare to challenge the might of the Vietnamese Empire. Both Champa and Laos was invaded during the prosperous Hong Duc Era under the reign of Le Thanh Tong, which saw Vietnamese territory rapidly expand accordingly.

A statue of Le Thanh Tong, Emperor of Vietnam during the most prosperous period of the Le Era from 1460–97 AD:

In the civil spheres meanwhile, the Hong Duc Legal System, influenced by China but differentiated with some distinctly Vietnamese features (eg. greater equality of women) was introduced also in addition during the Le Era.

Vietnamese art and culture thrived meanwhile, and the Tang Chinese 3 Departments, 6 Ministries model was even introduced, whilst the prosperity of Vietnam became so great and self-evident that not only was such a phenomenon particularly noted by a passing Italian Jesuit Monk, Christoforo Berri, but ensured that Le Vietnam at the peak of its power, was to even account for roughly 20% of Southeast Asia’s population, and 25% of its economic wealth, making it the undisputed hegemon of the region.

The aforementioned facts hitherto and more served only to further solidify the notion that Vietnam, especially during the Early Le Era emerged as one of the world’s most advanced nations during the 15th Century AD. This was the Golden Age of Vietnamese civilization indeed, and never again even to this day relative to the rest of the world, has Vietnamese glory ever reached such a heights ever since.

Sources Utilized

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