Page 5 - Vietnam Destination Guide - Alluring Asia

The Dynasties of a regime characterized by heavy taxation and slave labor; Chinese culture and ways of doing things were forced on the population. Independent Vietnam: LATER LE DYNASTY (1428-1524) Ngo Dynasty 939-965 Le Loi was born into a large and prosperous family in the village of Lam Dinh Dynasty 968-980 Son in Thanh Hoa Province and earned a reputation for using his wealth to aid the poor. The ruling Chinese invited him to join the mandarinate but Early Le Dynasty 980-1009 he refused. In 1418, Le Loi began to organize what came to be known as the Lam Son Uprising, traveling around the countryside to rally the people Ly Dynasty 1010-1225 against the Chinese. After his victory in 1428, Le Loi declared himself Emperor Ly Thai To, thus beginning the later Le Dynasty. To this day, Le Tran Dynasty 1225-1400 Loi is revered as one of Vietnam's greatest national heroes. Ho Dynasty 1400-1407 The Latter Le Dynasty ruled until 1524 and, nominally, up to 1788. Le Loi Post-Tran Dynasty 1407-1413 and his successors instituted a vast program of agrarian reform and land redistribution. They also launched a campaign to take over Cham lands to Chinese Rule 1414-1427 the south. In the 15th century Laos was forced to recognize Vietnamese suzerainty. Later Le Dynasty 1428-1524 Under the Le Dynasty, an attempt was made to break free of the cultural Mac Dynasty 1527-1592 and intellectual domination of Chinese civilization. In the realms of law, Trinh Lords religion and literature, indigenous traditions were brought to the fore. The of the North 1539-1787 Vietnamese language gained favor among scholars - who had previously disdained it, preferring Chinese - and a number of outstanding works of Nguyen Lords literature were produced. legal reforms gave women almost-equal rights of the South 1558-1778 in the domestic sphere, but two groups were excluded from full civil rights; slaves (many of them prisoners of war and, oddly, actors. Tay Son Dynasty 1788-1802 Nguyen Dynasty 1802-1945 TRINH & NGUYEN LORDS Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided between the Trinh Lords, who ruled in the north under the titular kingship of the Later Le monarchs, and the Nguyen Lords, who controlled the south and also nominally recognized the Later Le Dynasty. The Trinh Lords repeatedly failed in attempts to take over areas under Nguyen control, in part because the Portuguese weaponry used by the Nguyen was far superior to the Dutch armaments supplied to the Trinh. Buddhism enjoyed the patronage and support of both the Trinh and the Nguyen, and pagodas were built all over the country. But by this time Vietnamese Buddhism was no longer doctrinally pure, having become intermingled with animism, ancestor-worship and popularized Taoism.