Tran Cao rebellion
Encyclopedia
The Trần Cao rebellion in 1516 is the best documented rebellion in Vietnam
in the 16th century against the Lê Dynasty
led by Trần Cảo
(陳暠) and is regarded as the most important. It was the second rebellion led against the Le, following an uprising led by Tran Tuan in 1511.
of China, which had occupied Vietnam. In 1460, one of his successors. Le Thanh Ton rose to the throne, beginning what was regarded as a golden age in Vietnamese history. During his rule of 37 years, Le Thanh Ton instituted wide ranging political and structural organisation of the country, implementing a Confucian model of government, introducing a mandarin
system of government, expanding education, science and art. He also expanded Vietnam's territory substantially. At the time, Vietnam was confined to the area around the Red River Delta
, but Le Thanh Ton expanded Vietnam's army and expanded south towards Huế
in what is now central Vietnam by conquering Champa
territory. He also pushed westwards into the hills against the Tai
. However, after his death, Vietnam fell into disarray as a succession of weak Emperors came and went, and palace intrigue crippled the country. This caused public discontent and set the scene for popular uprising.
The first significant rebellion, that of Tran Tuan in 1511, is largely lost to history. However, it is known that he was a charismatic figure who quickly gathered thousands of followers in eastern Hung Hoa and western Son Tay
provinces, and moved them directly against the capital Thăng Long
, now modern Hanoi
. On arrival they defeated the army of defeated Trịnh Duy Sản, the head of aristocratic Trịnh family while was part of the ruling dynasty. The royalists left Thanh Long defenceless and its people in panic. Shortly after, Tuan was killed by unlucky chance and his rebels were massacred. He was reported to have been dressed in red at the time, suggesting that he may have been a Taoist sorcerer. One of his followers rebelled again in the same region the following year but was isolated and defeated.
The Tran Cao rebellion exhibited none of these characteristics. Cao based his bid for the throne on a combination of genealogical and spiritual platform that balanced maternal and paternal lineage and doctrinal Buddhist and folk elements. Cao claimed direct descent from the founder of the former Trần Dynasty and membership of the family of Le Thanh Ton's mother. Spiritually, he proclaimed himself as an incarnation of Indra
and as the fulfillment of a popular prophecy. This combination quickly gave rise to a large following in his home district of Thuy Duong and the adjacent Dong Trieu, where "all bowed down to him like grass before the wind". In early 1516, Cao recruited fighters at Quynh Lam Pagoda in Dong Trieu
, a religious site reputed to have miraculous powers. After shaving their heads, he marched them unopposed, ten thousand strong, through the Kinh Bac districts of Que Duong and Tien Du
, down to the plains of Gia Lam
to Tu Liem
in Sơn Tây Province. This march took little more than ten days. With the insurgents only separated from the capital by the river, Trịnh Duy Sản murdered the emperor Lê Tương Dực and fled with his puppet successor Lê Chiêu Tông
, leaving the capital undefended.
This time, chaos ensued. First a rival general, Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ of the Nguyen, turned his army loose to raze and loot. Then the inhabitants of the capital seized their chance to loot the palaces and administrative buildings of the hated former king, Tuong Duc. Finally, Tran Cao's forces marched into the capital, destroying the Le dynastic temple and proclaiming a new reign. These events dealt a heavy blow to Le prestige and legitimacy, as well as its capacity to rule. The court annals noted that "After Tran Cao entered the Capital and the tan mieu (the dynastic temple) was sacked, after [Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ's army] rebelled and the Capital was deserted", they wrote, "seeing this was enough to know that the Le could no longer prosper".
Even when the Trịnh and Nguyen generals decided to combined against the rebels that threatened their privileges, it took months to push the rebels back to their Hai Duong
–Kinh Bac border stronghold. There they fought at least one major battle, at Sung Nghiem, before retreating to a Kinh Bac area which they controlled the royal forces finally overcame them in 1521. Before that, Tran Cao had already transferred power to his son and become a monk. He then disappeared into the countryside, notwithstanding a reward of three hundred taels of gold and two thousand ares of land for his capture. The failure to apprehend him was despite the efforts of the populace who might have sought it, blaming him for the high death toll in Dong Trieu, Giap Son, Yen Phong, Tien Du, and Dong Ngan caused by starvation after vengeful Le royalists razed the area. He is believed to have died in far north-eastern Kinh Bac, (later Lang Son
province). At the end of the seventeenth century nearly two hundred years later, three villages in Bao Loc district still worshipped his cult.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in the 16th century against the Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
led by Trần Cảo
Tran Cao
Trần Cảo was a later 16th century Vietnamese rebel leader. Cao born in Dưỡng Chân, Thuỷ Đường .-Early life:...
(陳暠) and is regarded as the most important. It was the second rebellion led against the Le, following an uprising led by Tran Tuan in 1511.
Background
The Lê Dynasty was established by Emperor Lê Lợi in 1428 after expelling the Ming DynastyMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
of China, which had occupied Vietnam. In 1460, one of his successors. Le Thanh Ton rose to the throne, beginning what was regarded as a golden age in Vietnamese history. During his rule of 37 years, Le Thanh Ton instituted wide ranging political and structural organisation of the country, implementing a Confucian model of government, introducing a mandarin
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
system of government, expanding education, science and art. He also expanded Vietnam's territory substantially. At the time, Vietnam was confined to the area around the Red River Delta
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
, but Le Thanh Ton expanded Vietnam's army and expanded south towards Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
in what is now central Vietnam by conquering Champa
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...
territory. He also pushed westwards into the hills against the Tai
Tai peoples
The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...
. However, after his death, Vietnam fell into disarray as a succession of weak Emperors came and went, and palace intrigue crippled the country. This caused public discontent and set the scene for popular uprising.
The first significant rebellion, that of Tran Tuan in 1511, is largely lost to history. However, it is known that he was a charismatic figure who quickly gathered thousands of followers in eastern Hung Hoa and western Son Tay
Son Tay
Sơn Tây is an urban district and city in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was the capital of Son Tay province before merging with Ha Dong province in 1965...
provinces, and moved them directly against the capital Thăng Long
Thang Long
Thang Long can be:*Former name of Hanoi*Thang Long Imperial City...
, now modern Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. On arrival they defeated the army of defeated Trịnh Duy Sản, the head of aristocratic Trịnh family while was part of the ruling dynasty. The royalists left Thanh Long defenceless and its people in panic. Shortly after, Tuan was killed by unlucky chance and his rebels were massacred. He was reported to have been dressed in red at the time, suggesting that he may have been a Taoist sorcerer. One of his followers rebelled again in the same region the following year but was isolated and defeated.
Uprising
Like the Tran Tuan revolt of 1511, Tran Cao's rebellion was also regarded as a simple peasant rebellion. Contrary views hold that both were revolts of the peripheral powers against the central administration led by charismatic figures bent on striking directly at the political and symbolic heart of Lê Dynasty. These two uprisings shared pattern that were apart from virtually all later Vietnamese peasant rebellions, which were much more locally-oriented. Although they were clearly opposed to central control, later rebellions generally focused their discontent on local representatives by attacking district and provincial posts. They usually roamed the countryside intimidating landlords, pillaging opposing villages, allowing government forces in the capital enough time to organize an effective response.The Tran Cao rebellion exhibited none of these characteristics. Cao based his bid for the throne on a combination of genealogical and spiritual platform that balanced maternal and paternal lineage and doctrinal Buddhist and folk elements. Cao claimed direct descent from the founder of the former Trần Dynasty and membership of the family of Le Thanh Ton's mother. Spiritually, he proclaimed himself as an incarnation of Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
and as the fulfillment of a popular prophecy. This combination quickly gave rise to a large following in his home district of Thuy Duong and the adjacent Dong Trieu, where "all bowed down to him like grass before the wind". In early 1516, Cao recruited fighters at Quynh Lam Pagoda in Dong Trieu
Dong Trieu
Đông Triều is a district of Quang Ninh province in the northeastern region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 150,256. The district covers an area of 397 km²...
, a religious site reputed to have miraculous powers. After shaving their heads, he marched them unopposed, ten thousand strong, through the Kinh Bac districts of Que Duong and Tien Du
Tien Du
Tiên Du is a rural district of Bac Ninh Province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 131,118. The district covers an area of 108 km². The district capital lies at Lim.-References:...
, down to the plains of Gia Lam
Gia Lam
Gia Lâm is a district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Gia Lam Airport is located in the district. At one time Vietnam Airlines's headquarters were on the airport property....
to Tu Liem
Tu Liem
Từ Liêm is a rural district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam....
in Sơn Tây Province. This march took little more than ten days. With the insurgents only separated from the capital by the river, Trịnh Duy Sản murdered the emperor Lê Tương Dực and fled with his puppet successor Lê Chiêu Tông
Lê Chiêu Tông
Lê Chiêu Tông was a king of the Lê Dynasty of Vietnam who ruled from 1516 to 1526. He was the son of Lê Sùng and nephew of the preceding king Lê Tuong Duc. As Lê Tuong Duc was assassinated in 1516, the young Lê Chieu Tông was put on the throne...
, leaving the capital undefended.
This time, chaos ensued. First a rival general, Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ of the Nguyen, turned his army loose to raze and loot. Then the inhabitants of the capital seized their chance to loot the palaces and administrative buildings of the hated former king, Tuong Duc. Finally, Tran Cao's forces marched into the capital, destroying the Le dynastic temple and proclaiming a new reign. These events dealt a heavy blow to Le prestige and legitimacy, as well as its capacity to rule. The court annals noted that "After Tran Cao entered the Capital and the tan mieu (the dynastic temple) was sacked, after [Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ's army] rebelled and the Capital was deserted", they wrote, "seeing this was enough to know that the Le could no longer prosper".
Even when the Trịnh and Nguyen generals decided to combined against the rebels that threatened their privileges, it took months to push the rebels back to their Hai Duong
Hai Duong
Hải Dương is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Hai Duong province. Its name is Sino-Vietnamese for "ocean" .- Geography :Hai Duong city is bordered to the northeast by the Nam Sách District and Thanh Hà District...
–Kinh Bac border stronghold. There they fought at least one major battle, at Sung Nghiem, before retreating to a Kinh Bac area which they controlled the royal forces finally overcame them in 1521. Before that, Tran Cao had already transferred power to his son and become a monk. He then disappeared into the countryside, notwithstanding a reward of three hundred taels of gold and two thousand ares of land for his capture. The failure to apprehend him was despite the efforts of the populace who might have sought it, blaming him for the high death toll in Dong Trieu, Giap Son, Yen Phong, Tien Du, and Dong Ngan caused by starvation after vengeful Le royalists razed the area. He is believed to have died in far north-eastern Kinh Bac, (later Lang Son
Lang Son
Lạng Sơn , sometimes Langson, is a city in far northern Vietnam, is the capital of Lang Son province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Road 1A.-History:...
province). At the end of the seventeenth century nearly two hundred years later, three villages in Bao Loc district still worshipped his cult.