Lam Sơn uprising

The Lam Sơn uprising (Chinese: 藍山起義; Vietnamese: Khởi nghĩa Lam Sơn) was the nationalist rebellion led by Lê Lợi in Ming province of Jiaozhi from 1418 to 1427 against Ming rule.

Lam Sơn uprising
Date1418–1428
Location
Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Laos
Result

Lam Sơn rebel victory.

Belligerents
Ming Dynasty Vietnamese Lam Sơn rebels
Commanders and leaders
Li An
Fang Zheng
Chen Zhi
Li Bin †
Cai Fu (POW)
Wang Tong
Wang Anlao
Liu Sheng †
Mu Sheng
Liang Ming †
Li Qing †
Huang Fu (POW)
Lương Nhữ Hốt		 Lê Lợi
Lê Thạch †
Đinh Lễ †
Lý Triện †
Lưu Nhân Chú
Lê Sát
Lê Ngân
Nguyễn Chích
Phạm Vấn
Trịnh Khả
Phạm Văn Xảo
Lê Văn Linh

Background
Main article: Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam

Tran princes's rebellion

The Ming conquest of Vietnam of 1406-1407 in attempt to remove Ho Quy Ly and to bring the previous Tran family back to the throne of Dai Viet, however resulted in the destruction of Dai Viet and the creation of Ming province of Jiaozhi. The Ming's propaganda said when the they didn't see a Tran heir, they incorporated the Vietnamese kingdom into Ming Empire, but when Tran royal family members appeared and challenged the Ming rule, the Ming ignored them, even hunted down and executed them.[1] The first Vietnamese uprising against the Ming Chinese rule led by Prince Tran Ngoi, the second son of the former Tran king, in 1408.[2] The Ming emperor ordered Mu Sheng mobilized 40,000 from Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan to repress the rebellion, but was utterly defeated by Tran Ngoi's guerrilla bands of "freedom fighters."[3] On February 23, 1409, Zhang Fu who was appointed to replaced Mu Sheng, mobilizing 8,600 boats he had captured in 1407, along with 47,000 troops, overwhelmed Tran Ngoi's 20,000 men and 600 ships in a naval battle in September 1409.[3] While Tran Ngoi was captured in December and being delivered to Nanjing for execution, his nephew Tran Quy Khoang continued leading the struggle against the Ming dynasty.[3] Tran Quy Khoang however, wanted to gain recognition from Yongle as the king of the Great kingdom of Annam, but Yongle ignored, killed most of his envoys, and offered him the title "Provincial civil commissioner."[4]

Tran Quy Khoang eventually renewed his movement, rally more people into his rebellion. Zhang Fu was ordered to returned Jiaozhi to suppress the Vietnamese, and learned that Tran Quy Khoang had high ambitions in that part of the world and would not allow the Chinese emperor to dictate the destiny of his people.[5] Zhang Fu again mobilized a strong force of 24,000, battled Tran Quy Khoang's forces in Nam Định on February 12, 1411, killed 4,500 and captured 2,000.[6] On August 6, the Ming army under general Zhang Sheng won fiercely battle in Thanh Hóa, sank 160 vessels, captured 120 boats and killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese.[5][7]

Outgunned and outnumbered, Tran Quy Khoang and his partisans continued fought against the superior Chinese forces by utilizing Vietnam's terrains against the Chinese regulars, and retreating into Cambodia when necessary.[5] By end of 1413, his force lost 60% to 70% and was forced to steal food from the Chinese for survival. He, his wife, and his brother were captured by the Chinese on March 30, 1414, and was executed in Nanjing on August 16.[8] The rebellion of Tran princes created a great inspiration for Vietnamese nationalist movements; the Tran princes became martyrs; Yongle underestimated the Vietnamese love for independence; and other 31 revolts occurred from 1415 to 1424 against the Ming rules before the rebellion of Le Loi in 1418.[5]

Revolt in 1418

Lê Lợi began his campaign against the Ming Empire on the day after Tết (New Year) February 1418. He was supported by several prominent families from his native Thanh Hóa, most famously were the Trịnh and the Nguyễn families. Initially, Lê Lợi campaigned on the basis of restoring the Trần to power. A relative of the Trần emperor was chosen as the figurehead of the revolt but within a few years, the Trần pretender was removed and the unquestioned leader of the revolt was Lê Lợi himself, under the name "Pacifying King" (Binh Dinh Vuong).[9]

The revolt enjoyed patchy initial success. While Lê Lợi was able to operate in Thanh Hóa, he was, for 2–3 years, unable to muster the military forces required to defeat the Ming army in open battle. As a result, he waged a type of guerrilla war against the large and well-organized Ming army.

One famous story from this time is about the heroism of one of Lê Lợi's commanders, Lê Lai. One time during the revolt, Lê Lợi's forces had been surrounded by Ming forces on the top of a mountain. Lê Lai devised a plan that would allow Lê Lợi and the main bulk of the force to escape. He pretended to be Lê Lợi to divert the Ming army's attention by dressing himself in Lê Lợi's attire and lead a kamikaze-like charge down to attack the enemy. During the battle, Lê Lợi was able to escape.[10]

Besides fighting Ming forces, Lê Lợi and his army also had to fight against ethnic minorities' forces whom the Ming government bribed known collectively as Ai Lao (Laos) . Although there were many difficulties, Lê Lợi's army was able to suppress Ai Lao multiple times. However, because his force was not strong enough at the time, he had to lurk in the forests or mountains of Thanh Hoa province. Often due to lack of food supplies, Lê Lợi had to order the killing of army horses and elephants for use as food. In one particularly dangerous situation in 1422, Lê Lợi made peace with the Ming army. But in 1423 when his forces were built up better, Lê Lợi broke the peace agreement when the Ming army captured and killed his envoy.

By 1427, the revolt had spread throughout Vietnam and the original Ming army of occupation had been ground down and destroyed. The new Ming ruler, the Xuande Emperor, wished to end the war with Vietnam, but his advisors urged one more effort to subdue the rebellious province. The result was a massive army (some 100,000 strong[11]) being sent into Vietnam.

The final campaign did not start well for the Ming forces. Lê Lợi's forces met the Ming army in battle, but quickly staged a mock retreat. The Ming general, Liu Sheng (Liễu Thăng in Vietnamese), urging his troops forward, was cut off from the main part of his army, captured and executed by the Vietnamese. Then, by sending false reports of dissent within the ranks of Lê Lợi's own generals, the Ming army was lured into Hanoi where it was surrounded and destroyed in a series of battles. A Vietnamese historian, Trần Trọng Kim, told that the Ming army lost over 90,000 men (60,000 killed in battle and 30,000 captured).[12] The decisive battle was the Battle of Tốt Động – Chúc Động in 1426, after which the Ming eventually withdrew by 1428. Rather than putting to death the captured Ming soldiers and administrators, he provided ships and supplies to send them back to China.[13]

In 1428, Lê Lợi established the Lê dynasty and took the reign name Le Thai To, receiving recognition and formal protection from the Ming dynasty in a tributary relationship.[13][14][15][16][17] Lê Lợi's reign would be short-lived, as he died in 1433,[18] but the Lê dynasty would last until the end of 18th century.

Legend of Hoàn Kiếm Lake

According to the legend, in early 1428, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the Hoàn Kiếm lake when a Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword, Heaven's Will. Lợi concluded that Kim Qui had come to reclaim the sword that its master, a local God, the Dragon King (Long Vương) had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against Ming China. Later, Emperor Lợi gave the sword back to the turtle after he finished fighting off the Chinese. Emperor Lợi renamed the lake "Hoàn Kiếm", meaning Lake of the Returning Sword, to commemorate this event.

References
  1. Baldanza 2016, p. 66.
  2. Tsai 2011, p. 180.
  3. Tsai 2011, p. 181.
  4. Baldanza 2016, p. 66-67.
  5. Tsai 2011, p. 182.
  6. Sun 2006, p. 83.
  7. Sun 2006, p. 84.
  8. Baldanza 2016, p. 67.
  9. Le Loi. The Encycloaedia Britannica. Micropedia, Volume VI, 15th Edition. ISBN 0-85229-339-9
  10. Le Loi – The Man and the Legend of the Golden Turtle God journeyfromthefall.com (copy at the Internet Archive)
  11. Trần Trọng Kim (2005). Việt Nam sử lược (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House. pp. 212–213.
  12. Trần Trọng Kim (2005). Việt Nam sử lược (in Vietnamese). Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House. pp. 214–215.
  13. Shih-shan Henry Tsai (1996). The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. SUNY Press. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-0-7914-2687-6.
  14. Le Loi at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  15. Womack, B. (2012). "Asymmetry and China's Tributary System". The Chinese Journal of International Politics. 5 (1): 37–54. doi:10.1093/cjip/pos003. ISSN 1750-8916.
  16. Baldanza, Kathlene (2014). "Perspectives on the 1540 Mac Surrender to the Ming". Asia Major. 27 (2): 115–146. JSTOR 44740553.
  17. Baldanza 2016, pp. 204–210
  18. "Lê, Lợi King of Vietnam 1385-1433". worldcat.

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