Prior to the

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

Bảo Đại Bảo Đại (, vi-hantu, , lit. "keeper of greatness", 22 October 191331 July 1997), born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (), was the 13th and final emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Vietnam. From 1926 to 1945, he was em ...

on 30 August 1945 in the aftermath of the

August Revolution The August Revolution ( vi, Cách-mạng tháng Tám), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution launched by the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) against the Empire of Vietnam and the Empire of Japan in ...

, Vietnam was ruled by a series of

dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

of either local or Chinese origin. The following is a list of major dynasties in the

history of Vietnam The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around 20,000 years ago, as the first modern humans arrived and settled on this land, known as the Hoabinhians, which can be traced to modern-day Negritos. Archaeological findings from 1965, which are ...

Background

Naming convention

In Vietnamese historiography, dynasties are generally known to historians by the family name of the monarchs. For example, the Đinh dynasty (; ) is known as such because the ruling clan bore the family name (). Similar to

Chinese dynasties Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the legendary inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great circa 2070 BC to the abdication of t ...

, Vietnamese dynasties would adopt a (; "name of the state") upon the establishment of the realm. However, as it was common for several dynasties to share the same official name, referring to regimes by their official name in historiography would be potentially confusing. For instance, the "" () was used by the Lý dynasty (since the reign of

Lý Thánh Tông Lý Thánh Tông (30 March 1023 – 1 February 1072), personal name Lý Nhật Tôn , temple name Thánh Tông, was the third emperor of the Lý dynasty and the 8th ruler of the Vietnamese kingdom Đại Việt. In his reign, Lý Thánh Tôn ...

), the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, ( Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thá ...

, the Later Trần dynasty, the Later Lê dynasty, the

Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...

, and the

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (, vi, Nhà Tây Sơn (Chữ Nôm: 茹西山); vi, Tây Sơn triều ( Hán tự: 西山朝) was a ruling dynasty of Vietnam, founded in the wake of a rebellion against both the Nguyễn lords and the Trịnh lords befo ...

. In the Vietnamese language, the word for "dynasty" may be written as either () or () depending on the context. The former is generally used to denote the ruling family whereas the latter refers to the dynastic regime. For instance, the Mạc dynasty can be rendered as "" () or "" ().

Origin of dynasties

Apart from over one millennium of direct Chinese rule, Vietnam was ruled by a series of "local" dynasties, although some of which could have their origins traced to China. The founder of the legendary

Hồng Bàng dynasty The Hồng Bàng period (Vietnamese: ''thời kỳ Hồng Bàng''), also called the Hồng Bàng dynasty,Pelley, p. 151 was a legendary, semi-mythical period in Vietnamese historiography, spanning from the beginning of the rule of Kinh Dươn ...

, Lộc Tục, was recorded as a descendant of the mythical Chinese ruler

Shennong Shennong (), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born Jiang Shinian (), was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. He is vene ...

. According to two historical Vietnamese texts, the '' Complete Annals of Đại Việt'' and the '' Imperially-commissioned Annotated Text Reflecting the Complete History of Việt'', Thục Phán of the Thục dynasty was from

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China, which was previously under the rule of the ancient Chinese State of Shu. The

Triệu dynasty The Triệu dynasty or Zhao dynasty (; vi, Nhà Triệu, links=no; 茹趙) ruled the kingdom of Nanyue, which consisted of parts of southern China as well as northern Vietnam. Its capital was Panyu, in modern Guangzhou. The founder of the dynas ...

, established by Zhao Tuo from the Chinese

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

, was considered an orthodox local regime by traditional Vietnamese historiography. However, modern Vietnamese historians generally regard the Triệu dynasty to be a foreign regime that ruled Vietnam.Yoshikai Masato, "Ancient Nam Viet in historical descriptions",
Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor
', Volume 2, ABC-CLIO, 2004, p. 934. The founder of the Early Lý dynasty, Lý Bôn, was descended from Chinese refugees who fled

Wang Mang Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the thron ...

's seizure of power in the final years of the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

in China. The first emperor of the Lý dynasty, Lý Công Uẩn, could have his paternal bloodline traced to modern-day

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, China.千年前泉州人李公蕴越南当皇帝越南史上重要人物之一
/ref> Lý Công Uẩn's father, Lý Thuần An, escaped to Quanzhou from

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

after Lý Công Uẩn's grandfather, Li Song, was wrongly accused of treason and executed by the Emperor Yin of Later Han. The origin of the

was traced to modern Fujian, where the ancestor of the Trần imperial clan, Trần Kính, migrated from in the 11th century CE. The Later Trần dynasty was ruled by the same imperial clan as the earlier Trần dynasty. The

Hồ dynasty The Hồ dynasty (Vietnamese: , chữ Nôm: 茹胡； Sino-Vietnamese: ''Hồ triều, chữ Hán:'' 胡朝) was a short-lived Vietnamese dynasty consisting of the reigns of two monarchs, Hồ Quý Ly (胡季犛) in 1400–01 and his second ...

was ruled by the Hồ family which migrated from present-day

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

, China to Vietnam under the leadership of Hồ Hưng Dật during the 10th century CE. The

claimed descent from the Duke Hu of Chen, the founder of the ancient Chinese State of Chen. The Duke Hu of Chen was in turn descended from the legendary Emperor Shun, who was recognized by

Hồ Quý Ly Hồ Quý Ly ( vi-hantu, 胡季犛, born 1336) ruled Đại Ngu (Vietnam) from 1400 to 1401 as the founding emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty. Quý Ly rose from a post as an official served the court of the ruling Trần dynasty and a milit ...

as the progenitor of the Hồ imperial family. Accordingly, the Hồ dynasty adopted the official "" (; "Great Ngu"); "Ngu" () was derived from the Emperor Shun's lineage name, ''

Youyu Youyu County, also known by its Chinese language, Chinese name Youyuxian, is a Chinese county, county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shuozhou, in the northwest of Shanxi, Shanxi Province, China. It borders Inner Mongol ...

'' (). Rulers of the

, initially surnamed , were descended from the same line as the Hồ dynasty.

Familial relations among dynasties

Several Vietnamese dynasties were related: *

Dương Vân Nga Dương Thị Ngọc Vân (楊氏玉雲, ?–1000) courtesy name Vân Nga (雲娥) was the only empress dowager of the Đinh dynasty and afterwards empress of Lê Đại Hành, the first emperor of the Early Lê dynasty. When her husband Đinh Ti� ...

was originally an empress consort of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, the founder of the Đinh dynasty; she later became an empress consort of Lê Hoàn, the founder of the Early Lê dynasty * Lê Thị Phất Ngân, the empress consort of Lý Thái Tổ, the founder of the Lý dynasty, was the daughter of Lê Hoàn and thus originally a princess of the Early Lê dynasty * The final monarch of the Lý dynasty,

Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng ( vi-hantu, 李昭皇, September 1218 – 1278), personal name Lý Phật Kim (李佛金) later renamed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), was the ninth and last sovereign of the Lý dynasty, empress of Đại Việt f ...

, was the spouse of

Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being Retired Emperor ...

, the founder of the

, was the maternal grandfather of Trần An, the last emperor of the Trần dynasty * Giản Định Đế, the founder of the Later Trần dynasty, was a son of the ninth Trần monarch,

Trần Nghệ Tông Trần Nghệ Tông ( vi-hantu, 陳藝宗, December 1321 – 15 December 1394), given name Trần Phủ (陳暊), was the eighth emperor of the Trần Dynasty who reigned Vietnam from 1370 to 1372. Biography As prince Nghệ Tông was born in 132 ...

; he was also an older brother of the 12th emperor of the Trần dynasty, Trần Thuận Tông * The Primitive Lê dynasty and the Revival Lê dynasty are collectively called the Later Lê dynasty; the founder of the Revival Lê dynasty, Lê Trang Tông, was a son of Lê Chiêu Tông, the 11th Primitive Lê emperor * The ruling house of the

was descended from the same paternal ancestor as the Hồ dynasty * Gia Long Đế, the founder of the Nguyễn dynasty, was a paternal grandson of

Nguyễn Phúc Khoát Nguyễn Phúc Khoát (26 September 1714 – 7 July 1765) was one of the Nguyễn lords who ruled over the southern portion of Vietnam from the 16th–18th centuries. Also known as Chúa Võ (主武) or Võ vương (武王) (roughly ''Martial Princ ...

, the eighth Nguyễn lord

Champa

Champa (; ) existed as an independent polity until its annexation by the Nguyễn dynasty in 1832 CE, thereby laying the foundation for the territories of the modern Vietnamese state. Most of the rulers of Champa were of

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...

descent, an Austronesian ethnic group distinct from the majority

Kinh The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native lang ...

ethnicity of Vietnam. There were 15 dynasties in the history of Champa. According to Chinese historical sources, Champa officially used the "" () from the 1st to 4th dynasties, "" () during the 5th dynasty, and "" () from the 6th to 15th dynasties.

List of dynasties in Vietnamese history

This list includes the various dynasties in the history of Vietnam, of both local and Chinese origins. Dynasties of China that ruled Vietnam are highlighted in orange. The

is highlighted in light orange due to its disputed status.

Timeline of dynasties in Vietnamese history

ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:15 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:180 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-2900 till:2000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:-2900 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:VN value:rgb(1,0.55,0.1) id:CV value:rgb(0.29,0.91,0.91) id:CN1 value:rgb(0.09,0.74,0.74) id:CN2 value:rgb(0.74,0.78,0.20) id:CN3 value:rgb(0,0.8,0) id:CN4 value:rgb(1,0.4,0.6) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Regimes PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Regimes from: -2879 till: -258 color:VN text:"

(2879–258 BCE)" from: -257 till: -207 color:VN text:" Thục dynasty (257–207 BCE)" from: -204 till: -111 color:CV text:"

(204–111 BCE)" from: -111 till: 9 color:CN1 text:"

(111 BCE–9 CE)" from: 9 till: 23 color:CN1 text:"

Xin dynasty The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Pin ...

(9–23 CE)" from: 25 till: 40 color:CN1 text:"

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(pre-interregnum; 25–40 CE)" from: 43 till: 220 color:CN2 text:"

(rule restored; 43–220 CE)" from: 229 till: 266 color:CN2 text:" Eastern Wu (pre-interregnum; 229–266 CE)" from: 266 till: 271 color:CN2 text:"

Western Jin Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

(pre-interregnum; 266–271 CE)" from: 271 till: 280 color:CN2 text:" Eastern Wu (rule restored; 271–280 CE)" from: 280 till: 316 color:CN2 text:"

(rule restored; 280–316 CE)" from: 317 till: 420 color:CN2 text:"

Eastern Jin Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

(317–420 CE)" from: 420 till: 479 color:CN2 text:"

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

(420–479 CE)" from: 479 till: 502 color:CN2 text:" Southern Qi (479–502 CE)" from: 502 till: 544 color:CN2 text:"

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

(502–544 CE)" from: 544 till: 602 color:VN text:" Early Lý dynasty (544–602 CE)" from: 602 till: 618 color:CN3 text:" Sui dynasty (602–618 CE)" from: 618 till: 690 color:CN3 text:"

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(pre-interregnum; 618–690 CE)" from: 690 till: 705 color:CN3 text:" Wu Zhou (690–705 CE)" from: 705 till: 907 color:CN3 text:"

(rule restored; 705–907 CE)" from: 930 till: 938 color:CN3 text:"

Southern Han Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...

(930–938 CE)" from: 939 till: 965 color:VN text:"

Ngô dynasty The Ngô dynasty (; Chữ Nôm: 茹吳) was a dynasty that ruled Tĩnh Hải quân (Jinghai) in northern Vietnam from 939 to 968. The dynasty was founded by Ngô Quyền, who led Vietnamese forces in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River against t ...

(939–965 CE)" from: 968 till: 980 color:VN text:" Đinh dynasty (968–980 CE)" from: 980 till: 1009 color:VN text:" Early Lê dynasty (980–1009 CE)" from: 1009 till: 1225 color:VN text:" Lý dynasty (1009–1225 CE)" from: 1225 till: 1400 color:VN text:"

(1225–1400 CE)" from: 1400 till: 1407 color:VN text:"

(1400–1407 CE)" from: 1407 till: 1427 color:CN4 text:"

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

(1407–1427 CE)" from: 1407 till: 1413 color:VN text:" Later Trần dynasty (1407–1413 CE)" from: 1428 till: 1527 color:VN text:" Primitive Lê dynasty (1428–1527 CE)" from: 1527 till: 1677 color:VN text:"

(1527–1677 CE)" from: 1533 till: 1789 color:VN text:" Revival Lê dynasty (1533–1789 CE)" from: 1778 till: 1802 color:VN text:"

(1778–1802 CE)" from: 1802 till: 1945 color:VN text:" Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945 CE)" barset:skip Legend: * denotes local Vietnamese dynasties * denotes dynasties during the

First Era of Northern Domination The First Era of Northern Domination refers to the period of Vietnamese history during which present-day northern Vietnam was under the rule of the Han dynasty and the Xin dynasty. It is considered the first of four periods of Vietnam under Chine ...

* denotes dynasties during the Second Era of Northern Domination * denotes dynasties during the Third Era of Northern Domination * denotes dynasty during the

Fourth Era of Northern Domination The Fourth Era of Northern Domination was a period of Vietnamese history, from 1407 to 1427, during which Vietnam was ruled by the Chinese Ming dynasty as the province of Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ). Ming rule was established in Vietnam following its ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Vietnam

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...