Lê Túc Tông (黎肅宗; 6 September 1488 – 30 December 1504) was, from 17 July until 30 December 1504, the 7th emperor of the later Lê dynasty of Vietnam.

Biography

According to the

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

, the official historical annal of

Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), often known as Annam ( vi, An Nam, Chữ Hán: 安南), was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day H ...

that came into its final form in 1697 during the

Revival Lê dynasty The Revival Lê dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lê trung hưng 茹黎中興; Hán-Việt: 黎中興朝 ''Lê trung hưng triều''), also called the Later Lê Restoration, was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed between 1533 and 1789. The Primal Lê dynasty ( ...

, Lê Túc Tông's real name was Lê Thuần (黎㵮). He was born on 6 September 1488 in the imperial capital

Đông Kinh Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, being the third son of crown prince Lê Tranh, the eldest son of emperor Lê Thánh Tông. Thuần's mother was Nguyễn Hoàn, a concubine of Tranh coming from

Hưng Yên Hưng Yên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the provincial capital of Hưng Yên Province and is a third-graded city according to Vietnam's city classification table. Geography *Hưng Yên is a delta city. It is located in the south of Hưng Yên ...

. In 1497, when Lê Thuần was 8 years old, his grandfather Lê Thánh Tông died and his father Lê Tranh ascended to the throne. The new emperor was known to historical annals as Lê Hiến Tông. In early 1499, several high-ranking officials including Lê Vĩnh and Lê Năng Nhượng persuaded Hiến Tông to choose an heir in order to maintain the dynasty's and the nation's security and sustainability. Hiến Tông agreed; and although the emperor had two elder sons: Lê Tuân and Lê Tuấn, Lê Thuần was designed as

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

due to his deep interest in intellectuality and

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in t ...

, which caused Hiến Tông to perceive him as being far superior to his two older brothers. In 1504, Lê Hiến Tông died at the age of 44. The 17 year old Lê Thuần inherited the throne. The Confucian annalists portrayed him as a relatively good emperor who released many prisoners, stopping several construction works that posed heavy burden on his subjects, as well as reducing tributes from vassals and holding high-ranking officials in high regard. He was also said to have maintained harmony in the court and the whole country. In the other hand, the annals also recorded a revolt broke in

Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the ...

, led by Đoàn Thế Nùng against the government. Lê Thuần sent troops to Cao Bằng, defeating and killing Đoàn Thế Nùng along with 500 rebels. The reign of Lê Thuần lasted for only six months. In December 1502, immediately after completing the burial process for his father, he felt critically ill. Understanding that he could not pass the disease, Lê Thuần designated his second elder brother, Lê Tuấn, as the apparent heir. Not late after that, the emperor died and Lê Tuấn succeeded him as the 8th emperor of the Lê dynasty. The new emperor and court officials designed the deceased emperor's

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

as Túc Tông. Lê Túc Tông's death could be seen as the beginning of the decline of the Lê dynasty, as Lê Tuấn soon proved to be a cruel and extravagant monarch who killed many imperial members and employed corrupt officials. When Túc Tông came to the throne, he declared that in the next year (1505), the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

will be changed from his father's old one, Cảnh Thống (景統) to Thái Trinh (泰貞). However, Túc Tông died before 1504 was over; so, throughout his short reign, he still used the era name Cảnh Thống and the name Thái Trinh was never put into use. His successor, Lê Tuấn changed the era name to Đoan Khánh.

References

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Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Tuc Tong 1488 births 1504 deaths Lê dynasty emperors 16th-century Vietnamese monarchs Vietnamese monarchs