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Khúc Hạo (860–917; ) was the Vietnamese self-declared
jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...
of northern Vietnam ( Tĩnh Hải quân) from 907 to 917 succeeding his father
Khúc Thừa Dụ Khúc Thừa Dụ () or Khúc Tiên Chủ () (830–907) was a ''jiedushi'' of Tĩnh Hải quân, nominally under the Chinese Tang dynasty, in the early 10th century. Khúc Thừa Dụ was the head of the Khúc family in Hải Dương and w ...
. During his reign, Khúc Hạo made several important social and administrative reforms including a new system of administrative division, the levelling of cultivated land tax and the abolishment of
corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid forced labour that is intermittent in nature, lasting for limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state (polity), state for the ...
. Besides, Khúc Hạo maintained a discreet policy towards Chinese authorities and thus brought a period of stability and prosperity to his country. Khúc Hạo died in 917 and was succeeded by his son
Khúc Thừa Mỹ Khúc Thừa Mỹ (chữ Hán: 曲承美; pinyin: ''Qū Chéngměi''; governed: 918–923 or 918–930) was a self-declared jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân (modern northern Vietnam) during the later part of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam, ...
who failed to keep the autonomy of Tĩnh Hải quân when he was defeated by the army of the kingdom of
Southern Han Southern Han ( zh , t = 南漢 , p = Nán Hàn , j=Naam4 Hon3; 917–971), officially Han ( zh , t = 漢 , links=no), originally Yue ( zh , c = 越 , links=no), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the ...
in 923. Khúc Hạo's rule is still considered by Vietnamese historians as a foundation for the administration of Vietnam following its independence.


Background

The date of birth of Khúc Hạo was unknown but he came from the Khúc family which was a powerful clan with long history and tradition in Hồng Châu, Cúc Bồ (now Ninh Giang, Hải Dương,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
). In early 10th century, the head of Khúc family
Khúc Thừa Dụ Khúc Thừa Dụ () or Khúc Tiên Chủ () (830–907) was a ''jiedushi'' of Tĩnh Hải quân, nominally under the Chinese Tang dynasty, in the early 10th century. Khúc Thừa Dụ was the head of the Khúc family in Hải Dương and w ...
succeeded in taking over the control of Tĩnh Hải quân (now the northern part of Vietnam) and became the first
Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...
of native origin that marked the beginning of the independence of Vietnam, because while the country still nominally belonged to the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
, it had now a status of autonomy with a native ruler who could decide matters without any interference from China.


History

As the son of Khúc Thừa Dụ, Khúc Hạo began to hold the position Jiedushi in 907 after his father's death and continue to consolidate the autonomy of the country. On the other hand, in old historical books such as the '' Đại Việt sử lược'' or ''
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 Đại Việt, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...
'', it was Khúc Hạo, instead of Khúc Thừa Dụ, who was mentioned as the first member of the Khúc family holding the position Jiedushi, according to ''Đại Việt sử lược'', he succeeded this title from the Chinese Jiedushi named Độc Cô Tồn while in ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', Khúc Hạo self-entitled him Jiedushi after rising a revolt that took control over Tĩnh Hải quân. After Keith Weller Taylor, since the power was smoothly transferred from Khúc Thừa Dụ to his son Khúc Hạo and there is no indication of struggle or political conflict in the period from 880 to 906, one can reason that the Khúc family was actually in control of the country throughout these years. In the position of ruler of Tĩnh Hải quân, Khúc Hạo made several important social and administrative reforms. He decided to change the basic administrative unit from ''hương'' (
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
), which was established during the Tang dynasty, to ''giáp''. For each ''giáp'', Khúc Hạo appointed a ''quản giáp'' (supervisor of ''giáp'') and a ''phó tri giáp'' (deputy-supervisor of ''giáp'') to keep the control, a system of family register (''sổ hộ'') was also created in order to collect accurate statistics of population and manpower of the country. Other important social changes initiated by Khúc Hạo were the levelling of cultivated land tax (''thuế ruộng'') and the abolishment of
corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid forced labour that is intermittent in nature, lasting for limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state (polity), state for the ...
(''lực dịch''). The reign of Khúc Hạo was praised for its tolerance and simplicity towards common people, hence Tĩnh Hải quân had a period of stability and prosperity. In regard to relation with Chinese authorities, Khúc Hạo maintained a discreet policy towards the new Later Liang which continued to accept the autonomous reign of the Khúc family by giving Khúc Hạo the title Jiedushi of the Protectorate General to Pacify the South (''An Nam đô hộ sung Tiết độ sứ'') in the ninth month of 907. However, in the next year, Later Liang appointed Liu Yin, the warlord who ruled Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in modern
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, Guangdong), as Jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân, meaning the Chinese still wanted to regain control of Vietnam. Khúc Hạo assigned his own son
Khúc Thừa Mỹ Khúc Thừa Mỹ (chữ Hán: 曲承美; pinyin: ''Qū Chéngměi''; governed: 918–923 or 918–930) was a self-declared jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân (modern northern Vietnam) during the later part of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam, ...
to the position of ambassador in Guangzhou with the mission of not only keeping a good relation with the northern country but also studying the real situation in China at the time. Khúc Hạo deceased in 917 and was succeeded by his son
Khúc Thừa Mỹ Khúc Thừa Mỹ (chữ Hán: 曲承美; pinyin: ''Qū Chéngměi''; governed: 918–923 or 918–930) was a self-declared jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân (modern northern Vietnam) during the later part of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam, ...
who failed to keep the autonomy of Tĩnh Hải quân when he refused to acknowledge allegiance to the newly established kingdom of
Southern Han Southern Han ( zh , t = 南漢 , p = Nán Hàn , j=Naam4 Hon3; 917–971), officially Han ( zh , t = 漢 , links=no), originally Yue ( zh , c = 越 , links=no), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the ...
and afterwards was defeated by the army of this kingdom in 923 or 930. Nevertheless, Dương Đình Nghệ, who was a subordinate of the Khúc family, quickly restored the indigenous control of the country in 931. In the ''Đại Việt sử lược'', Khúc Thừa Mỹ was recorded as younger brother, not son, of Khúc Hạo but from the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' in the
Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
, Ngô Sĩ Liên wrote that Khúc Hạo was Khúc Thừa Mỹ's father.


Legacy

Today Khúc Hạo is still regarded as one of the first rulers of an independent Vietnam, a street in
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
and other places are named in honour of Khúc Hạo.


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * , - style="text-align: center;" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Khuc, Hao 917 deaths 860 births Jiedushi of Vietnam Later Liang (Five Dynasties) jiedushi Vietnamese reformers People from Hải Dương province