Lê Chiêu Thống (1765–1793), born Lê Duy Khiêm and later Lê Duy Kỳ, was the last emperor of the Vietnamese Later Lê dynasty. He was overthrown by the

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

. He appealed to the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

of China to help regain the throne but failed after losing the

Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa The Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa or Qing invasion of Tây Sơn dynasty, Đại Việt (; ), also known as Victory of Kỷ Dậu (), was fought between the forces of the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty and the Qing dynasty in (a place near ...

. Afterwards, he no longer received support from the Qing

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

, relatives of the Later Lê imperial family were imprisoned in Vietnam, and he died in China. Furthermore, the Qianlong emperor banished the remaining members of the Lê family to border regions of the Qing dynasty such as Xinjiang and Heilongjiang.

Early life

Lê Duy Khiêm was the eldest son of Lê Duy Vĩ who was the first crown prince of emperor Lê Hiển Tông.Dang Viet Thuy & Dang Thanh Trung, p. 248. After Khiêm's father was killed by the ninth Trịnh lord Trịnh Sâm in 1771, he was jailed. In 1783, lord Trịnh Khải deposed crown prince Lê Duy Cận and made Lê Duy Khiêm crown prince of 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 ...

Succession and reign

Chinese officials receiving depossed Vietnamese Emperor Le Chieu Thong

In 1786, the Tây Sơn general Nguyễn Huệ led his force to northern Vietnam and destroyed the house of the

Trịnh lords Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full na ...

. The next year, 1787, the Lê emperor Lê Hiển Tông died of natural causes, and Nguyễn Huệ installed Lê Duy Khiêm on the throne as emperor Lê Chiêu Thống and then he withdrew almost all his troops to

Phú Xuân Phú Xuân (富春) was the historic capital of the Nguyễn lords, the Tây Sơn dynasty, and later became the Nguyễn dynasty's capital (renamed Huế). History In 1306, the King of Champa Chế Mân offered Vietnam two Chăm prefectures, Ô ...

. Trịnh Lords members took advantage of Nguyễn Huệ's absence. Two Trinh heirs, Trịnh Bồng and Trịnh Lệ, appeared and made their claims to the lord throne. emperor Lê Chiêu Thống appointed Trinh Bong as the next Trịnh lord which triggered Trịnh Lệ to revolt. After suppressing Trịnh Lệ forces, Trịnh Bồng became the most powerful man in north Vietnam but his leadership was bad. The entirety of north Vietnam sank into chaos, thus forcing King Lê Chiêu Thống to ask for assistance from Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, Tây Sơn governor of Nghệ An. Nguyen Huu Chinh led an army marched north, easily defeated Trinh army, forced Trinh Bong to flee and captured Thăng Long.Chapuis, p. 151. After pacifying the region, Nguyen Huu Chinh abused power for his own interests, thus impinging Nguyễn Huệ's political status.Tucker, pp. 17-18. After learning about actions of Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, Nguyễn Huệ sent north a general named Vũ Văn Nhậm with an army to attack Thăng Long (now Hanoi). Vu Van Nham swiftly defeated and killed Nguyen Huu Chinh and occupied Thăng Long, but then he took the power himself. Nguyễn Huệ sent two other generals to suppress Vu Van Nham and recaptured Thăng Long. Meanwhile, Lê Chiêu Thống fled to the furthest north of Vietnam and refused Nguyễn Huệ's invitations to return. He gathered a small army of Lê dynasty loyalists and sent his family to China to seek aid from the

of the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. The Qianlong Emperor agreed and sent a massive army to north Vietnam. Under the banner of the Lê king, the large Qing army easily drove Tây Sơn out of north Vietnam and took over Thăng Long.Chapuis, p. 154. After the Qing occupation of northern Vietnam, the Qing viceroy Sun Shiyi reinstalled Lê Chiêu Thống as a puppet ruler.Dutton, pp. 106-107. Although Lê Chiêu Thống did not have much ruling power, he began taking a bloody revenge on Tây Sơn supporters and forced people to supply him food in spite of war and famine. The actions of Lê Chiêu Thống and the Qing invasion gave Nguyễn Huệ a good chance to officially take the throne and gain popularity among northern Vietnamese people. On 22 December 1788, Nguyễn Huệ proclaimed himself emperor

Quang Trung Emperor Quang Trung (; vi-hantu, 光中, 1753 – 16 September 1792) or Nguyễn Huệ ( vi-hantu, 阮惠), also known as Nguyễn Quang Bình ( vi-hantu, 阮光平), or Hồ Thơm (chữ Hán: 胡𦹳) was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dy ...

and formally declared that the Lê dynasty had ended. He then led an army march north. Although the Tây Sơn army was smaller, they defeated the unprepared Qing troops in a series of battles during the 1789

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

celebration and forced the rest of Qing army to flee in confusion.Dutton, p. 107. Lê Chiêu Thống fled to China which marked the end of the

.Ooi, p. 780. Lê Chiêu Thống and high ranking Lê loyalists fled Vietnam for asylum in Qing China and went to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Lê Chiêu Thống was appointed a Chinese mandarin of the fourth rank in the Han Yellow Bordered Banner, while lower ranking loyalists were sent to cultivate government land and join the Green Standard Army in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. They adopted Qing clothing and adopt the queue hairstyle, effectively becoming naturalized subjects of the Qing dynasty affording them protection against Vietnamese demands for extradition. Modern descendants of the Lê monarch live in southern Vietnam. Chieu Thong Thong Bao

Exile and death

After the war, Nguyễn Huệ sent a request of recognition to China and it was accepted with conditions. The Qing Empire recognized Nguyễn Huệ as a new ruler of Vietnam and gave him the traditional title "An Nam Quốc Vương" (King of An Nam).Dutton, p. 108. From this point on, Lê Chiêu Thống did not receive any more support from the

of China. He spent the rest of his life in China, and died in 1793. In 1802, when envoys of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

visited China, Lê dynasty loyalists requested that the

Jiaqing Emperor The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, personal name Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He was ...

let them bring Lê Chiêu Thống's remains back to Vietnam and the emperor agreed. The Jiaqing Emperor also freed all the followers of Lê Chiêu Thống who were imprisoned in China. Lê Chiêu Thống's remains are buried in Bàn Thạch village,

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of capital Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

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 ...

.Trần Trọng Kim, pp. 372-373. He was posthumously given the title Mẫn Đế (愍帝).

Notes

a. Chinese: 孫士毅. Vietnamese: ''Tôn Sĩ Nghị''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Chieu Thong 1765 births 1793 deaths M 18th-century Vietnamese monarchs Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Bannermen Vietnamese monarchs Royalty from Hanoi