Lê Chất ( vi-hantu, 黎質, ?–1826), also known as Lê Văn Chất (黎文質), Lê Tông Chất (黎宗質) or Lê Công Chất (黎公質), was a general of

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 ...

. Later he became a general of

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 ...

Early life

Lê Chất was born in Phù Mỹ District,

Bình Định Province Bình Định (平定) was a former northern coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Ngãi to the north, Phú Yên to the south, Gia Lai to the west and the South China Sea to the ea ...

. He was a son-in-law of Lê Trung. He served as ''Đại Đô đốc'' (大都督, "Grand Chief Controller") in

. After the death of Emperor Quang Trung, Chất prophesied that the Tây Sơn dynasty would soon decline and tried to persuade Lê Trung to surrender to

Nguyễn lord Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

several times. But Trung hesitated. In 1798, Lê Trung was purged by Emperor Cảnh Thịnh. He had to surrender to the

. He was appointed ''hậu quân tướng quân'' ("general of the rear army") by

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

Career

Chất played an important role in the pacification of the Tây Sơn dynasty. He was ordered to build

Imperial City of Huế The Imperial City (; vi-hantu, 皇城) is a walled enclosure within the Fortifications of Vauban, Vauban style citadel (; vi-hantu, 京城) of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty. It contains th ...

together with Phạm Văn Nhân and Nguyễn Văn Khiêm in 1803.'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 24 In 1810, Chất was appointed Assistant Viceroy of

Bắc Thành Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red and Black Rivers). As a municipality, Hanoi consists of 12 urban districts, 17 rural dist ...

(''Hiệp tổng trấn Bắc Thành'') and became the assistant of

Nguyễn Huỳnh Đức Nguyễn Huỳnh Đức (阮黃德; 1748–1819) was a general and official of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam. He served as a general of Nguyễn Ánh during the Nguyễn Lords' fight against the Tây Sơn rebellion. Nguyễn Ánh prevailed ...

. He was elevated to viceroy in 1818. ''Bắc Thành dư địa chí'', an official geographical record of

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

, was compiled during his term.

Legacy

He died in 1826, and was granted the position ''thiếu phó'' ("Junior Tutor") posthumously, and received the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

''Trung Nghị'' (忠毅). Chất was accused by Lê Bá Tú in 1836.

Minh Mạng Minh Mạng (), also known as Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu), was the second emperor of the Nguyễ ...

's tomb was desecrated and had a stele with the inscription "''chỗ nầy là nơi Lê Chất phục pháp''" ("Here lies Lê Chất who resisted the law") placed over the ruins. His body was dug out and decapitated. His four sons: Lê Cẩn, Lê Trương, Lê Thường and Lê Kỵ, were beheaded. In 1847, Emperor

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...

gave him a royal pardon. He was rehabilitated in 1868. He was worshipped at '' Lăng Ông Bà Chiểu'' ("Tomb of the Marshal in Ba Chieu") together with

Lê Văn Duyệt Lê Văn Duyệt (1763 or 1764 – 30 July 1832) was a Vietnamese general who helped Nguyễn Ánh—the future Emperor Gia Long—put down the Tây Sơn wars, unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyễn dynasty. After the Nguyễn came to power ...

and

Phan Thanh Giản Phan Thanh Giản (November 11, 1796– August 4, 1867) was a Grand Counsellor at the Nguyễn dynasty, Nguyễn court in Vietnam. He led an diplomatic mission to Second French Empire, France in 1863, and Suicide, committed suicide when Fran ...

. In 1910, the colonial government dug road from

Quán Thánh Temple Quán Thánh Temple (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Đền Quán Thánh), also known as Trấn Vũ Temple (Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, Sino-Vietnamese: Chân Vũ Quán, chữ Hán: 真武觀), is a Taoist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dated to the 11 ...

to Residence of the Governor-General to supply electricity. The workers found the tomb of Lê Chất accidentally. Later, his remains were reburied beside Hanoi Zoo. Hậu Quân Chất Street in Hanoi was named after him during the French colonial period. The street was renamed to Mai Xuân Thưởng Street after th

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Chat Tây Sơn dynasty generals Nguyen dynasty generals Mandarins of the Nguyễn lords 1826 deaths Generals of the Nguyễn lords Nguyen dynasty officials People from Bình Định province