Lê Duy Cận ( vi-hantu, 黎維𬓑, ?–?) or Lê Duy Cẩn, was a Vietnamese prince during

Revival Lê dynasty The Revival Lê dynasty ( 茹黎中興; Hán-Việt: 黎中興朝 ''Lê trung hưng triều''), also called the Later Lê Restoration in historiography, officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed between ...

. Cận was the second son of

Lê Hiển Tông Lê Hiển Tông (; 20 May 171710 August 1786), born Lê Duy Diêu, was the penultimate emperor of the Vietnamese Lê dynasty. He reigned from 1740 to 1786 and was succeeded by his grandson Lê Duy Kỳ.Nguyên Thi Minh Hà, Nguyên Thi Thanh B ...

. In 1769, his elder brother, Lê Duy Vĩ, was stripped of his position 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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

and imprisoned by

Trịnh Sâm Trịnh Sâm (, 9 February 1739 – 13 September 1782) ruled northern Vietnam from 1767 to 1782 AD. He ruled with the title "Tĩnh Đô Vương" () and was one of the last of the powerful Trịnh lords. Trịnh Sâm defeated the ancient enemy of t ...

. In the same year, Cận was proclaimed as the new Crown Prince. In 1782,

Trịnh Khải Đoan Nam Vương Trịnh Khải (chữ Hán: 鄭楷, 10 October 1763 – 23 July 1786) was one of the Trịnh lords in northern Vietnam. He fought against the armies of the infant Trịnh Cán to win leadership of the northern warlords (reigning ...

staged a coup and came into power, Cận was deposed and granted the title Sùng Nhượng Công (崇讓公).''

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 ...

'', Basic Records, continued compilation 5 In 1787, Tây Sơn general

Vũ Văn Nhậm Vũ Văn Nhậm (武文任, ?–1788) was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty. At first Nhậm was a low-ranking officer of Nguyễn lord. Later, he committed a crime and had to join Tây Sơn army. Nguyễn Nhạc appreciated his bravery, and mar ...

led an army to attack

Thăng Long 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 d ...

(modern Hanoi).

Lê Chiêu Thống 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. He appealed to the Qing dynasty of China to help regain the th ...

, the successor of Lê Hiển Tông, fled to Bảo Lộc mountain, and Nhậm could not find him. In order to gain popularity among Northern Vietnamese, Nhậm install Cận as "Prince Regent" (監國 ''giám quốc''), but very few people support them. Every day he walked to Nhậm's camp to discuss national affairs, and Nhậm did not know how to deal with the relationship between them. Cận got the nickname from common people, ''đề-lại giám-quốc'' (提吏監國), which means "the prince regent like a petty official".''

Việt Nam sử lược ( vi-hantu, 越南史略, , lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim. It covered the period from ...

'', Quyển 2, Chương 10 Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện, vol. 30 The actions of Vũ Văn Nhậm was reported to Nguyễn Huệ by

Ngô Văn Sở Ngô Văn Sở (, died 1795) was a general of the Tây Sơn dynasty. Born in Tuy Viễn District (modern Tây Sơn District), Bình Định Province, he joined the Tây Sơn army at an early age. In 1787, Vũ Văn Nhậm led an army north into ...

and

Phan Văn Lân Phan Văn Lân (潘文璘, 1730–?) was a general of the Tây Sơn dynasty. He joined the Tây Sơn army in an early time. In 1787, Vũ Văn Nhậm led an army marching north into Tonkin. Lân and Ngô Văn Sở followed the army to assist ...

. Huệ led an army marched north and had Nhậm executed. Huệ retreated from northern Vietnam, Cận remained his position, Sở and Lân were left in Thăng Long to watch him.

Lê Quýnh Lê Quýnh ( vi-hantu, 黎, 1750–1805) was a Vietnamese mandarin during Revival Lê dynasty. In 1787, a Tây Sơn general, Vũ Văn Nhậm, marched north to attack the capital Thăng Long (now Hanoi). After the fall of Thăng Long, Lê Chi� ...

, a supporter of Lê Chiêu Thống, described that Cận was "a silly man".'' Qing Gaozong Shilu'' (清高宗實錄), vol. 1316, ''date Renwu, November, the 53rd year of Qianlong'' (乾隆五十三年戊申十一月壬午): "據孫士毅詢之陪臣黎稱維𬓑爲人癡呆"

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led 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 Ming dynasty ...

invaded Vietnam to reinstall the deposed emperor Lê Chiêu Thống. Ngô Văn Sở ordered Cận to write a letter to the Qing viceroy

Sun Shiyi Sun Shiyi (, Vietnamese: Tôn Sĩ Nghị; 1720 – 1796), courtesy name Zhizhi (), pseudonym Bushan (), was an official of the Qing dynasty who served as the Viceroy of Liangguang and of Liangjiang during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. ...

. Cận described himself as a popular ruler and tried to persuade Sun to retreat. But it was rejected by Sun. On 22 December 1788, Nguyễn Huệ proclaimed himself emperor Quang Trung and formally declared that the Lê dynasty had ended. Huệ then led an army march north, defeated the Qing army, and banished Lê Chiêu Thống again. Cận's name was not mentioned in the later history records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Duy Can L D 18th-century Vietnamese monarchs 18th-century regents Royalty from Hanoi