The Lê Văn Khôi revolt (, 1833–1835) was an important revolt in 19th-century Vietnam, in which southern Vietnamese, Vietnamese Catholics, French Catholic missionaries and Chinese settlers under the leadership of Lê Văn Khôi opposed the rule of Emperor

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 ...

Origin

The revolt was caused by the prosecutions launched by Minh Mạng against southern factions which had opposed his rule and tended to be favourable to Christianity. In particular, Minh Mạng prosecuted Lê Văn Duyệt, a former faithful general of Emperor

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 ...

, who had opposed his enthronement. Since Lê Văn Duyệt had already died in July 1832, his tomb was profaned and inscribed with the words "This is the place where the infamous Lê Văn Duyệt was punished".

Start of the revolt

Lê Văn Khôi, the adoptive son of general Lê Văn Duyệt, had also been imprisoned, but managed to escape on 10 May 1833. Soon, numerous people joined the revolt, in the desire to avenge Lê Văn Duyệt and challenge the legitimacy 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 ...

Catholic support

Lê Văn Khôi declared himself in favour of the restoration of the line of Prince Cảnh, the original heir to

according to the rule of

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

, in the person of his remaining son An-hoa. This choice was designed to obtain the support of Catholic missionaries and Vietnamese Catholics, who had supported the line of Prince Cảnh with Lê Văn Duyệt. Lê Văn Khôi further promised to protect Catholicism.McLeod, p. 30 On 18 May 1833, the rebels managed to take the

Citadel of Saigon The Citadel of Saigon ( ) also known as the Citadel of Gia Định (; Chữ Hán: 嘉定城 ) was a late 18th-century fortress that stood in Saigon (also known in the 19th century as Gia Định, now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam from its constructi ...

(''Thanh Phien-an''). Lê Văn Khôi was able to conquer six provinces of Gia Dinh in the span of one month.Chapuis, p. 192 The main actors of the revolt were Vietnamese Christians and Chinese settlers who had been suffering from the rule of Minh Mạng.

Siamese support

As Minh Mạng raised an army to quell the rebellion, Lê Văn Khôi fortified himself into the Saigon fortress and asked for the help of the Siamese. Rama III, king of Siam, accepted the offer and sent troops to attack the Vietnamese provinces of Ha-tien and An-giang and Vietnamese imperial forces in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. The Siamese troops were accompanied by 2,000 Vietnamese Catholic troops under the command of Father Nguyen Van Tam. These Siamese and Vietnamese forces were repelled in summer 1834 by General Truong Minh Giang. Lê Văn Khôi died in 1834, during the siege, and was succeeded by his 8-year-old son Le Van Cu.

Defeat and repression

It took three years for Minh Mạng to quell the rebellion and the Siamese offensive. When the fortress of Phien An was invaded in September 1835, 1,831 people were executed and buried in mass graves (now situated in the intersection between District 10 and District 3, Saigon). Only six survivors were temporarily spared, among whom were Le Van Cu, but also the French missionary Father Joseph Marchand, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Marchand had apparently been supporting the cause of Lê Văn Khôi, and asked for the help of the Siamese army, through communications to his counterpart in Siam, Father Taberd. This revealed the strong Catholic involvement in the revolt. Father Marchand was tortured and executed on 5 November 1835, as was the child Le Van Cu. The failure of the revolt had a disastrous effect on the Christian communities of Vietnam.Wook, p. 95 New waves of persecutions against Christians followed, and demands were made to find and execute remaining missionaries. Anti-Catholic edicts to this effect were issued by Minh Mạng in 1836 and 1838. In 1836–1837 six missionaries were executed: Ignacio Delgado, Dominico Henares, Jean-Charles Cornay, José Fernández, François Jaccard, and Bishop Pierre Borie.''The Cambridge History of Christianity'', p. 517
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Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Van Khoi Revolt 19th century in Vietnam Military history of Ho Chi Minh City Rebellions in the Nguyễn dynasty Rebellions in Asia Peasant revolts 1833 in Vietnam 1834 in Vietnam 1835 in Vietnam Conflicts in 1833 Conflicts in 1834 Conflicts in 1835 19th-century rebellions Wars involving Vietnam Wars involving Thailand 19th century in Siam