Trịnh Cương (

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 鄭棡; 9 July 1686 – 20 December 1729) was the lord who ruled Tonkin from 1709 to 1729 (his title as ruler was ''An Đô Vương''). Trịnh Cương was born to Trịnh Bính, a grandson of the former lord Trịnh Căn. He belonged to the line of

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 ...

who had ruled parts of Vietnam since 1545. Like his great-grandfather and predecessor, Trịnh Căn, his reign was mostly devoted to administrative reforms. __TOC__

Biography

Trịnh Cương ruled Việt Nam during a time of external peace but growing internal strife. He enacted many governmental reforms in both financial matters and judicial rules. His main concern was the growing problem of landless peasants. Unlike the

Nguyễn lords The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...

who were constantly expanding their territory south, the Trịnh lords had little room for expansion. Hence, the land supply was essentially fixed but the population kept growing. Trịnh Cương tried various legislative means to solve the problem. He tried to limit private land holdings. He tried to redistribute the communal fields of the small villages. Nothing really worked and the problem became very serious over the succeeding decades. According to historian R. H. Bruce Lockhart, the governmental reforms enacted by Trịnh Cương and his great-grandfather, Trịnh Căn, made the government more effective but, they also made the government more of a burden to the people. This had the effect of increasing the hatred felt by the people towards the Trịnh rulers 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 ...

. Trịnh Cương passed an edict forbidding people to practice

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in 1712. Like previous efforts to suppress Christianity, this had little real effect in Vietnam. However, he tried to offer the people an alternative, and he had many

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

pagodas constructed during his rule. As far as the Lê dynasty was concerned, the emperor, Lê Dụ Tông, ruled throughout Trịnh Cương's lifetime. The two men died within a few months of each other in 1729.

Sources

*''Encyclopedia of Asian History'', Volume 4. 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
''Annam and its Minor Currency''
Chapter 16 (downloaded May 2006)

Biography

Sources

See also