Trịnh Giang ( vi-hantu, 鄭杠; 14 October 1711 – 30 December 1762) ruled northern

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 ...

(

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 ...

) from 1729 to 1740. His title as ruling lord (''chua'') was ''Uy Nam Vương''. He was one 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 ...

who ruled Vietnam. He was a bad ruler, being wasteful, inept, and callous.

History

Trịnh Giang was the son of his predecessor Trịnh Cương. He is considered one of the worst of the Trịnh lords. During his years in power, he spent money on luxuries and did little about the growing problem of landless peasants in the countryside. Also, a series of natural disasters struck, floods caused ruin for many villages and yet Trịnh Giang did nothing to relieve the suffering. Instead, he obtained (through rich gifts) a new title from the

Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing em ...

of China, Supreme King of Annam (). This foolish action provoked a rash of revolts as the people felt he was usurping the title of the Lê Emperor. By 1737, his government had run out of money and had to put public offices up for sale.

A
mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
could gain a step in rank by the payment of six hundred strings of cash, and the commonest man in the kingdom was able to obtain the highest rank by the payment of two thousand eight hundred strings.

In the midst of revolts and

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, Trịnh Giang turned the government over to a favored

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

in 1738. Two years later he was deposed and

Trịnh Doanh Trịnh Doanh (4 December 1720 – 15 February 1767) ruled northern Vietnam (Tonkin) from 1740 to 1767 (he ruled with the title ''Minh Đô Vương''). Trịnh Doanh was the third son of Trịnh Cương, and belonged to the line of Trịnh lords w ...

took over. As far as 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 ...

was concerned, the king, Hôn Đức Công (1729–1732), was imprisoned shortly after assuming the throne and was then murdered after three years.Thê ́Anh Nguyêñ, Alain Forest > Notes sur la culture et la religion en péninsule indochinoise 1995 Page 141 "Depuis le règne de Trinh Giang (1729-1740), le pouvoir était déstabilisé au fil des dépositions et des désignations arbitraires de successeurs. Trinh Giang avait déposé puis fait assassiner l'empereur Lê Duy Phuong, qu'il avait remplace par ." He was replaced by Lê Thuần Tông (1732–1735) who was in turn replaced by Lê Ý Tông (1735–1740).

Sources

*''Encyclopedia of Asian History'', Volume 4. 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
Annam and its Minor Currency
Chapter 16 (downloaded May 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinh, Giang Trịnh lords 1762 deaths 1711 births 18th-century Vietnamese monarchs

History

See also

Sources