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Vietnam – Later Le Dynasty (1428-1527)
Nhan Tong – Emperor: 1443-1459
Bronze Thai Hoa Thong Bao Cash Token 24mm, Struck 1443-1459
Reference: B 32.20, T 054
Chinese Symbols.
Wide Rim, One-dot Tong.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Lê Nhân Tông (黎仁宗, 28 May 1441 – 25 October 1459), birth name Lê Bang
Cơ (黎邦基) was emperor of Vietnam, the third monarch of the House of Lê from 1453
till his murder in a coup in 1459. He was a grandson of the hero-emperor Lê Lợi.
During nearly all of his short reign, the real power behind the throne was his
mother, Empress Dowager Tuyên Từ, a Royal Consort of Emperor Lê Thái Tông.
Biography
With the sudden death of Lê Thái Tông, his heir was an infant son named Bang
Co, mothered by Royal Consort Nguyen Thi Anh. He was the third son of his
father, but the elder son (Le Nghi Dân) had been officially passed over due to
his mother’s low social status.
The government was actually under the control of Trinh Kha. Trịnh Khả was a
long-time aide, friend, and counselor of Lê Lợi. By 1442, he was the first among
the surviving top aides of Lê Lợi, the others had been killed or were second
rank. Despite the dangers of having an infant on the throne, the government
seems to have run well with no serious problems. The mother of the emperor,
Empress Dowager Tuyên Từ was around 21 years old when her son was appointed the
future emperor, over time she assumed more power in the government.
The next 17 years were good years for Vietnam. While some disputes surfaced
between the Confucian scholars and the noble families, by and large things were
fairly peaceful and prosperous for the country.
The king of Champa, Maha Vijaya, raided Hoa-chau in 1444 and 1445. The Court
of Annam sent messages to the Zhengtong Emperor of Ming China protesting these
raids. The Ming did nothing other than rebuke Champa, so in 1446 the Vietnamese
sent an army under the command of Le Kha and Le Tho to enter Cham territory. The
campaign was successful, with the capture of the Cham capital Vijaya. “Maha
Vijaya was made prisoner with his wives and concubines, elephants, horses, and
weapons.” 115
The Vietnamese were driven out a year later. However, the Cham did not
mount another offensive against the Vietnamese for the next twenty years.
In 1451, for reasons that are unclear, Anh ordered the execution of Trịnh Khả
and his eldest son. Two years later, Trịnh Khả was officially pardoned along
with several other close advisors to Le Loi who had been killed (like Lê Sát).
The pardon occurred in conjunction with the official ascension to power of Lê
Nhân Tông, though he was only 12 years old at the time.
It is unknown why a 12-year-old boy was formally given the power of
government since ancient Vietnamese custom stated that power could only be given
when a boy became a man at the age of 16. It may have been done to remove the
Empress Nguyen Thi Anh from power, but if that was the reason, it failed- the
young emperor’s mother still controlled the government up until the 1459 coup.
In 1459, Lê Nhân Tông’s older brother, Lê Nghi Dân, plotted with a group of
officials to kill the emperor. On October 28, the plotters with some 100
“shiftless men” entered into the palace and killed the emperor (he was just 18).
The next day, facing certain execution, his mother, Empress Dowager Tuyên Từ,
was killed by a loyal servant.
So ended the nearly 20-year period when Vietnam was essentially ruled by a
woman. Later Vietnamese historians offered two different pictures of this time,
one court historian said this was a period of benevolent rule, with harmony in
the court and idyllic peace in the land. Another history says the court was in
chaos and that having a woman rule the state was as unnatural as “a hen crowing
at daybreak”. Good counselors like Trịnh Khả had been removed from office and
inept men had been elevated, bringing oppression and calamity to Vietnam.
Lê Nghi Dân would not long enjoy his rule; he was removed from power and
killed in a counter-coup just 9 months later. The next emperor of Vietnam was
the last son of Lê Thái Tông: Lê Thánh Tông, perhaps the greatest emperor in
Vietnamese history.
The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty (Vietnamese: Hậu
Lê triều Hán tự: 後黎朝 or Vietnamese: nhà Hậu Lê Hán tự: 家後黎 was the
longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê
dynasty is divided into two historical periods – the Early period (Lê sơ triều,
Hán tự: 黎初朝; 1428–1527) before usurpation by the Mạc dynasty (1527–1683), in
which emperors ruled in their own right, and the restored period or Revival Lê (Lê
Trung hưng triều, Hán tự: 黎中興朝; 1533–1789), in which figurehead emperors reigned
under the auspices of the powerful Trịnh family. The Restored Lê period is
marked by two lengthy civil wars: the Lê–Mạc War (1533–1592) in which two
dynasties battled for legitimacy in northern Vietnam and the Trịnh–Nguyễn War
(1627–1672) between the Trịnh family in Tonkin and the Nguyễn lords of the
South.
The dynasty officially began in 1428 with the enthronement of Lê Lợi after he
drove the Ming army from Vietnam. The dynasty reached its peak during the reign
of Lê Thánh Tông and declined after his death in 1497. In 1527, the Mạc dynasty
usurped the throne; when the Lê dynasty was restored in 1533, the Mạc fled to
the far north and continued to claim the throne during the period known as
Southern and Northern Dynasties. The restored Lê emperors held no real power,
and by the time the Mạc dynasty was finally eradicated in 1677, actual power lay
in the hands of the Trịnh lords in the North and Nguyễn lords in the South, both
ruling in the name of the Lê emperor while fighting each other. The Lê dynasty
officially ended in 1789, when the peasant uprising of the Tây Sơn brothers
defeated both the Trịnh and the Nguyễn, ironically in order to restore power to
the Lê dynasty.
The Lê dynasty continued the nam tiến expansion of Vietnam’s borders
southwards through the domination of the Kingdom of Champa and expedition into
today Laos and Myanmar, nearly reaching Vietnam’s modern borders by the time of
the Tây Sơn uprising. It also saw massive changes to Vietnamese society: the
previously Buddhist state became Confucian after the preceding 20 years of Ming
rule. The Lê emperors instituted many changes modeled after the Chinese system,
including the civil service and laws. Their long-lasting rule was attributed to
the popularity of the early emperors. Lê Lợi’s liberation of the country from 20
years of Ming rule and Lê Thánh Tông’s bringing the country into a golden age
was well-remembered by the people. Even though the restored Lê emperors’ rule
was marked by civil strife and constant peasant uprisings, few dared to openly
challenge their power for fear of losing popular support. The Lê dynasty also
was the period Vietnam saw the coming of Western Europeans and Christianity in
early 16th-century.
Cash was a type of coin of China and East Asia, used from the 4th century BC until the 20th century AD. Originally cast during the Warring States period, these coins continued to be used for the entirety of Imperial China as well as under Mongol, and Manchu rule. The last Chinese cash coins were cast in the first year of the Republic of China. Generally most cash coins were made from copper or bronze alloys, with iron, lead, and zinc coins occasionally used less often throughout Chinese history. Rare silver and gold cash coins were also produced. During most of their production, cash coins were cast but, during the late Qing dynasty, machine-struck cash coins began to be made. As the cash coins produced over Chinese history were similar, thousand year old cash coins produced during the Northern Song dynasty continued to circulate as valid currency well into the early twentieth century.
In the modern era, these coins are considered to be Chinese “good luck coins”; they are hung on strings and round the necks of children, or over the beds of sick people. They hold a place in various superstitions, as well as Traditional Chinese medicine, and Feng shui. Currencies based on the Chinese cash coins include the Japanese mon, Korean mun, Ryukyuan mon, and Vietnamese văn.
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