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Vietnam – Later Le Dynasty (1428-1527)
Nghi Dan – Emperor: 1459-60
Bronze Thein Hong Thong Bao Cash Token 24mm, Struck 1459-1460
Reference: B 34.1, H 25.15, T 163
Chinese Symbols.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Marquis Lệ Đức (Vietnamese: Lệ Đức hầu Hán tự: 厲德侯, June 1439 – 6 June
1460), born Lê Nghi Dân (黎宜民), was the fourth emperor of Lê dynasty in Vietnam.
He ruled the country for a short time, about eight months until be deposed by a
group of court officials. As he was deposed in a coup, later he was not given
any temple name. Contents
1 Biography 2 Diên Ninh coup 3 Reign 4 See also 5 References
Biography
He was the eldest son of Emperor Lê Thái Tông and Consort Dương Thị Bí. He
became Crown Prince in 1440, however, was deposed in 1441 and replaced by his
younger half-brother, Prince Lê Bang Cơ. He was given title of Prince Lạng Sơn (Lạng
Sơn vương, 諒山王). After the premature death of Lê Thái Tông in 1442, the one year
old infant Lê Bang Cơ was enthroned as emperor, posthumously known as Lê Nhân
Tông.[1] Diên Ninh coup
On 3 October 1459, Lê Nghi Dân launched a coup that killed Emperor Lê Nhân
Tông, and then declared himself as Emperor. Reign
He put the Era name as Thiên Hưng (天興). The young emperor was very ambitious,
and tried to reform the government. He changed the administrative system to “six
ministries, six departments” which was considered as a brilliant policy and this
system still be followed by his successors. For the foreign affairs, he
requested the Ming Dynasty not to pay pearls as tribute. He also titled his
brothers, Prince Lê Tư Thành as Prince Gia (Gia vương, 嘉王), Prince Lê Khắc Xương
as Prince Cung (Cung vương, 恭王) and gave them new palaces as new properties.[2]
However, he was largely unsupported by many imperial court officials because
he killed his brother, Emperor Lê Nhân Tông as a “inhuman” action.[3] During his
short-time reign, he had to face many conflicts and coups from the old
officials, who followed his grandfather and father since dynasty foundation
period. The Vietnamese historians reported the series of coups during Thiên
Hưng’s era as Thiên Hưng coup.
In May 1460, some officials, notably Đỗ Bí, Lê Ngang, Lê Thụ secretly
discussed about a coup against Lê Nghi Dân, but the discussion was leaked out
and all of them were put to death.[4]
After this affair, emperor Thiên Hưng became more suspicious and he started
installed his inner supporters into the Royal court’s important official
positions. It made him even more unpopular among court officials, and they
finally began plotting against him.
In 6 June 1460, a group of officials, notably Nguyễn Xí, Đinh Liệt, Lê Lăng,
Lê Niệm, Nguyễn Đức Trung, launched another coup and successfully deposed Thiên
Hưng Đế.[5] He was demoted to Marquis of Lệ Đức (Lệ Đức hầu, 厲德侯), and does not
have any royal mausoleum like the other Vietnamese rulers. Some unofficial
reports stated that the coup leaders drove him to suicide, and Thiên Hưng Đế
died in 1460, at the age of 21. However, also some others stated that he and her
mother were just sent to exiled to Lạng Sơn and he lived there until his death
in 1460.
After the coup, the coup leaders wanted to put the second prince of Emperor
Lê Thái Tông, Prince Lê Khắc Xương to the throne, but received his refusal.
Therefore, they decided to place Prince Lê Tư Thành as the fifth Emperor of Lê
dynasty.[6]
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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