VIETNAM ( SERIES -19 )
EMPEROR LE LONG DINH OF DAI CO VIET
LE LONG DINH , also known as LE NGOA TRIEU , was the last king of the early LE DYNASTY of the Kingdom of DAI CO VIET . He ruled the Kingdom from 1005 AD to 1009 AD . After killing his brother LE LONG VIET, he took over the throne and named his era as CANH THUY . His mysterious death at the age of 24 led the fall of Early LE DYNASTY . Then all the power was seized by House of LY . LE LONG DINH was the fifth son of Emperor LE HOAN who was born on 15th November 986 AD . But his mother appeared to be a concubine whose name was DIEU NU . And thus , he was the half brother of the DUKE of NAM PHONG , LE LONG VIET . In 1005 AD , LE DAI HANH ( LE HOAN ) died at TRUONG XUAN PALACE . The Crown Prince LE LONG VIET contested for the Crown with the other three brothers— LE LONG TICH , LE LONG KINH and LE LONG DINH . All of them used forces and fought for eight months continuously . LE LONG VIET defeated LE LONG TICH in October 1005 AD . LE LONG TICH fled to CHAMPA where he was killed by the local people at CO LA Estuary . And LE LONG VIET proclaimed himself as Emperor of DAI CO VIET with title TRUNG TONG HOANG DE means the Emperor of TRUNG TONG . However , after reigning for three days , he was killed by the intruders deployed by LE LONG DINH . And nobody remained in the palace to take over the dead body of LE LONG VIET except the future Ruler LY CONG UAN who later on founded the LY DYNASTY in DAI CO VIET after the death of the Emperor LE LONG DINH in 1009 AD . In this way LE LONG DINH took over the throne in the winter of 1005 AD .
FOREIGN RELATION AND GETTING BUDDHIST SUTRAS AND OTHER CLASSICS
In 1007 AD , LE LONG DINH ordered his brother to give a White Pangolin as a gift to the SONG DYNASTY in exchange to get BUDDHIST SUTRA and other 9 CHINESE classics like : 1. I CHING ; 2. CLASSIC OF POETRY ; 3. BOOK OF DOCUMDNTS ; 4. BOOK OF RITES ; 5. SPRING ANNALS ; 6. AUTUMN ANNALS ; 7. CLASSIC OF FILIAL PIETY ; 8. ANALECTS ; and 9. MENCIUS . These were the nine classics of CHINESE CIVILIZATION . SONG Emperor approved the DAI VIET proposal and gave it to the VIETNAMESE Ambassador . All these books for the first time came to VIETNAM under the reign of LE LONG DINH . With high self-esteem and respect to the tributary activities of DAI CO VIET , SONG Emperor refused to invade DAI CO VIET despite the advice of the CHINESE MANDARINS to the SONG Emperor after the death of The Emperor LE HOAN in 1005 AD .
A TYRANT CALLED LE LONG DINH
As per the COMPLETE ANNALS OF DAI VIET , LE LONG DINH was one of the most brutal and sadistic Rulers of VIETNAM . That’s why his reign was called as the reign of terror and thus he was compared to the ROMAN Emperors like CALIGULA and COMMODUS so far as their traits of excess cruelty were concerned . LE LONG DINH excess of cruelties could be enumerated as follows : 1. He used to execute innocent people for entertaining purposes such as tying them with hay to burn to death ; 2. He used to call an executioner from SONG CHINA to gradually mutilate victims to death slowly by using blunt bladed swords and axes and the Emperor was said to have delighted in the deaths of his victims ; 3. The war prisoners were ordered to take them to the riverside to be cramed into cages along the river banks and when the high tides came in at dusk , the Emperor would watch them drown slowly ; 4. The Emperor sometimes stuck livestock such as pigs or cows to death for feasts as such ; 5. At court banquets he killed cats and served them to his guests and court officials and make them to eat the cats ; and 6. The Emperor , afterwards , would play around with their severed heads in front of the court audience for frightening them and reducing their chances of questioning his audacity . According to the historians in DAI VIET history , he had contacted hemorrhoids/piles , that’s why he often used to hold court while lying down . He held the throne of DAI CO VIET for four short years until he died in a mysterious circumstances in 1009 AD at the age of 24 . His son SA was still a child , so under the management of the court officials , LY CONG UAN became the Emperor of DAI CO VIET . Thus , the rule of LY DYNASTY started in the country .
NOTE : THE SOURCES OF THE BLOG ARE TEXT BOOKS AND OTHER WRITTEN MATERIALS ON THE SUBJECT .
TO BE CONTINUED ………………………
ARBIND KUMAR BLOG 
Another very interesting article, as usual. I was horrified by the atrocities committed by Le Long Dinh, even though I know, as you wrote, that some Roman emperors were just as cruel
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Thanks !
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😳😤 Vahşet.
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Thanks !
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