THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-122

VIETNAM ( SERIES -40 )

EMPEROR LE THANH TONG OF DAI VIET

LE THANH TONG or LE HAO was an Emperor of DAI VIET. He was the fifth Emperor of the LATER LE DYNASTY who was the longest-reigning Emperor of the Dynasty . He reigned from 1460 AD to 1497 AD . He is considered as one of the greatest Emperors in the history of DAI VIET . As per tradition the Emperors of DAI VIET , they were used to be called by different names . So, apart from LE THANH TONG or LE HAO , he was called by his courtesy name TU THANH , by pseudonym DAO AM CHU NHAN , rhymed name TAO DAN NGUYEN SUY and formal titled as THIEN NAM DONG CHU . He was the fourth son of Emperor LE THAI TONG and his consort Empress NGO THI NGOC DAO . And he was the fourth grandson of the late Emperor LE LOI . The legend surrounding his birth was that , his mother was bestowed a THIEN DONG by the JADE Emperor in her dream . And she started to become pregnant with TU THANH the following day . The JADE Emperor or YUDI was a mythological one of the representatives of the FIRST GOD as per the CHINESE culture and tradition . When TU THANH was three years old , he was brought to the royal palace to be educated like his half brother , the ruling Emperor LE NHAN TONG . In 1445 AD , Emperor LE NHAN TONG issued a decree conferring LE TU THANH as Prince of BINH NGUYEN and sent him to KINH SU to study with other kings in KINH DIEN . TRAN PHONG , one of the officials of KINH DIEN , saw in him an extraordinary person due to his intelligence and a dignified appearance .

ERA OF REFORMS STARTED IN DAI VIET

Two days after the death of Emperor LE NGHI DAN in a coup , Prince LE HAO was proclaimed as an Emperor of DAI VIET at the age of six by the plotters of the Coup in 1459 . The new Emperor appointed these men to the highest positions in his new government . NGUYEN XI became one of the Emperor’s councilors . And DINH LIET was gifted with the post of commander of the royal army of DAI VIET . NGUYEN XI was a general , politician and public servant who had served as a minister for four generations of Rulers during the reign of the later LE DYNASTY . He was also considered as one of the Military genius of DAI VIET. With the constitution of the new government in DAI VIET started an era of reforms which could be studied under following heads : 1. BUREAUCRATIC REFORMS ; 2. LEGAL REFORMS ; 3. ECONOMIC REFORMS ; 4. EDUCATIONAL REFORMS ; 5. REFORMS IN FOREIGN POLICY INITIATIVES ; and 6. CONTROL OF PIRATES .

1. BUREAUCRATIC REFORMS

Emperor LE THANH TONG introduced bureaucratic reforms by replacing the THANH HOA oligarchy of DAI VIET’S southern region with a corps of bureaucrats selected through the CONFUCIAN CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS . He divided the entire government machinery into six ministries . They were as follows : 1. THE MINISTERY OF FINANCE ; 2. THE MINISTERY OF RITES ; 3. THE MINISTERY OF JUSTICE ; 4. THE MINISTERY OF PERSONNEL ; 5. THE MINISTERY OF ARMY ; and 6. THE MINISTERY OF PUBLIC WORKS . For the civil and military administration— both , nine grades of rank were set up . A BOARD OF CENSORS were also set up with royal authority : 1. To monitor the government officials ; and 2. To report about the facts exclusively to the Emperor. However , no such drastic reforms in the governance of the villages were made . The villages were still ruled by their own councils . In 1469 AD , the royal order was passed for : 1. Mapping the country ; 2. Census ; 3. Listing of villages in the country . In the same year , DAI VIET was divided into 13 DAO ( PROVINCES) . Each province was governed by a Governor , a judge and a local army commander . Emperor LE THANH TONG also ordered that a new census should be taken every six years in the country so that the population of the country could be ascertained . And a nation-wide census was conducted in 1490 AD with total population of approximately 3.7 million people . The RED RIVER DELTA was declared as the most populated region the country . Approximately , 8,000 village-level jurisdictions and 36 urban wards were designated . Apart from that , public works including repairing of buildings and granaries were taken up urgently . Moreover , it was ascertained that army should be ready to rebuild and repair irrigation systems after flood . In case of outbreak of diseases , a mechanism was prepared , so that doctors could reach the effected areas . The Emperor employed 5,300 officials into the bureaucratic army by 1471 AD . And all were equally divided into both — the royal court and the provinces . For every three villages , at least , one supervisory officer was appointed . Thus , how a relatively young Emperor , at the age of 25 , restored the stability of DAI VIET by his clear vision and administrative excellence .