TAY SON DYNASTY OF DAI VIET
TAY SON DYNASTY was founded in DAI VIET in wake of a rebellion against both the NGUYEN LORDS and TRINH LORDS . Three brothers , who established this Dynasty , were from the district of TAY SON of DAI VIET . TAY SON means ‘western mountains’. The century-long war between NGUYEN LORDS and TRINH LORDS were ended by all the three brothers of TAY SON . They also fought of an attack by QING CHINA and , thus united the country for the first time in 200 years . These brothers were : 1. NGUYEN NHAC ; 2. NGUYEN HUE ; and 3. NGUYEN LU . But we should not take them as relatives of NGUYEN LORDS . They were different and they were from TAY SON . The TRINH LORDS , who ruled the north from the Imperial Court in THANG LONG , and the NYUYEN LORDS in the south, who ruled from their capital in HUE , were local Lords despite the fact that there still existed the rule of the LE DYNASTY over VIETNAM in the 18th century . Both sides plunged into war frequently for the control of the country as a whole . For that the life of the people of DAI VIET was that of hardship . Peasantry were passing through a very uncertain phases of history . Ownership of land were concentrated in the hands of a handful landlords . The Imperial bureaucracy had become corrupt and oppressive . Imperial examination degrees were sold out to whoever was wealthy enough to purchase them . The common people grew poorer and poorer , and ruling lords lived lavishly in their colossal palaces .
CONQUEST OF NGUYEN LORDS BY TAY SON BROTHERS
The second brother of the TAY SON BROTHERS , NGUYEN HUE was the leader . He used to say that his goal was to end the people’s oppression . He wanted to reunite the country and restore the power of the LE EMPEROR in HANOI . The TAY SON BROTHERS styled themselves as the champion of the people . They drew their support from not only poor farmers but also from some indigenous highland tribes . They had promised to remove corrupt officials and redistribute land . So, they in 1771 AD , began a revolt from the village of TAY SON against NGUYEN LORD , PHUC THUAN , (one of the NGUYEN LORDS) who had been ruling over the southern portion of DAI VIET ( VIETNAM ) from 16th to 18th century . In 1773 AD , the TAY SON BROTHERS captured the port of QUI NHON, a coastal city in BINH DINH province in Central VIETNAM , a centre of trade and commerce . The merchants , who suffered under restrictive laws by the NGUYEN LORD , let the uprising by the TAY SON BROTHERS give financial support . NGUYEN realizing the serious scale of revolt , tried to buy peace , but their problems multiplied when TRINH SAM chose to end the hundred-year peace (treaty) and exploit the turmoil in the south by attacking PHU XUAN, the capital of NGUYEN . The TRINH army captured the city , forcing NGUYEN to flee to GIA DINH (SIAGON) . In 1776 AD , the TAY SON army captured the last NGUYEN stronghold of GIA DINH and massacred the CHINESE population present there . Later the entire NGUYEN family was killed at the end of the seige . NGUYEN ANH, a nephew of NGUYEN LORD , anyhow, escaped to SIAM to save his life . NGUYEN NHAC , the elder brother of TAY SON BROTHERS , proclaimed himself Emperor in 1778 AD . Now , conflict with the TRINH LORDS was needed to consolidate the entire VIETNAM .
CONQUEST OF THE TRINH LORDS BY TAY SON BROTHERS
After getting victory over NGUYEN LORDS , NGUYEN HUE decided to destroy the power of the TRINH LORDS . So, in 1786 AD , he with his army marched towards the north . The TRINH LORD fled north into CHINA after a decisive defeat from the army of NGUYEN HUE . And NANYUE HUE later married to princess LE NGOC HAN , the daughter of the LE EMPEROR , LE HIEN TONG to legitimize his position .
The war with the QING DYNASTY started in pretext of the Emperor LE CHIEU TONG’S petition to QIANLONG Emperor of QING CHINA for aid for regaining power in DAI VIET . So, in 1788 AD , a large QING army marched southward to VIETNAM and captured the capital THANG LONG . NGUYEN HUE (TAY SON SECOND BROTHER) organized a new huge army to fight the QING army . He addressed his troops before the battle was to start by saying ,“The QING have invaded our country and occupied the capital city THANG LONG. In our history, the TRUNG SISTERS fought against HAN, DINH TIEN HOANG against the SONG, TRAN HUNG DAO against the MONGOL YUAN, and LE LOI against the MING……..The QING, forgetting what happened to the SONG,YUAN and MING, have invaded our country. We are going to drive them out of our territory.” When the QING army was celebrating the Lunar New Year, in a surprise attack NGUYEN HUE army , with the help of CHINESE PIRATES , defeated them at the battle of NGOC HOI-DONG DA and forced them to retreat . And after the battle , NGUYEN HUE sought to restore the tributary relationship with QING CHINA which the latter accepted in 1789 AD without any question .
THE END OF THE TAY SON DYNASTY AFTER 24 YEARS
NGUYEN HUE ( QUANG TRUNG ) started organizing his army to take avenge on QING. He also provided refuse to anti-MANCHU organizations such as TIANDIHUI and the WHITE LOTUS . All infamous CHINESE PIRATES were granted official positions under the TAY SON Empire. But such plan of attack on QING CHINA was given up due to NGUYEN HUE’S sudden death in 1792 AD . His ten-year old son NGUYEN QUANG TOAN was enthroned as Emperor CANH THINH . But the real power remained with his uncle BUI DAC TUYEN . BUI DAC TUYEN enacted a massive political purge and whoever served under NGUYEN HUE were executed and rest of them left the regime . It weakened the TAY SON DYNASTY which paved the way for NGUYEN ANH ( A NEPHEW OF NGUYEN LORD WHO HAD FLED TO CHINA ) to captured the entire country within ten years from 1792 AD to 1802 AD . With the help of the FRENCH military adventures , NGUYEN ANH occupied QUY NHON citadel in 1800 AD . He occupied PHU XUAN in 1801 AD and forced Emperor NGUYEN QUANG TOAN to flee to THANG LONG but he was captured and executed , thus , ended the 24 years regime of TAY SON DYNASTY ( 1778 AD to 1802 AD ) .
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