Chapter 5 : ĐINH DYNASTY and PRIOR LÊ DYNASTY

 

Đinh Dynasty:

At that time, 12 warlords divided the kingdom among themselves and fought one another. Starting from the mountainous region of Gia Viễn (present-day Ninh Bình Province), Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (924-979) defeated them all one after another, and unified the country in 976.

The next year, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh made himself Emperor, named the country Đại Cồ Việt, established his imperial capital at Hoa Lư (Ninh Bình), and reorganized the army and administration. He also coined Thái Bình Hưng Bảo and maintained a good relationship with the Song Dynasty in China. The country began to enter stability and development.

Prior Lê Dynasty:

The murder of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh in 979 brought to the throne his six-year-old son, Đinh Toàn. Home affairs were unstable. Meanwhile, a Song expeditionary corps was sent to conquer Vietnam. To deal with this danger, Queen Mother Dương Vân Nga decided to transfer the throne from her son to a young talented general, Lê Hoàn (941-1005). The latter himself led the resistance war, defeating the Song invaders on both land and water in 981, thus saving the country. He founded the Anterior Lê Dynasty, lasting from 980 to 1009, maintain the imperial capital in Hoa Lư.

 

Chapter 6  here.

 

VIETNAM – A BRIEF HISTORY IN PICTURES

Compiled by: HIẾU MINH – HUYỀN TRANG (in Vietnamese language)

With an introduction of Historian DƯƠNG TRUNG QUỐC

Illustrated by TẠ HUY LONG

Translated by: NGUYỄN XUÂN HỒNG

P/s: Completed by the volunteers: Nguyễn Ngọc Bích – Second-year student of Foreign Trade University; Takanori Kano from Japan; Antoine Roels from Belgium; Linh – The coordinator of SJ Vietnam.