Lý Thái Tổ

Lý Thái Tổ (李太祖)
Statue at Hoàn Kiếm Lake in Hanoi
Personal name	Lý Công Uẩn (李 公 蘊)
Born	March 8, 974 in Cổ Pháp , Đình Bảng, Đại Cồ Việt
Died	March 31, 1028 in Thăng Long , Đại Cồ Việt
title	King of Đại Cồ Việt
Term of office	1009 to 1028
predecessor	Lê Ngọa Triều , born as Lê Long Đĩnh
successor	Lý Thái Tông , born as Lý Phật Mã
dynasty	(Later) Lý (李朝)
Temple name	Thái Tổ (太祖)
Era name	Thuận Thiên
Era period	1010 to 1028
Posthumous title	Thần Vũ Hoàng đế
Royal tomb	Thọ Lăng , Thiên Đức phủ

Ly Thai To ( chữ Hán :李太祖, March 8 974 in Lý Bát Đế Shrine , † 31 March 1028 in the citadel Thang Long ), maiden name Lý Công Uan (李公蘊) was 1009-1028 ruler of the kingdom of Dai CO Việt (大 瞿 越) in what is now North Vietnam and founder of the Lý dynasty . During his reign he made great efforts to reform the state administration and secure the external borders of the empire. In 1010 he had the capital Đại Cồ Việts of Hoa Lư relocated to the i La fortification and named his new residence Thăng Long . This means that the Vietnamese consider him the founder of the capital Hanoi , whose 1000th anniversary was celebrated in 2010.

Childhood and youth

Lý Công Uẩn was born on March 8, 974 in the village of Cổ Pháp in the municipality of Đình Bảng, district of Từ S Bezirkn, in today's province of Bắc Ninh, to a peasant family. His father was called Hiển Khánh Vương , his mother, who is said to have died soon after birth, was Minh Đức thái hậu Phạm thị .

Various versions have come down to us about his childhood. One version reports that his mother took him to the Cổ Pháp Điện temple complex (now Lý Bát Đế Shrine ) when he was three years old . The chief monk Lý Khánh Văn adopted him and named him Lý Công Uẩn (李 公 蘊). In the following years he was educated as a disciple of Buddhism by the monks of the temple . Later he followed the new chief monk Vạn Hạnh (938-1025), who was an influential cleric and scholar in the earlier Lê dynasty , to the court of the then capital Hoa Lư and brought it there in the courtly guard as far as Tả Thân Vệ Điện Tiền Chỉ Huy Sứ , the "Commander of the left flank of the palace".

Political activity

In 1009 Lê Ngọa Triều (also Lê Long Đĩnh ) died childless under mysterious circumstances at the age of 24. This monarch had incurred the wrath of the people for the brutality of his rule. The imperial official Đào Cam Mộc and the monk Lý Vạn Hạnh used their political influence to enthrone their protégé Lý Công Uẩn without much resistance from the courtiers, thus ending the era of the earlier Lê dynasty. After his accession to the throne in Hoa Lư, Lý Công Uẩn called his era Thuận Thiên , which means "will of heaven".

Relocation of the capital

The Hoa Lư citadel was strategically located because it was protected by mountains and swamps and could hardly be attacked by invading armies. However, it was too difficult to reach for trade and the spatial requirements for further development of the city were severely limited. This prompted Lý Thái Tổ in 1010, with the royal edict of Chiờu dời đô, to move the capital to the spacious fortifications and settlement Đại La on a tributary of the Red River . This plains location was ideal and, surrounded by rivers and lakes, offered advantageous geography for transport, trade and military mobilization.

According to legend, while driving from Hoa Lư to his new residence on the banks of the Tô Lịch , Lý Thái Tổ had the vision of a yellow dragon rising from the water. Then he changed the name Đại La to Thăng Long (昇 龍, ascending dragon). He had the old Chinese fortification of Đại La expanded into a fortified garrison with a new residence, the architecture of which was based on Chinese models. Further construction measures included the Trường An citadel to strengthen the former capital militarily and the Thiên Đức citadel in the village of Cổ Pháp to honor his place of birth.

Culture and religion

In the beginning Lý dynasty, the country experienced a heyday in politics, administration, art and religion, which was inspired by Lý Thái Tổ. For example, he introduced the water puppet theater known from village festivals in a more refined form at court. Having been raised to be a Buddhist monk, Ly Thai To practiced Buddhism strictly and promoted it as a national religion alongside the state ideology of Confucianism . He supported the Buddhist clergy and its institutions and donated large sums for the construction of pagodas ( Vietnamese Chùa ) all over Đại Cồ Việt. This basic religious and social mood also led many citizens to join Buddhist monasteries and institutions. Religious dignitaries were sent to study at the court of the Song Dynasty to learn the canon of Buddhism, the three-basket sutra Tam tạng (in Sanskrit Tripiṭaka ).

Legislation and Foreign Policy

During his reign, Lý Thái Tổ improved relations with the neighboring kingdoms and stabilized the political infrastructure by combating the clan economy of the regional nobles, introducing the civil service and centralizing the administration. Lý Thái Tổ regulated civil coexistence with a large number of royal edicts and ordinances. He made the tax system more transparent and efficient through a system of six types of taxes: taxes on fishing and seafood production, on agricultural production, on fruit and vegetables, on wood and building materials, on salt production and a tax on luxury products made of ivory, gold, silk and other precious materials. All these measures led to a flourishing economic development of Đại Cồ Việt.

The Song dynasty, which ruled the Chinese Empire from 960 to 1279 AD, struggled to stabilize their empire internally during the reign of Lý Thái Tổ. This created a certain willingness to overcome the ongoing conflicts with the neighbor Đại Cồ Việt and to re-establish diplomatic relations between the empires. For the Chinese, the difficult neighbor was the autonomous Chinese province of Giao Chỉ (Jiaozhi). Lý Thái Tổ sent a number of envoys to the Song court who conveyed his demand that Đại Cồ Việt be recognized as an independent kingdom. Emperor Song Zhenzong finally agreed and sent envoys to the court of Thăng Long, who authorized Lý Thái Tổ to replace the title of governor of Giao Chỉ with the title of king of Đại Việt.

In this capacity Lý Thái Tổ signed treaties with the kingdoms of the Champa and the Chenla , which made them vassals of Đại Cồ Việt with the obligation to pay annual tributes . This also stabilized relations with the southern and western neighbors. Lý Thái Tổ personally led the army to put down some small rebellions in Nghệ An and the southwestern highlands. In the Lý dynasty, the royal princes and some high officials and commanders were given the title Vương (king). This title granted them the right to lead their own regiments into battle. Solid training in martial arts, tactics and strategy was offered at the court. With the division of the empire into 24 Lộ (command offices ) he strengthened the strategic readiness for defense.

death

Lý Thái Tổ died on March 31, 1028 at the age of 55 in his residence Thăng Long. His royal tomb Thọ Lăng was erected outside the palace Thiên Đức phủ at his birthplace Cổ Pháp. The temple name was Thái Tổ (about "highest progenitor") and the posthumous title Thần Vũ Hoàng đế . In the temple complex Cổ Pháp Điện , today's main hall was built in his honor in the year of his death.

Lý Thái Tổ had 13 daughters and at least eight sons with nine queens, including Lý Phật Mã (later Lý Thái Tông ), son of Queen Lê Thị Phất Ngân , as well as the princes Lý Bồ, Lý Lực and Lý Nhật Quang. After the king's death, a dispute for the throne broke out between his sons, with a younger son attempting to kill the eldest Lý Phật Mã, who was destined to succeed him. The guards of Lý Phật Mã succeeded in overpowering the younger brother, so that Lý Thái Tổ's successor was granted.

gallery

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  Statues of Lý Thái Tổ and Lý Thái Tông in the main hall of the Lý Bát Đế shrine

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  Altar for Lý Thái Tổ in the Lý Bát Đế shrine

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  Statue of Lý Thái Tổ in the Kiến Sơ pagoda in Gia Lâm, a district of Hanoi

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  Monument to Lý Thái Tổ in Bắc Ninh

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  The old capital Hoa Lư

Web links

Commons : Lý Thái Tổ  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Lý Thái Tổ in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp, GS Đặng Vũ Khiêu et al. (Ed.): The collective culture of 1000 years of Tăng Long . NXB Văn Hóa - Thông Tin, 2009 ( Vietnamese National Library [accessed May 17, 2016] Vietnamese: Tổng tập Nghìn năm văn hiến Thăng Long .).