Trịnh lords

The Trịnh lords (Vietnamese: Chúa Trịnh; Chữ Nôm: 主鄭; 1545–1787), formal title Trịnh princes (Vietnamese: Trịnh vương; Hán tự: 鄭王), also known as Trịnh clan, House of Trịnh were a noble feudal clan who were the de facto rulers of northern Vietnam (namely Đàng Ngoài) while Nguyễn lords ruled southern Vietnam (namely Đàng Trong) during the Later Lê dynasty . Both of two rulers were referred to by their people as Chúa (lord) and controlled their countries while the Later Lê emperors did not have any real power, only maintained their title.[1] The Trịnh lords traced their descent from Trịnh Khả, a friend and advisor to the 15th-century Vietnamese Emperor Lê Lợi. The Trịnh clan had officially 12 lords that ruled Northern Vietnam and the royal court of Later Lê dynasty for more than 2 centuries.

Trịnh lords Chúa Trịnh 鄭主
1545–1787
Trịnh lords court, painted in 17th century
Capital	Đông Kinh
Common languages	Vietnamese
Religion	Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism
Government	Monarchic feudal stratocracy
Lords
• 1545–1570	Trịnh Kiểm (first)
• 1786–1787	Trịnh Bồng (last)
History
• Established	1545
• Disestablished	1787
Currency	Văn
Preceded by Succeeded by Revival Lê dynasty Mạc dynasty Tây Sơn dynasty

Founding of Trịnh lords

Rise of Trịnh family

After the death of emperor Lê Hiến Tông in 1504, Lê dynasty began to decline. In 1527, power-usurping courtier Mạc Đăng Dung gained the opportunity to make a coup on Lê dynasty and seized the throne of emperor Lê Cung Hoàng and established Mạc dynasty ruling kingdom of Đại Việt. In 1533, a general and Lê royalist Nguyễn Kim uprose to make revolution against Mạc dynasty in Thanh Hóa and restore the Lê dynasty. Then, he tried to find the royal successor of Lê dynasty who was the son of emperor Lê Chiêu Tông, prince Lê Duy Ninh and he was enthroned with the title Lê Trang Tông. After 5 years of revolution, most of the southern region of Đại Việt were captured by Revival Lê dynasty, but not the capital city Thăng Long

Origin

The founder of the clan was Trịnh Kiểm, born in Vĩnh Lộc commune, Thanh Hóa province. Trịnh Kiểm was raised in a poor family. He often stole chickens from his neighbors because chicken was his mother's favorite food. When his neighbors found out, they were extremely angry. One day, when Trịnh Kiểm left home, his neighbors abducted his mother and threw her down an abyss. Trịnh Kiểm returned home and panicked due to the disappearance of his mother. When he finally found his mother's body, it was infested with maggots. After the death of his mother, he joined the army of the revival Lê dynasty led by Nguyễn Kim. Because of Trịnh Kiểm's talent, he was given the hand of Kim's daughter Ngọc Bảo, and became his son-in-law. In 1539, Trịnh Kiểm was promoted to general and received the title of the Duke of Dực (Dực quận công). In 1545, after the assassination of Nguyễn Kim, Trịnh Kiểm replaced his father-in-law as the commander of the Lê dynasty royal court and military.

Strengthening of Trịnh family's power

Elimination of Nguyễn lords

Vietnam circa 1540, showing the Mạc in control of the north (pink) while the Nguyễn-Trịnh alliance controls the south (yellow). Champa (green) was a vassal state

In spite of the threat of Mạc dynasty in the north, the priority of Trịnh Kiểm was eliminating the power of the Nguyễn lords. He ordered the killing of the oldest son of Nguyễn Kim (Nguyễn Uông). The second son of Kim, Nguyễn Hoàng fearing that he would face the same fate as his brother, requested Trịnh Kiểm to allow him move south to guard Thuận Hóa province. Trịnh Kiểm feared the political repercussions against him if he killed both brothers. Besides that, Thuận Hóa was far from the capital city and it would allow more opportunity for Trịnh Kiểm to seize control of the whole government. Eventually, Trịnh Kiểm consented to allow Nguyễn Hoàng to guard Thuận Hóa. Trịnh Kiểm established the Trịnh lords regime and firmly ruled in proxy through the Lê dynasty government while Nguyễn Hoàng escaped to Thuận Hóa province and established his own Nguyễn lords regime in the south to oppose the rule of the Trịnh family in the north.

Reinstall Lê emperor as figurehead

In 1556, emperor Lê Trung Tông died without heir, Trịnh Kiểm aimed to seized the throne of Lê dynasty but he was still worried about public opinion. Therefore; he seek to the advice of former mandarin Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm who was living a secluded life. Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm advised Trịnh Kiểm should not take the throne of Lê dynasty although this government was just a puppet. Trịnh Kiểm decided to enthrone one of Lê royal member namely Lê Duy Bang, who was 6th generation of Lê Trừ (older brother of emperor Lê Thái Tổ). Lê Duy Bang took throne with the title Lê Anh Tông and Trịnh lords continually controlled the government with emperor as the figurehead.

In 1570, Trịnh Kiểm died and there was the power struggle between two of his sons Trịnh Cối and Trịnh Tùng. Then, both of them fought each other in the war. Simultaneously, the army of Mạc attacked Lê dynasty from the north and Trịnh Cối was surrendered to Mạc dynasty.Emperor of Mạc The emperor Lê Anh Tông supported Trịnh Cối to become the next Trịnh lords and cooperate with him to defeat Trịnh Tùng. Trịnh Tùng found out this conspiracy then emperor Lê Anh Tông with 4 sons had to flee to the other places. Later, Trịnh Tùng enthroned the youngest son of emperor, prince Đàm as the next emperor with title Lê Thế Tông. After that, Trịnh Tùng searched and capture emperor Lê Anh Tông and murder him.

Lê –Mạc civil war

Main article: Lê–Mạc War

The Trịnh–Nguyễn alliance

In 1520, fearing the ambition of Mạc Đăng Dung, the Nguyễn and the Trịnh left the capital Hanoi (then called Đông Đô) and fled south, taking the young new Emperor Lê Chiêu Tông "under their protection". This was the start of a civil war with Mạc Đăng Dung and his supporters on one side and the Trịnh/Nguyễn supporters on the other side. Thanh Hóa Province, the ancestral home to the Trịnh and the Nguyễn, was the battle ground between the two sides. After several years of warfare, Tông was assassinated in 1524 by Mạc Đăng Dung's supporters. A short time later, the resistance collapsed and both the Trịnh and the Nguyễn leaders were executed. However, this was just the end of the first phase of the civil war because in 1527 Mạc Đăng Dung usurped the throne. He killed his own puppet Emperor Lê Cung Hoàng and started a new dynasty, the Mạc dynasty. Within months the civil war broke out anew. Both the Trịnh and Nguyễn lords again took up arms in Thanh Hóa province and revolted against the Mạc. The leader of this second revolt was Nguyễn Kim. His daughter then married the new young leader of the Trịnh lord Trịnh Kiểm. Within five years, all of the region south of the Red River was under the control of the Nguyễn–Trịnh army but the two families were unable to conquer Ha Noi (known as "Thăng Long" at that time).

The armies of Nguyễn Kim and Trịnh Kiểm captured the summer palace and crowned their own puppet Lê emperor, Lê Trang Tông, in 1533 (in Vietnamese histories this date marks the beginning of the second half of the Later Lê dynasty). The war raged back and forth with the Nguyễn–Trịnh army on one side and the Mạc on the other until an official Ming delegation determined that Mạc Đăng Dung's usurpation of power was not justified. In 1537, a very large Ming army was sent to restore the Lê family. Although Mạc Đăng Dung managed to negotiate his way out of defeat by the Ming, he had to officially recognize the Lê emperor and the Nguyễn–Trịnh rule over the southern part of Vietnam. But the Nguyễn–Trịnh alliance did not accept the Mạc rule over the northern half of the country and so the war continued. In 1541, Mạc Đăng Dung died.

The Trịnh take power

In 1545, Nguyễn Kim was assassinated by an agent of the Mạc. Trịnh Kiểm took this opportunity to assert control over the Nguyễn-Trịnh army. The Trịnh captured more and more of Vietnam from 1545 onwards (nominally fighting on behalf of a new Lê Emperor). Kim had two sons. The younger, Nguyễn Hoàng, was put in charge of new southern provinces of Vietnam in the year 1558. He was to rule the southern lands for the next 55 years and his descendants ruled them for the next 150 years.

In 1570, Trịnh Kiểm died and was succeeded by his second son Trịnh Tùng. Tùng was a very vigorous leader and he captured Hanoi from the Mạc Emperor in 1572. However, the Mạc Emperor (Mạc Mau Hop) recaptured the city the next year. The war continued at a low level for two decades, the Trịnh gradually gaining strength, the Mạc gradually weakening. In 1592, Tùng launched a major invasion and again captured Hanoi. This time the Royal (Trịnh) army captured the Mạc Emperor and executed him. Over the next few years the remaining Mạc armies were defeated in battles. In this "mopping-up" campaign, the Trịnh were helped by the Nguyễn army.

As the years passed, Hoàng became increasingly secure in his rule over the southern province and increasingly independent. While he cooperated with the Trịnh against the Mạc, he ruled the frontier lands as a king. With the final conquest of the north, the independence of the Nguyễn was less and less tolerable to the Trịnh. In 1600, with the ascension of a new Emperor, Lê Kinh Tông, Hoàng broke relations with the Trịnh-dominated court, although he continued to acknowledge the Lê emperor. Matters continued like this until Hoàng's death in 1613. The historical victory of the Trịnh' over the Mạc was a common theme in public Vietnamese theaters.[2]

The Trịnh–Nguyễn War

Main article: Trịnh–Nguyễn War

Vietnam circa 1640, showing (roughly) the areas controlled by the Trịnh, Nguyễn, Mạc, and Champa

The model of naval battle ship during Trịnh's era in XVII.

In 1620, after the enthronement of another figurehead Lê Emperor (Lê Than Tông), the new Nguyễn leader, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, refused to send tax money to the court in Đông Đô. In 1623, Trịnh Tung died, he was succeeded by his oldest son Trịnh Tráng. After five years of increasingly hostile talk, fighting broke out between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn in 1627. While the Trịnh ruled over much more populous territory, the Nguyễn had several advantages. First, they initially were on the defensive and rarely launched operations into the north. Second, the Nguyễn were able to take advantage of their contacts with the Europeans, specifically the Portuguese, to produce advanced cannons with the help of European engineers (for more details, see Artillery of the Nguyễn lords). Third, the geography was favorable to them, as the flat land suitable for large organized armies is very narrow at the border between the Nguyễn lands and the Trinh territories – the mountains nearly reach to the sea. After the first offensive was beaten off after four months of battle, the Nguyễn built two massive fortified lines that stretched a few miles from the sea to the hills. These walls were built north of Huế (between the Nhật Lệ River and the Sông Hương River). The walls were about 20 feet tall and seven miles long. The Nguyễn defended these lines against numerous Trịnh offensives that lasted (off and on) from 1631 till 1673, when Trịnh Tạc concluded a peace treaty with the Nguyễn Lord, Nguyễn Phúc Tần, dividing Vietnam between the two ruling families. This division continued for the next 100 years.

The Long Peace

Silk painting of Trịnh Đình Kiên (1715–1786) in 18th century, exhibited in Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts.

The Trịnh lords ruled reasonably well, maintaining the fiction that the Lê monarch was the emperor. However, they selected and replaced the emperor as they saw fit, having the hereditary right to appoint many of the top government officials. Unlike the Nguyễn lords, who engaged in frequent wars with the Khmer Empire and Siam, the Trịnh lords maintained fairly peaceable relations with neighboring states. In 1694, the Trịnh lords got involved in a war in Laos, which turned into a multi-sided war with several different Laotian factions as well as the Siamese army. A decade later, Laos had settled into an uneasy peace with three new Lao kingdoms paying tribute to both Vietnam and Siam. Trịnh Căn and Trịnh Cương made many reforms of the government, trying to make it better, but these reforms made the government more powerful and more of a burden to the people which increased their dislike of the government. During the wasteful and inept rule of Trịnh Giang, peasant revolts became more and more frequent. The key problem was a lack of land to farm, though Giang made the situation worse by his actions. The reign of his successor Trịnh Doanh was preoccupied with putting down peasant revolts and wiping out armed gangs which terrorized the countryside.

Business by the Dutch East India company was ceased with the Trịnh lords on 1700.[3][4]

Pacification of the South

A map in Maps for the Pacification of the South in year Giáp Ngọ (1774), drawn by Bùi Thế Đạt, the governor of Nghệ An.

The long peace came to an end with the Tây Sơn revolt in the south against Trương Phúc Loan, the regent of the Nguyễn Lord, Nguyễn Phúc Thuần (1765–1777). The Tây Sơn rebellion was looked upon by the Trịnh lord, Trịnh Sâm, as a chance to finally put an end to the Nguyễn rule over the south of Vietnam. Inner struggle among the Nguyễn had put a 12-year-old boy in power. The real ruler was the corrupt regent named Trương Phúc Loan. Using the popular rule of the regent as an excuse for intervention, in 1774, the hundred-year truce was ended and the Trịnh army led by Hoàng Ngũ Phúc attacked.

Trịnh Sâm's army did what no previous Trịnh army had done and conquered the Nguyễn capital, Phú Xuân (modern-day Huế), in early 1775. The Trịnh army advanced south, defeated the Tây Sơn and forced them to surrender. In the middle of 1775, the Trịnh army, include Hoàng Ngũ Phúc, were hit by a plague. The plagued forced them to withdraw and left the rest of the south to the Tây Sơn.

The Tây Sơn army continued to conquer the rest of the Nguyễn lands. The Nguyễn lords retreated to Saigon but even this city was captured in 1776 and the Nguyễn lords was nearly wiped out. Tây Sơn's leader Nguyễn Nhạc declared himself king in 1778.

End of the Trịnh

Trịnh Tông, the eldest son of Trịnh Sâm, feared that the throne would fall to his younger brother Trịnh Cán, who was favored by his father. In 1780, Trịnh Sâm became seriously ill, Trịnh Tông used this as an chance to stage a coup d'état. The plan was discovered, many high-ranking mandarins on Trịnh Tông's side were purged, Tông himself were imprisoned.

In 1782, Trịnh Sâm died and passed the throne to Trịnh Cán. However, Cán was only 5 years old at the time, the real ruler was Hoàng Ngũ Phúc's adopted son Hoàng Đình Bảo, who was appointed by Sâm as Cán's assistant. A few weeks after Cán was coronated, Trịnh Tông conspired with the Three Prefectures Army (Vietnamese: Tam phủ quân, Hán tự: 三府軍) to kill Hoàng Đình Bảo and overthrow Trịnh Cán. However, because Tông was indebted to the army, he couldn't control them. The army then released Lê Duy Kì, son of prince Lê Duy Vĩ who was killed by Trịnh Sâm in 1771, and forced Lê Hiển Tông to appoint Kì as the crown prince.

After Hoàng Đình Bảo's death, his subordinate in Nghệ An province Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh defected to Tây Sơn. He was welcomed by the king of Tây Sơn and became a commander in their army. In summer 1786, Nguyễn Nhạc, who wanted to reclaim the land of the Nguyễn lords taken by the Trịnh in 1775, ordered his brother Nguyễn Huệ and Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh to attack Trịnh lords, but warned them not to advance further north. After taking Phú Xuân, Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh convinced Nguyễn Huệ to overthrow Trịnh lords under the banner "Destroy the Trịnh and Aid the Lê (Vietnamese: Diệt Trịnh phù Lê, Hán tự: 滅鄭扶黎) that would help them gain support from northern people. Trịnh army and the Three Prefectures Army were quickly defeated. Trịnh Tông committed suicide. Emperor Cảnh Hưng died of old age shortly after and passed the throne to Lê Duy Kì (emperor Chiêu Thống).

Nguyễn Nhạc, after having heard of Nguyễn Huệ's insubordination, hastely marched to Thăng Long and ordered all Tây Sơn troops to withdraw. They intentionally left Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh behind. Chỉnh chased after them and then stayed in his hometown in Nghệ An.

The Tây Sơn's invasion and sudden withdrawal caused a large power vaccum in the North. Trịnh Sâm's younger brother Trịnh Lệ with the support of Dương Trọng Tế marched into Thăng Long and forced Chiêu Thống to grant him the title prince, which would make him a Trịnh lord. Emperor Chiêu Thống did not want to reinstall Trịnh lords, thus he rejected Lệ's request. At the same time, Trịnh Bồng, son of Trịnh Giang, also marched into Thăng Long. Dương Trọng Tế thought Trịnh Lệ was unpopular and defected to Bồng's side, helped him defeated Trịnh Lệ. Famous generals Hoàng Phùng Cơ and Đinh Tích Nhưỡng also joined Trịnh Bồng's faction and pressured Chiêu Thống to grant him the title prince, the emperor reluctantly agreed. He then sent a request to Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, who had raised a considerable army in his hometown, to come and aid the emperor once again. Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh obeyed and marched north, he defeated Trịnh army in Thanh Hoa Province. Trịnh Bồng heard of the news and withdrew to Gia Lâm District with Dương Trọng Tế, Đinh Tích Nhưỡng and Hoàng Phùng Cơ withdrew to Hải Dương and Sơn Tây respectively. Chiêu Thống set Trịnh's palace on fire.

Call to punish Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, the [Duke of] Bằng commandery by Lê Huy Dao, one of Trịnh Bồng's followers

In the next months, Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh carried out several campaigns against Trịnh Bồng and his followers. He captured and executed Dương Trọng Tế and Hoàng Phùng Cơ, Trịnh Bồng then took refuge at Đinh Tích Nhưỡng's camp. Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh organized a large assault and completely defeated Trịnh Bồng in fall 1787. Đinh Tích Nhưỡng and Trịnh Bồng ran away, officially ended over 200 of Trịnh lords rule.

Later, when the Qing army was occupying Thăng Long, Trịnh Bồng turned himself in to emperor Chiêu Thống. He was pardoned but was demoted to Duke of Huệ Địch (Huệ Địch công). After the Qing's defeat in early 1789, Bồng fled to the western region of the country, self-proclaimed to be a lord and built a resistance army against the Tây Sơn. He died in early 1791[5].

After Gia Long founded the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802, he pardoned the Trịnh clan and allowed their descendants to worship their ancestors.

Relations with the outside world

Map of Vietnam in the 18th century, published by a Dutch company in Amsterdam around 1760.

In 1620, the French Jesuit scholar Alexandre de Rhodes arrived in Trịnh-controlled Vietnam. He arrived at a mission which had been established at the court in Hanoi around 1615 (Tigers in the Rice by W. Sheldon (1969), p. 26). The priest was a significant person regarding relations between Europe and Vietnam. He gained thousands of converts, created a script for writing Vietnamese using a modified version of the European alphabet, and built several churches. However, by 1630 the new Trịnh lord, Trịnh Trang, decided that Father de Rhodes represented a threat to Vietnamese society and forced him to leave the country. From this point on, the Trịnh Lords periodically tried to suppress Christianity in Vietnam, with moderate success. When the Nguyễn successfully used Portuguese cannon to defend their walls, the Trịnh made contact with the Dutch. The Dutch were willing to sell advanced cannons to the Trịnh. The Dutch, and later the Germans, set up trading posts in Hanoi. For a time, Dutch trade was profitable but after the war with the Nguyễn ended in 1673, the demand for European weapons rapidly declined. By 1700, the Dutch and English trading posts closed forever. The Trịnh were careful in their dealings with the Ming dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. Unlike the Nguyễn Lords who were happy to accept large numbers of Ming refugees into their lands, the Trịnh did not. When the Qing conquered the Ming and therefore extended the Qing Empire's borders to Northern Vietnam, the Trịnh treated them just like they had treated the Ming Emperors, sending tribute and formal acknowledgements of Qing authority. The Qing intervened twice during the rule of the Trịnh Lords, once in 1537, and again in 1788. Both times, the Qing sent an army south because of a formal request for help from the Lê emperors – and both times the intervention was unsuccessful.

Assessment

The Trịnh Lords were, for the most part, intelligent, able, industrious, and long-lived rulers. The unusual dual form of government they developed over two centuries was a creative response to the internal and external obstacles to their rule. They lacked, however, both the power and the moral authority to resolve the contradictions inherent in their system of ruling without reigning. (Encyclopedia of Asian History, "The Trịnh Lords").

It does seem the case that the Trịnh had lost nearly all popularity in the last half of the 18th century. While the Nguyễn lords, or at least Nguyễn Ánh, enjoyed a great deal of support – as his repeated attempts to regain power in the south show – there was no equivalent support for the Trịnh in the north after the Tây Sơn took power (Vietnam, Trials and Tribulations of a Nation D. R. SarDesai, pg. 39, 1988).

Chronological list of Trịnh lords

List of Trịnh rulers

Given Name	Lifespan	Ruling year(s)	Emperor(s)	Highest attained title	Temple name	Posthumous name
Trịnh Kiểm 鄭檢	1503-1507	1545-1570	Trang Tông Trung Tông Anh Tông	Thái quốc công 太國公	Thế Tổ 世祖	Minh Khang Nhân Trí Vũ Trinh Hùng Lược Thái vương 明康仁智武貞雄畧太王
Trịnh Cối 鄭檜	?-1584	1570	Anh Tông	Tuấn Đức hầu 俊德侯
Trịnh Tùng 鄭松	1550-1623	1570-1623	Anh Tông Thế Tông Kính Tông Thần Tông	Bình An vương 平安王	Thành Tổ 成祖	Cung Hoà Khoan Chính Triết vương 恭和寬正哲王
Trịnh Tráng 鄭梉	1577-1657	1623-1657	Chân Tông Thần Tông	Thanh vương 清王	Văn Tổ 文祖	Nghị vương 誼王
Trịnh Tạc 鄭柞	1606-1682	1657-1682	Thần Tông Huyền Tông Gia Tông Hy Tông	Tây vương 西王	Hoàng Tổ 弘祖	Dương vương 陽王
Trịnh Căn 鄭根	1633-1709	1682-1709	Hy Tông Dụ Tông	Định vương 定王	Chiêu Tổ 昭祖	Khang vương 康王
Trịnh Cương 鄭棡	1686-1729	1709-1729	Dụ Tông Duệ Tông	An vương 安王	Hi Tổ 禧祖	Nhân vương 仁王
Trịnh Giang 鄭杠	1711-1762	1729-1740	Duệ Tông Thuần Tông Ý Tông	Uy vương 威王	Dụ Tổ 裕祖	Thuận vương 順王
Trịnh Doanh 鄭楹	1720-1767	1740-1767	Ý Tông Hiển Tông	Minh vương 明王	Nghị Tổ 毅祖	Ân vương 恩王
Trịnh Sâm 鄭森	1739-1782	1767-1782	Hiển Tông	Tĩnh vương 靖王	Thánh Tổ 聖祖	Thịnh vương 盛王
Trịnh Cán 鄭檊	1777-1782	1782	Hiển Tông	Điện Đô vương 奠都王
Trịnh Tông 鄭棕	1763-1786	1782-1786	Hiển Tông	Đoan Nam vương 端南王		Linh vương 靈王
Trịnh Bồng 鄭槰	1749-1791	1786-1787	Chiêu Thống	Yến Đô vương 晏都王

Traditionally, Trịnh Tùng is considered to be the first "lord", but the Trịnh family had held a great amount of power since Trịnh Kiểm.

See also

• List of Vietnamese dynasties

References

1. Chapuis, Oscar. A History of Vietnam: From Hong Bang to Tự Đức. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995. p119ff.
2. Knosp, Gaston (1902). "Das annamitische Theater". Globus. 82 (1): 11–15. ISSN 0935-0535.
3. Anh Tuan, Hoang. "Letter from the King of Tonkin concerning the termination of the trading relation with the VOC, 10 February 1700". Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia.
4. Hoang Anh Tuan, “Letter from the King of Tonkin concerning the termination of the trading relation with the VOC, 10 February 1700”. In: Harta Karun: Hidden Treasures on Indonesian and Asian-European History from the VOC Archives in Jakarta, document 3. Jakarta: Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, 2013.
5. Hoàng Xuân Hãn, Phe chống đảng Tây Sơn ở Bắc với tập "Lữ Trung Ngâm" (The anti-Tây Sơn factions in the north and the "Lữ Trung Ngâm" collection), Tập san Sử Địa, 1971-1972.

External links

• List of the Trịnh lords and the nominal Lê emperors
• Encyclopedia of Asian History, Volumes 1–4. 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. – "Trịnh Lords" Article by James M. Coyle, based on the work of Thomas Hodgkin.
• The Encyclopedia of Military History by R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. Harper & Row (New York).
• Coins of Vietnam – with short historical notes
• Southeast Asia to 1875 – by Sanderson Beck
• World Statesmen.org – Vietnam
• Tay Sơn Web Site by George Dutton (has a great bibliography)
• A glimpse of Vietnamese history – contains some errors

Preceded by Mạc dynasty

Ruler of northern Vietnam (along with the Later Lê dynasty) 1545–1787

Succeeded by Tây Sơn dynasty