Ming–Hồ War

The Ming–Hồ War was a military campaign by the Ming Empire of China to invade Đại Ngu (present-day north Vietnam) ruled by the Hồ dynasty. The campaign began with Ming intervention in support of a rival faction to the Hồ, but ended with incorporation of Vietnam into China, marking the start of the Ming province of Jiaozhi.

A few years earlier, Hồ Quý Ly had violently taken the Trần throne, which ultimately led to the intercession of the Ming government to reestablish the Trần dynasty. However, Hồ's forces attacked a Ming convoy escorting a Trần pretender, who was killed during the attack. After this hostile event, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire appointed Marquises Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng to prepare and lead the Ming armies for the invasion of Đại Ngu. The war lasted from 1406 to 1407, resulting in the Ming conquest of Đại Ngu and the capture of the members of the Hồ dynasty.

Background

The former ruling dynasty of Đại Việt, the Trần, had relations with the Ming Empire as a tributary.^[1] However, in 1400, Hồ Quý Ly deposed and massacred the Tran house before usurping the throne.^[3] After taking the throne, Hồ renamed the country from Dai Viet to Dai Ngu.^[4] In 1402, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Hồ Hán Thương (胡漢蒼).^[3] Eventually, in May 1403, he requested the investiture of his son from the Ming government on the account that the Trần lineage had died out and that his son was a royal nephew.^[3] Unaware of the deeds that Hồ had committed against the Tran, the Ming government granted him this request.^[3] In October 1404, Trần Thiên Bính (陳添平) arrived at the Ming imperial court in Nanjing, claiming to be a Trần prince.^[2] He notified the court of the treacherous events that had taken place and appealed to the court for the restoration of his throne.^[2] No action was taken by them until early 1405, when his story was confirmed by an Annamese envoy.^[2]

Afterwards, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire issued an edict reprimanding the usurper and demanding the restoration of the Tran throne.^[2][5] Hồ Quý Ly had doubts about the pretender's claims, but nevertheless acknowledged his crimes and agreed to receive the pretender as king.^[2][5] Thus, the nominal king was escorted back by a Ming envoy in a military convoy.^[2] On 4 April 1406, as the party crossed the border into Lạng Sơn,^[2] Hồ's forces ambushed them and killed the Trần prince that the Ming convoy were escorting back.^[2][6] As Hồ Quý Ly expected the Ming Empire to retaliate, he prepared the military for the imminent Ming invasion.^[6] He also took on a hostile foreign policy, which included harassing the southern border of the Ming Empire.^[6]

Course

On 11 May (according to Chan 1990) or in the month July (according to Tsai 2001) 1406, the Yongle Emperor appointed Duke Zhu Neng (Duke of Cheng) to lead an invasion with Marquises Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng as second-in-command.^[2][6] Chen Qia was appointed to oversee the supplies, while Huang Fu was appointed to handle political and administrative affairs.^[7] On the eve of departure, the Yongle Emperor gave a banquet at the Longjiang naval arsenal, located at the Qinhuai River in Nanjing.^[6]

Huang Fu kept a log to document the military campaign.^[7] Sixteen days before the Yongle Emperor gave the banquet at Longjiang, Huang Fu had departed from Nanjing and spend a night at Longjiang, before sailing west on the Yangtze River.^[7] After eight days, he reached Poyang Lake;^[7] after another week, he reached Dongting Lake.^[7] Thereafter, Huang traveled through the Xiang River southwards, passing Xiangtan and Guilin, heading towards Nanning in Guangxi.^[7] Three months had passed after his departure from Nanjing, when Huang arrived at Longzhou in Guangxi, where he joined the main body of the Ming forces.^[7] Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu would cross the border from Guangxi, while Mu Sheng would invade the Red River Delta from Yunnan.^[6] However, Zhu Neng died, aged 36, at Longzhou in Guangxi.^[6] Thus, Zhang Fu took over the command of the Ming army stationed there.^[2][6] The military expedition would now be commanded by Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng.^[2]

In the winter of 1406, the Ming armies began their invasion.^[8] Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng departed from Guangxi and Yunnan respectively to launch a pincer attack into enemy territory.^[2] On 19 November 1406, they captured the two capitals and other important cities in the Red River Delta.^[2] On 24 November 1406, Zhang Fu's forces had conquered Can Tram and several other strongholds.^[7] Mu Sheng's forces—who had departed from Yunnan—met up and joined Zhang Fu's forces at Đa Bang.^[7] By late January 1407, the Ming armies had taken control of the Red River Delta by superior siege and naval warfare.^[7] By early May 1407, Hồ Quý Ly was forced to flee southwards as he had lost the support from his people and was being pursued by the Ming forces.^[7] He first destroyed his palace at Tay Do, before fleeing to the south by sea.^[7] Despite this, Hồ Quý Ly and his son were captured on 16 June 1407,^[2] while the rest of his family would be captured on either 16 or 17 June 1407.^[7] They were caged and brought as prisoners to the Yongle Emperor in Nanjing.^[7]

The Ming Shilu 2 December 1407 entry stated that the Yongle Emperor gave orders to Marquis Zhang Fu to not harm innocent Vietnamese and to spare the family members of rebels, such as young males if they themselves were not involved in the rebellion.^[9]

Non-Han ethnic minorities fought in the Chinese army against the Ho.^[10] It was instructed that the Ming army should free foreign prisoners who were jailed in Vietnam.^[11] Vietnamese records like gazetteers, maps, and registered were instructed to be saved and preserved by the Chinese army.^[12]

Aftermath

The Ming conquest of Vietnam was one of the most bloodiest periods of Vietnamese history, with Ming army conquering Vietnam after wave of massacre after massacre, 7 million vietnamese were killed, killing a huge percentage of the population.^[13]

On 5 October 1407, the prisoners were charged with high treason by the Ming imperial court.^[14] The Yongle Emperor asked them whether they had killed the former king and whether they had usurped the throne of the Trần royal family, but he received no answer in return.^[14] In the end, most of these prisoners were either imprisoned or executed.^[14] In June 1407, the Yongle Emperor annexed the conquered region as Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ) province.^[1][8][15] Lü Yi was appointed as the military commissioner,^[15] Huang Zhong as the vice-commissioner,^[15] and Huang Fu as the provincial administrator and the surveillance commissioner.^[15] Jiaozhi province became divided into fifteen prefectures, 41 sub-prefectures, and 210 counties.^[15] The first major signs of discontent against Chinese rule would surface when Tran Nguy (a former Tran official) revolted in September 1408.^[16] Even though he would be captured by Zhang Fu in December 1408, Tran Qui Khoang (a nephew) would continue the rebellion until his capture by Zhang Fu on 30 March 1414, formally ending the rebellion.^[16] Nevertheless, the region would continue to be plagued by several other uprisings during course of the Chinese domination.^[16]

The Ming's ethnic Vietnamese collaborators included Mac Thuy whose grandfather was Mạc Đĩnh Chi who was a direct ancestor of Mạc Đăng Dung.^[17][18]

References

Bibliography

• Chan, Hok-lam (1990). "The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsüan-te reigns, 1399–1435". The Cambridge History of China. Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644 (Part 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24332-7. 
• Dardess, John W. (2012). Ming China, 1368–1644: A concise history of a resilient empire. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-0491-1. 
• Dreyer, Edward L. (1982). Early Ming China: A political history, 1355–1435. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1105-4. 
• Shiro, Momoki (2004). "Great Viet". Southeast Asia. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. ISBN 9781576077702. 
• Tsai, Shih-shan Henry (2001). Perpetual happiness: The Ming emperor Yongle. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-98109-1.