The Vietnamese rebellion of 1420, also known as Lê Ngạ's Uprising,[1] was a rebellion against the Chinese Ming dynasty led by a former Vietnamese slave named Lê Ngạ, during the Fourth Era of Northern Domination.
In 1407, around 9,000 Vietnamese elitists, including scholars, craftmen, physicians, medicine experts were shipped to China proper, where these people were retrained in Chinese and could be sent back to Ming-ruled Vietnam as bureaucrats.[2] In addition, 7,700 Vietnamese tradesmen, artisans and workers were sent to Peking, the second capital of Ming Empire to build the Forbidden City,[3] while the Ming state took direct control over Dai Viet's metal mines, precious aromatics and pearls.[4]
In 1420, Lê Ngạ rallied people to the woods of Lạng Sơn and subsequently declared king. He said to his followers, "If you want to be rich, follow me!" The rebels marched down the Red River Delta, seized Xương Giang. Lê Ngạ's former slave owner saw Ngạ and attacked him. The Ming military commander of Jiaozhi–Marquis Li Bin, arrived and forced Lê Ngạ's rebels to flee into the mountains.[1] After hearing the news, the Yongle Emperor felt angry and demanded that Lê Ngạ be captured and transported to the Ming capital. Unable to immediately have the emperor's demand succeed, Li Bin seized and sent an innocent man instead, claiming that it was Lê Ngạ.
Lê Ngạ would not surrender until Huang Fu–the surveillance and prosecution commissioner of Jiaozhi, intervened.[5]
Ki Che, Leung Angela (2019), "A "South" Imagined and Lived: The Entanglement of Medical Things, Experts, and Identities in Premodern East Asia's South", in Tagliacozzo, Eric (ed.), Asia Inside Out: Itinerant People, Harvard University Press, pp. 122–145, ISBN978-0-67498-763-0
Wade, Geoff (2016), "Domination in Four Kets: Ming China and its Southern Neighbours 1400 1450", in Clunas, Craig (ed.), Ming China: Court and contact 1400 1450, British Museum, pp. 15–25, ISBN978-0-86159-205-0
