List of Vietnamese dynasties

In Vietnamese historiography, the names of dynasties were usually derived from the family name of the ruling house. For example, the Đinh dynasty (Nhà Đinh; 家丁) is known as such because the ruling clan bore the family name Đinh (丁).

Similar to Chinese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasties would adopt a quốc hiệu (國號; lit. "name of the state") upon the establishment of the realm. However, as it was common for several dynasties to share the same official name, referring to regimes by their official name in historiography would be potentially confusing. For instance, the quốc hiệu "Đại Việt" (大越) was used by the Lý dynasty (since the reign of Lý Thánh Tông), the Trần dynasty, the Later Trần dynasty, the Later Lê dynasty, the Mạc dynasty, and the Tây Sơn dynasty.

In the Vietnamese language, the word for "dynasty" may be written as either nhà (家) or triều (朝). For instance, the Mạc dynasty can be rendered as "Nhà Mạc" (家莫) or "Mạc triều" (莫朝).

Apart from over one millennium of direct Chinese rule, Vietnam was ruled by a series of "local" dynasties, some of which could have their origins traced to China.

The founder of the legendary Hồng Bàng dynasty, Lộc Tục, was recorded as a descendant of the mythical Chinese ruler Shennong.[1]

According to two historical Vietnamese texts, Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (大越史記全書) and Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương mục (欽定越史通鑑綱目), Thục Phán of the Thục dynasty was originally a prince of the ancient Chinese State of Shu.[2][3]

The Triệu dynasty, established by Zhao Tuo from the Chinese Qin dynasty, was considered an orthodox local regime by traditional Vietnamese historiography. However, modern Vietnamese historians generally regard the Triệu dynasty to be a foreign regime that ruled Vietnam.[4]

The founder of the Early Lý dynasty, Lý Bôn, was descended from Chinese refugees who fled Wang Mang's seizure of power in the final years of the Western Han in China.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

The first emperor of the Lý dynasty, Lý Công Uẩn, could have his paternal bloodline traced to modern-day Fujian, China.[12][13][14][15][16] Lý Công Uẩn's father, Lý Thuần An, escaped to Quanzhou from Hebei after Lý Công Uẩn's grandfather, Li Song, was wrongly accused of treason and executed by the Emperor Yin of Later Han.[17][18]

The origin of the Trần dynasty was traced to modern Fujian, where the ancestor of the Trần imperial clan, Trần Kính, migrated from in the 11th century CE.[19][20] The Later Trần dynasty was ruled by the same imperial clan as the earlier Trần dynasty.

The Hồ dynasty claimed descent from the Duke Hu of Chen, the founder of the ancient Chinese State of Chen.[21][22] The Duke Hu of Chen was in turn descended from the legendary Emperor Shun, who was recognized by Hồ Quý Ly as the progenitor of the Hồ imperial family.[23][24] Accordingly, the Hồ dynasty adopted the official quốc hiệu "Đại Ngu" (大虞; lit. "Great Ngu"); "Ngu" (虞) was derived from the Emperor Shun's lineage name, Youyu (有虞). The Hồ family migrated from present-day Zhejiang, China to Vietnam under Hồ Hưng Dật during the 10th century CE.[18]

Champa (Chăm Pa; 占婆) existed as an independent polity until its annexation by the Nguyễn dynasty in 1832 CE, thereby laying the foundation for the territories of the modern Vietnamese state. The rulers of Champa were of Cham descent, an Austronesian ethnic group distinct from the majority Kinh ethnicity of Vietnam.

There were 15 dynasties in the history of Champa. According to Chinese historical sources, Champa officially used the quốc hiệu "Lâm Ấp" (林邑) from the 1st to 4th dynasties, "Hoàn Vương" (環王) during the 5th dynasty, and "Chiêm Thành" (占城) from the 6th to 15th dynasties.