Lê Văn Thịnh

Lê Văn Thịnh 黎文盛
Statue of Lê Văn Thịnh in the Đông Cứu shrine
Chancellor of the Lý Dynasty
Monarch	Lý Nhân Tông
Preceded by	Lý Đạo Thành
Personal details
Died	1096

Lê Văn Thịnh (Chinese: 黎文盛, ? - 1096), courtesy name Mậu Phu (茂夫), was an official in the royal court of the Lý Dynasty. Ranking first in the first imperial examination of the Lý Dynasty, Lê Văn Thịnh was appointed tutor for Lý Nhân Tông and was gradually promoted to the position of chancellor of the Lý Dynasty due to his achievements, especially in the negotiation with the Song Dynasty about the return of occupied land by the Song army to Annam in 1086. At the pinnacle his career, Lê Văn Thịnh was charged with high treason in 1096 and was banished to the mountainous area. Nevertheless, the court case of Lê Văn Thịnh was considered by many to be a mistrial; Lê Văn Thịnh is still worshipped by people in several villages of Vietnam. Today the fact about the 1096 event is still a matter of debate but Lê Văn Thịnh's role in the History of Vietnam is always appreciated.

According to Từ điển bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam, the birth year of Lê Văn Thịnh was unknown, he was born in the Đông Cứu village, Gia Định district (now Gia Bình, Bắc Ninh). In the second month of 1075, the emperor Lý Nhân Tông ordered the organization of the first imperial examination of the Lý Dynasty, which was also the first contest based on Confucianist education in History of Vietnam. Lê Văn Thịnh who ranked first in the examination and thus became the first first-rank laureate in history of imperial examination in Vietnam; therefore, he was sometimes dubbed "Tiến sĩ khai khoa" (The first doctorate) or "Trạng nguyên đầu tiên" (The first exemplar of the state) of Vietnam. Lê Văn Thịnh's success came from his laboriousness in learning Confucian classics while others often relied on Buddhist knowledge. After the examination, Lê Văn Thịnh was appointed to the position of tutor for the young emperor.