Lý Nam Đế

Lý Nam Đế I
King of Annam
Portrait painting of Lý Nam Đế in Lê dynasty era.
Reign	544 - 548
Successor	Đào Lang Vương
Born	503
Died	548
Burial	Vinh Tomb, Lam Sơn
Issue	?
Full name Lý Bôn (李賁) Posthumous name Emperor Cao Tổ of Nam Việt (南越孝高皇帝) Temple name Thái Tổ (太祖)
House	Early Lý Dynasty
Father	Lý Cạnh
Mother	Lê Thị Oánh

Lý Nam Đế (Chinese: 李南帝, 17 October 503 – 13 April 548) is the king of Annam who ruled between 544-8 and the founder of the Early Lý Dynasty.

Lý Bôn (李賁) was of Chinese descent, the ancestors of his family were Chinese who fled Wang Mang's seizure of power during the interregnum between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties. He was a regional magistrate of Giao Châu (交州, Chinese: Jiaozhou), an area of northern Vietnam roughly corresponding to the area of modern Hanoi. In 541, during this time China was under constant civil warfare following the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period, he became increasingly frustrated with the corruption in the government and hostility toward the local population. Upon resignation of his post he gathered the local nobility and tribes within the Red River Valley (North Vietnam) mobilized the imperial troops and naval fleet of Jiaozhou and successfully expelled the Liang administration and led the insurrection that ended in 543. The following year in February 544, Lý Bí was declared "Emperor" by the people with the intention of demonstrating equal in power to China imperial rulers. He renamed the new empire "Vạn Xuân" (, literally "Eternal Spring"). His imperial armies also repelled attacks from Champa in the south who had allied with Han's court at the time.

Lý Nam Đế established his capital at Long Biên (modern-day Hanoi), surrounded himself with effective leadership in military and administrative scholars. Lý Nam Đế was also strongly supported by famous military commander such as Phạm Tu, Triệu Túc, Tinh Thieu, and Triệu Quang Phục, (son of Triệu Tuc, later known as Triệu Việt Vương). The latter emerged as a hero in Vietnamese history and eventually succeeded Lý Nam Đế as ruler in 548. Lý Nam Đế built many fortresses at strategic locations throughout Vạn Xuân to fend off potential threats from Han in the north and from the Champa Kingdom in the south, he also established the first national university for mandarin scholars, implemented land reforms, and promoted literacy amongst the population. He laid the foundation for many reforms that modelled after the Chinese social structure.