Tây Sơn Dynasty

Tây Sơn dynasty
House of Tây Sơn 西山朝
1778–1802
Asia map in the last 18th century
Capital		Quy Nhơn (1778–93) Phú Xuân (1786–1802)
Languages		Vietnamese
Government		Monarchy
Emperor
•	1778–93	Nguyễn Nhạc
•	1788–92	Quang Trung
•	1792–1802	Cảnh Thịnh
History
•	Nguyễn Nhạc proclaims himself Emperor Thái Đức	1778
•	Nguyễn Huệ proclaims himself Emperor Quang Trung	1788
•	Nguyễn Ánh captures Thăng Long	1802
Currency		Văn
Preceded by Succeeded by Nguyễn lords Trịnh lords Lê dynasty Nguyễn dynasty

The name of Tây Sơn is used in various ways to refer to the period of peasant rebellions and decentralized dynasties established between the end of the figurehead Later Lê dynasty and beginning of the Nguyễn dynasties in the history of Vietnam between 1770 and 1802. Some academics refer to this period as the "Tây Sơn uprising."

The name is used to refer to the leaders of this revolt (the Tây Sơn brothers), their uprising (the Tây Sơn Uprising) or their rule (the Tây Sơn dynasty or Nguyễn Tây Sơn dynasty).

During the 18th century, Vietnam was under the nominal rule of the officially revered, but politically powerless Lê dynasty. Real power was in the hands of two warring feudal families, the Trịnh lords of the north who controlled and ruled from the imperial court in Hanoi and the Nguyễn lords in the south, who ruled from their capital Huế. Both sides fought each other for control of the country, while claiming to be loyal to the emperor.

Life for the peasant farmers was difficult. Ownership of land became more concentrated in the hands of a few landlords as time passed. The Mandarin bureaucracy was oppressive and often corrupt; at one point, royal-sanctioned degrees were up for sale for whoever was wealthy enough to purchase them. In contrast to the people, the ruling lords lived lavish lifestyles in huge palaces.

The decades-long war between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn had ended in 1673, and life for the northern peasants was fairly peaceful. However, the Nguyễn Lords engaged in a regular series of wars with the weak Khmer Empire, and later, the fairly strong state of Siam. While the Nguyễn usually won, and despite the fact that the new lands they conquered offered new opportunities for the landless poor, the frequent wars took a toll on their popularity.

In 1769, the new king of Siam, King Taksin, launched a war to regain control of Cambodia. The war generally went against the Nguyễn and they were forced to abandon some of the newly conquered lands, which included Cambodia's Eastern Coast (Cochin China). This failure, coupled with heavy taxes and corruption at the local level, caused three brothers from the village of Tây Sơn to begin a revolt against Lord Nguyễn Phúc Thuần.