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Revival Lê dynasty
Lê Thần Tông
Vĩnh Thọ Thông Bảo
(Regular ScriptVersion 1)
黎中興朝
黎神宗
永壽通寶
(楷書一版)
Item number: A2885
Year: AD 1658-1662
Material: Bronze
Size: 24.3 x 24.3 x 0.7 mm
Weight: 3.15 g
Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2020
This is a Vĩnh Thọ Thông Bảo coin minted during the reign of Lê Thần Tông, the eighteenth ruler of the Later Lê dynasty. It was issued under his sixth era name, Vĩnh Thọ, which was in use from AD 1658 to 1662.
The coin features the traditional square-holed design strongly influenced by Chinese numismatic forms. On the obverse, the four characters Vĩnh Thọ Thông Bảo (永壽通寶) are engraved in regular script, arranged in a clockwise order: top, bottom, right, and left. The reverse is plain, bearing no inscriptions or decorative elements.
Vĩnh Thọ Thông Bảo coins were among the more abundantly minted issues during the late period of the Later Lê dynasty. Based on calligraphic style, they can be broadly categorised into regular script, clerical script, running script, cursive script, and mixed script. Among these, the character 永 (“Vĩnh”) exhibits the greatest variation in stylistic form.
During the reign of Lê Thần Tông, real political power was dominated by the powerful Trịnh clan, reducing the emperor to a largely symbolic and ceremonial figurehead. Vietnamese historians refer to this era as the Revival Lê Dynasty (Lê Trung Hưng triều). Lê Thần Tông’s father, Lê Kính Tông, was assassinated after attempting to wrest power from the influential lord Trịnh Tùng. From AD 1643 to 1649, under mounting pressure from Trịnh Tráng, Lê Thần Tông was compelled to abdicate in favour of his son, Lê Chân Tông, resulting in a brief period of temporary retirement from the throne.
During the Revival Lê Dynasty period, real power in northern Vietnam was held by the Trịnh lords, while the southern regions were controlled by the rival Nguyễn clan. This division gave rise to the prolonged conflict known as the Trịnh–Nguyễn War, often referred to by historians as Vietnam’s Southern and Northern Dynasties (Nam Bắc triều) period. The country remained politically fragmented for an extended time.
Despite the internal division, the Revival Lê Dynasty witnessed notable developments in culture, the arts, and the economy. Confucianism and the imperial examination system continued to flourish, contributing to what is considered one of the golden ages of Vietnamese cultural history.
In AD 1788, the Tây Sơn uprising overthrew the Lê regime, and the following year, Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống fled to Qing China. This marked the formal end of the Revival Lê Dynasty.