Вьетнамдағы Мақ әулетінің тарихы

Imperial dynasty in Vietnam from 1527 to 1677
Mạc Đăng Dung, got his start as a bodyguard for Lê Uy Mục, the unpopular Lê Emperor, around 1506. Over time, despite the deaths of several emperors, Mạc Đăng Dung increased his power and gained many supporters. However, he also gained the enmity of other rivals for power. After a series of political crises that made both Lê Uy Mục and his successor Lê Tương Dực assassinated, Mạc Đăng Dung continued to gain power and rank in the military. With the enthronement of the young emperor Lê Chiêu Tông in 1516, a power struggle in the court ensued to the level of a civil war. From 1516 to 1520, the warlords of Nguyễn Hoàng Dụ and Trịnh Duy Sản, Nguyễn Kính and Trần Cao were fighting for power. Mạc Đăng Dung initially led the forces loyal to King Lê Chiêu Tông against the warlords, he eventually defeated the warlords and gained enough power to force Lê Chiêu Tông to abdicate in 1522 and install the puppet Emperor Lê Cung Hoàng to the throne. Lê Chiêu Tông fled the court with the support of the warlord Trịnh Tuy to Thanh Hóa where they fought against Mạc Đăng Dung until they were defeated and captured in 1526. In 1527 Mạc Đăng Dung removed Lê Cung Hoàng and proclaimed himself as Emperor of the new Mạc dynasty under the title Minh Đức. The usurpation was not well received by the Confucian officials in the government. Some were killed, others fled to join a new revolt against the Mạc Emperors. A new revolt was led by Nguyễn Kim (father of Nguyễn Hoàng, the first of the Nguyễn lords who later ruled southern Vietnam) and his subordinate and son in law Trịnh Kiểm (the first of the Trịnh lords who later ruled Đàng Ngoài). They installed Lê Trang Tông as Emperor of the Revival Lê dynasty and built their base in Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An provinces to resist against Mạc Đăng Dung. Both sides tried to pull in allies, mainly the Ming dynasty but also from King Phothisarat I of Lan Xang (modern day Laos). Mạc Đăng Dung, through submissive diplomacy and massive bribes, convinced the Ming not to attack in 1528. He then abdicated his position as Emperor in favor of his son, Mạc Đăng Doanh a year later. However, this was done purely to solidify his son's position, Mạc Đăng Dung continued to rule with the title of Senior Emperor (Viet: Thái thượng hoàng).

The revolt of the Revival Lê in the south gathered strength and over the next three years all the provinces south of the Red River were captured by the Lê armies. In 1533 the figurehead Lê Emperor, Lê Trang Tông, was officially crowned at the recaptured Tây Đô castle. This marked the beginning of the Southern and Northern dynasties era. The Lê and Mạc would continue the lengthy civil war over the next 40 years. In 1540, Mạc Đăng Doanh died and Mạc Đăng Dung reclaimed the throne. The Ming dynasty threatened Mạc Đăng Dung with an invasion of 110,000 men ready to invade Vietnam from Guangxi. Mac acceded to Chinese pressure and complied with bitter Ming demands, including crawling barefoot in front of the Chinese officials, giving up land to China, downgrading his status from the Emperor to Governor (Đô thống sứ 都統使) and giving up official documents like tax registers to the Ming. The Ming official position was that the Mạc should rule over the northern half of Vietnam, while the Lê should rule over the southern half (in other words, below the Red River). The Nguyễn and the Trịnh refused to accept this division of the country and the war continued. In 1541, Mạc Đăng Dung died and was succeeded by his grandson Mạc Phúc Hải.

Mạc Phúc Hải ruled only for six years before he died due to his illness. During his rule, he was defeated by the Trịnh army and lost more territories. He was succeeded by Mạc Phúc Nguyên (ruled from 1546 to 1561) who had to fight against his uncle Mạc Chính Trung to enthrone. In 1561, he died because of Smallpox. Mạc Mậu Hợp succeeded the throne, and ruled from 1562 to 1592. He was the last significant Mạc ruler. In 1572 the capital was captured by the Trịnh army but then he recaptured it a year later. Then, in 1592, Trịnh Tùng unleashed a massive invasion of the north and conquered Hanoi along with the rest of the northern provinces. Mạc Mậu Hợp was captured during the retreat and was cut to pieces over three days. The Mạc had lost control over most of Northern Vietnam, only retaining areas in and around Cao Bằng Province under the formal protection of the Ming army.

In 1592, the new Mạc leader was Mạc Kính Chỉ. He managed to assemble a large army which defeated the army of Trịnh Tùng but a year later, he and his army were wiped out by a new Trịnh army under Trịnh Tùng. Later, his brother Mạc Kính Cung withdrawn to Cao Bằng province and ruled for more than thirty years (1593–1625). Based out of Van Ninh (Quảng Ninh Province) the Mạc army staged many attacks against the Trịnh. The Trịnh requested and received aid from the Nguyễn and the joint army (with Nguyễn Hoàng) defeated the Mạc. In 1598, yet another official Ming commission declared the Mạc to be rulers over Cao Bằng province and so the Mạc rulers stayed in this protected area, occasionally launching raids into Trịnh controlled Vietnam. In 1627, the Lê army attacked Cao Bằng, the Mạc ruler Mạc Kính Khoan had to surrender and accept the Lê title of Thông quốc công, reducing the Mạc realm to a Duchy under the Lê dynasty. After the fall of the Southern Ming, the Qing dynasty became the mediator in the Lê Mạc conflict while receiving tribute from both sides. After the 1540 surrender of the Mạc to the Ming, the Ming court ceremonially revoked the Lê dynasty's status as an independent kingdom and reclassified it as a dutongshisi: a category only slightly higher than a chieftaincy.

While contemporary historians of feudal Le and Nguyen dynasties regarded Mac rulers as downright usurpers, historians after 1945 debate over this controversial dynasty with more favorable and objective viewpoints. Modern researchers recognize that during the reign of Mạc Emperors, women enjoyed much more freedom and privileges than in the previous dynasties. The Mạc court also allowed domestic and foreign trade to flourish, resulting in the rise of Đông Đô and the surrounding areas such as Chu Đậu in Hải Dương province as an important link in the East West maritime commerce route. Many notable figures of the Mạc court, such as Prince regent Mạc Kính Điển, general Nguyễn Quyện, general Mạc Ngọc Liễn were praised by both friends and foes for their virtues, talents and exceptional loyalty, which is indeed rarely seen far and wide.