LE THANH TONG (1442 - 1497)

His given name was Hao, his pen-name was Tu Thanh. He was the fourth son of King Le Thai Tong. He was the king for 37 years (1460-1497), and gave 2 titles to his reign: Quang Thuan and Hong Đuc. He was a clear-sighted, decisive king; he was both talented scholar and a warrior. 

Under his rule, Đai Viet country was independent, united and powerful; the culture and education highly developed. He was a great reformer: reformed government structure, gave prominence to jurisdiction, promulgated the Hong Đuc law, ordered the making of the map Hong Đuc - the first map of Đai Viet country. He ordered to reconstruct Van Mieu and enlarge Quoc Tu Giam in 1843 into the spacious architecture complex, developed Confucian education and examination, ordered the National examination held every three years and made it as fixed convention. He also was the king who ordered to erect the first doctor stelae in Van Mieu to honour the talent and encourage students to learn Confucianism in order to have their names recorded in the golden board in Thai Học house.

Le Thanh Tong was a poet, he founded the Tao Đan society, vindicated Nguyen Trai and collected his remains. He also ordered to revised many great historic works such as: Đại Việt complete history, Thiên Nam dư hạ tập…