Le Van Khoi revolt

The Lê Văn Khôi revolt (1833-1835) was an important revolt in 19th century Vietnam, in which Southern Vietnamese, Vietnamese Catholics, French Catholic missionaries and Chinese settlers under the leadership of Le Van Khoi opposed the Imperial rule of Minh Mang.

Origin

The revolt was spurred by the prosecutions launched by Minh Mang against southern factions which had opposed his rule and tended to be favourable to Christianity. In particular, Minh Mang prosecuted Le Van Duyet, a former faithful general of Emperor Gia Long, who had opposed his enthronement. [Chapuis, p.191] Since Le Van Duyet had already died earlier in 1831, his tomb was profanated, and inscribed with the words "This is the place where the infamous Le Van Duyet was punished". ["A History of Vietnam" By Oscar Chapuis, p.192]

tart of the revolt

Le Van Khoi, the adoptive son of general Le Van Duyet, had also been imprisonned, but managed to escape on May 10, 1833. [Chapuis, p.192] Soon, numerous people joined the revolt, in the desire to avenge Le Van Duyet and challenge the legitimacy of the Nguyen dynasty. ["Southern Vietnam Under the Reign of Minh Mạng (1820-1841)" By Choi Byung Wook Page 95 [http://books.google.com/books?id=foZAdRgB-nwC&pg=PA95&dq=Le+Van+Khoi+revolt&sig=ACfU3U0_sE5dN8bq0sCDOOwxUhDeupM-4w] ]

Catholic support

Le Van Khoi declared himself in favour of the restoration of the line of Prince Canh, the original heir to Gia Long according to the rule of primogeniture, in the person of his remaining son An-hoa. [McLeod, p.30] This choice was designed to obtain the support of Catholic missionaries and Vietnamese Catholic, who had been supporting with Le Van Duyet the line of Prince Canh. [McLeod, p.30] Le Van Khoi futher promissed to protect Catholicism. [McLeod, p.30]

On May 18, 1833, the rebels managed to take the Citadel of Saigon ("Thanh Phien-an"). [McLeod, p.30] Le Van Khoi was able to conquer six provinces of Gia Dinh in the space of one month. [Chapuis, p.192] The main actors of the revolt where Vietnamese Christians and Chinese settlers who had been suffering from the rule of Minh Mang. ["Southern Vietnam Under the Reign of Minh Mạng (1820-1841)" Page 95]

iamese support

As Minh Mang raised an army to quell the rebellion, Le Van Khoi fortified himself into the Saigon fortress, and asked for the help of the Siamese. [Chapuis, p.192] Rama III, king of Siam, accepted the offer and sent troops to attack the Vietnamese provinces of Ha-tien and An-giang and Vietnamese imperial forces in Laos and Cambodia. [McLeod, p.30] The Siamese troops were accompanied by 2,000 Vietnamese Catholic troops under the command of Father Nguyen Van Tam. [McLeod, p.31] These Siamo-Vietnamese forces were repelled in summer 1834 however by General Truong Minh Giang. [McLeod, p.30-31] Le Van Khoi died in 1834 during the siege and was succeeded by his 8-year old son Le Van Cu. [Chapuis, p.192]

Defeat and repression

It took three years for Minh Mang to quell the rebellion and the Siamese offensive. When the fortress of Phien An was invested in September 1835, [McLeod, p.30] 1,831 people were excuted and burried in mass graves. [Chapuis, p.192] Only 6 survivors were spared, among whom were Le Van Cu, but also the French missionary Father Joseph Marchand, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Marchand had apparently been supporting the cause of Le Van Khoi, and asked for the help of the Siamese army, through communications to his counterpart in Siam, Father Taberd. This revealed the strong Catholic involvement in the revolt [Chapuis, p.192] Father Marchand was tortured and executed on November 5, 1835, as was the child Le Van Cu. [Chapuis, p.192]

The failure of the revolt had a disastrous effect on the Christian communities of Vietnam. ["Southern Vietnam Under the Reign of Minh Mạng (1820-1841)" By Choi Byung Wook Page 95] New waves of persecutions against Christians followed, and demands were made to find and execute remaining missionaries. [McLeod, p.31] Anti-Catholic edicts to this effect were issued by Minh Mang in 1836 and 1838. In 1836-1837 six missionaries were executed: Ignacio Delgado, Dominico Henares, Jean-Charles Cornay, José Fernández, François Jaccard, and Bishop Pierre Borie. [McLeod, p.32] ["The Cambridge History of Christianity", p.517 [http://books.google.com/books?id=LvvzlLf9dFEC&pg=PA517&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois-Isidore+Gagelin&sig=ACfU3U2vAoHiwJK3OamylPqlNTLA2chwsA] ]

Notes

References

*Chapuis, Oscar "A History of Vietnam" [http://books.google.com/books?id=Jskyi00bspcC&pg=PA188&dq=Le+Van+Khoi+revolt&sig=ACfU3U3v3mFoK1TcmhGR-7odFdaS8CQs-w#PPA192,M1]
*McLeod, Mark W. "The Vietnamese response to French Intervention, 1862-1874" Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990 ISBN 0275935620
*Wook, Choi Byung "Southern Vietnam Under the Reign of Minh Mạng (1820-1841)" [http://books.google.com/books?id=foZAdRgB-nwC&pg=PA95&dq=Le+Van+Khoi+revolt&sig=ACfU3U0_sE5dN8bq0sCDOOwxUhDeupM-4w]