生平

来历之谜

根据《大越史记全书》等越南史料记载，李公蕴籍贯北江古法州亭榜村（今越南北宁省慈山市亭榜坊），时至今日亭榜村中依然保存著李氏祖坟和家祠。但是，李公蕴出生时的具体状况在越南史书中没有明确的记载。越南民间传说李公蕴没有父亲，其母范氏游蕉山时，梦见与神人交合，随后便生下了李公蕴。李公蕴三岁的时候，范氏将其送到古法寺的法师李庆文处当养子。

越南的正史《大越史记全书》则仅仅记载李公蕴在继位后追封生父为显庆王，并没有对其生父有更多的记载。

然而根据现代中国学者的考证，李公蕴出生于中国泉州。在北宋沈括写的《梦溪笔谈》中记载，越南皇帝李公蕴是闽南人。而在泉州晋江县安海镇发现的一本名叫《李庄𤆬内李氏房谱》的李氏家谱中则记载，李公蕴是李淳安的次子，字兆衍，生于北宋雍熙元年正月十四日（984年2月18日），卒于天圣六年十月十八日（1028年11月7日），幼年时随李淳安前往安南做生意；而长兄李公藻则被留在安海的李家庄中蔡乡，成为当地李姓始祖。华侨大学华人研究所李天锡教授，结合《宋史》和《元史》考证后认为，李公蕴和陈朝的开国皇帝陈煚都是来自泉州安海的华侨。

此外，也有学者认为李公蕴是唐太宗之子曹王李明之后裔。

出仕前黎朝

李公蕴聪明好学，而且器宇轩昂。在他年幼的时候曾经游学于六祖寺。僧人万行见了李公蕴后，认为李公蕴是非凡之人，异日必然是一位治世明君。

李公蕴长大了以后并没有像别人一样去种田经商，而是喜欢涉猎经史。后来，李公蕴出仕于前黎朝，官拜殿前军，并娶黎桓之女黎氏佛银为妻，并被赐姓黎氏。黎桓死后，黎中宗嗣位，但不久黎中宗就被弟弟黎龙铤杀害。群臣皆四散逃跑，唯独李公蕴抱著黎中宗的尸体痛哭。黎卧朝帝（黎龙铤）认为李公蕴是忠臣，任命李公蕴为四厢军副指挥使，引之为亲信。后来又升为左亲卫殿前指挥使。

新嗣位的卧朝帝是一位暴虐的君主，他的统治不得人心。黎龙铤在位期间，古法州延蕴乡的一颗木棉树震裂，该乡的百姓在树根上发现了一行字：「树根杳杳，禾刀木落。十八子成，东阿入地，木异再生。震宫见日，兑宫隐星。六七年间，天下太平。」万行认为「十八子」就是「李」字，其谶寓意著黎氏当亡、李氏当兴。万行还私下找到李公蕴，认为他必然成为未来的君主。李公蕴害怕被卧朝帝知道，派遣兄长将万行藏在了蕉山。卧朝帝知道了这个谶语，并开始诛杀身边的李姓大臣。但卧朝帝信任李公蕴，李公蕴得以幸免于难。

经过了这件事后，李公蕴起了篡夺皇位之心，秘密培养自己的党羽，并深得人心。

平定内乱、建立李朝

1009年，卧朝皇帝驾崩。皇太子黎龙乍年方十岁，卧朝帝的两个弟弟黎明昶、黎明提（黎龙鍉）起兵争夺皇位。时任左亲卫殿前指挥使的李公蕴与右殿前指挥使阮低各率龙兵五百人，以保卫宫殿为名进入皇宫。祗候陶甘沐知道李公蕴觊觎皇位已久，劝其受禅称帝。李公蕴最初怀疑是个阴谋，威胁要将陶甘沐逮捕；但最终在陶甘沐的劝说下决定夺取皇位。在陶甘沐和万行的策划下，李公蕴率兵杀死了黎明昶、黎明提，顺利篡夺皇位，恢复原姓李，建立李朝。次年改元顺天，群臣上尊号奉天至理应运自在圣明龙见睿文英武崇仁广孝天下太平钦明光宅章明万邦显应符感威震藩蛮睿谋神功圣治则天道政皇帝（）。追封生父为显庆王，生母为明德太后。

在位期间的事迹

迁都升龙

李公蕴即位后不久，就下令将都城从华闾迁到了大罗城。根据《大越史记全书》的记载，李公蕴乘龙舟来到大罗城下之时，忽然在龙舟旁边出现了一条黄龙。群臣认为是大吉之兆，李公蕴遂将大罗城改名为升龙城，大规模修建宫殿。又改古法州为天德府，北江为天德江，华闾为长安府。又在天德府修建宗庙，是为李八帝庙。

内政改革

前黎朝施行暴虐的军事统治，严刑酷法，致使民众十分不满。李公蕴即位后一改前朝皇帝的作风，即位当年即下令焚毁前黎朝的残酷刑具，此举使他得到了民心。

在税收问题上，李公蕴于1013年制定了潭池田土之税、桑洲钱谷之税、山源藩镇产物之税、关隘讥察硷盐之税、蛮獠犀象香料之税、源头木条花果之税。由各公主掌管徵收这些税收。

外交政策

李公蕴即位之初，一反前黎朝的主动侵略政策，在对外政策上主张和平。李公蕴在刚即位后不久便释放了被黎卧朝帝俘虏的芒族人，厚赐他们并且放回故乡。然而在此之后安南又开始转入攻势。

李公蕴在1010年派遣使者向北宋请求册封，被宋真宗册封为交趾郡王领静海节度使。 此后，李公蕴又多次遣使出使北宋。1016年，李公蕴又被宋朝加封为南平王。

1022年，李公蕴命令其子翊圣王讨伐大元历。

军事政策

前黎朝时期，安南全国分为十道，各道都由武将管理。这使地方的势力非常大，各道的将军拥兵自重。李公蕴即位后，将全国分为二十四个路，路之下设置州、府、乡、社等行政机构。他还模仿中国的地方行政制度，将各个路的长官称为知府，由朝廷委派的文官担任。而对于芒族聚居地的爱州、驩州，李公蕴在那里设置寨，施行与内地完全不同的军事统治，这是因为芒族经常反对朝廷统治的缘故。李公蕴对于国内的芒族叛乱毫不手软。1011年，李公蕴率兵平定了莒隆的芒族叛乱，俘获其首领并焚毁其部落的驻地。

与此同时，李公蕴册封其诸子为王，并让他们长期带兵出征。

宗教政策

由于李公蕴是僧人出身，极为笃信佛教，因此在其在位期间极力推行佛教。佛教僧侣在当时拥有非常高的社会地位。拥立李公蕴有功的僧人万行被册封为国师，执掌朝政。此后，不少参与朝政的僧人获得了大量的封地。

李公蕴在建造升龙城的时候，在城外修建了许多寺院。还发放官府的银两给寺院铸造大钟。他多次亲自为僧人剃度，1019年，李公蕴甚至下达全国百姓剃度为僧的诏书。每次遣使出使北宋，都要从北宋带回大量的三藏经。

逝世

1028年，李公蕴在升龙的龙安殿逝世。群臣来到皇太子李佛玛居住的龙德宫，准备根据遗诏让李佛玛即位。李公蕴的其他三个儿子东征王、翊圣王、武德王听说此事后，各率家兵入禁城，埋伏于庆福门内，准备在李佛玛经过的时候将其刺杀。但李佛玛却从祥符门入宫，幸运地躲过了这一劫。随即李佛玛发现了三王的阴谋，派遣黎奉晓前去征讨，杀武德王，擒东征王、翊圣王。李佛玛顺利继承了皇位，是为李太宗。

家族

• 生父：显庆王

• 生母：明德太后范氏

• 养父：李庆文

• 兄：武威王李某

皇后

• 共九名：

　• 黎氏佛银（黎桓之女），1009年立六位皇后，黎氏佛银作为嫡夫人为立教皇后，为正宫皇后，徽号贞明皇后

　• 佐国皇后，1016年再立三位皇后之一

　• 立元皇后，1016年再立三位皇后之一

　• 立教皇后，1016年再立三位皇后之一，与第一任立教皇后黎氏佛银不是同一人

　• 其馀失名

子女

• 六子十三女：

　• 子：

• 开天王 皇太子 李太宗 李佛玛（又名李德政，黎氏佛银所生，后为李朝第二代皇帝）

• 开国王 李菩

• 东征王 李力

• 翊圣王

• 武德王

• 威明王李晃（李日㫕，黎氏佛银所生，《粤甸幽灵集》中有其事迹的传说）

　• 女：

• 安国公主（嫁义信侯陶甘沐）

（其馀的称号不详与失名）

后世纪念

• 李公蕴所开创的李朝是越南历史上最鼎盛的王朝，因此越南人十分尊崇李公蕴。今越南首都河内有一条街被命名为「」，海阳省海阳市也有一条「李公蕴路」。

• 2010年越南举行河内建城千年庆典时，与中国合拍了一部名叫「李公蕴：到升龙城之路」的电视剧。但由于剧中的于中国取景，与中国过于相像，最终未能如期上映，押后到翌年才可上映。

• 2011年8月，越南从俄罗斯购入两艘导弹驱逐舰以防卫中国，分别命名为「李太祖」号和「丁先皇」号。

影视形象

注释

Early years

Lý Công Uẩn was born in Cổ Pháp village, Đình Bảng, Từ Sơn, Bắc Ninh Province in March 974. Lý Công Uẩn』s family background is mysterious. According to the Vietnamese chronicle, his mother, a woman named Phạm Thị gave him up for adoption to a man named Lý Khánh Vân at the age of three. Công Uẩn was educated by Vạn Hạnh, the most eminent Buddhist patriarch of the time, in the village of Đình Bản, a short distance across the Red River from Hanoi to the northeast. He acquired a reputation as a devout Buddhist, and then a historian student, and a soldier. He was gradually promoted from a minor official to a prominent post of the government and was ultimately bestowed with the title Tả Thân Vệ Điện Tiền Chỉ Huy Sứ (The Commander of the Palace's Left Flank), which was one of the most important positions within the royal guards.

In 1005, the ruling king Lê Hoàn died, resulting in a civil war between his sons. Lý Công Uẩn began serving at the royal court, eventually rising to a high position of trust at the side of the designated heir to the throne. In 1009, the ruling king Lê Long Đĩnh (r. 1005–1009), the last king of the Lê family, developed hemorrhoids and had to lie down while listening to officials』 reports. Incapacitated by declining health, Long Đĩnh watched helplessly as the monks of Giao launched a propaganda campaign that nurtured belief in the inevitability of Lý Công Uẩn becoming king. He died in November 1009 under the wrath of the people because of his brutality and cruelty during his reign. Đào Cam Mộc, an royal official, and Patriarch Vạn Hạnh seized the opportunity and imposed their power and political influence to enthrone their trusted disciple Lý Công Uẩn without much resistance, thus ended the reign of the Lê dynasty.

Two days after Long Đĩnh's death, advised and assisted by his patron, the monk Vạn Hạnh, and by the efforts of the entire Buddhist establishment, Lý Công Uẩn was proclaimed king by general acclamation. After his ascension to the throne, Lý Công Uẩn named his era "Thuận Thiên" (顺天) meaning "Accordance with HeavenWill".

Reign

Capital relocation

The royal court decided to relocate from Hoa Lư to the site of Đại La (modern-day Hanoi) in the next year, 1010. Đại La was known as the city that the Tang general Gao Pian had built in the 860s after the ravages of the Nanzhao War. In 1010, Lý Công Uẩn published an edict explaining why he move his capital to Dai La. Lý Công Uẩn chose the site because it had been an earlier capital in the rich Red River Delta. He saw Đại La as a place "between Heaven and Earth where the coiling dragon and the crouching tiger lie, and his capital would last 10,000 years". When Lý Công Uẩn』s boat docked at the new capital, a dragon, symbol of sovereign authority, reportedly soared above his head; he accordingly renamed the place Thăng Long, the "ascending dragon".

The royal city at Thăng Long was laid out in the standard pattern: the urban center encompassed the Royal City. The Throne Room Palace was located within a Dragon Courtyard and faced south. The Crown Prince of the Lý dynasty lived in the Eastern Palace outside the city walls. Palaces and offices were constructed of timber. Càn Nguyên Palace where the king held audience was located on the Nùng hill. By 1010, 11 palaces were built in Thăng Long. The earthworks which were ramparts of the new capital still stand to the west of the modern city of Hanoi, forming a vast quadrilateral by the side of the road to Sơn Tây.

Domestic policies

The outer regions of the Red River Delta, beyond the Lý heartland, were in the hands of families allied with the Lý family by marriage. Lý Thái Tổ abandoned a scheme of dividing the plain into "ten circuits" that had been devised by Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (r. 968–979) and replaced it with 24 routes; these were not administrative jurisdictions but rather itineraries designating various localities. He organized the southern provinces into military outposts, indicating a policy of garrisons and patrols. Officials did not receive a salary controlled by the capital, but were entirely dependent upon local resources, a region's fish and rice. The soldiers did receive some largesse at the same time as they were expected to do some farming of their own. The village communities scattered about the countryside stayed within their own frames of reference except in times of emergency or of specific royal demands. Only then would they interact with the central power. Otherwise they sent some of their resources to the local lord, who in turn forwarded a share as tribute to the throne. This administrative system resembles a naturally Southeast Asian mandala system.

In 1011, Lý Thái Tổ raised a large army and attacked rebels in the southern provinces, in what is now Thanh Hoá and Nghệ An. He

campaigned there for two years, burning villages and capturing local leaders. While returning by sea in late 1012, a great storm threatened to sink his boat, which he understood as a divine judgment upon him for the violence he had brought upon so many people.

For three years, 1013–1015, Lý Thái Tổ sent soldiers into the northern mountains of modern Hà Giang Province to pacify Hani people who allied with the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan.

He also reformed the tax system in 1013 by creating six tax classifications, which enabled the royal court to efficiently collect taxes and citizens to clearly know which tax classification affected them, for instance, applied mostly to goods produced on royal estates:

• Tax on fishing and seafood production

• Tax on agricultural production (farming)

• Tax on logging/wood and masonry

• Tax on salt production

• Tax on luxury goods production (ivory, gold, silk, precious materials, etc.)

• Tax on fruits and vegetable production

When a severe earthquake occurred in 1016, Lý Thái Tổ prayed to the gods that were in charge of the mountains surrounding the capital, while also sending more than 1,000 people to teach in Buddhist schools. He journeyed around his kingdom both to propitiate its disparate genies and co-opt them by having them "declare" themselves to him.

Foreign affairs

During the reign of Lý Thái Tổ, the Song Dynasty was pre-occupied with maintaining internal stability and still recovering from previous defeats or skirmishes with the Liao dynasty and Western Xia. Đại Việt, as a result, was mostly left alone and political relations between the two states revived. In 1010, the Song emperor recognized Lý Công Uẩn without delay, conferring upon him the usual titles of vassalage.

In 1010, Lý Thái Tổ attacked and caught thirteen persons of Địch Lão (bandit) ethnicity and presented the captives to the Chinese court. In August 1014 he sent a mission to China, presented 60 horses as gifts and notified the Song court that he had subdued a Hani community.

Religious activities

Having begun life as a Buddhist monk, Lý Thái Tổ practiced Buddhism and promoted it as the national religion. As a result, he gave much support to the Buddhist clergy and institutions. He donated money to build pagodas throughout Đại Việt. Initial, he built 8 Buddhist temples in the Tiên Du area, heart land of Vietnamese Buddhism and three others around the capital region itself.

Consistent with his geo-administrative vision and his kingship to appease and tame the spirit world, during the eleventh century the Lý court "brought back" to Thăng Long a firmament of local spirits that had long dominated more distant regions of the kingdom. The

spirits of the Trưng sisters from the western delta, the earth genie of Phù Đổng north of the capital, and the Mountain of Bronze Drum god from Thanh Hoá in Ái to the south were all relocated to the capital and housed there in temples specially dedicated to them. If these spirits were "symbols of regional powers", their pacification involved the extension of monarchical authority to the regions of Đại Việt.

In 1024, a temple was built for Lý Thái Tổ to use for reading and reciting the Buddhist scriptures, a copy of which he had requested and

received from the Song court a few years earlier. After establishing suitable relationships with the terrestrial powers, he showed an interest in establishing proper relationships with the supernatural powers, patronizing the Buddhist religion and local cults, thereby cultivating a cultural basis for his authority. Thereafter he began to withdraw from public affairs. In 1025, Vạn Hạnh died. He had been Lý Thái Tổ』s teacher, mentor, and, to some extent, father figure. He had previously been an advisor to Lê Hoàn and was a central figure in effecting the transition from the Lê family at Hoa Lư to the Lý family at Thăng Long. It seems that Lý Thái Tổ』s royal personality was in some degree animated as an extension of Vạn Hạnh』s expectations of him, for from this time little of note is recorded about Lý Thái Tổ until his death in the spring of 1028.

Death

Lý Công Uẩn died in 1028 at the age of 55 according to the royal official accounts. He was buried at Thọ Lăng, the Mausoleum of Longevity, outside of Thiên Đức Palace. He was posthumously named as "Lý Thái Tổ"; his posthumous imperial title was "Thần Võ Hoàng Đế". Today the ancestor spirit of Lý Thái Tổ is among those popularly honoured in rites at national shrines.

Family

• Father

　• Hiển Khánh vương (posthumously honored by Lý Thái Tổ in 1010)

　• Lý Khánh Vân (adoptive father)

• Mother

　• Phạm Thị Ngà

• Brothers

　• Dực Thánh Vương (翊圣王)

　• Lý Mỗ

• Wives

　• Empress Lập Giáo

　• Lady Chu Ái Vân (婤爱云夫人)

• Children

　• Lý Phật Mã (李佛玛)

　• Lý Long Bồ (李龙菩) (?–1069)

　• Lý Lực

　• Lý Cập

　• Lý Phó

　• Lý Nhật Quang (李日㫕) (995–1057)

　• Princess An Quốc

　• Princess Lĩnh Nam (Lý Thị Bảo Hòa)

Ancestry