Đinh dynasty

The Đinh dynasty (Đinh triều; Chữ Hán: 丁朝; or Nhà Đinh; Chữ Nôm: 茹丁), officially Great Cồ Việt (Đại Cồ Việt; Chữ Hán: 大瞿越), was a Vietnamese dynasty. It was founded in 968 when Đinh Bộ Lĩnh vanquished the upheavals of Twelve warlords and ended when the son of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, Đinh Toàn, ceded the throne to Lê Hoàn in 980. The Đinh family originated from the village of Hoa Lư, Jinghai kingdom in modern-day Ninh Bình province, northern Vietnam. Đinh Bộ Lĩnh's father, Đinh Công Trứ had served both Dương Đình Nghệ and Ngô Quyền as governor of Hoan Châu (modern-day the city of Vinh). According to Chinese accounts, Bộ Lĩnh succeed his father as Duke of Hoan. His father died when he was a child and he lived with his mother and other family members in a holy temple near a mountain in Hoa Lư. Đinh Bộ Lĩnh had a sister named Đinh Quế Hương. Around 940s, the young Đinh Bộ Lĩnh emerged as a leader of villages youth, who played "royal games" in which Bộ Lĩnh was the king. The tradition folk said he had them collect wood for his mother, who slaughtered a pig and put on a feast. Villagers sensed a grim future leader: "We’d better follow him now before it is too late." They delivered their youths to Bộ Lĩnh, and he set up a base on land of his uncle, who refused to submit to him. Bộ Lĩnh sent his friends to attack the uncle, who pursued him, found him trapped under a collapsed bridge, and almost intended to kill him, but then saw two yellow dragons flying above. The uncle withdrew and later submitted to him. Historian Oliver W. Wolters termed the story as a "man of prowess" possessing the "soul stuff" befitting a chief. In 951, he began challenging the royal authority of the ruling Ngô family. Two king Ngô Xương Ngập and Ngô Xương Văn sent a force tried suppressing Bộ Lĩnh that failed but captured Đinh Bộ Lĩnh's son, Đinh Liễn as a hostage. The two kings suspended Lien from a pole in plain view of Bộ Lĩnh and shouted that he would be killed unless Bộ Lĩnh submitted.