Administrative system of the Later Lê Restoration

Timeline

1. 1533–1592Thanh Hóa (initial seat) · VietnamNguyễn Kim enthroned Lê Trang Tông at Thanh Hóa, rebuilding the Lê regime under the name 'Restoration'. The restored court established the Six Ministries and military organs in the south, confronting the northern Mạc dynasty for over half a century, and gradually restored the Confucian examination and local administrative systems.
2. 1601–1650Eastern Capital (Thăng Long) · VietnamTrịnh Tráng (son of Trịnh Tĩnh) monopolized court affairs from 1601, holding military and civil power under the title 'Grand Marshal and Chief of State, Supreme Father', with the Lê emperor a figurehead. Meanwhile Nguyễn Hoàng held Quảng Nam, gradually forming a north-south division. The central Six Ministries nominally functioned, the triennial examinations continued, and Confucian rites sustained the regime's legitimacy.
3. 1627–1789Vietnam (north-south division) · VietnamThe Trịnh and Nguyễn houses fought several times, eventually divided by the Gianh River: the northern Trịnh lords maintained the central bureaucracy while the southern Nguyễn lords built the Quảng Nam regime. The Lê emperor resided in the Eastern Capital as a symbolic Son of Heaven, and the system grew increasingly rigid. After Nguyễn Huệ of the Tây Sơn dynasty crushed the Qing army in 1789, the last Lê emperor fled, and the Restoration system ended completely.