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The Den Emperor Le Dai Hanh temple is dedicated to the founder of the Early Le Dynasty (980–1005), a patriot who defeated a Chinese invasion in 981. He also replaced Chinese currency with Vietnamese coinage and took steps to begin the conquest of Champa to the south, forcing the Cham king to pay tribute and carrying back the Cham royal ballet to perform at Hoa Lu.<br/><br/> Lê Hoàn (941–1005), posthumous name Lê Đại Hành, was a king and emperor of Đại Cồ Việt (Vietnam) under the Anterior Lê Dynasty. He was the commander in chief of the army of Emperor Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, but he also had an illicit relationship with the Empress Dowager, dethroned Đinh Bộ Lĩnh’s heir and proclaimed himself king in 980.
In 968 an outstanding military commander, Dinh Bo Linh (924–979), reunified the country after the collapse of the short-lived Ngo Dynasty (939–67). He renamed the country Dai Co Viet, and moved the capital from Co Loa near Hanoi south to Hoa Lu to be farther from the Chinese threat. He also took the title Emperor Tien Hoang De (r. 968–979), married five empresses simultaneously – the only Vietnamese king ever to do so – and built an elaborate palace and citadel.<br/><br/> Like his more famous Chinese namesake, the ‘Yellow Emperor’ Qin Shi Huang, he not only unified the country, but employed extraordinarily cruel means to hold it together. In front of the citadel at Hoa Lu he is said to have kept a vat of boiling oil in which to immerse lesser offenders, while more serious criminals were fed to the palace tigers.