Ho Quy Ly (Hồ Quý Lý) was a leader, who had the thought of national selfstrengthening and renovation in the Medieval history of Vietnam. Although his attempts could not save the national independence eventually, his sound ideas on national renovation did satisfy objective requirements for national development afterwards. | Ho Quy Ly’s Thought. Ho Quy Ly’s Thought of National Self-strengthening and Renovation Nguyen Hoai Van * Abstract: Ho Quy Ly (Hồ Quý Lý) was a leader, who had the thought of national selfstrengthening and renovation in the Medieval history of Vietnam. Although his attempts could not save the national independence eventually, his sound ideas on national renovation did satisfy objective requirements for national development afterwards. Key words: Hồ Quý Ly; leader, Đổi mới (renovation), national self-strengthening. 1. Hồ Quý Ly had a high sense of patriotism and a brilliant mind. Having innovative ideas, he was always enterprising and was bravely responsible for decisions. He devoted all his life to the national fate. From the second half of the 14th century, the Trần Dynasty encountered a severe crisis. At that time, Hồ Quý Ly took part in politics of the Trần Dynasty. He was the very witness of the period, when our nation faced critical difficulties and challenges both internally and externally. Keeping a high position in the Court of the Trần Dynasty since 1371, Hồ Quý Ly gradually became more and more important. Eventually, he became the king of the Hồ Dynasty in 1400. He realized clearly his responsibility in strengthening national development in all aspects. Especially, it was necessary to recover national economy, which was inherently going rapidly downhill. The economic deterioration stemmed from neither ravages of aggressors nor overuse of human and materials for the war against invaders. Actually, it resulted from shortcomings in management and administration of governments at all levels, from the grassroots to the Central one. After great victories against three Mongol invasions (in 1258, 1285, and 1288), the Trần Dynasty started to fall in a total crisis in the middle of the 14th century, when Trần Dụ Tông came to the throne. The government was incapable of taking control over the country. In 1361, furthermore, the Kingdom of Champa (Chiêm Thành) .
