Lý Thần Tông

LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng (1116–1138), personal name LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n, was the fifth emperor of the LÃÂ½ dynasty, reigning over ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât from 1127 to his death in 1138. Becoming the ruler of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât at the age of twelve, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng successfully maintained the order of the royal court and strengthened the stability of the country with the assistance of capable officials. For that reason, ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât under LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng was able to witness a peaceful period like during the reign of his predecessors. However, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng died at age 22 before passing the throne to his crown prince LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â.

Early years

He was born in the summer of 1116 as LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n to Lady ÃÂÃ¡Â»Â and the Marquis of SÃÂ¹ng HiÃ¡Â»Ân (Vietnamese: SÃÂ¹ng HiÃ¡Â»Ân hÃ¡ÂºÂ§u) who was son of the Emperor LÃÂ½ ThÃÂ¡nh TÃÂ´ng and younger brother of the Emperor LÃÂ½ NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng. According to the ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât sÃ¡Â»Â kÃÂ½ toÃÂ n thÃÂ°, LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n was born right after the death of the monk TÃ¡Â»Â« ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡o HÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh, one of the most important figures of the Early LÃÂ½ dynasty, which implied that LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n might be the incarnation of TÃ¡Â»Â« ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡o HÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh. At that time, the Emperor LÃÂ½ NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng was unable to have his own child, and thus he decided to adopt sons of the Marquises SÃÂ¹ng HiÃ¡Â»Ân, ThÃÂ nh KhÃÂ¡nh, ThÃÂ nh QuÃ¡ÂºÂ£ng, ThÃÂ nh ChiÃÂªu, ThÃÂ nh HÃÂ°ng, so that the emperor could choose a capable successor to maintain the throne for the LÃÂ½ dynasty. Finally, being an intelligent and vivacious boy, LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n was made by LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng the crown prince of the LÃÂ½ dynasty at the age of two in 1117.

In December 1127, LÃÂ½ NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng died at VÃÂ©nh Quang Palace and was succeeded by the Crown Prince LÃÂ½ DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HoÃÂ¡n, now LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng. Immediately after the coronation, ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng began to regulate the royal court and the royal family in order to keep the stability of the LÃÂ½ dynasty in the wake of NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng's death. This action of LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng was criticized by contemporary historians LÃÂª VÃÂn HÃÂ°u and NgÃÂ´ SÃÂ© LiÃÂªn who thought that LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng should have been in mourning for his predecessor for a longer period to show his respect for the departed emperor.

As emperor

After the enthronement, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng changed the era name to ThiÃÂªn ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn (1128–1132) and made his adoptive mother Lady TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Anh the Empress Mother of the LÃÂ½ dynasty. During the reign, the Emperor changed the era name one more time to ThiÃÂªn ChÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o TÃ¡Â»Â± (1133–1138).

Although he had been not long on the LÃÂ½ throne, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng at once made several major changes in the royal court such as relaxing strict laws, appointing officials for important positions and maintaining diplomatic relations with the Song dynasty and the Kingdom of Champa. At that time, the ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât's borders were fairly stable except for some skirmishes with the Khmer ruler Suryavarman II, starting in 1128, and Champa, which were driven out by the LÃÂ½ army without difficulty. Besides the Emperor, the victory over Champa was also attributed to the protection of the Buddhist and Taoist deities, an opinion that the historian LÃÂª VÃÂn HÃÂ°u did not agree with since the historian thought that the victory in battlefield was solely due to the ability of the commander.

In the first month of 1129, the Emperor bestowed his real father and mother Marquis SÃÂ¹ng HiÃ¡Â»Ân and Lady ÃÂÃ¡Â»Â thÃ¡Â»Â on titles the Retired Emperor (ThÃÂ¡i thÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Â£ng hoÃÂ ng) and the Empress Mother (HoÃÂ ng thÃÂ¡i hÃ¡ÂºÂu) of the LÃÂ½ dynasty. The decision of LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng was met with criticism from LÃÂª VÃÂn HÃÂ°u because of its unorthodoxy according to the feudal tradition in which the Emperor should accept only one origin, in this case was the late LÃÂ½ NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng and his empress. LÃÂª VÃÂn HÃÂ°u, together with NgÃÂ´ SÃÂ© LiÃÂªn, again criticized LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng for his order in the first month of 1130 that every daughter of the mandarins in the royal court had to be available for the emperor's selection of concubines and ones who were not chosen could only get married afterwards. Because of the young age of the emperor, NgÃÂ´ SÃÂ© LiÃÂªn and LÃÂª VÃÂn HÃÂ°u often pointed their criticisms to LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng's officials who were considered ( by the historians ) lacking ability and being flatterers. However, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng was later considered in the ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât sÃ¡Â»Â kÃÂ½ toÃÂ n thÃÂ° a skilled ruler who was able to choose and use talented officials and hold the stability of the LÃÂ½ dynasty. On the other hand, the modern historian TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TrÃ¡Â»Âng Kim wrote in his ViÃ¡Â»Ât Nam sÃ¡Â»Â lÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Â£c that ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât was able to witness a peaceful era during the reign of LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng thanks to some capable mandarins such as TrÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng BÃÂ¡ NgÃ¡Â»Âc, LÃÂ°u KhÃÂ¡nh ÃÂÃÂ m and DÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng Anh NhÃ¡Â»Â and the policy of "ngÃ¡Â»Â¥ binh ÃÂ° nÃÂ´ng" which meant conscripting farmers into the army for a period of six months and release them for the remaining six months so that they could resume their farming work and thus the agriculture of the country was not affected by military activities.

In 1136 LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng contracted a severe disease that his physicians could not cure, so a monk named NguyÃ¡Â»Ân Minh KhÃÂ´ng stepped up and helped the emperor survive his disease and recover. There was a legend said that NguyÃ¡Â»Ân Minh KhÃÂ´ng learned the disease's antidote of disease from his master TÃ¡Â»Â« ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡o HÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh before he died. Nevertheless, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng survived for only two years, he died on the 26th day of the ninth month of 1138 at the age of 23 and was succeeded by LÃÂ½ Anh TÃÂ´ng.

Family

LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng entitled his empress, the Empress Consort LÃ¡Â»Â ThiÃÂªn (LÃ¡Â»Â ThiÃÂªn HoÃÂ ng hÃ¡ÂºÂu) LÃÂ½ thÃ¡Â»Â in 1128. At the same time, LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng also married the niece LÃÂª thÃ¡Â»Â of the chancellor LÃÂª XÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng, who was entitled as Lady Minh BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o (Minh BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o phu nhÃÂ¢n).

The first son of LÃÂ½ ThÃ¡ÂºÂ§n TÃÂ´ng and Lady Minh BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o LÃÂª thÃ¡Â»Â was LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â who was born in the fourth month in Lunar calendar of 1136. Initially LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â was not chosen the crown prince of the LÃÂ½ dynasty because his father preferred LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn LÃ¡Â»Âc who was son of his favourite concubine and born before LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â in 1132. In the ninth month of 1138, the ill emperor decided to make LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â his successor and downgraded LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn LÃ¡Â»Âc to Prince Minh ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡o (Minh ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡o vÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng) after a campaign opened by three other concubines of the Emperor, Ladies CÃ¡ÂºÂ£m ThÃÂ¡nh, NhÃ¡ÂºÂt PhÃ¡Â»Â¥ng and PhÃ¡Â»Â¥ng ThÃÂ¡nh, who were afraid that the coronation of a concubine's son would menace their position in royal family. Besides LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â and LÃÂ½ ThiÃÂªn LÃ¡Â»Âc, the emperor had a stillborn daughter in 1132, a third prince with unknown name born in 1137 and the Princess ThÃ¡Â»Â¥y ThiÃÂªn who was also born in 1137.

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