Trần Anh Tông

TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Anh TÃÂ´ng (, 17 September 1276 Ã¢ÂÂ 12 December 1320), personal name TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThuyÃÂªn (Ã©ÂÂ³Ã§ÂÂ), courtesy name NhÃ¡ÂºÂt SÃ¡Â»Â§y (Ã¦ÂÂ¥Ã§ÂÂ) or NhÃ¡ÂºÂt SÃÂ¡ng (Ã¦ÂÂ¥Ã£Â·Â/Ã¦ÂÂ¥Ã°Â¤ÂÂ), was the fourth emperor of the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, reigning over Dai Viet from 1293 to 1314. After ceding the throne to his son TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Minh TÃÂ´ng, Anh TÃÂ´ng held the title Retired Emperor for six years. As the first TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n emperor who ruled in total peace with respect to foreign affairs, Anh TÃÂ´ng was known for his successful reign of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât, which brought a long period of peace and prosperity over the country. He also had several military victories over the kingdoms of Champa and Lan Xang.

Early years

Anh TÃÂ´ng was born in 1276 as TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThuyÃÂªn, the first son of the then-emperor TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng and Empress KhÃÂ¢m TÃ¡Â»Â« BÃ¡ÂºÂ£o ThÃÂ¡nh. In 1292 he was invested as crown prince by NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng and ultimately was ceded the throne in 1293 while his father still reigned as Retired Emperor () for 16 years.

According to officially commissioned historical books, although being an intelligent ruler and a devoted son, the young Emperor Anh TÃÂ´ng often drank alcohol and escaped from the royal citadel to wander around ThÃÂng Long at night. One time the Emperor was so drunk that he forgot to welcome the Retired Emperor who was coming back from ThiÃÂªn TrÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Âng for a visit. When he was made aware of the situation, NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng departed immediately in a fury from ThÃÂng Long and Anh TÃÂ´ng had to write a petition for the Retired Emperor with the help from a young scholar named ÃÂoÃÂ n NhÃ¡Â»Â¯ HÃÂ i. After that event, Anh TÃÂ´ng appointed ÃÂoÃÂ n as court counselor and avoided drinking.

As emperor

Anh TÃÂ´ng was the first TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n emperor who reigned without having to face attacks from the Mongol Empire. Despite the deaths of the two most important generals of the early TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty, TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Quang KhÃ¡ÂºÂ£i in 1294 and TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n QuÃ¡Â»Âc TuÃ¡ÂºÂ¥n in 1300, the Emperor was still served by many efficient mandarins like TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n NhÃ¡ÂºÂt DuÃ¡ÂºÂt, ÃÂoÃÂ n NhÃ¡Â»Â¯ HÃÂ i, PhÃ¡ÂºÂ¡m NgÃÂ© LÃÂ£o, TrÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng HÃÂ¡n SiÃÂªu, MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡c ÃÂÃÂ©nh Chi and NguyÃ¡Â»Ân Trung NgÃ¡ÂºÂ¡n. Anh TÃÂ´ng was very strict in suppressing gambling and corruption but he also generously rewarded those who served him well. Under the reign of an able emperor and capable court administration, ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât witnessed a long period of peace and prosperity.

Foreign policy during Anh TÃÂ´ng's reign was continuing the dÃÂ©tente with the Yuan dynasty while restraining the two other neighbours of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât, the kingdoms of Champa and Laos. The Emperor's envoy to the Yuan dynasty was so successful that the leader MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡c ÃÂÃÂ©nh Chi was dubbled the "Two-state exemplar" because he came first as TrÃ¡ÂºÂ¡ng nguyÃÂªn (Zhuangyuan, Ã§ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ) in ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât's imperial examination and was praised in the Yuan dynasty court for his eloquence. After the failed invasions of the Mongol Empire, ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât's southwestern border was invaded several times by Laos until Anh TÃÂ´ng appointed PhÃ¡ÂºÂ¡m NgÃÂ© LÃÂ£o to oversee the pacification of the frontier regions.

In 1306, the king of Champa ChÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ MÃÂ¢n offered Vietnam two Cham prefectures ÃÂ and LÃÂ½ in exchange for a marriage with Vietnamese princess HuyÃ¡Â»Ân TrÃÂ¢n. Anh TÃÂ´ng accepted this offer, then he took and renamed ÃÂ prefecture and LÃÂ½ prefecture to ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn prefecture and HÃÂ³a prefecture, both of them often referred shortly as ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn HÃÂ³a region. Only one year into the marriage, ChÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ MÃÂ¢n died and in line with the royal tradition of Champa, HuyÃ¡Â»Ân TrÃÂ¢n was to be cremated with her husband. Facing this urgent condition, Anh TÃÂ´ng sent his mandarin TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n KhÃ¡ÂºÂ¯c Chung to Champa to save HuyÃ¡Â»Ân TrÃÂ¢n from an imminent death. Finally HuyÃ¡Â»Ân TrÃÂ¢n was able to return to ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât but ChÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ ChÃÂ, the successor of ChÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ MÃÂ¢n, no longer wished to abide by the peace treaty with ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât. After that event, Anh TÃÂ´ng himself, along with generals TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n QuÃ¡Â»Âc ChÃÂ¢n and TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n KhÃÂ¡nh DÃÂ° commanded three groups of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât military units to attack Champa in 1312. ChÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ ChÃÂ was defeated and captured in this invasion, and Anh TÃÂ´ng installed a hand-picked successor, Che Man's brother Che Da-a-ba-niem, but the relations between ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât and Champa remained strained for a long time afterwards.

As retired emperor

After 21 years of rule, Anh TÃÂ´ng passed the throne to the crown prince TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh, who became the Emperor TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Minh TÃÂ´ng, and Anh TÃÂ´ng retained the title ThÃÂ¡i thÃÂ°Ã¡Â»Â£ng hoÃÂ ng for six more years before dying in 1320 at the age of 54. Anh TÃÂ´ng had only one era name during his reign, which was HÃÂ°ng Long (, prosperity). After the Emperor's death, he was given the posthumous name HiÃ¡Â»Ân vÃÂn duÃ¡Â»Â vÃÂ© khÃÂ¢m minh nhÃÂ¢n hiÃ¡ÂºÂ¿u hoÃÂ ng ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¿ (Ã©Â¡Â¯Ã¦ÂÂÃ§ÂÂ¿Ã¦ÂÂ¦Ã¦Â¬Â½Ã¦ÂÂÃ¤Â»ÂÃ¥ÂÂÃ§ÂÂÃ¥Â¸Â).

According to history books, Anh TÃÂ´ng was praised for his righteous reign, which created a peaceful and prosperous period in the history of ÃÂÃ¡ÂºÂ¡i ViÃ¡Â»Ât. He was known as a modest ruler who was quick to mend his mistakes, was always cautious and intelligent in judgment, and the only major criticism of him was building a tower and gathering monks in YÃÂªn TÃ¡Â»Â mountain. According to the royal historian NgÃÂ´ SÃÂ© LiÃÂªn, Anh TÃÂ´ng was a father with sense of responsibility for his son, which is seen as an important factor in Minh TÃÂ´ng's good governance in the future. The decision made by Anh TÃÂ´ng and his father NhÃÂ¢n TÃÂ´ng to marry off the royal princess HuyÃ¡Â»Ân TrÃÂ¢n to the king of Champa in exchange for peace and land was sometimes considered a stigma on the TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n dynasty.

Family

Anh TÃÂ´ng had one empress, two other wives and several concubines:
Empress ThuÃ¡ÂºÂn ThÃÂ¡nh (?–1330), daughter of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n QuÃ¡Â»Âc TÃ¡ÂºÂ£ng and granddaughter of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n QuÃ¡Â»Âc TuÃ¡ÂºÂ¥n. She was entitled Queen dowager when TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh was made emperor
Imperial consort ChiÃÂªu HiÃ¡ÂºÂ¿n, daughter of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n BÃÂ¬nh TrÃ¡Â»Âng, natural mother of TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh
Imperial consort TÃÂ©nh HuÃ¡Â»Â, daughter of PhÃ¡ÂºÂ¡m NgÃÂ© LÃÂ£o
ÃÂa La Thanh, daughter of northern monk Du Chi BÃÂ Lam
Imperial concubine TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n ThÃ¡Â»Â ThÃÂ¡i BÃÂ¬nh
Palace maid VÃÂ°ÃÂ¡ng ThÃ¡Â»Â
Besides three short-lived sons, Anh TÃÂ´ng was survived by only one son, TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n MÃ¡ÂºÂ¡nh, who eventually became his successor TrÃ¡ÂºÂ§n Minh TÃÂ´ng. The Emperor also had five daughters:
Princess ThiÃÂªn ChÃÂ¢n
Princess ÃÂ Trinh
Princess Huy ChÃÂ¢n
Princess HuÃ¡Â»Â ChÃÂ¢n
Princess ThÃÂ¡nh ChÃÂ¢n

References

Sources

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