Hoàng Diệu (

chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chines ...

: 黃耀, 14 March 1829 – 25 April 1882), born Hoàng Kim Tích (黃金錫), courtesy name Quang Viễn, was a

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

Governor-general of Hà - Ninh, who suicided after failure in protecting Hà Nội citadel.

Early years

Hoàng Diệu was born in 1829 in a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

family in Xuân Đài village, Diên Phước district, Quảng Nam province (now is Điện Bàn, Quảng Nam). In 1848, he got

Cử nhân The Confucian court examination system in Vietnam (Chữ Nôm: 制度科舉越南, Vietnamese : ''Chế độ khoa cử Việt Nam'') was a system for entry into the civil service modeled on the Imperial examination in China, based on knowledge of ...

(舉人 senior bachelor) degree in the Regional Exam (Vietnamese: ''Thi Hương''). In 1853, he got (second rank, under doctorate) title in the National Exam (Vietnamese: ''Thi Hội''). In 1855, he was appointed to Chief of Bồng Sơn district, then Tuy Viễn district in Bình Định province. In 1864, there was a coup attempt of Hồng Tập, a younger cousin of King

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, 嗣德, lit. "inheritance of virtues", 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm , also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam; he ruled f ...

(also known as Hồng Nhậm). The attempt was early exposed, its top leaders, Hồng Tập and Nguyễn Văn Viện were sentenced to guillotine. Hoàng Diệu came to take chief position of Hương Trà district instead of Tôn Thất Thanh, who was sentenced to jail for aiding the coup. He was then posted to (Prefect) of Đa Phúc fu (now is Bắc Giang Province), (Surveillance Commissioner) of

Nam Định Province Nam Định () ( vi, Tỉnh Nam Định) is a province in the southern part of the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. It borders Ninh Bình province to the southwest, Hà Nam province to the northwest, Thái Bình province to the northea ...

, and (Administration Commissioner) of Bắc Ninh Province. In 1878, there was a huge flood in Quảng Nam, many districts fell into disease, starvation, robberies. Knowing Hoàng Diệu was an upright man, knowledgeable about the people and customs of Quảng land, King Tự Đức appointed him as Imperial Commissioner to take care of the health and safety of the people, and eliminate thieves. After completing the responsibilities in Quảng Nam in early 1879, Hoàng Diệu returned to the imperial court to take up the position of the Deputy Minister of Justice, then Deputy Minister of Administration cum Chief of

Censorate The Censorate was a high-level supervisory agency in Imperial China, first established during the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). The Censorate was a highly effective agency during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). During the ...

. In 1880, Hoàng Diệu was appointed as the governor-general of Hà Ninh (now are Hà Nội, Hà Nam, and Ninh Bình). He suggested separation of Lý Nhân fu of Hà Nội province to form a new province under the reign of King

. That suggestion was realized in 1890 by the

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

authority with the formation of Hà Nam province.

Battle of Hanoi 1882

Hoàng Diệu committed suicide by hanging when the French under captain Henri Rivière, having exceeded his superiors' orders, suddenly took the citadel of Hanoi on 25 April 1882.Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O - Page 433 Tony Jaques - 2007 "Carrying 250 reinforcements, his ships then bombarded the citadel and took it by storm after Governor Hoang Dieu hanged himself to avoid capture."

Legacy and memory

Hoàng Diệu is venerated alongside Nguyễn Tri Phương by the Vietnamese people as loyal subjects who sacrificed themselves for Vietnam. Many cities and streets in Vietnam are named after him. His grandson was the essayist

Phan Khôi Phan Khôi (October 06, 1887 – January 16, 1959) was an intellectual leader who inspired a North Vietnamese variety of the Chinese Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which scholars were permitted to criticize the Communist regime, but for which he h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Dieu 1829 births 1882 deaths People from Quảng Nam province Nguyen dynasty officials People of the Tonkin campaign Suicides by hanging in Vietnam Vietnamese military personnel