Emperor Lý Anh Tông (1136 – 14 August 1175) of Đại Việt (literally Great Viet), was the sixth ruler of the

later Lý dynasty Later may refer to: * Future, the time after the present Television * ''Later'' (talk show), a 1988–2001 American talk show * '' Later... with Jools Holland'', a British music programme since 1992 * ''The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts'', or ...

, from 1138 until his death in 1175. Since Lý Anh Tông,

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

Lý Thiên Tộ ( 李

天 ''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as '' Shàngdì'' (, "Lor ...

祚), was chosen as the successor of his father

Lý Thần Tông Lý Thần Tông (1116–1138), Vietnamese name, personal name Lý Dương Hoán, was the List of emperors of the Lý dynasty, fifth monarch of the Lý dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1127 to his death in 1138. Becoming the ruler of � ...

at the age of only two, the early period of his reign witnessed the dominant position of

Đỗ Anh Vũ Đỗ Anh Vũ ( Hán tự: 杜英武) (1113–1158) was an official in the royal court of Lý Anh Tông, the sixth emperor of the Lý Dynasty. Considered the most prominent figure of the consort clan during the Early Lý period, Đỗ Anh Vũ ...

in the royal court until his death in 1157, afterwards the Emperor ruled the country with the assistance of a prominent official named

Tô Hiến Thành Tô Hiến Thành ( Hán tự: 蘇憲誠) (died 1179) was an official in the royal court of Lý Anh Tông and Lý Cao Tông, the sixth and seventh emperors of the Lý dynasty. Being a capable official of Lý Anh Tông who helped the emperor in ...

. The reign of Lý Anh Tông was considered the last relatively stable period of the Lý dynasty before the turbulence during the reign of Lý Cao Tông.

Early years

Anh Tông was born during the third month of 1136 (

Lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...

) as Lý Thiên Tộ, the first son of

and Lê Thị, the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and

Empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of Vietnam. Initially Lý Thiên Tộ wasn't chosen as the Lý dynasty

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

because his father preferred Lý Thiên Lộc, four years older and the son of his favourite

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

. In the ninth month of 1138, the ill emperor decided to make Lý Thiên Tộ his successor and demote Lý Thiên Lộc to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Minh Đạo ( Vietnamese: Minh Đạo vương) after a campaign launched by three other concubines of the Emperor, Ladies Cảm Thánh, Nhật Phụng and Phụng Thánh, who were afraid that the coronation of a concubine's son would threaten their positions in the royal family. Soon after naming his successor, on the 26th day of the same month, Lý Thần Tông died. On the first day of the tenth lunar month (5 November), two year old Lý Anh Tông

ascended Ascendency or ascendancy is a quantitative attribute of an ecosystem, defined as a function of the ecosystem's trophic network. Ascendency is derived using mathematical tools from information theory. It is intended to capture in a single index ...

the throne. After changing the era name to Thiệu Minh, he elevated his mother (Lady Cảm Thánh) to Empress Mother Lê Thịof of the Lý dynasty. During his 37-year reign, Lý Anh Tông had three more era names: Đại Định (1140–1162), Chính Long Bảo Ứng (1163–1173) and Thiên Cảm Chí Bảo (1174–1175).

As emperor

Early reign (1138–1157)

Since he had attained the throne at such a young age, the child emperor was ruler in name only, with the real power in the hands of Empress Lê Thị, who acted as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for her son. Since Empress Lê Thị favored

, the royal court witnessed the rising power of this official who decided almost all matters of the country and despised other officials. According to

Ngô Sĩ Liên Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連) was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê dynasty. He was the principal compiler of the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of ...

in '' Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', the reason for the favouritism of Empress Lê Thị for Đỗ Anh Vũ was the secret personal relationship between them, as a result, some mandarins such as Vũ Đái, Nguyễn Dương, Nguyễn Quốc and Dương Tự Minh tried to topple Đỗ Anh Vũ but failed and thus died under his order. After the death of the Empress in 1147, Đỗ Anh Vũ maintained his strong position in the royal court until his own death in the eighth month of 1158. The rise of Đỗ Anh Vũ in the royal court was considered by Ngô Sĩ Liên as bad judgment on the Emperor's part, and one of the more serious weaknesses of Lý Anh Tông's reign. In 1140, the priest Thân Lợi, calling himself the son of

Lý Nhân Tông Lý Nhân Tông (22 February 1066 – 15 January 1128), personal name Lý Càn Đức, temple name Nhân Tông was the fourth monarch of the Lý dynasty, ruling the kingdom of Đại Việt from 1072 until his death in 1128. Succeeding his fat ...

, raised a revolt against Lý Anh Tông in the northern region (now Thái Nguyên). The army of Thân Lợi successfully dominated the frontier region and defeated the army of the royal court led by the high-ranking official Lưu Vũ Nhĩ. After the victory, Thân Lợi, proclaimed himself King Bình (Bình Vương), and directly attacked the capital

Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, assumed the task of suppressing the rebellion, a mission that he accomplished after five months. Thân Lợi was later captured by

and beheaded on the order of Lý Anh Tông. The Lý dynasty issued several edicts during the early years of Lý Anh Tông's reign designed to lessen the more severe laws at that time. In 1142, in order to memorialize the rebellion of the Trưng sisters against the Chinese domination, Lý Anh Tông ordered the still existing Temple of Trưng sisters be built in the southern suburbs of Thăng Long. Lý Anh Tông was also considered the first emperor of Đại Việt to promote

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

as the

state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...

. Another important decision of the royal court was the military campaign against the King Jaya Harivarman I of

Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...

with the purpose of replacing Harivarman I with Vangsaraja, who was supported by the Lý dynasty.Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., In 1152, the general Lý Mông was appointed by Lý Anh Tông to command over 5,000 soldiers.

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh ...

and Nghệ An began the campaign which ultimately ended in defeat for the Lý dynasty and the deaths of both Lý Mông and Vamsaraja at

Battle of Mỹ Sơn During the climax of the Khmer–Cham wars, a battle had been fought between king Jaya Harivarman I of Champa against his rebelling brother-in-law Vamsaräja somewhere near Mỹ Sơn, Central Vietnam in 1150. After driving Khmer forces out of Vija ...

. In 1154, to heal the broken relation with the Lý dynasty,

Jaya Harivarman I Jaya Harivarman I (? – 1167) was a Cham noble and King of Champa. Rising to power during the 12th Century Khmer–Cham wars, he spent much of his rule consolidating his control over Champa. He was succeeded by his son, Jaya Harivarman II. Bio ...

sent his daughter to Đại Việt, where the Lý king married her as his concubine. The decision of Lý Anh Tông was criticized by the historians

and

Lê Văn Hưu Lê Văn Hưu (1230–1322) was an historian of the Trần dynasty. He is best known for his work the ''Đại Việt sử ký'', the first comprehensive historical record of the history of Vietnam. Although the book was lost during the Fourth Chin ...

, who argued that instead of accepting the offer, the Emperor should have opened another campaign to punish the kingdom of Champa.

Later reign (1158–1175)

After the death of Đỗ Anh Vũ, Lý Anh Tông ruled the country with the assistance of the prominent official Tô Hiến Thành. It was Tô Hiến Thành who successfully pacified the revolt of the Ngưu Hống and Ai Lao forces on the western border in 1159, and he had another victory against the Champa army in 1167, which stabilized the southern border. Originally holding only military positions in the royal court, Tô Hiến Thành not only helped the Emperor to improve the quality of the Lý army, but he also paid attention to the development of

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 Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

learning in the country. On the advice of Tô Hiến Thành, Lý Anh Tông established the first temple of Confucius in Thăng Long in 1156, formerly

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

was jointly worshipped in the

Temple of Literature, Hanoi Văn Miếu (Vietnamese: ''Văn Miếu'', Hán tự: 文廟) is a Temple of Confucius, temple dedicated to Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple also hosts the Guozijian, Imperial Academy (, ), Vietnam's first national university. Th ...

. In 1164, the relation between the Lý dynasty and the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

significantly changed, when the

Emperor Xiaozong of Song Emperor Xiaozong of Song (27 November 1127 – 28 June 1194), personal name Zhao Shen, courtesy name Yuanyong, was the 11th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the second emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He started his reign in 1 ...

decided to acknowledge Đại Việt as the Kingdom of Annam (An Nam quốc), which had been formerly designated the District of

Giao Chỉ Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...

(Giao Chỉ quận), by his predecessors. Thereafter the Song dynasty formally recognized the ruler of Đại Việt as a king (Quốc vương), instead of a district governor (Quận vương). Vân Đồn The principal port of trade between Đại Việt and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was also opened in 1149 by the order of Lý Anh Tông. Lý Anh Tông died in the seventh month of 1175 at the age of 39. Before his death, the emperor entrusted Tô Hiến Thành with the regency of his 3-year-old crown prince, despite efforts from the empress to supply another prince for the throne. This final act by Lý Anh Tông was appreciated by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên as a right decision to maintain the order of succession for the royal family and royal court.

Family

The first son of Lý Anh Tông, the Prince Hiển Trung (Hiển Trung vương) Lý Long Xưởng, was born in the eleventh month of 1151. He was made crown prince of the Lý dynasty but was stripped of all titles and imprisoned in the ninth month of 1174 after Lý Anh Tông discovered that his son had committed adultery with a concubine in the royal palace. As a result, the position of successor was changed to the second son Lý Long Trát who was born on the 25th day of the fifth month in 1173.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * , - style="text-align: center;" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ly, Anh Tong 1136 births 1175 deaths Lý dynasty emperors People from Bắc Ninh province 12th-century Vietnamese monarchs Vietnamese monarchs