Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277),

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh,

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...

, reigned

Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), often known as Annam ( vi, An Nam, Chữ Hán: 安南), was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day H ...

for 33 years (1226–58), being Retired Emperor for 19 years. He reigned during the first Mongol invasion of Vietnam before eventually abdicating in favor of his son Trần Hoảng (

Trần Thánh Tông Trần Thánh Tông (October 12, 1240 – July 3, 1290), personal name Trần Hoảng (), was the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Nhân Tông, Thán ...

) in 1258.

Early life

The ancestors of the Trần clan originated from the province of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

before they migrated under

Trần Kính Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

(陳京, Chén Jīng) to

. According to a Chinese writer, Zhou Mi (1232–1298), Trần Nhật Cảnh's real name was Hsieh Sheng-ch'ing, "a man from Qinglo district in

". Trần Cảnh ( 陳煚) was born in 1218 in modern-day

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

during the last years of the Lý.

Trần Thủ Độ Prince Trung Võ Trần Thủ Độ ( vi-hantu, 陳守度, 1194–1264) was a general and leader of the Trần clan during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng of Vietnam. Trần Thủ Độ was credited for overthrowing the Lý dy ...

, his uncle, prepared the way for his marriage to Empress

Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng ( vi-hantu, 李昭皇, September 1218 – 1278), personal name Lý Phật Kim (李佛金) later renamed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), was the ninth and last sovereign of the Lý dynasty, empress of Đại Việt f ...

, the last empress of the House of Lý, who later abdicated to make him the founder of the

in 1226. His progress to the throne in particular and the replacement of the Trần dynasty over the Lý dynasty in general were mostly thanks to the efforts of

, Trần Cảnh's uncle. At that time, Trần Thủ Độ was the front commander of capital of the Lý house. Trần Cảnh's father, Trần Thừa, was also an official under the Lý dynasty, like Trần Thủ Độ. He had been "Nội thị phán thủ", one of the most important officials in the Lý dynasty.

Reign

During his reign Trần Thái Tông used three

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

s: Kiến Trung (1225–1232), Thiên Ứng Chính Bình (1232–1250) and Nguyên Phong (1251–1258). In the autumn of 1257, Mongol general

Uriyangkhadai Uriyangkhadai ( Modern Mongolian: Mongolian Cyrillic: Урианхадай, , , – ) was an Uriankhai general in the Mongol Empire who led several campaigns during the 13th century Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty, including the first Mongo ...

addressed three letters to Trần Thái Tông demanding passage through to southern China in order to attack the Song dynasty. After the three successive envoys were imprisoned in the capital Thang Long (modern-day Hanoi) of Dai Viet, Uriyangkhadai invaded Dai Viet. A battle was fought in which the Vietnamese used war elephants: the emperor even led his army from atop an elephant. Aju ordered his troops to fire arrows at the elephants' feet. The animals turned in panic and caused disorder in the Đại Việt army, which was routed. The Vietnamese senior leaders were able to escape on pre-prepared boats while part of their army was destroyed at No Nguyen (modern Viet Tri on the Hong River). The remainder of the royal army again suffered a major defeat in a fierce battle at the Phu Lo bridge the day after. This led the Tran leadership to evacuate the capital. The Vietnamese annals report that the evacuation was "in an orderly manner;" however this is viewed as an embellishment because the Vietnamese must have retreated in disarray to leave their weapons behind in the capital. While Chinese source material incorrectly stated that Uriyangkhadai withdrew from Vietnam due to poor climate, Uriyangkhadai left Thang Long after nine days to invade the Song dynasty. After the Mongol departure, Trần Thái Tông agreed to send tribute every 3 years to the court of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

. Learned in both

Confucianism 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 ...

and

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 ...

, he ruled the country wisely and authored several profound works on Buddhism, the most famous of which is Khoa Hu Luc (

Instructions on Emptiness Instruction or instructions may refer to: Computing * Instruction, one operation of a processor within a computer architecture instruction set * Computer program, a collection of instructions Music * Instruction (band), a 2002 rock band from New ...

), a

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

manual. A prodigious writer, he left behind a substantial number of works, of which only a small number survive. A boy student was given money in exchange for becoming a eunuch by the emperor in 1254 since many men castrated themselves to become eunuchs during the Tran and Ly dynasties. In 1258 he abdicated the throne in favor of his son, crown prince

Trần Hoảng Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

Family

There is nothing that gives reference to exactly how many children he had, but it is known that he had children by the name of Trần Trịnh (died prematurely), Tĩnh Quốc Vương Trần Quốc Khang,de facto the offspring of

Trần Liễu Prince Yên Sinh Trần Liễu (1211–1251) was the elder brother of the Trần Thái Tông, the first emperor of Trần Dynasty. Initially, Trần Liễu was honoured by his younger brother with the title King Hiển (Vietnamese: Hiển Ho ...

and Princess Thuận Thiên

, Chiêu Minh Vương

Trần Quang Khải Prince Chiêu Minh Trần Quang Khải (1241–1294) was the third son of Trần Thái Tông, first emperor of the Trần dynasty of Vietnam. Being the younger brother of the Emperor Trần Thánh Tông and holding the position of grand ch ...

, Trần Nhật Vĩnh, Chiêu Quốc Vương

Trần Ích Tắc Trần Ích Tắc ( vi-hantu, 陳益稷, Chen Yiji, 1254–1329), or Prince Chiêu Quốc (Vietnamese: Chiêu Quốc vương / 昭國王), was a prince of Đại Việt, the fifth son of emperor Trần Thái Tông of the Trần dynasty, and the ...

, Chiêu Văn Vương

Trần Nhật Duật Prince Chiêu Văn Trần Nhật Duật (1255–1330) was the sixth son of Trần Thái Tông, first emperor of Trần Dynasty. Being younger brother of the Emperor Trần Thánh Tông, Trần Nhật Duật was one of the most important figur ...

, Chiêu Đạo Vương Trần Quang Xưởng, princesses Thiên Thành (wife of Hưng đạo Vương

Trần Quốc Tuấn Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

), Thiều Dương, Thuỵ Bảo,

An Tư An Tư ( vi-hantu, 安姿, 1267 - ?), was a princess during the Trần dynasty (1225–1400), the youngest offspring of emperor Trần Thái Tông. The exact year of her birth and death are unknown. The '' Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư'' (1675) ...

*Father: Trần Thái Tổ *Mother: Lady Lê thị *Brother(s) and sister(s): #Older brother: King of Yên Sinh #Older sister: Princess Thụy Bà, adoptive mother of Great King of Hưng Đạo #Younger brother: King of Khâm Thiên #Younger brother: King of Hoài Đức *Consort(s) and their Issue(s): # Empress Consort Chiêu Thánh ##Crown Prince Trần Trịnh # Empress Consort Thuận Thiên ##Prince Trần Quốc Khang, later King of Tĩnh Quốc ##Crown Prince Trần Hoảng, later Emperor

##Prince Trần Quang Khải, later Great King of Chiêu Minh *Other Issues: #Prince Trần Nhật Vĩnh, King of Bình Nguyên #Prince Trần Duy, King of Vũ Uy #Prince Trần Quang Xưởng, King of Chiêu Đạo #Prince Trần Ích Tắc, King of Chiêu Quốc #Prince Trần Nhật Duật, King of Chiêu Văn #Prince Trần Uất, King of Minh Hiến #Princess Thiên Thành, later Queen Nguyên Từ of Great King of Hưng Đạo #Princess Thiều Dương #Princess Thụy Bảo, later wife of General Trần Bình Trọng # Princess An Tư, later wife of Prince Toghan of

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

. Prince Toghan was the ninth son of

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

Relation with Trần Liễu

was Trần Thái Tông's elder brother. In 1237, Trần Thái Tông and Empress Chiêu Thành still did not have any son to maintain the continuation of his dynasty, due to Trần Trịnh's premature death. At that time, Princess Thuận Thiên, Trần Liễu's wife, had been pregnant with Quốc Khang for 3 months. Trần Thủ Độ and his wife princess Thiên Cực advised the emperor to arrogate the pregnancy to himself to maintain the continuity of the dynasty. Taking their advice, the emperor gave injunction to appoint princess Thuận Thiên the status of empress, and demote Chiêu Hoàng to princess. In response, Trần Liễu took his army to Cai River to rebel. This incident embarrassed Trần Thái Tông and he left the capital for Yên Tử mountain. Only after taking advice from the Buddhist priests

and Phù Vân, did he return to the capital. Two weeks later, Trần Liễu surrendered. Trần Thủ Độ intended to behead him, but Trần Thái Tông intervened by covering him with his body, so that Trần Thủ Độ could not do anything. Afterwards, he gave him his territory, consisting of Yên Phụ, Yên Dưỡng, Yên Sinh, Yên Hưng, and Yên Bang. Due to the name of his territory, Liễu was also called "Yên Sinh Vương."

Notes

References

* * , - style="text-align: center;" , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tran Thai Tong 13th-century Vietnamese monarchs 1218 births 1277 deaths Child rulers from Asia Monarchs who abdicated Thai Tong Thai Tong Vietnamese people of Chinese descent Vietnamese Zen Buddhists Founding monarchs