Dương Thị Ngọc Vân (楊氏玉雲, 952 – 1000)

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Vân Nga (雲娥) was the only

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

of the

Đinh dynasty Dinh (丁) is a Vietnamese surname. In Vietnam, the surname is spelled Đinh or Đình, but the latter is very rare in Vietnamese. Notable people * Andy Dinh, Team SoloMid owner, player * Dan Dinh, ''League of Legends '' player, brother of Andy ...

and afterwards empress of Lê Đại Hành, the first emperor of the

Early Lê dynasty Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

. When her husband Đinh Tiên Hoàng was assassinated in 979, Dương Vân Nga became the Empress Dowager of the Đinh dynasty as her son Đinh Phế Đế succeeded the throne. During the short-lived reign of Đinh Phế Đế, Dương Vân Nga and the general

Lê Hoàn Lê Hoàn (10 August 941 – 18 March 1005), posthumously title Lê Đại Hành, was the third ruler of Đại Việt kingdom, ruling from 981 to 1005, and founder of the Early Lê dynasty. He first served as the generalissimo commanding ...

jointly held the regentship for the 6-year-old emperor, later it was Dương Vân Nga and general Phạm Cự Lượng who decided to cede the Đinh dynasty's throne for Lê Hoàn in 980 so that Đại Cồ Việt could stand the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

's invasion with a capable ruler. Subsequently, Lê Hoàn entitled Dương Vân Nga as his empress, hence she became the first woman in the history of Vietnam to be married to two

emperors The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

Biography

Đinh dynasty

According to some sources, Dương Vân Nga was the daughter of a subordinate of the warlord Dương Đình Nghệ and came from the Ái province (now

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 capital Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

), others claim that Dương Vân Nga was from the same town Hoa Lư as Đinh Tiên Hoàng. Being one of Đinh Tiên Hoàng's wives, Dương Vân Nga gave birth to his youngest son Đinh Toàn in 974. At the end of 979, as Đinh Tiên Hoàng and his eldest prince Đinh Liễn were assassinated by Đỗ Thích, the 6-year-old prince Đinh Toàn was made the successor of the throne of the

while his mother Dương Vân Nga became the

Empress Dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

of the Đinh dynasty and took charge of the regentship with the general

who was promoted to the position of viceroy of the Đinh dynasty.

Regency

The short-lived reign of Đinh Toàn, now Đinh Phế Đế was perturbed by the revolt of Đinh Điền and

Nguyễn Bặc Nguyễn Bặc ( vi-hantu, 阮匐, 924 – 15 October 979), also known with the noble title Định Quốc Công (定國公), was a Vietnamese mandarin and general who served as the Grand Chancellor of Đinh dynasty and was the first chancellor in ...

who had been important officials in the royal court of Đinh Tiên Hoàng while the country also had to face with the intrusion led by Ngô Nhật Khánh, son-in-law of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, with reinforcements from the kingdom of

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

in the southern border. The rebellion of Đinh Điền and Nguyễn Bặc was quickly put down by Lê Hoàn but in the north, the

began an invasion of Đại Cồ Việt in profiting its chaotic situation after the death of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, finally Dương Vân Nga and the general Phạm Cự Lượng with the agreement from the majority of officials in royal court, decided to elevate Lê Hoàn for the throne so that the country had an able ruler who could deal with grave troubles at that time, hence the

was established and replaced the Đinh dynasty. The account of Đinh Phế Đế's abdication for Lê Hoàn is slightly different in each historical record, for example in '' Đại Việt sử lược'', which is the oldest chronicles of history of Vietnam that remains, and ''

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Đại Việt, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

'', it was Phạm Cự Lượng who proposed the Empress Dowager to cede her son's throne to Lê Hoàn, On the other hand, in '' Khâm định Việt sử thông giám cương mục'', since Dương Vân Nga appeared to have affection for Lê Hoàn during their regency, Nguyễn Bặc and Đinh Điền decided to rise a revolt with the main purpose of overthrowing Lê Hoàn and protecting the child emperor, subsequently it was the Empress Dowager who had the principal role in the enthronement of Lê Hoàn when she entrusted the defence against the Song dynasty's invasion for Lê Hoàn and herself persuaded him to accept the proposition of Phạm Cự Lượng.

Trần Trọng Kim Trần Trọng Kim (; chữ Hán: 陳仲金, Kanji pronunciation: ''Chin Jūkin''; ; 1883 – December 2, 1953; courtesy name Lệ Thần (, chữ Hán: 隸臣) was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the sho ...

in his '' Việt Nam sử lược'' also agreed with ''Khâm định Việt sử thông giám cương mục'' about the affair between Dương Vân Nga and Lê Hoàn during their regentship.

Early Lê dynasty

After his coronation, Lê Hoàn succeeded in driving out the invasion of the

in 981, afterwards he entitled the former empress dowager Dương Vân Nga as the new empress of the Early Lê dynasty with the name Empress Đại Thắng Minh ( Vietnamese: ''Đại Thắng Minh Hoàng hậu''). With this second marriage, Dương Vân Nga became the first woman in the history of Vietnam to be married to two

. The marriage between Lê Hoàn and Dương Vân Nga was severely criticized by the

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

historian Ngô Sĩ Liên who remarked that the fornication between the general and his emperor's wife and later their marriage seriously violated the Confucian moral codes and so became the seeds for the immorality of his son afterwards. Another dynastic historian, Ngô Thì Sĩ, even despised the new title Empress Đại Thắng Minh (literally ''Bright Empress of Great Victory'') of Dương Vân Nga which was identical with the title of her first husband Emperor Đại Thắng Minh (''Đại Thắng Minh Hoàng đế'') Đinh Tiên Hoàng, in Ngô Thì Sĩ's opinion, this naming was a "forever derision" ("để cười nghìn thu") in the history of Vietnam. Dương Vân Nga died in 1000 or the seventh year of the Ứng Thiên era of Lê Đại Hành. She died in the same year as Lê Thâu, the eldest son of Lê Hoàn.

Legacy

Today Dương Vân Nga, together with Lê Đại Hành and his sons Lê Long Đĩnh and Lê Long Việt, is still worshipped in the Temple of Lê Đại Hành in Hoa Lư which is located next to the tomb of Đinh Tiên Hoàng, her first husband. Since she witnessed a turbulent time and herself participated in various important events in history of Vietnam, the life of Dương Vân Nga becomes subject of several

chèo Chèo (, Chữ Nôm: 嘲) is a form of generally satirical musical theatre, often encompassing dance, traditionally performed by Vietnamese peasants in northern Vietnam. It is usually performed outdoors by semi-amateur touring groups, stereo-typ ...

cải lương ''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as ''Cải lương'' (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, ''h ...

plays and a novel named ''Hoàng hậu hai triều Dương Vân Nga'' (''Dương Vân Nga, Empress of Two Dynasties''). Dương Vân Nga and Lê Đại Hành's only known daughter, Princess Lê Thị Phất Ngân married Lý Công Uẩn, who became Emperor Lý Thái Tổ.
Vua Lý Thái Tổ làm rể vua Lê Đại Hành, Lê Thái Dũng, Bảo tàng lịch sử Việt Nam, 2011-09-13 Their son was Emperor Lý Thái Tông.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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