Lê Phụ Trần (?–?) was a general of the
Trần dynasty
The Trần dynasty (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: triều Trần, chữ Hán: ikt:朝ikt:陳, 朝wikt:陳, 陳), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a List ...
during the reigns of three successive emperors:
Thái Tông,
Thánh Tông, and
Nhân Tông.
As a skilled general on the battlefield, he was one of the few commanders of the Trần dynasty army during the three
Mongol invasions of Đại Việt who did not come from the Trần clan. Besides his military activities, Lê Phụ Trần also took charge of the position royal professor for
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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
''Crown prince ...
Trần Khâm who eventually became the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. For his merits, the Emperor
Trần Thái Tông
Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being R ...
(Trần Cảnh) decided to grant Lê Phụ Trần a marriage with the former empress (i.e., Trần Cảnh's former wife)
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 ...
.
History
There was only a brief account about Lê Phụ Trần (''Lê who serves the Trần dynasty'') in historical books as the exact dates of his birth and death were unknown. It was said that his former name was Lê Tần (
黎 秦) and that he was of
Ái Châu origin. According to ''
Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư'', Lê Phụ Trần was appointed by the Emperor Trần Thái Tông as middle-ranking court counsellor (
Vietnamese: Ngự sử trung tướng) in 1250.
In 1257, the Trần dynasty had to face with the first
Mongol invasion
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
of Đại Việt.
In the beginning, the Đại Việt army suffered several defeats by an overwhelming force which had already conquered vast areas of
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. Several high-ranking officials of the Trần dynasty were so afraid that Prince Khâm Thiên
Trần Nhật Hiệu, younger brother of Thái Tông, even suggested the Emperor that they might escape from Đại Việt to 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 ...
.
Despite the hardships, Lê Phụ Trần always proved to be not only a courageous general on the battlefield but also a sound official who rightly advised the Emperor retreating in order to preserve the army for a counterattack. It was Lê Phụ Trần who fiercely protected the Emperor from the Mongol army in this retreat, hence he became a close advisor of the Emperor who could discuss with Thái Tông the most important and secret matters about the war.
[ Finally, the Trần dynasty was able to drive back the invasion and re-established the peace in Đại Việt in December 1257.]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 ...
who was downgraded to princess Chiêu Thánh after the 1237 event in which Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced by grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ
Prince Trung Vũ 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. He was the chief mastermind between the overthrowal the L� ...
to give up the position of Empress Consort of the Trần dynasty for her elder sister Thuận Thiên, for the reason that she could not give birth to a child for Trần Thái Tông.Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
in 1258. In this voyage, Chief Ambassador Lê Phụ Trần was able to negotiate with the Yuan dynasty for a 3-year period of paying tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
instead of the confused demand of tribute from the Yuan dynasty before.[ After the coronation of Trần Thánh Tông in February 1258, Lê Phụ Trần was promoted to commander-in-chief of Đại Việt's navy (Thủy quân đại tướng quân) in June 1259]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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
''Crown prince ...
Trần Khâm, who eventually became the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, with two famous scholars Nguyễn Sĩ Cố and Nguyễn Thánh Huấn as assistants.
Notes
Citations
References
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Internet archived on 2009.04.19
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Phu Tran
Trần dynasty generals
Trần dynasty officials
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown
Military personnel from Hanoi