Lý Huệ Tông (
chữ Hán
( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...
: 李惠宗; born Lý Sảm 李旵; July 1194 – 3 September 1226) was the emperor of
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 ...
from 1211 to 1224, the penultimate leader of the
Lý dynasty. During Lý Huệ Tông's rule, many members of the Trần family assumed key roles in the government, including
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� ...
. The Trần family later used its position of power to place a young
Trần Cảnh (
temple name Trần Thái Tông) on the throne to found the
Trần dynasty.
Biography
In 1224, Lý Huệ Tông became mentally ill, and the issue of succession became pressing. He had produced no male heirs, and so appointed his seven-year-old daughter
Lý Chiêu Hoàng as his successor. Although a female ruler would likely not have been normally acceptable to the court, Trần Thủ Độ had a scheme to end the Lý dynasty and place a Trần on the throne which depended on the existence of a young empress, and so Lý Chiêu Hoàng was accepted as empress. Lý Huệ Tông retired to become a
Buddhist monk, although he lived only two more years. In 1226 Trần Thủ Độ, while consolidating the power of the newly founded Trần dynasty by eliminating Lý family members and potential
pretenders, induced Lý Huệ Tông to commit
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
.
References
*Chapuis, Oscar. ''A History of Vietnam: From Hong Bang to Tu Duc.'' pp. 79–81. Greenwood Publishing Group: London. 1995. Volume 5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ly, Hue Tong
1194 births
1226 deaths
Emperors of the Lý dynasty
Vietnamese emperors who abdicated
People from Bắc Ninh province
13th-century Vietnamese monarchs
Vietnamese monarchs