Nguyễn Hoàng (28 August 1525 – 20 July 1613) was a Vietnamese official who ruled southern Vietnam from 1558 to his death in 1613. As the first of the
Nguyễn lords
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
, he established a
powerful state that contested rule over Vietnam for the next two centuries. He was the ancestor of
Nguyễn Ánh
Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...
, who would later become emperor of a united Vietnam.
Early life
He was the second son of
Nguyễn Kim
Nguyen Kim (; 1468–1545) was a Vietnamese statesman who was the ancestor of the famous Nguyễn Lords who later ruled south Vietnam (and much later, all of Vietnam). During his rule, the war with the Mạc dynasty started.
Nguyễn Kim cla ...
. When his father was assassinated by a
Mạc supporter, his brother-in-law
Trịnh Kiểm took command of the Lê royalist army. Sometime after his older brother (Nguyễn Uông) died (believed to have been poisoned), Nguyễn Hoàng requested his brother in law, and was appointed to govern the southernmost province of Vietnam. This land was formerly
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 ...
territory which had been conquered by emperor
Lê Thánh Tông and at the time was under control of Mạc force. Nguyễn Hoàng defeated the enemy commander Duke Lập and took over the province in 1558. In 1573 he was given the title Grand Master (Thái phó) by Emperor Lê Thế Tông. Later he was given the title Duke of Môn (Môn Công).
Rule
In 1592, when
Trịnh Tùng laid siege to the Eastern Capital (modern-day
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
), Nguyễn Hoàng lend him resources and troops. The Nguyen army joined the Royal (Trịnh) army and helped destroy the remainder of the Mạc army. For reasons that are mysterious, when the new Emperor, Lê Kinh Tông, ascended the throne, Nguyễn Hoàng refused to recognize the new sovereign and instead took for himself the new title of ''Good Prince'' (Huu Vuong) in 1600. Perhaps an explanation is found in that his nephew
Trịnh Tùng had been given a similar title just one year earlier: ''Pacifying Prince'' (Bình An Vương). Nguyễn Hoàng had many children (10 sons) but most of them either lost their lives in the battlefields or stayed in the North. His 6th son
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên succeeded him upon his death in 1613. He ruled the south for 55 years.
The reason Trịnh Kiểm appointed Nguyễn Hoàng to the Southern provinces is not clear. As anecdote goes, Trinh Kiểm, being afraid of losing power to Nguyễn brothers, ordered the assassination of Nguyễn Hoàng's older brother. As for Hoang, Trịnh Kiểm wanted to take advantage of Mạc's southern garrison troops to eliminate his brother in law.
File:Gaiban Shokan - Copy of a Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng, the Ruler of An Nam Quốc (May, 1606) 03.jpg, Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
in May 1606 about trading matter between Đàng Trong and Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
.
File:Gaiban Shokan - Copy of a Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng, the Ruler of An Nam Quốc (May, 1606) 02.jpg, Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
in May 1606 about trading matter between Đàng Trong and Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
.
File:Gaiban Shokan - Copy of a Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng, the Ruler of An Nam Quốc (May, 1606) 01.jpg, Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng to Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
in May 1606 about trading matter between Đàng Trong and Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
.
During his time in the south, Nguyễn Hoàng held court in multiple capitals: Ái Tử (1558–70), Trà Bát (1570–1600), and Dinh Cát (modern-day
Huế
Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
, 1600–13).
Legacy
Nguyễn Hoàng is still fondly remembered in central and southern Vietnam, especially in Huế where he and his descendants established their final capital. In 2013, his 400th death anniversary was celebrated in Huế.
See also
*
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
*
List of Vietnamese dynasties
References
Sources
* ''Encyclopedia of Asian History'', Volume 3 (''Nguyen Lords'') 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
*
enealogy of the Royal Nguyen Family
''Annam and its Minor Currency''Chapter 16 (downloaded May 2006)
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Hoang
Hoang
1525 births
1613 deaths
People from Thanh Hóa province
Founding monarchs in Asia
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