Ngô Xương Văn ( vi-hantu, 吳昌文, 935–965), formally King of Nam Tấn (南晉王), was a king of the Vietnamese

Ngô dynasty The Ngô dynasty (; Chữ Nôm: 茹吳), officially Tĩnh Hải quân (chữ Hán: 靜海軍), was a semi-independent Vietnamese dynasty from 939 to 968. The dynasty was founded by Ngô Quyền, who led the Vietnamese forces in the Battle of B ...

. He was the second son of

Ngô Quyền Ngô Quyền ( vi-hantu, 吳權) (April 17, 898 – February 14, 944), often referred to as Tiền Ngô Vương (前吳王; "First King of Ngô"), was a warlord who later became the founding king of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned fro ...

, the dynastic founder.

Background

Ngô Xương Văn was born in 935. According to Chinese source

Historical Records of the Five Dynasties The ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'' (''Wudai Shiji'') is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 t ...

, his name was Ngô Xương Tấn (吳昌晉). King Ngô Quyền died in 944, and appointed Văn's elder brother

Ngô Xương Ngập Ngô Xương Ngập ( vi-hantu, 吳昌岌, died 954), formally King of Thiên Sách (天策王), was a co-ruler of the Ngô dynasty of Vietnam. He was the eldest son of Ngô Quyền, the dynastic founder. Ngô Quyền named Dương Tam Kha as re ...

as successor. However, Ngập was banished and usurped by the regent

Dương Tam Kha Dương Tam Kha (wikt:楊, 楊wikt:三, 三wikt:哥, 哥), formally King Bình of Dương (wikt:楊, 楊wikt:平, 平wikt:王, 王), later known as the Duke of Chương Dương (章陽公) (died 10 August 980), was king of the Ngô dynasty from 9 ...

. In order to deceive the public, Văn was adopted by Dương Tam Kha.''

Việt Nam sử lược ( vi-hantu, 越南史略, , lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim. It covered the period from ...

'', Quyển 1, Phần 3, Chương 1 In 950, Văn was sent to put down the rebellion of Đường, Nguyễn together with

Dương Cát Lợi Dương (楊, ) is a Vietnamese surname, an estimated 1% of the Vietnamese population shares the last name. In transcription it is a Chinese family name or given name of Yang. The name is also transliterated as Yang in Korean and Yeung or Young ...

and

Đỗ Cảnh Thạc Đỗ Cảnh Thạc ( vi-hantu, 杜景碩, 912–967), formally Duke Cảnh (景公), was a warlord of Vietnam during the Period of the 12 Warlords. Đỗ Cảnh Thạc was a Chinese from Guangling (in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province). I ...

. When their troops reached Từ Liêm, Văn turned his army back, and dethroned Dương Tam Kha. Văn did not kill Dương Tam Kha and granted him the title Duke of Chương Dương (張楊公).''

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 ...

'', Peripheral Records vol. 5

Reign

Văn crowned himself Nam Tấn Vương (King of Nam Tấn), and summoned his elder brother Ngập to the capital. Ngập was appointed the co-ruler, and crowned Thiên Sách Vương (King of Thiên Sách). It was called ''một nước hai vua'' ("one country, two kings") in Vietnamese history. Both of them was known as Hậu Ngô Vương (後吳王). Ngập held the real power and Văn did not take part in any political affair until Ngập's death. The royal rule remained weak. In 951, Duke

Đinh Bộ Lĩnh Đinh Bộ Lĩnh (924–979; ), real name allegedly Đinh Hoàn ( 丁桓), was the founding emperor of the short-lived Đinh dynasty of Vietnam, after declaring its independence from the Chinese Southern Han dynasty. He was a significant figur ...

rebelled and occupied Hoa Lư and did not pay tribute to the royal court. Văn and Ngập decided to attack him. They arrested Đinh Bộ Lĩnh's eldest son,

Đinh Liễn Đinh Liễn (丁璉, 945 – October 979) or Đinh Khuông Liễn (丁匡璉), was the eldest son of emperor Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, the founding emperor of Đinh dynasty. Liễn was granted the title ''Nam Việt vương'' (南越王, "king of Nam ...

, and ordered Bộ Lĩnh to surrender. Undeterred when they captured his son Đinh Liễn, Bộ Lĩnh replied in anger, “An honored warrior never gives up just because of his son,” and coolly ordered his archers “to shoot arrows at Liễn". The two kings were horrified and withdrew their troops. After Ngập's death, Văn solicited the title of military governor from the Southern Han (without meeting their representatives), and he was granted the title ''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'' of ''

Tĩnh Hải quân Tĩnh Hải quân or Jinghai Circuit ( Chinese: 靜海軍, pinyin: Jìnghǎi Jūn) (literally "Peaceful Sea Army"), also known as Annan or An Nam (), was an administrative division of the Tang dynasty of China administered by Chinese governors, ...

'' (靜海軍節度使 ''Tĩnh Hải quân tiết độ sứ'') and Governor of Annam (安南都護 ''An Nam đô hộ'') by

Southern Han Southern Han ( zh , t = 南漢 , p = Nán Hàn , j=Naam4 Hon3; 917–971), officially Han ( zh , t = 漢 , links=no), originally Yue ( zh , c = 越 , links=no), was a dynastic state of China and one of the Ten Kingdoms that existed during the ...

. In 965, Văn led troops to put down the rebellion of Đường, Nguyễn, and was killed by an arrow in the midst of battle. After his death, the kingdom fell into chaotic civil war, known as

Anarchy of the 12 Warlords The Anarchy of the 12 Warlords (, chữ Nôm: 亂𨑮𠄩使君; Sino-Vietnamese: ''Thập nhị sứ quân chi loạn'', chữ Hán: 十二使君之亂), also the Period of the 12 Warlords, was a period of chaos and civil war in the history of ...

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngo, Xuong Van Ngô dynasty Vietnamese kings 935 births 965 deaths 10th-century Vietnamese monarchs Vietnamese military personnel killed in action Vietnamese monarchs Deaths by arrow wounds