Empress Thuận Thiên (, January 4, 1769 – November 6, 1846), born Trần Thị Đang in Văn Xá village,

Hương Trà Hương Trà is a district-level town (''thị xã'') of Huế in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. As of 2020 the town had a population of 72,677. The town covers an area of 392.32 km². The district capital lies at Tứ Hạ. H ...

, Thừa Thiên, was the second wife of Emperor

Gia Long 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 ...

of Vietnam and mother of Emperor

Minh Mạng Minh Mạng (), also known as Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu), was the second emperor of the Nguyễ ...

Family and childhood

Trần Thị Đang was born to Trần Hưng Đạt, a scholar who then served

Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. It has also been translated as "College of Literature" and "Academy of the Forest of Pen ...

under

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 ...

, and his first wife, lady Lê Thị Cầm in 1769 at Văn Xá village of

district. A daughter from a reputable family, during the 1774 offensive she was chosen as maidservant to Queen Mother Ý Tĩnh - mother of lord

Nguyễn Phúc Ánh Gia Long (Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''North''), (''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 dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam, whi ...

(later Emperor Gia Long) - who sought asylum in Cửa Tùng. One year later, her father and uncle was seized by

Trịnh lord Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name. It exists in equivalent forms in other languages of the Sinosphere such as ( 鄭, Zheng, Cheng) in Chinese and Korean (Jeong, Chung). Families that bear the surname Trịnh are exclusively Vietnamese. The surn ...

’s army in Quảng Nam. Despite having escaped, they were unable to come back to the South, thus presumed dead for nearly 18 years.

Wife of Gia Long

In 1779, Đang went South to Gia Định along with Nguyễn Ánh’s sisters following Queen Mother Ý Tĩnh. She became the lord’s concubine (左宮嬪; ) two years later at the age of 14 and was then commonly called by the title of Nhị phi (二妃; ). Legend has it that one night in 1788, after Nguyễn Ánh had conquered Gia Định, she dreamt of a deity giving her one brilliant red imperial seal and two common ones. The dream was later regarded by posterity as prophetic and the seals represented her three children, with the imperial seal being her first-born who would ascend to the throne years afterwards. Đang stood by Nguyễn Ánh during the time he was fighting Tây Sơn and went on to have three sons with the Emperor: Nguyễn Phúc Đảm (1791 - 1840; later Emperor

), Nguyễn Phúc Đài (1795 - 1849) and Nguyễn Phúc Chẩn (1803 - 1824).

Later life and death

As Minh Mạng took the throne after Gia Long's death, Đang became ''Empress Mother''. Following her grandson

Thiệu Trị Thiệu Trị (, vi-hantu, wikt:紹, 紹wikt:治, 治, lit. "inheritance of prosperity"; 6 June 1807 – 4 November 1847), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông or Nguyễn Phúc Tuyền, was the third emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was th ...

's accession, Đang was elevated to the title ''Grand Empress Mother Nhân Tuyên Từ Khánh Thượng Thọ'' in 1841. She died in 1846, aged 77, her tomb lies on the right of Gia Long's Lăng Thiên Thọ. She received the title of Empress posthumously.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuan Thien 1769 births 1846 deaths People from Huế Nguyễn dynasty empresses dowager 19th-century Vietnamese women 19th-century Vietnamese people 18th-century Vietnamese women 18th-century Vietnamese people Nguyễn dynasty posthumous empresses