Trần Cảo (陳暠, d. after 1525) or Trần Cao (陳高), was an early 16th-century Vietnamese rebel leader. Cảo born in Dưỡng Chân, Thuỷ Đường (present day
Thuỷ Nguyên,
Hải Phòng
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong wa ...
).
[Thien Do ''Vietnamese Supernaturalism: Views from the Southern Region'' 2012 Page 54 "In 1516. Trần Cảo led an uprising in support of his claim to be a descendant of a Trần king and also a reincarnation of the god Indra. His army managed to capture the capital briefly and forced the Lê king to flee south.145 Trần Cảo's first base ..."]
Early life
Details of Cảo's early life are unknown except that he was a low-ranking mandarin of Lê Dynasty and he claimed himself the descendant of emperor
Trần Thái Tông
Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), 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 Retired Emperor ...
of
Trần Dynasty
The Trần dynasty, ( Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái ...
and related with mother of
Trần Thánh Tông
Trần Thánh Tông (October 12, 1240 – July 3, 1290), personal name Trần Hoảng (), was the second emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1258 to 1278. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Nhân Tông, Thán ...
, empress Quang Thục.
Rebellion
In March 1516, Cảo proclaimed himself "Đế Thích giáng trần" (''"incarnation of
Śakra"'') and recruited fighters at Quynh Lam Pagoda in
Đông Triều
Đông Triều is a district-level town of Quảng Ninh Province in the north-eastern region of Vietnam. As of 2015 the district had a population of 173,141. The district covers an area of 397.2155 km². The town capital lies at Đông T ...
, a religious site reputed to have miraculous powers. After shaving their heads, he marched them unopposed, ten thousand strong, through the Kinh Bac districts of Que Duong and
Tiên Du down to the plains of
Gia Lâm to
Từ Liêm in Sơn Tây Province. In May 1516, Cảo's force captured
Thăng Long
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
and forced emperor
Lê Chiêu Tông
Lê Chiêu Tông ( 黎 昭 宗, 4 October 1506 – 18 December 1526; also called Lê Y, 黎 椅 or 黎 譓) was an emperor of the Lê dynasty of Vietnam who ruled from 1516 to 1526. He was the son of Lê Sùng and nephew of the preceding king ...
flee to
Tay Do. Thereafter, the Lê loyalists attacked and recaptured Thăng Long and made Cảo retreat back to his Hai Duong-Kinh Bac border stronghold. Then, a long war was resulted between the Lê loyalists and Cảo's rebels.
Before 1525, the year of Trần Cảo rebellion's ultimate defeat, Cảo unexpectedly gave his commanding post to his son, Tran Cung (or Tran Thang), and then became a monk. From this point on, no further information was recorded about Trần Cảo.
References
*
*
''Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu''(Complete history record of Great Viet), part Kỷ thực lục, book XVI.
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Cao
Lê dynasty officials
Lê dynasty generals
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Vietnamese rebels
People from Haiphong