Trần Thánh Tông

Background and during Thai Tong's reign

Thanh Tong was born on September 25 of lunar calendar 1240 as Tran Hoang, the second prince but the first natural son of the Emperor Tran Thai Tong and Empress Consort Thuan Thien. He had a half-brother on the mother's side, Prince Tinh Quoc (Vietnamese: Tinh Quoc dai vuong) Tran Quoc Khang, who was born after the forced marriage by Tran Thu Do between the Emperor Nhan Tong and Princess Thuan Thien. In fact, although being Thai Tong's first prince, Tran Quoc Khang was son of his elder brother Prince Hoai Tran Lieu, therefore officially he was not chosen by Thai Tong as the first in line of successor, a position which ultimately belonged to prince Tran Hoang. Besides Prince Tinh Quoc, Tran Hoang had some other younger brothers including Prince Chieu Minh Tran Quang Khai, who was also given birth by Empress Thuan Thien, Prince Chieu Quoc Tran Ich Tac or Prince Chieu Van Tran Nhat Duat.

In 1257, Crown Prince Tran Hoang witnessed the first Mongol invasion in Vietnam. In the beginning, Dai Viet army suffered several defeats by an overwhelming force which had already conquered a vast area in Asia. Several high-ranking officials of Tran dynasty were so scared that Prince Kham Thien Tran Nhat Hieu, younger brother of Thai Tong, even suggested the Emperor that they might escape from Dai Viet to the Song dynasty. Thanks to the firm faith of the Emperor Thai Tong, grand chancellor Tran Thu Do and the talent of military generals such as Prince Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan and Le Phu Tran, the Tran dynasty was able to drive back the invasion and ultimately re-established the peace in Dai Viet in December 1257.

Returned to the capital Thang Long, Tran Thai Tong decided to cede the throne to Crown Prince Tran Hoang, now Tran Thanh Tong, on the 24th day of the second lunar month (March 30) 1258. After the coronation, Thanh Tong changed the era name to Thieu Long (紹隆, 1258–1272), during his reign, the emperor had one more era name which was Bao Phu (寶符, 1273–1278). Although passing the throne to his son, Thai Tong continued to co-rule the country with Thanh Tong in the position of Retired Emperor (Thai thuong hoang) from 1259 to his death in 1277.

As emperor

After the enthronement, Thanh Tong and his father began to rehabilitate both the country's economy and administrative system, which had been heavily damaged by the Mongol invasion and the troubled time at the end of the Ly dynasty. In June 1261 the Emperor opened an examination for scholars who wanted to be appointed as mandarins of the administrative system. The examination comprised two abilities of writing and calculating. In the royal court, Thanh Tong proved to be a skilled ruler with his often right appointment of officials such as his brother Prince Chieu Minh Tran Quang Khai for the position of grand chancellor or Le Phu Tran and Prince Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan for the position of military commander. For members of the royal family, Thanh Tong had them hire the poor to cultivate their land and thus created a social reform.

In March 1266 Tran Thanh Tong ordered to carry out his first imperial examination in which over 50 scholars was chosen for high-ranking positions in the royal court and administrative system of Dai Viet. For the purpose of educating more scholars for the royal court, Thanh Tong permitted his brother Tran Ich Tac, the prince well known for his intelligence and knowledge, to open his own school at the palace of prince. Several prominent mandarins of the royal court in the future such as Mac Dinh Chi or Bui Phong were trained in this school. At the same time, the Emperor also reinforced Dai Viet army by several recruitements and reorganization of the military division in order to improve the operating and fighting effect. Besides, Tran Thanh Tong always kept a vigilant eye for the northern border by sending several scout units to learn about military actions of the Yuan dynasty, the potential threat for Dai Viet.

After the death of the Retired Emperor Tran Thai Tong on April 1 of Lunar calendar, 1277, the Emperor Tran Thanh Tong officially began to reign as the sole ruler of Dai Viet, but only one year later, he decided to pass the throne to his crown prince Tran Kham, now Tran Nhan Tong, took up the post of Retired Emperor on the 22nd of the tenth lunar month (November 8) 1278.

Second Mongol invasion

In 1279, the Yuan dynasty had the decisive victory over the Song dynasty in the Battle of Yamen which marked the end of the Song dynasty and the total control of Kublai Khan over China. As a result, Kublai Khan began to expose his attempt to take over the southern countries like Dai Viet or Champa. Aware of the situation, Thanh Tong and Nhan Tong began to prepare the Tran dynasty for the obvious and inevitable war while tried to keep a flexible policy with the Yuan dynasty. Firstly, Prince Chieu Van Tran Nhat Duat was appointed for the mission of pacifying the revolt led by Trinh Giac Mat in Da Giang by diplomatic means in order to keep the country in stability before the war. With his knowledge of minority people's language and culture, Tran Nhat Duat successfully accomplished his task in 1278, hence, the Tran dynasty had free hand to deal with the threat from the North. In October 1282, the Retired Emperor Tran Thanh Tong and the Emperor Tran Nhan Tong gathered all members of royal family, Tran clan and officials in royal court in Binh Than to discuss about the unadvoidable war. Two prominent generals of the Dai Viet army who were noticed on this occasion were Tran Khanh Du, former commander of the army but was deprived of all titles after his guilt, and Tran Quoc Toan, a marquis who was only sixteen years old. In 1283, Prince Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan was appointed as commander in chief (Quoc cong tiet che) of Dai Viet army, the Retired Emperor and the Emperor began to hold military exercises with their generals and troops.

In December 1284, the second Yuan invasion of Dai Viet was opened under the command of Kublai Khan's prince Toghan. Dai Viet was attacked in two directions, Toghan himself conducted the infantry invaded from the northern border while the Yuan navy under general Sogetu advanced from the southern border through Champa's territory. In the beginning of the war, Thanh Tong and Nhan Tong had to order the army retreat to avoid the pressure from the Yuan force when Prince Chieu Minh Tran Quang Khai commanded troops try to stop Sogetu's fleet in the Nghe An Province. During this time, there were several high-ranking officials and members of royal family of the Tran dynasty defected to Yuan's side including Thanh Tong's own brother, Prince Chieu Quoc Tran Ich Tac and Tran Kien who was son of Prince Tinh Quoc Tran Quoc Khang. For the safeness of Thanh Tong and Nhan Tong's retreat, Princess An Tu was offered as present and diversion for prince Toghan while Marquis Bao Nghia Tran Binh Trong was captured and later killed in the Battle of Da Mac in defending the two emperors. In the southern border, Tran Quang Khai also had to retreat under the pressure of Sogetu's navy and the defection of the governor of Nghe An. Despite the repeated problems, the royal family and royal court of the Tran dynasty still kept their harmony and determination owing to accurates decisions and actions from the leaders Thanh Tong, Nhan Tong, Tran Quoc Tuan and Tran Quang Khai.

The critical situation of the Tran dynasty began to change after their victory in Battle of Ham Tu in April 1285, where the troops commanded by Tran Nhat Duat, Prince Chieu Thanh, Tran Quoc Toan, and Nguyen Khoai were finally able to defeat the fleet of general Sogetu. On May 10 of Lunar calendar 1285, Tran Quang Khai fought the decisive battle in Chuong Duong where Yuan's navy was almost destroyed and therefore the balance in battlefield titled definitely in favour of the Tran dynasty. 10 days after Sogetu was killed and the Tran Emperor Nhan Tong and Retired Emperor Thanh Tong returned to the capital, Thang Long, on June 6 of the Lunar calendar, 1285.

Third Mongol invasion

In March 1287, the Yuan dynasty launched their third invasion of Dai Viet. Unlike the second attack, this time commander in chief Prince Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuan affirmed with the Emperor that Dai Viet's army could easily break the Yuan's military campaign. Indeed, this invasion was ended one year later by a disastrous defeat of the Yuan navy in Battle of Bach Dang on March 8 of the lunar calendar, 1288. Besides Tran Quoc Tuan, other notable generals of the Tran dynasty during this time were Prince Nhan Hue Tran Khanh Du who destroyed the logistics convoy of Yuan navy in the Battle of Van Don or general Pham Ngu Lao who took charge of ambushing prince Toghan's retreating troops.

In rewarding Tran dynasty generals and mandarins after the victory, Thanh Tong and Nhan Tong also reminded them of the caution to the northern border. About the defectors to Yuan side, the Emperor issued an order in which the family name of every defected member of Tran clan was changed to Mai, for example Tran Kien was renamed as Mai Kien, being the only defected prince of Tran clan, Tran Ich Tac was exempted from this order but he was called in historical accounts of the Tran dynasty by the name "A Tran" ("the woman named Tran") meaning that Tran Ich Tac was "coward as a woman".

The Retired Emperor Tran Thanh Tong died on May 25 of the Lunar calendar, 1290 at the age of 50. He was buried in Du Lang with the posthumous name Huyen cong thinh duc nhan minh van vu tuyen hieu hoang de (玄功盛德仁明文武宣孝皇帝).

Family

Tran Thanh Tong had one empress, the Empress Thien Cam Tran Thieu, fifth daughter of his uncle Tran Lieu. The first son of Thanh Tong, Tran Kham, was born on November 11 of lunar calendar, 1258, only 8 months after the enthronement of the Emperor, he was entitled as Crown Prince in December 1274. His second son, Prince Ta Thien Tran Duc Viep was born in 1265 The only daughter of Tran Thanh Tong was Princess Thien Thuy who married to Prince Hung Vu Tran Quoc Nghien, son of Tran Quoc Tuan. She had with general Tran Khanh Du an adulterous affair which almost led to Tran Khanh Du's death by order of the Emperor. Princess Thien Thuy and her younger brother Tran Nhan Tong died on the same day, November 3 of lunar calendar, 1308.

Legacy

The historian Ngo Si Lien praised Tran Thanh Tong as one of the finest emperors of the Tran dynasty. He was not only a righteous ruler but also a dutiful son, kind-hearted brother and father with sense of responsibility who was credited for the stability of both the royal family and the whole country. Thanh Tong's successful reign was the solid foundation for the long period of prosperity and peace in Dai Viet afterwards. Moreover, like his brother Tran Quang Khai, Tran Ich Tac and Tran Nhat Duat, Tran Thanh Tong was a renowned scholar, Thanh Tong taught his princes by his own poems, and he also had a literary work named Di hau luc. The Emperor was only criticized sometimes by Ngo Si Lien, a Confucian historian, for his devotion for Buddhism, which was not suitable for a person in such a high position like him.