Lý Chiêu Hoàng
Encyclopedia
Lý Chiêu Hoàng was the eighth and last sovereign of the Lý Dynasty
from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam
. Chosen by the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông as his successor at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled the country under the total influence of Trần Thủ Độ and the Trần clan in the royal court. It was Trần Thủ Độ who arranged the marriage between the empress regnant and his 7-year-old nephew Trần Cảnh and ultimately overthrew the Lý Dynasty to found the Trần Dynasty in 1225. After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Chiêu Thánh and finally to Princess Chiêu Thánh when she was forced by Trần Thủ Độ to give up the position of empress consort to her elder sister Princess Thuận Thiên
. Afterwards, she was married one more time to general Lê Phụ Trần
, with whom she had two children. Lý Chiêu Hoàng's complicated and tragic life was a fine example of the turbulent time of the Late Lý and Early Trần Dynasty in history of Vietnam.
1218 as Lý Phật Kim (李佛金), subsequently changed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), second child of the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông and the Empress Trần Thị Dung
. She had an elder sister, Princess Thuận Thiên
, who was born in 1216 and later married to Prince Phụng Càn (Vietnamese
: Phụng Càn vương) Trần Liễu
, Lý Phật Kim herself was entitled as Princess Chiêu Thánh (昭聖), the only available successor for the throne.
Having been mentally ill for a long time, the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông ultimately decided to cede the throne of the Lý Dynasty
to crown prince
ss Lý Chiêu Hoàng in October of Lunar calendar, 1224. Lý Chiêu Hoàng thus became the only empress regnant in history of Vietnam
. This decision of Lý Huệ Tông was considered by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên
as the crucial factor leading to the collapse of the Lý Dynasty, because if he had chosen a capable member of the royal family instead of his young princess, the situation for the Dynasty could have been different.
After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Consort Chiêu Thánh (Chiêu Thánh hoàng hậu) in January 1226. Although Trần Thừa
, father of the new emperor, acted as Regent in the royal court, it was the grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ who held absolute power in the court and decided both military and civil matters of the country. Still afraid that the newly founded rule of the Trần Dynasty might be overthrown by its political opponents, Trần Thủ Độ continued to eliminate members of the Lý royal family by his ruthless method. The grand chancellor ordered Lý Chiêu Hoàng's father, Lý Huệ Tông, to commit suicide on October 8 of Lunar calendar 1226 while married her mother Empress Trần Thị Dung, now Princess Thiên Cực. These actions of Trần Thủ Độ were criticized by Ngô Sĩ Liên
in his Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư as an inhumane decision, despite his initial motive of reinforcing the reign of Trần Thái Tông. Not satisfied with the death of Huệ Tông, Trần Thủ Độ decided to kill off all members of the Lý royal family in August 1232 during the death anniversary
of Lý emperors held in Thái Đường, Hoa Lâm (now Nam Trực, Nam Định). However, the authenticity of this event was challenged by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên because a member of the Lý clan was still appointed as general by Trần Anh Tông
and there was no account of this event in Phan Phu Tiên's historical record.
for three months. After the royal marriage, Thuận Thiên was made the new empress of the Trần Dynasty while Chiêu Thánh was downgraded to princess. In fury at losing his pregnant wife, Trần Liễu raised a revolt against the royal family; meanwhile Thái Tông felt awkward about the situation and decided to became a monk in Yên Tử Mountain. Eventually Trần Thủ Độ persuaded Thái Tông to return to the throne and Trần Liễu surrendered after judging that he could not prevail with his small force. All the soldiers who participated in this revolt were killed; Trần Thủ Độ even wanted to behead Trần Liễu but was stopped by Thái Tông. Vietnamese historians in feudal era such as Ngô Sĩ Liên
or Phan Phu Tiên often criticized the decisions of Trần Thủ Độ and Trần Thái Tông in this situation and considered it the origin of the downfall of the Trần Dynasty afterwards during the reign of Trần Dụ Tông
.
In 1258, Thái Tông decided to remarry Princess Chiêu Thánh to the general Lê Phụ Trần
because he had an essential role in the victory of Đại Việt over the first Mongol invasion
. This event was one more time criticized in historical books for the lack of moral code in marriage during the Early Trần period. Princess Chiêu Thánh died in Cổ Pháp
in March 1278 at the age of 61. With the second husband Lê Phụ Trần, she had two children, Marquis Lê Tông and Princess Ứng Thụy Lê Khuê.
); her cult was only placed in a nearby shrine which was smaller than the main temple. From the beginning of 2009, this shrine was renovated on a large scale on the occasion of the millenary anniversary of Hanoi which was founded by the Lý Dynasty. This restoration was criticized by several newspapers and residents because almost all architectural features at the shrine were demolished and totally rebuilt despite the fact that the shrine was already credited as a national historical relic of Vietnam. Responding to the criticism, the official responsible for this renovation stated that the temple was actually not as ancient as others thought and they had to rebuild from the foundation because the shrine was in very bad shape and reconstruction was necessary.
Lý Dynasty
The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...
from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam
History of Vietnam
The history of Vietnam covers a period of more than 2,700 years. By far Vietnam's most important historical international relationship has been with China. Vietnam's prehistory includes a legend about a kingdom known as Van Lang that included what is now China's Guangxi Autonomous Region and...
. Chosen by the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông as his successor at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled the country under the total influence of Trần Thủ Độ and the Trần clan in the royal court. It was Trần Thủ Độ who arranged the marriage between the empress regnant and his 7-year-old nephew Trần Cảnh and ultimately overthrew the Lý Dynasty to found the Trần Dynasty in 1225. After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Chiêu Thánh and finally to Princess Chiêu Thánh when she was forced by Trần Thủ Độ to give up the position of empress consort to her elder sister Princess Thuận Thiên
Thuận Thiên (empress)
Empress Thuận Thiên Empress Thuận Thiên Empress Thuận Thiên (Lý Ngọc Oanh (1216–1248) was the second empress of Trần Dynasty, she succeeded her younger sister Empress Chiêu Thánh in 1237 by an arrangement of Trần Thủ Độ in which Prince Hoài Trần Liễu was forced to give up his 3-month pregnant...
. Afterwards, she was married one more time to general Lê Phụ Trần
Lê Phụ Trần
Lê Phụ Trần was a general of the Trần Dynasty during the reigns of three successive emperors: Thái Tông, Thánh Tông, and Nhân Tông. As a skilled general on the battlefield, he was one of the few commanders of the Trần Dynasty army during the three Mongol invasions of Đại Việt who did not come from...
, with whom she had two children. Lý Chiêu Hoàng's complicated and tragic life was a fine example of the turbulent time of the Late Lý and Early Trần Dynasty in history of Vietnam.
Background
Lý Chiêu Hoàng was born in September of Lunar calendarLunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
1218 as Lý Phật Kim (李佛金), subsequently changed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), second child of the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông and the Empress Trần Thị Dung
Trần Thị Dung
Mother of the Nation Lady Linh Từ Trần Thị Dung was the last empress and the last empress mother of the Lý Dynasty...
. She had an elder sister, Princess Thuận Thiên
Thuận Thiên (empress)
Empress Thuận Thiên Empress Thuận Thiên Empress Thuận Thiên (Lý Ngọc Oanh (1216–1248) was the second empress of Trần Dynasty, she succeeded her younger sister Empress Chiêu Thánh in 1237 by an arrangement of Trần Thủ Độ in which Prince Hoài Trần Liễu was forced to give up his 3-month pregnant...
, who was born in 1216 and later married to Prince Phụng Càn (Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
: Phụng Càn vương) Trần Liễu
Trần Liễu
Prince Yên Sinh Trần Liễu was the elder brother of the Trần Thái Tông, the first emperor of Trần Dynasty. Initially, Trần Liễu was honoured by his younger brother with the title King Hiển but he was downgraded to Prince Yên Sinh after the short-lived revolt in fury of losing his pregnant wife,...
, Lý Phật Kim herself was entitled as Princess Chiêu Thánh (昭聖), the only available successor for the throne.
Having been mentally ill for a long time, the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông ultimately decided to cede the throne of the Lý Dynasty
Lý Dynasty
The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...
to crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
ss Lý Chiêu Hoàng in October of Lunar calendar, 1224. Lý Chiêu Hoàng thus became the only empress regnant in history of Vietnam
History of Vietnam
The history of Vietnam covers a period of more than 2,700 years. By far Vietnam's most important historical international relationship has been with China. Vietnam's prehistory includes a legend about a kingdom known as Van Lang that included what is now China's Guangxi Autonomous Region and...
. This decision of Lý Huệ Tông was considered by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên was an historian of the Lê Dynasty. He is best known for being the principal compiler of the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of a Vietnamese dynasty that remains today...
as the crucial factor leading to the collapse of the Lý Dynasty, because if he had chosen a capable member of the royal family instead of his young princess, the situation for the Dynasty could have been different.
As Empress Regnant
Succeeding to the throne at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled under the total influence of Commander of Royal Guard Trần Thủ Độ and other members of the Trần clan, who began to take over power in the royal court during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông. Even the Empress Regnant's servants were chosen by Trần Thủ Độ, so that trusted servants of Lý Chiêu Hoàng all came from the Trần clan, such as Trần Bất Cập, Trần Thiêm or Trần Thủ Độ's 7-year-old nephew Trần Cảnh. When Trần Cảnh informed Trần Thủ Độ that the Empress Regnant seemed to have affection towards him, the leader of the Trần clan immediately decided to use this chance to carry out his plot of overthrowing the Lý Dynasty and founding his clan's own dynasty. Firstly Trần Thủ Độ moved the whole Trần clan to the royal palace and arranged a secret marriage between Lý Chiêu Hoàng and Trần Cảnh there, without the appearance of any mandarin or member of the Lý royal family. The royal marriage took place in October or November 1225, when Lý Chiêu Hoàng and Trần Cảnh were both only 7 years old. After that, he announced the fait accompli to the royal court and made Lý Chiêu Hoàng cede the throne to her newly married husband for the reason that she was not capable for the position, so Trần Cảnh was chosen as her successor. Hence, the 216-year reign of the Lý Dynasty was ended and the new Trần Dynasty was created on the first day of the twelfth lunar month, 1225 (December 31, 1225). The only era name of the Empress Regnant was Thiên Chương Hữu Đạo (天彰有道).After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Consort Chiêu Thánh (Chiêu Thánh hoàng hậu) in January 1226. Although Trần Thừa
Trần Thừa
Trần Thừa was the head of the Trần clan and a high-ranking mandarin during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng. After the overthrow of the Lý Dynasty by Trần Thủ Độ, Trần Thừa's second son Trần Cảnh was enthroned as Trần Thái Tông, the first emperor of the Trần Dynasty...
, father of the new emperor, acted as Regent in the royal court, it was the grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ who held absolute power in the court and decided both military and civil matters of the country. Still afraid that the newly founded rule of the Trần Dynasty might be overthrown by its political opponents, Trần Thủ Độ continued to eliminate members of the Lý royal family by his ruthless method. The grand chancellor ordered Lý Chiêu Hoàng's father, Lý Huệ Tông, to commit suicide on October 8 of Lunar calendar 1226 while married her mother Empress Trần Thị Dung, now Princess Thiên Cực. These actions of Trần Thủ Độ were criticized by Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên was an historian of the Lê Dynasty. He is best known for being the principal compiler of the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of a Vietnamese dynasty that remains today...
in his Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư as an inhumane decision, despite his initial motive of reinforcing the reign of Trần Thái Tông. Not satisfied with the death of Huệ Tông, Trần Thủ Độ decided to kill off all members of the Lý royal family in August 1232 during the death anniversary
Death anniversary
A death anniversary is a custom observed in several Asian cultures including China, Pakistan, Israel, Georgia, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Russia and Vietnam, as well as in other nations with significant overseas Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Jewish, and Vietnamese populations...
of Lý emperors held in Thái Đường, Hoa Lâm (now Nam Trực, Nam Định). However, the authenticity of this event was challenged by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên because a member of the Lý clan was still appointed as general by Trần Anh Tông
Trần Anh Tông
Trần Anh Tông , given name Trần Thuyên , was the fourth emperor of the Trần Dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1293 to 1314. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Minh Tông, Anh Tông held the title Thái thượng hoàng for six years...
and there was no account of this event in Phan Phu Tiên's historical record.
As empress and princess
According to Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư, Empress Chiêu Thánh could not bear a child for the Emperor for a while; this situation in the royal family worried grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ because he had exploited the same situation involving the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông to overthrow the Lý Dynasty. Therefore in 1237 Trần Thủ Độ decided to force Trần Liễu to give up his wife Princess Thuận Thiên for the Emperor when she had already been pregnant with Trần Quốc KhangTrần Quốc Khang
Prince Tĩnh Quốc Trần Quốc Khang was the first prince of the Emperor Trần Thái Tông, the eldest brother of Trần Thánh Tông and princes Trần Quang Khải, Trần Ích Tắc and Trần Nhật Duật...
for three months. After the royal marriage, Thuận Thiên was made the new empress of the Trần Dynasty while Chiêu Thánh was downgraded to princess. In fury at losing his pregnant wife, Trần Liễu raised a revolt against the royal family; meanwhile Thái Tông felt awkward about the situation and decided to became a monk in Yên Tử Mountain. Eventually Trần Thủ Độ persuaded Thái Tông to return to the throne and Trần Liễu surrendered after judging that he could not prevail with his small force. All the soldiers who participated in this revolt were killed; Trần Thủ Độ even wanted to behead Trần Liễu but was stopped by Thái Tông. Vietnamese historians in feudal era such as Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên
Ngô Sĩ Liên was an historian of the Lê Dynasty. He is best known for being the principal compiler of the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of a Vietnamese dynasty that remains today...
or Phan Phu Tiên often criticized the decisions of Trần Thủ Độ and Trần Thái Tông in this situation and considered it the origin of the downfall of the Trần Dynasty afterwards during the reign of Trần Dụ Tông
Trần Dụ Tông
Trần Dụ Tông , given name Trần Hạo , was the seventh emperor of the Trần Dynasty, and reigned over Đại Việt from 1341 to 1369...
.
In 1258, Thái Tông decided to remarry Princess Chiêu Thánh to the general Lê Phụ Trần
Lê Phụ Trần
Lê Phụ Trần was a general of the Trần Dynasty during the reigns of three successive emperors: Thái Tông, Thánh Tông, and Nhân Tông. As a skilled general on the battlefield, he was one of the few commanders of the Trần Dynasty army during the three Mongol invasions of Đại Việt who did not come from...
because he had an essential role in the victory of Đại Việt over the first Mongol invasion
Mongol invasions of Vietnam
Mongol invasions of Vietnam or Mongol-Vietnamese War refer to the three times that the Mongol Empire and its chief khanate the Yuan Dynasty invaded Đại Việt during the Trần Dynasty and the Kingdom of Champa: in 1257–1258, 1284–1285, and 1287–1288. The Mongols were defeated by Đại...
. This event was one more time criticized in historical books for the lack of moral code in marriage during the Early Trần period. Princess Chiêu Thánh died in Cổ Pháp
Bac Ninh
Bắc Ninh is a city in Vietnam and capital of the Bac Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative, and commercial center of the province. The city area is 80.82 square km, with a population of 150,331 . In January, 2006, the town of Bac Ninh was upgraded to city...
in March 1278 at the age of 61. With the second husband Lê Phụ Trần, she had two children, Marquis Lê Tông and Princess Ứng Thụy Lê Khuê.
Legacy
Because of her role in the collapse of the Lý Dynasty, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was not worshipped along with her ancestors, eight previous emperors of the Lý Dynasty, at the Lý Bát Đế Temple (Bắc NinhBac Ninh
Bắc Ninh is a city in Vietnam and capital of the Bac Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative, and commercial center of the province. The city area is 80.82 square km, with a population of 150,331 . In January, 2006, the town of Bac Ninh was upgraded to city...
); her cult was only placed in a nearby shrine which was smaller than the main temple. From the beginning of 2009, this shrine was renovated on a large scale on the occasion of the millenary anniversary of Hanoi which was founded by the Lý Dynasty. This restoration was criticized by several newspapers and residents because almost all architectural features at the shrine were demolished and totally rebuilt despite the fact that the shrine was already credited as a national historical relic of Vietnam. Responding to the criticism, the official responsible for this renovation stated that the temple was actually not as ancient as others thought and they had to rebuild from the foundation because the shrine was in very bad shape and reconstruction was necessary.