Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308),

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: triều Trần, chữ Hán: ikt:朝ikt:陳, 朝wikt:陳, 陳), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was a List ...

, reigning over

Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), was a Vietnamese monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day Hanoi. Its early name, Đại Cồ Việt,(ch ...

from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the throne to his son Trần Anh Tông, Nhân Tông held the title Emperor Emeritus () from 1294 to his death in 1308. During the second and third

Mongol invasions The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of Đại Việt, the Emperor Nhân Tông and his father the Emperor Emeritus Thánh Tông were credited with the decisive victory against the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

and would thenceforth establish a long period of peace and prosperity over the country. After retiring from ruling the nation, he practiced Buddhism as a monk and founded the Trúc Lâm school of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Background

Trần Nhân Tông was born on 7 December 1258 as Trần Khâm, the first son of Emperor

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, Th ...

, who had ceded the throne by

Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), Vietnamese name, 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 R ...

for only eight months, and Empress Thiên Cảm Trần Thị Thiều. It was said that the newborn Trần Khâm was so becoming in appearance that his grandfather Thái Tông and father Thánh Tông named him as Kim Tiên đồng tử (Pupil of the Heavenly Kim Tiên). Prince Trần Khâm was entitled as

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

of the Trần dynasty in December 1274, he had a younger brother, Prince Tá Thiên (also known as Trần Đức Việp) who was born in 1265 and an elder sister, Princess Thiên Thụy, who would die on the same day as her brother Nhân Tông. Always concerned with the education of his son, in 1274, Thánh Tông appointed the prominent mandarin and general

Lê Phụ Trần Lê Phụ Trần (?–?) was a general of the Trần dynasty during the reigns of three successive emperors: Trần Thái Tông, Thái Tông, Trần Thánh Tông, Thánh Tông, and Trần Nhân Tông, Nhân Tông. As a skilled general on the ...

in the position of the crown prince's professor with two famous scholars Nguyễn Sĩ Cố and Nguyễn Thánh Huấn as assistants. The Emperor himself also composed poems and a literary work named ''Di hậu lục'' to educate prince Trần Khâm. On 8 November 1278, The second option on the left tab allows for the lunar date to be entered on the top green row, and gives a conversion to Gregorian date, and vice versa. Thánh Tông decided to cede the throne to the Crown Prince Trần Khâm, now Trần Nhân Tông, and held the title Emperor Emeritus. After the coronation, Nhân Tông changed the

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a t ...

to Thiệu Bảo ( 紹寶, 1278–1285), during his reign, the emperor had one more era name which was Trùng Hưng ( 重興, 1285–1293). Although passing the throne to his son, Thánh Tông continued to co-rule the country with Nhân Tông from 1279 to his death in 1290.

Reign

Mongol invasions

In 1279, the

won a decisive victory over the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

Battle of Yamen The Battle of Yamen (), also known as the Battle of Yashan (), was a naval battle which took place in southern China on 19 March 1279. It is considered to be the last stand of the Song dynasty against the invading forces of the Mongol-led Yuan ...

which marked the end of the Song dynasty and the total control of

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

over China. As a result, Kublai Khan began his conquest over the southern regions such as

and

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

. Being aware of the situation, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông began to prepare the country for the war while trying to keep a flexible policy with the Yuan dynasty. Prince Chiêu Văn (also known as Trần Nhật Duật) was appointed to pacify the revolt led by Trịnh Giác Mật in Đà Giang. He tried by diplomacy to keep the country stable before the war. With his knowledge of a minority people's language and culture, he successfully accomplished his task in 1278, so now the country was free to deal with the threat from the North. In October 1282, the Retired Emperor Thánh Tông and the Emperor Nhân Tông gathered all members of the royal family, and officials in the royal court in Bình Than to discuss the unavoidable war. Two prominent generals of Đại Việt's army were called Trần Khánh Dư, former commander of the army but was deprived of all titles and

Trần Quốc Tuấn Trần (陳) or Tran is the second most common Vietnamese surname after Nguyen. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and successfully repelled the Mongol ...

, who would later be called Prince Hưng Đạo. In 1283 Quốc Tuấn was appointed as commander-in-chief (Quốc công tiết chế) of the army while the Retired Emperor and the Emperor began to hold military exercises with their generals and troops. In December 1284, the second Yuan's invasion of Đại Việt commenced under the command of Kublai Khan's prince Toghan. Đại Việt was attacked in two directions, Toghan himself conducted the infantry and invaded from the north while the Yuan navy (under general Sogetu) advanced from the southern border through

's territory. In the beginning of the war, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông had to call for retreat when Prince Chiêu Minh (also known as Trần Quang Khải) who commanded troops, were trying to stop Sogetu's fleet in Nghệ An Province. During this time, several high-ranking officials and members of the Trần dynasty defected to the Yuan, this included Thánh Tông's own brother, Prince Chiêu Quốc (also known as

Trần Ích Tắc Trần Ích Tắc ( vi-hantu, 陳益稷, Chen Yiji, 1254–1329), or Prince Chiêu Quốc (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: Chiêu Quốc vương / wikt:昭, 昭wikt:國, 國wikt:王, 王), was a prince of Đại Việt, the fifth son of List of em ...

) and Trần Kiện who was son of Prince Tĩnh Quốc (also known as Trần Quốc Khang). For the safety of Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông's retreat, Princess

An Tư An Tư ( vi-hantu, 安姿, 1267 – ?), was a princess during the Trần dynasty (1225–1400), the youngest offspring of emperor Trần Thái Tông. The exact year of her birth and death are unknown. The ''Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư'' (16 ...

was offered as a gift and diversion for prince Toghan while Marquis Bảo Nghĩa (also known as Trần Bình Trọng) was captured and later killed in the Battle of Đà Mạc while defending the two emperors. In the southern border, Quang Khải had to retreat under pressure from Sogetu's navy and the defection of the governor of Nghệ An. The critical situation began to change with the dynasty's victory in the Battle of Hàm Tử in April 1285 where troops commanded by Trần Nhật Duật, Prince Chiêu Thành, Quốc Toản and Nguyễn Khoái were finally able to defeat Sogetu's fleet. On 10 May 1285, Quang Khải fought in the decisive Battle of Chương Dương where Sogetu's navy was almost destroyed and the war turned in the favour of the Trần dynasty. Ten days after Sogetu was killed, Nhân Tông and Thánh Tông returned to the capital Thăng Long on 6 June 1285. In March 1287, the Yuan dynasty launched their third invasion of Đại Việt. Unlike the second attack, this time Quốc Tuấn affirmed with the Emperor that Đại Việt's army could easily break the Yuan's military campaign. This invasion ended after only one year due to a disastrous defeat of the Yuan navy in the Battle of Bạch Đằng on 8 March 1288. Besides Quốc Tuấn, other notable generals of the Trần dynasty during this time were Prince Nhân Huệ (also known as Trần Khánh Dư) who destroyed the logistics convoy of the Yuan navy in the Battle of Vân Đồn. Another was general

Phạm Ngũ Lão Phạm Ngũ Lão (范五老, 1255–1320) was a general of the Trần dynasty during the reigns of three successive emperors Trần Nhân Tông, Nhân Tông, Trần Anh Tông, Anh Tông, and Trần Minh Tông, Minh Tông. His talent was noticed ...

who took charge of ambushing prince Toghan's retreating troops.

After the war

In rewarding generals and mandarins after the victory, Thánh Tông and Nhân Tông cautioned them of the northern border. As to the defectors during the war, the Emperor issued an order in which the family name of every defected member of the Trần clan was changed to Mai, for example Trần Kiện was renamed as Mai Kiện. The only defected prince of the Trần clan, Trần Ích Tắc, was exempted from this order but he was called in historical accounts of the Trần dynasty by the name "Ả Trần" ("the woman named Trần") meaning that Trần Ích Tắc would be known as a "coward as a woman". The Retired Emperor Thánh Tông died on 25 May 1290 at the age of 50. As the sole ruler of Đại Việt, Nhân Tông ordered to relax the taxing policy, relieving the poor and postponing the military campaign against

Ai Lao Ailao or Ai Lao may refer to: * Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, China * 'Ailao, a traditional Samoan dance, a precursor to the Taualuga * Ailao Kingdom, an ancient tribal alliance country, now Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture * Ailao toad ...

so that the country could recover after two fierce wars, several famines and natural disasters. On 3 February 1292, Nhân Tông entitled his first son Trần Thuyên as Crown Prince of the Trần dynasty and passed the throne to him on 3 March 1293. Nhân Tông would then spend more time in seeking spiritual awakening. In 1295, he was ordained as Buddhist

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

. In 1299, he came to the mountain of Yên Tử in modern-day Quảng Ninh, where he vowed to follow the ten ascetic practices as a

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

's student. He also established a monastery, teaching about Buddhist principles and receiving a substantial amount of disciples. He was thought to have founded Trúc Lâm, the only indigenous Thiền Buddhist sect in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In addition, he travelled across the nation to teach Thiền practices to monks and encourage his subjects to follow the Ten Good Acts theory (''Daśakuśalakarmāṇi''). In 1301, he visited

, and lived for nine months at Jaya Sinhavarman III's court.Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., In 1306, he gave his daughter, Princess Huyen Tran, in marriage to the

king Jaya Simhavarman III, in return for two Cham provinces.

Family

Trần Nhân Tông married Princess Khâm Từ, later Empress Consort Khâm Từ Bảo Thánh, the eldest daughter of Grand Prince Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn, in December 1274 when he was entitled as crown prince. Trần Nhân Tông had his first son, Trần Thuyên, on 17 September 1276, Trần Thuyên eventually became Nhân Tông's successor as Trần Anh Tông. * Father:

* Mother: Empress Nguyên Thánh Thiên Cảm Trần Thị Thiều of Trần Liễu clan * Consort(s) and their respectively issues: # Princess Trần Thị Trinh of Trần Liễu clan, daughter of Grand Prince Hưng Đạo. Later Empress Consort Khâm Từ Bảo Thánh ## Crown Prince Trần Thuyên, later Emperor Trần Anh Tông # Empress Tuyên Từ of Trần Liễu clan, younger sister of Empress Consort Khâm Từ Bảo Thánh ## Prince Tran Quoc Chan # Royal Consort Dang Thi Loan * Other Issues: # Princess Thượng Trân # Princess Thiên Trân # Princess Huyền Trân

Legacy

Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * , - style="text-align: center;" , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Nhan Tong Nhan Tong 13th-century Vietnamese poets Nhan Tong 1258 births 1308 deaths 13th-century Vietnamese monarchs Trần dynasty Buddhist monks Thiền Buddhist monks Trần dynasty poets Vietnamese monarchs Royalty from Hanoi