Dang Thi Hue - Tu Hi Empress Dowager in Vietnam: From the village girl picking tea to the mother of the world and the tragic ending

Like most famous beauties in ancient Vietnamese history, Tuyen Phi Dang Thi Hue has a mysterious past that few people know about. In particular, there are many similarities between her and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) with the customary name Ngoc Lan, came from a peasant family. She was brought to the palace when she was 16 years old, in the context of the downfall of the Manchu Dynasty, King Ham Phong played with debauchery, neglecting the government.

King Ham Phong at that time established a queen and had up to 3,000 court ladies. But right from the first meeting, the king fell in love with Ngoc Lan because of her special beauty. And Ngoc Lan took advantage of her advantage to dominate the emperor until the day he died. She was quickly ordained to the title of Noble Lady, from which she began a lavish life that captivated the entire Manchu court.

To maintain her beauty, Empress Dowager Cixi used a lot of weird dishes. Legend has it that she raised two white mice with ginseng and sorghum, turning them red, and then sent someone to take them to the cellar to eat.

She also planted tea in the mountains, so that in winter, when the camellias were covered with snow, she let a herd of horses go out to eat camellias. After the horses had their intestines cut open to get camellias in their stomachs, they made tea, called Tram Ma Tra.

Like Queen Mother Tu Hi, Tuyen Phi Dang Thi Hue entered the palace at the age of 16. She is also the daughter of a commoner, has a poor life, has to live by picking tea. Since she was a teenager, Hue has been famous for being the most beautiful in the region.

Le Van as Tuyen Phi Dang Thi Hue (film Long Tri Festival Night).

When Thi Hue entered the palace, Lord Trinh Sam was living a luxurious life with hundreds of beauties. However, he liked Hue at first sight.

With her natural beauty and smart reply, Thi Hue quickly won the number one position in Trinh Sam's heart. He appointed Hue as a concubine and pampered her to the fullest.

Favored by the Lord, Hue became abusive, often acting in front of the Lord. Sometimes Hue wore nothing, just put on a very thin scarf, hovering back and forth to provoke the Lord. When God rushed to hug, Hue evaded very quickly, making the Lord's blood boil.

When something was not satisfactory, Hue often pretended to be pale, then cried bitterly. Once the Lord saw Hue playing with the luminous pearl - the family's hereditary treasure in his hand, and immediately said: Lightly, don't scratch the jade!

Hue immediately threw the pearl to the ground, blamed the lord of contempt, then wept and left to another palace. God had to coax Hue to do good...

The flirtatious image of Tuyen Phi Dang Thi Hue in the movie

Reincarnated and won imperial power

When she reached the first ladder of fame, Ngoc Lan was under pressure to have a son to succeed the throne if she wanted to gain more power. And she gave birth to a son in 1856, who would later become Emperor Dong Tri. From this moment on, she became more and more favored.

After Emperor Ham Phong died, Empress Tu An and Y Quy Nhan were honored by the court as Empress Dowager Tu An and Empress Dowager Tu Hi and took on the main supporting role for the young Emperor Dong Tri.

With ambition for power, assertive personality, and superior intelligence, Empress Dowager Cixi gradually removed the role of Empress Dowager Tu An and Emperor Dong Tri to become the one who completely controlled the affairs of the court. Her bossy and domineering at this time has reached its peak...

Returning to the Trinh lord's palace, in 1777 Dang Thi Hue gave birth to a son, who was loved by the god and named him Can as a child. Trinh Can soon proved to be a handsome and gifted child.

Before that, a concubine named Ngoc Hoan gave birth to a son for the lord, named Tong. Lord Trinh Sam did not love Ngoc Hoan, so he did not want to make Trinh Tong the Crown Prince, even though Trinh Tong was 15 years old and talented. Understanding the thoughts of the Lord, Thi Hue plotted to usurp the throne for Trinh Can.

At this time, the court divided into two factions: Trinh Tong faction, Trinh Can faction. However, Trinh Tong's faction was defeated after an unsuccessful attempt to gain the throne. Since then, Thi Hue's faction has grown stronger, and this woman has become more and more abusive.

In 1781, Lord Trinh Sam died. Thi Hue colluded with Huy, Duke Hoang Dinh Bao - a powerful man in the royal palace - to establish Trinh Can on the throne. Tuyen concubine Dang Thi Hue automatically became the ruler of the main court to help her son, in fact taking control of the entire court.

Painful ending for two beauties who are passionate about power

Both Queen Mother Tu Hi and Concubine Dang Thi Hue suffered sad endings in their careers.

Under the conservative rule of Empress Dowager Cixi, the Manchu dynasty was weakened to the extreme. In the situation that the country was threatened by Western colonialists, this queen took the money planned to build a European-style battleship to repair Di Hoa Vien as a place to retire in old age.

She was responsible for the defeat of the imperial army when an eight-nation coalition attacked Beijing, leading to the Qing Dynasty signing the humiliating Treaty of the New Ox in 1901, paving the way for China to turn into a cake. being torn apart by the great powers...

Contrary to Empress Dowager Cixi, who kept the throne until her death, the power of Tuyen consort Dang Thi Hue collapsed very quickly. After Trinh Can ascended the throne, the social situation became very chaotic, the people were extremely confused at the risk of chaos.

Illustration

In 1781, soldiers pro-Trinh Tong rebelled, dethroned Trinh Can and put Trinh Tong on the throne. Dang Thi Hue's faction was hunted and aggressively revenged. Thi Hue herself was relegated to the rank of common people, later drank poison to commit suicide in frustration and regret for the golden age.

These events weakened the Trinh's power and completely collapsed before the power of the Tay Son dynasty a few years later.

Rare photos of the Qing Dynasty: Revealing the life of kings, the shocking photo of the concubine who abandoned Pu Yi Hướng Dương16:35:18 23/03/2025Rare photos have been released revealing the life of Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Puyi in the final days of the feudal era in the Forbidden City. There are many things that future generations did not expect.