Ly Chieu Hoang - the first and only queen of Vietnam and a tragic life

Throughout the history of Vietnam, there are only things that are unknown to posterity, but not something that cannot happen. 4000 years of building the country to defend the country, some people become heroes for thousands of generations, some people embrace the grief of losing their home. But in the end, all are part of the times, becoming anecdotes that exist in the rise and fall of the country.

It can be said that there is rarely a historical figure with a turbulent life like Mrs. Ly Chieu Hoang: From Emperor to Empress, from Empress to Princess in just a few years.

Ly Chieu Hoang also known as Ly Feu or Queen Chieu Thanh, the 9th and last Emperor of the Ly dynasty from 1224 to 1225. In Vietnamese history, she was the first and only Queen. Most especially, it was ordered by Father Ly Hue Tong to only pass the throne, even though inside was a forced arrangement of the Imperial Palace, the commander-in-chief Tran Thu Do, who was currently in power in the court.

From Emperor, Ly Chieu Hoang became Queen Chieu Thanh

In 1225, under the arrangement of Tran Thu Do, Ly Chieu Hoang ceded the throne to her husband Tran Canh - grandson of Tran Thu Do - ending the Ly dynasty's rule and history turned a new page. From Emperor, Phat Kim became Queen Chieu Thanh - wife of Tran Canh - Tran Thai Tong.

Regarding the ceding of the throne to her husband, Dai Viet historical records recorded:

One day, Canh was only 8 years old at that time, had to keep the job of carrying water to wash, taking the place of the servants inside. Chieu Hoang saw it and liked it. Whenever he played at night, he called Canh to come and play, and when he saw Canh in a dark place, his body came to tease him, or grabbed his hair, or stood on the ball.

One day, Canh was holding a pot of water to serve, Ly Chieu Hoang washed his face and splashed water on his face, then laughed and teased, until Canh held a betel nut towel, he threw it to Canh. Canh did not dare to say anything, about to talk secretly with Thu Do.

Thu Do says:

"If that's the case, will they become royalty or will they be exterminated?"

Another day, Chieu Hoang took a betel nut towel and threw it to Canh. Canh bowed and said:

"Does Your Majesty forgive me my sins? God please obey".

Chieu Hoang smiled and said:

"Forgive you. Now you know how to speak wisely."

Canh went back to tell Thu Do. Thu Do was afraid that if he revealed it, he would be killed, so he brought his family and relatives into the forbidden palace. Thu Do closed the city gate and the palace gates, sent people to keep watch, and the mandarins were not allowed to enter. Prime Minister announced that:

"Your Majesty is already married."

Seven years old, how can there be love between men and women? Maybe it's just the closeness and innocence between the two children. It was only because of the innocence of children that the adults turned it into a political conspiracy - a smooth and clever delivery.

According to Dai Viet historical records, Ly Chieu Hoang ascended the throne in June of the year of the Rooster (1225) and ceded the throne to her husband Tran Canh in November, with only nearly half a year on the throne.

After ceding the throne, Ly Chieu Hoang was crowned Empress, becoming the youngest Empress in history - Ly Thien Hinh, because she was only 7 years old at that time. She lived with Emperor Thai Tong for more than 10 years, her feelings were quite deep, and she was loved and respected by Thai Tong.

Tragic fate: The first son died, from the Queen was demoted to the Princess

12 years - from clumsy innocence to deep love. Tran Canh and Ly Chieu Hoang - Both are chess pieces in the hands of Tran Thu Do. At the age of 14, Chieu Thanh gave birth to a prince for Thai Tong, but unfortunately died young. From then on, Chieu Thanh was constantly ill and was unable to give birth. However, history books say that Tran Thai Tong still loved her. But the storm came again, this time the person who caused them misfortune was none other than Tran Thu Do and Tran Thi Dung - Chieu Thanh's biological mother.

Linh from the motherland Tran Thi Dung is Ly Hue Tong's wife, whose real name is Tran Thi Ngu, the last queen of the Ly dynasty but a distant relative of Tran Thu Do. After Chieu Hoang ceded the throne to Tran Canh, she married Tran Thu Do, becoming Princess Thien Chi.

In the year of the Rooster, the 6th Thien Ung Chinh Binh (1237), Thai monk Tran Thu Do and Princess Thien Chi feared that the royal bloodline would be interrupted, so they forced Thai Tong to leave Ly Thien Hinh to marry his sister-in-law, Thuan Thien. The princess is 3 months pregnant. Emperor Thai Tong protested, escaping from the capital at night to meet the monk Phu Van in Yen Tu for help. The master both coaxed and pressured, and the emperor finally obeyed.

Princess Thuan Thien was established as Queen instead. Ly Thien Hinh was demoted to Princess Chieu Thanh, she was only 20 years old at that time.

History records about Princess Chiêu Thanh is not much, it seems that she would be completely forgotten to death if not for the following events:

In 1258, after the first resistance against the Mongols, King Tran Thai Tong married Chieu Thanh to Le Phu Tran (whose name was Le Tan). According to the assessment, bringing a wife to marry a servant is one of the reasons for the reward, and the second is to want the royal family to be completely free of pre-dynastic posterity to avoid future events.

Mysterious death

At the beginning of the year of the Tiger, the 6th year of Bao Phu (1278), in March, Princess Chieu Thanh died at the age of 61. She died nearly a full year after Tran Thai Tong (died in 1277).

Legend has it that when she visited her hometown of Co Phap (Bac Ninh), she died there, her hair was still jet black, her lips were still as red as lipstick, and her cheeks were still as fresh as peach blossoms. She was buried at the edge of Bang forest, west of Tho Lang Thien Duc. She was built a temple by later generations, called Long Mieu (Dragon Temple). The reason Chieu Hoang was not worshiped together at the Do temple but had to worship it separately was because she was considered guilty of the Ly family when she lost the Ly dynasty.

The Vietnamese history of the case records the folk theory that she committed suicide by jumping into the lake. Originally: "Mrs. Chieu Thanh passed away. She was demoted as a princess, then married to Phu Tran, she was 61 years old when she died. Currently in Bac Giang province, there is Minh Chau lagoon, in the middle of the lagoon there is a large stone slab. It is said that: Mrs. Chieu Thanh took a stone and jumped into the lagoon to die. On the shore of the lagoon, there is a temple called Chieu Hoang. It was the natives of that place who defended the grave of Mrs. Chieu Hoang and put forward that theory."

Her temple is now at Dinh Bang, Tu Son town, (Bac Ninh province), also known as Dragon Temple. In January 2009, the temple was recognized by the Vietnamese government as a provincial historical relic.

From birth to death, with many events, Ly Chieu Hoang became a person with the strangest fate in Vietnam's feudal history with 7 times in different titles: Princess Ly dynasty, Crown Prince of Ly Dynasty, Queen Queen of Ly Dynasty, Empress of Tran Dynasty, Princess of Tran Dynasty, Nun (Tran Dynasty) and Wife of Tran Dynasty General.

Poet Tan Da has the poem Ly Chieu Hoang Bay as follows:

"Does Tien Son remember the merits?

But I bring water to follow my husband

Who is smart and talented?

Do you know love stories?

Just an old plum tree

Two hundred and odd years and that's it

Ask the monk at Chan Giao Temple

Whose house guests wear winter hats."

Truong Nguyen Luong The Vinh: Mathematical prodigy or "lucky" saint? Nguyễn Khanh09:56:43 04/02/2025Luong The Vinh is one of the prominent figures in the history of Vietnamese table science. He is known as Trang Luong, a rare state in the history of our country with outstanding talent in mathematics in Dai Viet.