Tran Canh & Ly Chieu Hoang
Among famous love stories in Vietnam’s history, the account of Lý Chiêu Hoàng and Trần Thái Tông (Trần Cảnh) is one of the most prominent. Throughout his whole life, Thái Tông had done innumerable great deeds for his country; yet, ironically, he never gathered enough courage to look into the eyes that held resentment toward him.
In 1224, Princess Chiêu Thánh (Lý Chiêu Hoàng) acceded to the throne at the age of six. The court then was under the control of official Trần Thủ Độ. Trần Cảnh, Trần Thủ Độ’s nephew, was brought into the palace to serve the Empress Regnant.
The two grew up together. Once, during their playtime, Chiêu Hoàng threw her handkerchief at Trần Cảnh. Cảnh reported her action to Trần Thủ Độ. Understanding the implication of that action, Trần Thủ Độ ordered his men to guard the gates to the palace to prevent the officials from attending the court and proclaimed that “The Sovereign had gotten married”.
In December, in the middle of the Thiên An Palace, Lý Chiêu Hoàng abdicated, enthroned Trần Cảnh and transferred the ultimate power from the Lý Clan to the Trần Clan.
Lý Chiêu Hoàng was now downgraded to Empress Chiêu Thánh. Unfortunately, her power was to diminish soon: after losing her first-born child, Chiêu Thánh could not give birth again. In 1237, Trần Thủ Độ ordered the emperor to abandon his empress and marry his brother’s wife who was three months into her pregnancy. The young emperor and his brother both expressed strong objections to that decision: while the former left the court and went to Yên Tử, the latter waged a war against the government. However, in the end, nothing changed; Chiêu Thánh still lost her position.
Only until twenty years later, after the first Mongol invasion of Vietnam, did Thái Tông arrange a marriage with General Lê Phụ Trần for Princess Chiêu Thánh. That year, Chiêu Thánh was already in her forty.
One person was born into the royal family; the other was fated to be the sovereign but was abhorred by his first love. How could Chiêu Thánh not hate Trần Cảnh when she was responsible for the collapse of the Lý Dynasty and suffered twenty years of loneliness because of him. The love story between Trần Cảnh and Lý Chiêu Hoàng was indeed sorrowful.
Reference: Complete Annals of Đại Việt Summarized by Huỳnh Thắng Nam - Translated by An Phương Art by Đăng Thiên (edited by Hương Giang)
