The Gold Boy and the Jade Girl in Vietnam history
It was said that when being pregnant, the Emperor’s mother had a dream, in which she met the Jade Emperor in the heaven court. The Jade Emperor ordered the Gold Boy to reincarnate as her son, but then got angry by his hesitancy and unwillingness, so he threw a ritual tablet toward the Gold Boy, causing his forehead bleeding. Waking up from the dream, Le Thanh Tong’s mother gave birth to a baby who had a fade mark on his forehead as the injury in the dream. (1)
Many years later, there was a beautiful girl named Ngọc Huyên, who had been 17 or 18 years old but still was not able to speak. She was forced to become an imperial servant playing the music. In one banquet, due to being mute, she only sat in a corner playing the wood block. However, when Emperor Lê Thánh Tông sat down, she suddenly sang. Her voice was as harmonious as the melody on heaven which impressed Emperor Lê Thánh Tông. To his surprise, the way she talked was just the same as the Jade Girl beside the Jade Emperor. He then asked her to be his wife, and eventually ordained her as Noble consort later. (2)
Art by Dang Thien
However, such stories may be just the legends made up by people in the past. Not so blissful as other couples, the pair Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and Noble consort Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyên only knew merriness in their youths. Afterwards, their love was tarnished by political intentions. As time elapsed, Emperor Lê Thánh Tông fell out of love with her. He used to consider crowning her empress, but she was the adopted daughter of an official whose family had tremendous influence on the court, so he wanted to limit her power for fear of a coup d’estat (3). In the end, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyên fell out of favor and was confined in an isolated palace. It was around that period that she started thinking about harming him. When Thánh Tông fell ill, she was responsible for taking care of him. Seizing that opportunity, she smeared poison on his ulceration. From then on, Thánh Tông’s illness worsened, and he soon passed away (4). After Lê Thánh Tông’s death, her son, Prince Lê Tranh ascended to the throne and became the Emperor. *Note: Ngọc Huyên is rumored to be the surviving daughter of Nguyễn Trãi, an outstanding official whose family were executed after the Lệ Chi Viên case. This hypothesis is plausible, since in Nguyễn Trãi’s family, only male family members were sentenced to death while female members were forced to be servants in officials’ houses (5). --------------------------------------------------- References: (1), (4) Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư (Complete Annal of Great Viet) (2) Tang thương ngẫu lục (Random Record of Great Changes) - Phạm Đình Hổ và Nguyễn Án (3) Kể chuyện các Bà Hoàng trong lịch sử Việt Nam - Phạm Trường Khang (5) Theo sử gia Trần Huy Liệu (According to historian Trần Huy Liệu) Written by An Phuong & Kim Nhu
