Nguyễn Trãi
Poet, strategist, and advisor who helped liberate Vietnam from Ming rule.
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Nguyễn Trãi (1380–1442), also known by his pen name Ức Trai, was a Vietnamese poet and political figure. As the chief advisor to Lê Lợi during the rebellion against the Ming dynasty, he was sometimes credited with near-mythical abilities. He wrote Lê Lợi’s political statements and rallied the Vietnamese people to support the uprising. He also composed the "Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu" and was a Confucian scholar.
Early life
Born in 1380 in Thăng Long (present-day Hanoi), Nguyễn Trãi came from Hải Dương Province. During the brief Hồ dynasty, he passed the civil service exam and served in government. After the Ming invasion in 1406, Vietnam was occupied and treated as a Chinese province, with all rebellions harshly suppressed.
War of independence
In 1417, Nguyễn Trãi joined Lê Lợi, a rebel leader based in the mountains of Thanh Hóa Province. He became the movement’s chief advisor, strategist, and propagandist. The war for independence lasted from 1417 to 1427.
From 1417 to 1423, Lê Lợi waged a guerrilla campaign from his mountain bases. After a truce, following advice from Nguyễn Chích, the army moved south to Nghệ An. From there, Vietnamese forces won several battles and controlled the area from Thanh Hóa southward.
The Ming sent reinforcements, and in 1426, General Wang Tong arrived in the Red River Delta. Vietnamese forces cut supply lines and isolated the Chinese in the capital and other fortresses. During this time, Nguyễn Trãi sent letters to Ming commanders to weaken their resolve and negotiate peace. In 1427, the Ming emperor Xuande sent two large armies.
Lê Lợi met them at the frontier, defeating them in bloody battles, especially at Chi Lăng-Xương Giang. Wang Tong sought peace, and Chinese prisoners were given supplies and allowed to return home. Nguyễn Trãi wrote a famous victory proclamation.
Later life
After the war, Lê Lợi gave Nguyễn Trãi a high court position, but court intrigues and nepotism prevented him from becoming regent after the emperor’s death. Instead, Lê Sát ruled as regent for the young heir Lê Thái Tông.
Finding court life difficult, Nguyễn Trãi retired to his country home in the Chí Linh mountains north of Hanoi, where he wrote poetry and meditated. Today, a large shrine marks the site, though only the original tiled floors of his house remain. A nearby Buddhist temple predates his time.
Death
Nguyễn Trãi died in a scandal. In early 1442, Emperor Lê Thái Tông began an affair with Nguyễn Trãi’s wife or concubine, Nguyễn Thị Lộ. The affair continued when the emperor visited Nguyễn Trãi’s home. Shortly after leaving, the emperor fell ill and died.
Court nobles blamed Nguyễn Thị Lộ and Nguyễn Trãi for regicide, executing both along with most of their extended families. Twenty years later, Emperor Lê Thánh Tông pardoned Nguyễn Trãi, declaring him innocent. He was posthumously granted the title Count of Tán Trù.
According to Loren Baritz, Nguyễn Trãi wrote an essay outlining a strategy of subordinating military action to political and moral struggle, a tactic later echoed by Communist insurgents. Most Vietnamese cities have named major streets after him.
Nguyễn Trãi had five wives or concubines and seven sons. His wives included Lady Phạm Đỗ Minh Hiển, Lady Phùng Thành, Lady Nguyễn Thị Lộ, Lady Phạm Thị Mẫn, and Lady Trần Anh Minh. His sons were Nguyễn Khuê, Nguyễn Ứng, and Nguyễn Phù (by Lady Trần); Nguyễn Bảng and Nguyễn Tích (by Lady Phùng); and Nguyễn Anh Vũ (by Lady Phạm). He is the forefather of a Nguyễn family branch in Quế Lĩnh, Phương Quất, Kinh Môn District.
Lore & Background
Nguyễn Trãi originally was from Hải Dương Province, he was born in 1380 in Thăng Long (present day Hanoi), the capital of the declining Trần dynasty. Under the brief Hồ dynasty, he passed examination and served for a time in the government. In 1406, Ming forces invaded and conquered Vietnam.
Under the occupation, the Ming China attempted to convert Vietnam into a Chinese province and ruthlessly quashed all rebellions. In 1417, Nguyễn Trãi joined a rebel leader named Lê Lợi, who was resisting the occupation from a mountainous region in Thanh Hóa Province south of Hanoi. Nguyễn Trãi served as the chief advisor, strategist and propagandist for the movement. The war of independence leading to the defeat of the Ming and the inauguration of the Lê dynasty lasted from 1417 to 1427.
After the war Nguyễn Trãi was elevated by Lê Lợi to an exalted position in the new court but internal intrigues, sycophantic machinations and clannish nepotism meant he was not appointed regent upon the emperor's death. Instead that position was bestowed upon Lê Sát, who ruled as regent on behalf of the young heir Lê Thái Tông. At some point during the regency of Lê Sát, having found life at court increasingly difficult, Nguyễn Trãi retired to his country home north of Hanoi in the tranquil mountains of Chí Linh, where he enjoyed poetry writing and meditation.
Nguyễn Trãi's death resulted from a scandal involving the young emperor, Lê Thái Tông, and the wife or concubine of Nguyễn Trãi, named Nguyễn Thị Lộ. Early in 1442, the young emperor began an affair with Nguyễn Thị Lộ. This affair continued when the emperor visited the old scholar at his home. Not long after having left, Lê Thái Tông suddenly became ill and died.
The nobles at the court blamed Nguyễn Thị Lộ for the young emperor's death, accused her and Nguyễn Trãi of regicide and had both, along with most members of their extended families, executed. Twenty years later, Lê Thái Tông's son, emperor Lê Thánh Tông officially pardoned Nguyễn Trãi, saying that he was wholly innocent in the death of Thánh Tông's father. He was given the posthumous noble title the Count of Tán Trù.
Reader's Guide
Nguyễn Trãi's works varied in many areas ranging from literature, history, geography, ceremony and propriety; many of them were missing after his execution. Most of his poems that survive until today were collected in Ức Trai Thi Tập (Ức Trai's Poems Collection) by Dương Bá Cung, printed in 1868 under Nguyễn dynasty. His poems, written in both ancient Chinese (Hán) and Vietnamese (Nôm), were highly regarded by notable philosophers, poets, and politicians in Vietnamese history.
In 2010, Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Đỗ and American poet Paul Hoover published the first collection of Nguyễn Trãi's poetry in English translation, titled Beyond the Court Gate: Selected Poems. The collection reflects Nguyễn Trãi's metaphysical contemplation of tiny details in everyday life, but at the same time set him apart from Li Po's uses of extreme imaginary and formal poetic rules. Nguyễn Trãi's poems demonstrate wit, humility, and a conversational tone, and express his personal perception and experience.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Nguyễn Trãi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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