Thành Thái

Last updated
Emperor Thành Thái
成泰帝
Emperor Thanh Thai in court costume (colored).jpg
Emperor Thanh Thai
Emperor of Đại Nam under French protectorate of Annam and Tonkin
Reign2 February 1889 – 3 September 1907
Predecessor Đồng Khánh
Successor Duy Tân
Emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty
Reign2 February 1889 – 3 September 1907
Predecessor Đồng Khánh
Successor Duy Tân
Born(1879-03-14)March 14, 1879
Imperial City, Huế, Đại Nam
DiedMarch 20, 1954(1954-03-20) (aged 75)
Saigon, State of Vietnam
Burial
Spouse12 concubines
Issue50 including 22 princes and 28 princesses
prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San
Names
Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân ( )
Nguyễn Phúc Chiêu ( )
Era name and dates
Thành Thái ( ): 1885–1889
Posthumous name
Hoài Trạch Công (懷澤公)
Temple name
none
House Nguyễn Phúc
Father Dục Đức
MotherEmpress Dowager Từ Minh
Religion Ruism, Buddhism

Thành Thái (Hanoi:  [tʰajŋ̟˨˩ tʰaːj˧˦] , Hán tự : ; 14 March 1879 – 20 March 1954) born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân (阮福寶嶙), was the son of Emperor Dục Đức and Empress Dowager Từ Minh. [1] [2] He reigned as emperor for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907. [3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

While the emperor Tự Đức was alive, Prince Quang Thái was placed under house arrest with his family for having connections with those who opposed him. When the emperor Đồng Khánh died, however, the French colonial authorities and the high-ranking mandarins decided that Quang Thái was the ideal successor and enthroned him as the new Vietnamese emperor, Emperor Thành Thái.

At the age of 10, Thành Thái was recognized as being very intelligent and was already realizing that the French were keeping watch over him through palace spies. Whereas Đồng Khánh had tried to be friendly with the French, Emperor Thành Thái took a course of passive-resistance. Although he refrained from outright rebellion (which would have been political suicide), he made his feelings clear in other ways, symbolic gestures and biting remarks. He was also a man of the people, and a monarch who cared deeply for his country. The emperor would often slip out of the Forbidden City dressed in the clothes of a commoner to talk with his people directly and see how they were being affected by government policies.

Opposing French authority

To show that he was friendly with Western civilization, Thành Thái was the first Vietnamese monarch to cut his hair in the French style and learn to drive a car. He encouraged French-style education, but maintained bitter feelings over their control of his country. [4] He also supported numerous building projects and took an interest in the everyday lives of his subjects. When traveling among his people, he would hold impromptu "town hall meetings" where the Emperor sat on a mat with his subjects in a circle around him, discussing the issues of the day and hearing their point of view.

Thanh Thai watching the battle between elephant and tiger published in Le Petit Journal in 1904 Tranh-goc-voi-cop-danh-nhau.jpg
Thành Thái watching the battle between elephant and tiger published in Le Petit Journal in 1904

Slowly, as the emperor began to realize how thoroughly his palace had been infiltrated with French spies, he had to feign insanity to escape their constant scrutiny. With his enemies believing he was a harmless lunatic, Thành Thái was able to push more forcefully for Vietnamese autonomy while waiting for the right time to overthrow the French colonial rule. He was on his way to join a resistance movement in China when he was arrested by French forces who declared him insane and forced the Emperor to abdicate.

In 1907, his son was installed as Emperor Duy Tân. Thành Thái was exiled first to Vũng Tàu in South Vietnam and when Duy Tân rebelled against the French they were both exiled to Réunion Island in 1916.

Unlike Hàm Nghi, the lives of Thành Thái and Duy Tân were tough. They even had no money to pay for rent. In 1925, Emperor Khải Định knew his situation and sent 1,000 piastres to him. Khải Định later occasionally gave him money.

He never gave up hope for the liberation of his country. In 1945, just after the death of Duy Tân, he was allowed to return home, but was kept under house arrest in Vũng Tàu. He died in Saigon on 24 March 1954 and was buried on the grounds of An Lang (Tomb of Duc Duc) in an old commune, Hương Thủy district, Thừa Thiên Huế Province, at the age of 75.

Honours

Cabinet

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khải Định</span> Emperor of Đại Nam under French protectorate of Annam and Tonkin

Khải Định was the 12th emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam, reigning from 1916 to 1925. His name at birth was Prince Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo. He was the son of Emperor Đồng Khánh, but he did not succeed him immediately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duy Tân</span> Emperor of Đại Nam under French protectorate of Annam and Tonkin

Emperor Duy Tân, born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San, was the 11th emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam, who reigned for nine years between 1907 and 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Đồng Khánh</span> Emperor of Đại Nam under French protectorate of Annam and Tonkin

Đồng Khánh, born Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Kỷ (阮福膺祺) or Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Đường (阮福膺禟), also known as Chánh Mông (正蒙), was the ninth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam. He reigned four years between 1885 and 1889. His royal temple name was Cảnh Tông (景宗).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phan Đình Phùng</span> Vietnamese revolutionary

Phan Đình Phùng was a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in Vietnam. He was the most prominent of the Confucian court scholars involved in anti-French military campaigns in the 19th century and was cited after his death by 20th-century nationalists as a national hero. He was renowned for his uncompromising will and principles—on one occasion, he refused to surrender even after the French had desecrated his ancestral tombs and had arrested and threatened to kill his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris by Night 91</span> Episode of Paris by Night

Paris By Night 91: Huế, Sài Gòn, Hà Nội is a Paris By Night program produced by Thúy Nga that was filmed at the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center on January 12, 2008 and January 13, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris by Night 98</span> Episode of Paris by Night

Paris by Night 98: Fly With Us to Las Vegas is a Paris by Night program produced by Thúy Nga that was filmed at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on September 18 and 19, 2009 and had a DVD release on December 10, 2009. The show was hosted by Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris by Night 99</span> Episode of Paris by Night

Paris By Night 99 – Tôi Là Người Việt Nam is a Paris By Night program produced by Thúy Nga Productions that was filmed at Knott's Berry Farm on 16 and 17 January 2010 and released DVD from 8 April 2010. The show was hosted by Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên and Trịnh Hội.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomb of Dục Đức</span> Royal tomb of the Nguyễn Dynasty in Vietnam

The Tomb of Emperor Dục Đức, officially the An Mausoleum is a tomb complex in Huế in which are buried Dục Đức and his wife, his son Thành Thái, and his grandson the child-emperor Duy Tân, and several other members of Vietnam's last dynasty, the Nguyễn dynasty such as the queen mother Nguyễn Thị Định.

Nguyễn Thị Định was a wife of the Vietnamese emperor Thành Thái, and the queen mother of the emperor's fifth son, the boy emperor Duy Tân. Following the abdication, forced by the French, of Thành Thái, the new boy emperor's mother resided at court as queen mother, while Thành Thái was relegated to a duke, and lived with his large retinue of wives and retainers away from court. This did not prevent the former emperor for pressuring his wife, the queen mother, for funds. She, with her husband and son, are buried in the tomb of Dục Đức.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Nguyễn Phúc</span> Former ruling family of Vietnam

The House of Nguyễn Phúc, also known as the House of Nguyễn Phước, was a ruling family of Vietnam. It ruled from the city of Huế in central Vietnam beginning in 1636. As the Nguyễn lords, they often fought with the Trịnh lords, who were based in Hanoi. They were overthrown by the Tây Sơn dynasty in 1776.

<i>The Reluctant Millionaire</i> 1974 film by Lê Hoàng Hoa

The Occasional Millionaire or The Reluctant Millionaire is a 1973 Vietnamese 35mm eastmancolor film directed by Lê Hoàng Hoa.

Nguyễn Phúc Miên Định, born Nguyễn Phúc Yến (阮福宴), was a prince of Nguyễn dynasty, Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguyễn Phúc Miên Trinh</span> Tuy Quốc Công (Duke Tuy Quốc)

Nguyễn Phúc Miên Trinh, born Nguyễn Phúc Thư (阮福書), was a prince of Nguyễn dynasty, Vietnam.

Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Bảo was a prince of the Nguyễn dynasty, Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seals of the Nguyễn dynasty</span> Collection of seals made for Vietnamese emperors between 1802 and 1945

The seals of the Nguyễn dynasty can refer to a collection of seals specifically made for the emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty, who reigned over Vietnam between the years 1802 and 1945, or to seals produced during this period in Vietnamese history in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of the Nguyễn dynasty</span>

The government of the Nguyễn dynasty, officially the Southern Court and commonly referred to as the Huế Court, centred around the emperor as the absolute monarch, surrounded by various imperial agencies and ministries which stayed under the emperor's presidency. Following the signing of the Patenôtre Treaty the French took over a lot of control and while the government of the Nguyễn dynasty still nominally ruled the French protectorates of Annam and Tonkin, in reality the French maintained control over these territories and the Nguyễn government became subsidiary to the administration of French Indochina. During World War II the Japanese launched a coup d'état outsting the French and establishing the Empire of Vietnam which was ruled by the Nguyễn government. During the August Revolution the Nguyễn government was abolished in the aftermath of World War II.

References

  1. "Log In | Prezi".
  2. "My familial origins : Nguyễn Phước - Thanh Thai (Lepelerin.info)".
  3. Vietnamese Royal Exile in Japan Page 97 "The young, rebellious Duy Tân vas exiled to Reunion, to join his deposed father, ex-Emperor Thành Thái, or the “mad king” ..."
  4. Van Dan Nong, Churchill, Eden and Indo-China, 1951–1955 2011 Page xiii "Thành Thái founded the 'Hué national school' and the traditional mandarinate examinations were allowed by the French to ...

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Emperor Thành Thái at Wikimedia Commons

Thành Thái
Born: 14 March 1869 Died: 24 March 1969
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Vietnam
1883–1907
Succeeded by