A Novel Set in Ming China

It warms me to know that people are still interested in this blog even though I no longer post here.
Please, if you want to keep reading me, and I thank you kindly for this, you can find me here.

But since I have your attention...  : )

I think it is only fair, since this blog has been the platform for much rambling and musings about a 'certain' historical novel set in Ming Dynasty China, that I should let readers of Les Nuits Masquées know before anyone else, that this novel is now a visual reality. I mean it!

Designer, Caryn Gillespie has produced gorgeous artwork for it. I am so pleased with this cover that I just had to post it here even though the novel is not due for release until August 2012.

I love the languorous vermillion eyeshadow and the ripe-cherry lip makeup.

I believe any self-respecting Ming concubine would be proud to be so made up.  Don't you think?

My Novel - A Self-Critique

With The Ming Storytellers, I was not merely writing to thrill. I wanted to create an entertaining work of fiction that merged interesting characters, narrative, history with ideologies that were important to me. Visually I also wanted to evoke strong images that could do well on screen. Because I love film.

If after having read the book, a reader can, either consciously or subconsciously, perceive parallels between the events unravelling in this novel and society today, then I will have been successful.

If a reader can, either consciously or subconsciously understand the fallacy of Eurocentrism and gain a fresh perspective on the world, then I will have been successful.

The setting is China and the world during the 15th century. It is a remote and, to date, unfamiliar setting especially for non-mainland Chinese including myself. This remote and therefore, one may argue, arbitrary setting is perfect because it may be used to teach, it may be used to introduce a new paradigm about the world and society. However unlike the fictitious worlds of sci-fi or fantasy, it is still a world that is closer to home, a world that has set in motion certain patterns today and from which many parallels may be drawn with our world today.

The world in that period, when China, the Middle Kingdom, was a dominant power comes with its norms and its ideologies just as the English speaking world today has its own dominant Western centric ideologies.

The setting is also perfect because it encourages readers to see outside and understand that what we call normal is a myth.

One particular strategy I have used is to depict the society of the Nakhi people. While I have done this superficially and in no way do I call myself an anthropologist, the depiction of the Nakhi does put into question the generally accepted view of women in the Asian world. In the Nakhi kingdom, women were not submissive. Even the vocabulary used by the Nakhi attribute strength to feminine words and weakness to masculine words.

To conclude, all my characters have beliefs that are relevant to their times. In no way do these beliefs directly reflect my own although to some degree, a few of my characters' ideologies are informed by my values.

The themes explored in the novel include:

• racism / xenophobia
  
• gender roles
  
• the nature of sexuality
  
• power
  
• existentialism
  
• ambition / success
  
• imperialism
  
• dreams
  

I will flesh these out when I have time and explain the main ideas presented. I will also explain how these ideas challenge the dominant ideologies today.

It is no secret that for me the greatest joy would be that this novel becomes part of some education curriculum. All my life, given my multi-cultural background, the experiences I have had living in different countries and reconciling my multiple cultural identities while learning more about other cultures, then studying social psychology and understanding the influence of prejudice/perceptions/attitudes in human thinking, all these things have taught me that NOTHING that we take for granted as NORMAL is normal.
And when we cease to think in black and white, our tolerance and acceptance for others follows.

The Ming Storytellers is a historical novel set in the Ming Dynasty, at a time when China was in its Golden Age. It is a rich account of life in the Forbidden City and beyond drawing on four years of research on Chinese concubines, eunuchs, the Ming government, international relations and world travel in the 15th century. The novel draws on psychology and speculative history but belongs to the newly coined Ming Gothic genre.

Australian Culture and Psyche - Remembering White Slavery and Convict History

I read Marcus Clarke's excellent For the Term of His Natural Life recently. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone, wishing to learn more about Australia's convict history.

This novel was grim and painted a brutal picture of convict treatment. It also made reference to genuine 19th century events where escaped convicts, including a certain Alexander Pearce, resorted to cannibalism among themselves to survive in the bush. If you are interested, The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce is a recent docudrama which aired on the ABC in January 2009 and explores this disturbing story. But returning to Clarke's novel and noting that it was published in the early 1870s, I found it to be a refreshing and honest revelation of events that are normally avoided by the modern Australian psyche.

Marcus Clarke
Marcus Clarke was an Australian journalist with a brilliant literary record delving in topics from psychology to history. I admire his writing because it is critical of the established ideologies of the time but remains poetic and sentimental enough to appeal to some readers' need for drama. For the Term of His Natural Life also includes thematic references to the Count of Monte Cristo which added a romantic slant to the story.

Forgotten Injustice

After having read the novel, I lamented at what seems a lack of connectedness between Australians and their convict past. There is a lingering injustice which has not been addressed but instead swept under the carpet. I feel that some Australians address and, in some cases, even mull over the injustices done to Aborigines but remain blissfully unaware of one other injustice which has shaped the Australian spirit even though its influence is scarcely acknowledged.

Convicts in a Prison Ship
What injustice do I speak of? Well, it is my view that the foundations of main Australian cities, at least those of Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane have been constructed from years of exploitation. When I look around Brisbane, I now see it differently. Ironic that my new sense of awe has arisen from something so ugly as White slavery disguised as moral punishment. But this awe comes to me, I believe, because I feel respectful of those men, women and yes, even children as young as 10, who did not have a choice and who were unscrupulously exploited by a system which called itself righteous and lawful.

Australian culture is not necessarily only derived from the darkness of convict existence since after all, culture is more complex than that. In addition, most members of the Australian population have no convict past whatsoever since there were also many migrants from Europe and Asia who since the 19th century have influenced who Australians are today. But by the same token, and this may upset some people, I feel that we need to look beyond sport to discover the Australian identity.

Australian Culture - What a Crock of Shit

It is my view that Convict history has had an impact on Australian culture even if most Australians are unaware of it.

This is one of the ideas advocated by the amazing Convict Creations, a website that I discovered recently and which among other subjects, explores Australia's culture and compares it to that of other countries.

The author, who wishes to remain anonymous, but who I will call Convict Wally, uses a methodology based on social psychology which I can not praise enough. Wally's approach for explaining and exposing historical events, characters and Australian culture is fascinating. He also describes the plight of convict women and the harsh treatment of convicts (men, women and children). He also examines the unfair reasons a convict was likely to have been imprisoned for.

But as Convict Wally correctly remarks, we do prefer to seek and read about ideas which agree with our own. And so I admit that my interest in this site only reflects my already preconceived notions. Incidentally, (and grossly off-topic) some of these include:

• Australian sport is overrated
  
• Australian society remains patriarchal even when it does not know it. Whereas in 19th century Australia, women had little choice but to assume the role of ‘whore’ or embrace matrimony, today the whore/mother dichotomy has acquired a subconscious flavour. Effectively, discourses in the media and advertising consistently reward and encourage motherhood which is seen to epitomise selflessness, normalcy and all manner of kindliness. In the meantime, all other forms of female pursuits are given scant notice (unless of course the subject also happens to be a mother ‘juggling it all’.)
  

So these are a couple of my views anyway.

One of the arguments that Convict Wally raises is that Australia has overachieved in sport and business. On the other hand, he believes that Australia has underachieved in environmental concerns and culture, especially where this culture touches on the intellect. I completely agree with that.

Incidentally, Wally provides a satirical section on sport aptly called "The Demise of Australian Sport. RIP", an article which only too clearly voices the author's attitudes. Enjoy!

If you are interested in this fascinating Australian culture which barely knows itself and grapples even today with its identity, do take a peek into Convict Creations.

Acknowledging the Plight of Convicts

One thing I find disturbing in the Australian landscape is the subconscious urge to escape our convict history as if it were something to be ashamed of. Admittedly there are a few sites such as this one, dedicated to convict genealogy but what I am alluding to is the gross absence of landmarks and buildings that seem to reinforce the notion that convict history never happened. Blessed the powers that be in 'protecting us' from remembering the vile conduct of authority figures. Indeed.

This may seem fanciful but I have a vision for Brisbane where every single location of convict significance would be properly landmarked, labelled for better recognition and for encouraging awareness of the past. I realise it is an ugly and somewhat morbid attraction but to me, what is uglier is the dissimulation of truth. This is what we have been doing so far (except perhaps in Tasmania at Port Arthur). To begin, Queen Street mall in Brisbane used to be the home of several prominent convict buildings. One of these extended from the intersection with Albert St to what is now the Myer Center. Isolation prison cells were scattered in George St. You can read more about Brisbane's early convict buildings here.

In addition of course, there is Boggo Road Gaol and St Helena Island which are part of the tourist trail.

And there is also this splendid structure which begs elaboration:


Brisbane's oldest surviving European building is this windmill, located at Springhill. It used to be attached to a treadmill where prisoners laboured for hours. And I'm not talking about your average gym treadmill but one on which prisoners did die of exhaustion. Incidentally, a recent project will see this windmill added to the tourist trail. It's about time.

Past Reckonings and Identity Shaping

Escaping from truth, any truth, is not conducive to identity shaping and cultural growth. The history of a country shapes its people over many generations. Just as childhood abuse impacts on an adult's psyche, multiple generations in a country may be shaped by dramatic events suffered over a period. The process is complex but does exist. Choosing to ignore tragic events does not bring the necessary awareness for growth. One must reflect, absorb and come to terms with the past.

Ming Gothic

Today is a great day in the history of literature!

I have created a new novel genre called "Ming Gothic". This, by the way, is also the name of a Font I stumbled onto while working on my novel's website. I did not use the font in the end but was inspired by its name...

According to this site, Gothic literature includes elements such as: an ancient prophecy; omens/visions; supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events; women in distress; women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male; the metonymy of gloom and horror (including a sense of mystery, danger); and overwrought emotion.

All these elements feature in my novel and are integrated within Ming history which makes for a perfect coinage of "Ming Gothic".

Why would I want to create this new genre?

1. A Different Type of Historical Novel - I had never thought of my novel as an 'epic' even though the sheer scale of the story was a superficial indication that it may fit that description. Also, unlike Edward Rutherfurd's historical novels which tend to have multiple serial plots and introduce/drop characters while progressing along multiple centuries, my novel retains all its characters, is considerably narrower in focus (it only spans 40 years) and has an ongoing central plot element.

2. Doing Away with Action Figures - I also wanted to shift conception of what this novel could be about, especially for Western readers who may not be familiar with Chinese history. Whenever I am asked, "What is your novel about?" and I answer, "It is a historical novel set in Ming China", I shudder to think what is going on in the other person's mind. After all, setting the novel in China invites all sorts of stereotypical speculation that the story may deal with 'warlords', 'warriors', 'kung fu masters', 'travelling monks', 'young apprentices being taught swordsmanship' and the likes. So overall, I wanted to do away with this Action type view of Chinese characters which in a sense has been perpetuated by films.

3. Changing Perceptions - Another reason is perhaps more ambitious. I basically do not want the English-speaking reader to experience medieval China as an exotic 'other'. Rather, I want them to conceive a world or rather, an atmosphere that is known universally through the Gothic form.

4. Future Projects - Finally, in the future, I am interested in writing another novel set in Ming China. Together, these books will I hope pioneer the genre of Ming Gothic.

New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

New York: The Novel, published by Random House

It will be out on 10 November, 2009.

I loved Rutherfurd's Russka and London. Both Edward Rutherfurd and James Michener rank as my top historical novelists. I look up to them and their work has inspired me greatly.

I love being swept away into the dramatic story of family generations, through their passions, conflicts, loves, struggles, genius and indirect relationships with historical figures. I enjoy reading about people's lives while witnessing their city's or country's development as if I were present at that time. It is a wonderful way to time travel and an entertaining way to learn about history.

Rutherfurd, educated in Cambridge and Stanford, is a master at weaving well researched historical fact with enthralling fiction. I just can't wait to get my hands on New York: The Novel. Only two weeks to go!

My top wish for Christmas.

Tran Tien Muu

Tran Tien Muu was Tran Tien-Dan's first son.

After obtaining solid results in his studies, he began a mandarin career under the reign on emperor Dong-Khanh who preceded Thanh Thai. He was promoted to Minister of the Interior (the equivalent of the Home Secretary).

In 1891 in the second year of Thanh-Thai's reign, the Director of the Minister's cabinet put forward a petition in his favour in which he praised Tran Tien Muu's qualities of integrity and loyalty and suggested that he be promoted.

In 1894, emperor Thanh-Thai named him Tri-Huyen of Quang-Tri.

The year after, he occupied the same role but this time in Quang-Nam. In 1900, he occupied the same role but this time for the Nghe-An Province.

In 1905, he temporarily became Tri-Phu of An-Son. Then in 1907, emperor Tuy-Tan also gave him the same role.

In the beginning of 1910, emperor Duy-Tan conferred him the title "THI GIANG HOC SY" and ten months later, he names him Chief of the Nghe-An Province. He occupied this position for one year before dying of a brief illness. At his death, he was given the cult name "DOAN LANG TRAN TIEN-MUU".

His wife TA THI-THIEU (1866 - 1939) was the eldest daughter of TA PHOC-BANH, Senior Mandarin of Public Works. She gave Tran Tien Muu ten children.

Six sons including,

TRAN TIEN-DU (1887 - 1907)
-Remained single and died at 20 years of age
TRAN TIEN-THUYEN (1889 - 1928)
-Mandarin in Chief
TRAN TIEN-TRU (1890 - ?)
-Mandarin of Primary Education
TRAN TIEN-THUOC (1892-1967)
-Director of Primary Education in the Province of Quang-Nam
Chief Archivist of the Royal Library of Hue
Father of Phuong Lan my grandmother
TRAN TIEN-NGUYEN-VY (1898 - ?)
-Doctor - Deputee at the National Assembly
TRAN TIEN-TAP (1903 - ? )

Four daughters including,
THI-TUAN (1894 - ?)


Back to Tran Genealogy Index

Tran Tien Dan

Regent Tran Tien-Thanh's first son, Tran Tien Dan was born in 1850. He was the third child of the regent's first wife, Luong Thi-Thuy.

Tran Tien Dan never learnt about his father's assassination.

His died at the age of 31 in 1881, two years before Regent Tran Tien-Thanh was killed by Thuyet's guards.

Tran Tien-Dan was described as intelligent and of good character. But he was not attracted to a career as a mandarin. This is attributed to the fact that when he began to embark on a career, his country, Vietnam was going through a difficult period. He therefore chose to take care of family matters which his dad, too occupied by affairs of state, had been obliged to neglect.

Tran Tien-Dan's many responsibilities included: maintaining the family house, improving the state of paddyfields and of the other land areas as they were acquired along the years.

He also occupied himself with collecting the consent of family members for the relocation of graves belonging to paternal relatives so that rather than being scattered in various places, they could be gathered around the ancestral tomb of "Thi-To".

Tran Tien Dan married Cung-Huy Thi-Nghi-Nhan (1849 - 1900). She was the fifth daughter of the Judicial Mandarin Cung The-Du who originated from Thanh-hoa. She gave him twelve children.

Five sons:
Tran Tien-Muu -(1868 - 1911)
He became Chief of the Nghe-An Province
Tran Tien Soan
Tran Tien Thuc (1875 - 1925)
Tran Tien Nhuong (1877 - 1917)

Seven daughters, including:
Thi-Yen
Thi-Hy
Thi-Tu - who born in 1879, was honored at the age of 14 to join the Harem of Emperor Thanh-Thai who was of the same age.
At the court, she was renamed Tai Nhan. Several years later, she was authorised to regain the familial home to take care of her mother. I wonder whether this return to the family home had anything to do with Emperor Thanh-Thai being forced to abdicate from the throne after the French declared him insane. Later on, in 1916, Thanh-Thai was sent to exile in the Reunion Island together with his son. Thanh-Thai's own story is fascinating.
Meanwhile, his consort, Tai Nhan had belonged to the Emperor and for this reason could not belong to any other Vietnamese. At the age of 20, she ended up marrying Au Phu Quan, a Chinese businessman from Hainam Island.


Tran Tien Dan was buried in Hue and received the cult name:
TUE GIAN TRAN TIEN-DAN

In the ninth and last year of his reign, the unpopular emperor KHAI-DINH, incidentally also a drug addict, conferred him the title:
PHUNG TIEN DAI-PHU HAN-LAM VIEN THI GIANG


Back to Tran Genealogy Index

Tran Tien Family Genealogy

Two of my Vietnamese relatives who I've actually never met and who happened to stumble on this blog, kindly contacted me with some information on our family name. I have been so busy (distracted) of late that I could not make adjustments to this blog following their recommendations.

According to my relatives, after the assassination of Regent Tran Tien-Thanh, my family changed its name from "Tran Tien" to the more common Tran so as to avoid negative repercussions and protect the family members. My grandmother also explained to me that the dropping of the "Tien" removed association with the imperial family since that title had been conferred by Emperor Tu Duc.

However in recent years, my family has begun to use its rightful name once again. I guess that now, we are well and truly safe from the Co-Regents' wrath!! Naturally I was very excited to learn of this because it lends even more interest to the family history.

So to avoid further confusion, all references to the Tran genealogy in this blog are in fact alluding to the Tran Tien Genealogy.

All my humble thanks to Van Nghi Cong On and Brent Hung Tien Tran. Apologies for the delay with this as I am swamped.

Tran Trieu Duc

Tran Trieu-Duc, the fourth of Tran Sy Ich's thirteen children was born in 1776, in the village of Minh-huong. He was about 11 years old when his father confided in him that "being less intelligent than his other brothers, he would be more useful if he stayed home to take care of the ancestral cult."

However, Trieu-Duc became a scholar as well as an artist. He composed two collections of poems but unfortunately, we have never encountered a copy. He would draw and paint with much delicacy, finesse and sensibility. At 16 years of age, his general culture was already so extensive that he had the capacity to share his knowledge with others. This was how he became the Schoolmaster in his native village.

It is also at this period of time that Lam-Nhat-Thang, the chief of a rich and well reputed family who was also the Director of Education of the sub-district offered him for the first time, the hand of his daughter, Lam-Thi Phuc-Chau. This proposition along with the second one formulated a number of years later, was respectfully and courteously refused.
Trieu-Duc was 28 when Lam-Nhat-Thang's offer was renewed for the third time. Since his parents observed that a new refusal on his behalf would result in Lam-Nhat-Thang's humiliation, Trieu-Duc accepted, for the honor of his family, to take the offer into consideration.

Following the death of one of his uncles who previously occupied high mandarin functions, officers of the court intervened and obtained from the emperor the permission to integrate Trieu-Duc into the mandarin corps such that the reputation of the TRAN family could be perpetuated. Trieu-Duc was then 46 when he was incorporated in the royal administration and had to leave for Hanoi to occupy his first post.

During his absence from Hue which lasted three years, the ancestral cult ceremonies which he had been responsible for initiating, were diligently passed on to another relative.

In 1824, that is, the fifth year of emperor Ming-Mang's reign, Tran Trieu-Duc returned to the capital and was promoted to serve in the Ministry of Rites or "chu-su".

At this time, two highly ranking officers, one which also worked for the Ministry of Rites, forwarded a report vouching for Tran Trieu-Duc's merits. As a result, in October of the same year he was named Tri-Phu (Prefect) of Tan-Dinh. This was located in the same province as Gia-dinh (Saigon).

He therefore regained Saigon, accompanied by his wife who arrived a year later. She had entrusted the care of her son, Duong-Don, to one of the family's great aunts who was widowed and childless.

In 1825, Trieu-Duc died following a short illness.

He was 50 years old.

His wife was now a widow at 41 and apart from Duong-Don, she had five other children to take care of. She returned to Hue and set up a commercial enterprise in the district of Cho-dinh (this district later became known as Gia-hoi).

Several times during his reign, emperor Tu-Duc honored the parent of one of his most loyal and close collaborators. He gave Trieu-Duc numerous posthumous honorific titles:

First title, during the 12th year of his reign (1859):
"TRUNG NGHI DAI PHU THAI BOC TU THANH"

Second title, during the 22nd year of his reign (1869):
"GIA NGHI DAI PHU THIEM TRI-PHU THIEM SI"

Third title, during the 26th year of his reign (1874):
"TU THIEM DAI PHU LE BO THUONG THU"

Fourth title, during the 32nd year of his reign (1879):
"THANH NGHI PHAM DOAN NAM"


His cult name is TRANG Y TRAN TRIEU-DUC.

His wife, Lam-thi Phuc-chau (1785 - 1872) gave him six children:

Four sons
Two daughters

She was also honored by emperor Tu-Duc in the 22nd year of his reign with the title:
"CHANH-TAM-PHAM THUC-NHAN"



Back to Tran Genealogy Index

Tran Tien-Thanh - Regent of Annam

When I introduced my Tran family genealogy, one of the things I promised you is foul murder. So now, I will deliver.

This is a long post. It took me a couple of days to put together. I could have spent those days writing my novel but I thought the time had come to do justice to a man scarcely mentioned by history. I have divided this post into sections so that you will hopefully take courage and not be too overwhelmed by this wordy account.

This post is special. It concerns Tran Tien-Thanh who during his long service to the 19th century Nguyen imperial court, ascended to the very highest Mandarin rank. To give you an appreciation of Tran Tien-Thanh's scholarly and political achievement, consider that my great grandfather, Tran Thien Thuoc , the imperial library's Chief Archivist was only a third rank mandarin which is itself quite an achievement.

Tran Tien-Thanh is a man I greatly admire. And this, regardless of his rank or his intellectual achievements. I admire him because he showed dignity and courage to stand up for what he thought was right even in the face of powerful and often ruthless opposition. As is often the case, Tran Tien-Thanh was murdered for his ideals.

A glimpse of Tran Tien-Thanh can be found in some history books. For example The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai by Oscar Chapuis, briefly mentions Tran Tien Thanh. During this post, I will often quote from Chapuis' book and then supplement with more details from the Tran Gia Pho. This will allow you to situate this story within the history of Vietnam, notably during the reign of emperor Tu Duc and the treacherous events immediately following his death.

Early Childhood

On the December 14 1813, Lam-Thi Phuc-Chau gave birth to the first of her six children. Her husband, Tran Trieu-Duc, upon learning that it was a boy, was indeed very happy. The little boy was the recipient of careful attention which recalls the popular expression "nang nhu nang truan, hung nhu hung hoa" meaning "to take as much precaution as though holding an egg in one's open hand; to handle with as much care as one handles a flower".
For example:
- The newborn's room was kept permanently closed to avoid chills
- strangers were not admitted to his room, so that the any evil spirits could not compromise his health.

Only 22 days after his birth, the baby became gravely ill. So that when this illness had subsided, his father attributed the recovery to the fervour that his grandfather, Tran Sy Ich, had shown in praying to the heavens.

To this date, the boy had no name. As in China, the parents were in no great hurry to name their child soon after birth. The custom, both in China and Vietnam was to use derogatory names for newborns. This apparent disdain for the baby was aimed at deceiving evil spirits hence keeping them away from the child. The name given for the boys was "masculine sex" (thang cu) while the girls were called "little prostitute" (cai-di). The children would only receive their true name after a period of time, at the discretion of their parents.

When the boy was in his eighth year, his father began to then call him Duong-don which funnily enough means "obtuse spirit". In fact, during his first years of study, the boy had distinguished himself by his slow, obtuse spirit.

During 1821, the boy's father had just embarked on his mandarin career and was transferred to Hanoi. He hired a tutor to visit his son at home and help his education. One day, this tutor became so exasperated by his pupil's slow acquisition of anything he was trying to teach that he hit him violently until Duong-don lost consciousness.

May I pause here and say that this is a form of child abuse and I do not condone it.
But psychological research has allowed for great progress in the way we now instruct our children (at least one should hope so). What was normal behavior in those days is not admissible today.
But I return to the tutor...

He was so frightened by the consequences of his actions and was about to flee from the house when Trieu-Duc assured him, saying "If you have hit your student, it is for his own good; if he were to die from it, be sure that you will not be troubled for it."

Meanwhile, Duong-Don regained consciousness. Hitherto everyone was amazed to discover that his intelligence had not only become much sharper but that he was now able to easily catch up and compensate for the educational delay that he had acquired during the previous years.

When he was eleven years old, Duong-Don's father was named "Tri-Phu" of Tan-Dinh in the province of Gia-Dinh. His mother and siblings came to live with Tran Trieu-Duc the following year. However Duong-Don remained in Hue under the supervision of his great auntie who was herself childless. Even when his father eventually died and his mother regained Hue in the Cho-dinh district, he continued to live with his great auntie and work assiduously.

During his early teens, he often took advantage of the scholarly lessons that his uncle, Minister of Rites Nguyen Koa-Minh organised at home for his children. As a testimony to Duong-Don's intelligence, this master decided to change his name to Thoi-Man which means "lively intelligence".

Studies and Early Career

In 1834, Thoi-Man was 21 years old. He entered the Royal College "Quoc-Tu-Giam".
This was the new name that emperor Minh-Mang had given to the national college created by his father, emperor Gia-Long. While studying, Thoi-Man was noticed for his ability to create "Phu" or poems consisting of rhythmic prose.

Two years later in 1836, Thoi-Man married Luong-Tien-Tuong who happened to be the daughter of Minister of Rites, Nguyen Koa-Minh. He however continued to live with his great auntie to pursue his studies while his wife lived with her mother in law.

In 1837, he obtained his License (cu-nhan) in literary studies in Hue. The following year, after participating in the Palace competition, he obtained his Doctorate (tien-si). This degree had been created in 1828 by emperor Minh-Mang after he establishing regional and central competitions in 1822. These contests, similar in nature to those held by the Chinese emperors since the Ming dynasty, occurred three times a year and were opened to all without class distinction.

In this same year, Thoi-Man began his career as a mandarin with the grade "Clerk in the Institute of Letters" (Han-Lam-vien bien-tu). Not long after, he was promoted as apprentice in the Emperor's Private Council (Co-Mat-vien).

I Want to Be a Mandarin...

During 1842, when emperor Thieu-Tri was in the first year of his reign, Thoi-Man became Mandarin, Section Leader in the Ministry of Administration while still conserving his functions in the Private Council.

Then in 1844, his great auntie, who he considered to be his adoptive mother, died. Thoi-Man solicited a period off work in order to personally take care of her funeral.

In 1845, at 31 he was promoted to Chief of Section in the Ministry of War and later named "Chief of Judicial Affairs" or An-Sat-Su of the Thanh-hoa province, a function he continued to exercise until 1853. It is while serving this post that he took a first concubine, Nguyen Thi-Trac.

Later, he was transferred to Hue to occupy the role of "Chief Officer of the Royal Stables", as part of the Minister of Finance. Thoi-Man was then designated to take part in an embassy leaving for China. He went to Hanoi in order to prepare for this journey but the embassy was cancelled and Thoi-Man had to regain Hue. When he arrived in Hue, he was accompanied by a young girl of 17, Huynh-Thi Gam who he designated to be his second wife.

In 1855, he works as an Assistant Governor in Gia-dinh (Saigon) for 6 months. This time as part of the Minister of Works, he is responsible for government affairs.

Change of Name to Tien-Thanh

Emperor Tu Duc was in the sixth year of his reign, when, admiring Thoi-Man's filial piety and high moral standards, he decided to change his name from Thoi-Man to "Tien-Thanh" (to walk in loyalty) so as to encourage him to follow the example of Tô Hiến Thành, a high dignitary of the LY dynasty. It is under the name Tien-Thanh that our ancestor becomes known and gains posterity.

Fighting off the French...or Trying to

At this time, Tien-Thanh was also appointed to direct military operations in the Quang-Ngai province, aimed at repressing dissidant rebels. Due to the excellent results of this operation, emperor Tu-Duc confered him with the title "Vice Minister of War" (Huu tham-tri). It was in this role that Tien-Thanh was charged with organising the defence of Danang (Tourane under the French) and Thuan-an against a large fleet attack led by Admiral Rigault de Grenouilly (this was the bombardment of Tourane in October 1856 by the "Catinat").

Tran Tien-Thanh's Achievements

In 1859, Tien-Thanh becomes Minister of Works while still preserving his responsibility as defender of the capital.

Three years later he becomes Minister of Finance and also acquires full membership in the Emperor's Private Council.

Then in 1963, he heads the Ministry of War.

At 50 years of age, Tran Tien-Thanh has reached the highest mandarin rank and is named Grand Chancellor 2nd Class (Hiep-bien dai-hoc-si). This effectively makes him the Prime Minister of the Court.

But for all his achievements, Tran Tien-Thanh does not depart from his self-imposed rules and lives simply. He eats frugally, abstaining himself from the rich meals offered to him by the emperor and his subordinates.
This penitence was his manner of expressing his regrets about not having been present or capable (due to remoteness and young age) of taking care of his father during his last moments and at his funeral.

Tran Tien-Thanh's Troubles as Diplomat

In 1868, Tien-Thanh is sent to Saigon to negotiate with French Admiral Ohier, a representative of Napoleon III. Tran Tien-Thanh tries to obtain certain concessions regarding a treaty which had formely ceded the three provinces of Cochinchina to France. Unfortunately Tran Tien-Thanh's mission is not successful. Upon his return to Hue, he loses a rank as punishment. However he quickly reassumes his functions as Prime Minister and Minister of War.

In 1870, Tran Tien-Thanh is engaged in discussion with a Spanish representative. The envoy has been sent by Queen Isabelle II who is very keen to obtain the authorisation to open a Spanish Consulate. The negotiations led by Tran Tien-Thanh result in total failure. This provokes the emperor who immediately signs an edict pronouncing Tran Tien-Thanh's dismissal from the role of Prime Minister.
Funnily enough, this edict is immediately followed by another edict, this time confirming Tran Tien-Thanh's function as Prime Minister...
I suppose that even emperors throw tantrums every now and then!!

Emperor Tu Duc Distinguishes the Tran Family

In 1874, to thank him for all his services, Tu Duc raises Tran Tien-Thanh to the rank of Palace Grand Chancellor.

In this particular period, Cochinchina was entirely and definitively occupied by France. The situation became particularly intense when France began an expedition under Francis Garnier to take over multiple towns in the delta.
Given the political climate, the functions of Prime Minister and Minister of War were extremely difficult to carry out. Tran Tien Thanh was trying everything that he could politically and humanely do to put an end to conflicts. Emperor Tu Duc understood this and in general was very satisfied with Tien Thanh's work. In particular, Tu Duc wanted to congratulate him for the excellent organisation he had put in for the defence of the Thuan-an port.

Actually, it was not until 1879 that Tran Tien-Thanh was officially titled as "Palace Grand Chancellor". He was 66 years old.

The following mention was made of him:

Even though it is inevitable, due to his great age and his deficient health, that his activity has slowed down recently, and even though he can not sufficiently answer to all our requests, nevertheless his unflinching loyalty has strengthened while the greatness of his soul and farsightedness have rendered him highly capable as a decision maker in the gravest of situations.
- my translation, Tran Family sources

I quote, "the greatness of his soul". Note that well. How many political or organisational leaders, today, are rewarded for the greatness of their soul? Worth pondering over...

In this same year, emperor Tu-Duc awarded posthumous titles to all of Tran Tien-Thanh's parents and grandparents.

Finally, emperor Tu Duc gave him the title "2em Colonne de L'empire" which I have no idea how to translate from French! The original title was apparently created by Lord Chua Thuong (1635 - 1648).

The Death of Emperor Tu Duc

In 1881, Tien-Thanh is 68 years old and believes himself incapable of efficiently fulfilling his functions as "Minister of War". He sollicits from his emperor, the authorisation to discharge himself of these duties and to pass these on to the Vice Minister Le-Huu-Ta. Emperor Tu Duc agrees with this suggestion under the condition that Tran Tien-Thanh continues the general direction of the Ministry's affairs.

A couple of months later and following Tien-Thanh's proposition (BAD MOVE!!!), Ton-That-Thuyet is designated to assist him as "Interim Minister of War" and is admitted to the Private Council.

Tran Tien-Thanh's health was much weakened. He coughed frequently and often had to request periods of leave to manage his chronic dysentery. These leave periods were rarely accorded.

On the other hand, he was authorised to make use of the physicians who were attached to the emperor's private medical cabinet (Thai-y-vien).

But even though he was well treated, Tran Tien-Thanh was obliged to continue participating in state affairs. These were approaching a difficult phase. In particular, a French military detachment under the authority of Henri Riviere had just taken Hanoi and the worse was expected.

It was at this unfortunate moment that emperor Tu Duc died on 17 July 1883. (Strangely enough, I have submitted this post on 17 July...)

Tu Duc's Testament

On 15 July, two days before his death, the emperor had convened the Dignitaries of his Private Council and communicated his testament through which he designated:

Ung-Chan, his first adoptive son, as his successor (Emperor Duc Duc)
Tran Tien-Thanh, as First Regent of Annam
Nguyen-Van Tuon and Ton-That-Tuyet as Co-Regents.

Parts of his will included negative mentions about Ung-Chan. When the three regents read it, they asked the emperor to have these removed as such remarks shed doubt on the honour and prestige of the future emperor. But emperor Tu Duc refused under the pretext that the aim of these remarks was to encourage Ung-Chan to change his ways.

It seems that the Regents later took matters into their own hands:

Duc Duc asked the three regents to delete from Tu Duc's will the incriminating part and they agreed. But instead of reforming himself, Duc Duc ingored court etiquette and neglected mourning rules inviting to the palace the dubious acquaintances he had recruited among professional gamblers, cabaret singers and popular magicians.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.

The Co-Regents Plot

No sooner had the emperor's death been announced that prince Ung-Chan (later called emperor Duc Duc) entered the Imperial Palace. The two Co-Regents, without having referred to the First Regent, addressed themselves to the Empress Dowager Tu-Du asking that prince Ung-Chan be replaced, with as arguments, the following three points:
1. the successor aimed to modify the testament, removing the warning statements regarding his poor character
2. the successor continued to wear colorful garments during the period of mourning
3. the successor was debauched and only seeked pleasure

The Empress Dowager agreed with the Co-Regents, indeed, the defunct emperor was well aware of his successor's defects. However due to the difficulties marring the Affairs of State, a royal successor seemed to him indispensible to lead the country. Having said this, since the prince refused to amend his evil ways it was important to direct him away from the throne.

Ong-Chan was immediately locked up inside one of the palace pavillions where, deprived of food and drink, he died after an atrocious agony.

Chapuis mentions two stories regarding Ong-Chan's death:

Duc Duc was sentenced to death for failing to observe mourning rites and having had intimate relations with his father's concubines. He was forced to take poison. He was not even provided with a grave but was simply tossed naked into a cavity. [..] According to Professor Trinh Van Thanh, Duc Duc was not forced to take poison but was left to die of hunger in confinement.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

Chapuis also alludes to a possible underlying motivation behind one of the Co-Regents' behavior:

In retrospect, the manner in which Duc Duc was treated might rather stem from personal vengeance, for he had interfered in the intimate liaison between Regent Tuong and Lady Hoc Phi [an imperial concubine].
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

The two Co-Regents took the initiative to organise a reunion between Princes and Mandarins so as to impose to the court the justifications for deposing of Prince Ung-Chan. A this reunion, the First Regent, Tran Tien-Thanh wanted to intervene on the prince's behalf but Ton-That-Tuyet, with a bitter tone, ordered him to keep quiet. The entire court followed suit.

Tu-Duc's younger brother, prince Huong-Dat was therefore chosen to ascend to the throne. He was crowned under the reign name of Hiep-Hoa. Following his crowning ceremony, he promoted First Regent, Tran Tien-Thanh, to Grand Dignitary of the Palace and gave him a plaque of jade as reward.

The First Regent was still frequently ill and was now suffering from rheumatism. He therefore asked to be dispensed from being present in the palace. This request was granted.

The Persecution of Tran Tien-Thanh

Now that the First Regent was no longer present in the Palace, the two censors Hoang-Con and Dang-Tran-Hanh presented to the emperor their report, in which they accused Tran Tien-Thanh of having voluntarily modified certain passages in the imperial testament while carrying out the formal reading. The court, under the order of Hiep-Hoa examined the affair.

In response to this accusation, Tran Tien-Thanh addressed himself to the throne, exposing his actions in details and in conclusion, asking humbly that he be allowed to bare the consequences of his act if it avered that he had indeed committed certain reprehensible actions.

The court proposed that he be beaten with a stick and made destitute. This was the punishment which the law prescribed for all those mandarins who committed errors in the transcription of imperial edicts. However the emperor, having taken into account the eminent services that Tran Tien-Thanh had delivered to the country during four imperial reigns (i.e. Thieu-Tri, Minh-Mang, Tu-Duc and Hiep-Hoa) decided to show clemency.

Tran Tien-Thanh was therefore retrograded by two ranks as a warning. He was dispensed from punishment and was to be reintegrated to his previous rank only by imperial grace.

At this stage, Tran Tien-Thanh asked that he be discharged from pursuing Affairs of the State and left to get medical treatment in his natal village.

Tran Tien-Thanh and The French

We are in August 1883. Tran Tien-Thanh is 70 years old.
Admiral Courbet's troups are disembarking at the mouth of River Thuan-an.

Tran Tien-Thanh is immediately recalled to the Palace.

Tran Tien-Thanh is asked to approach the religious man, Montseigneur Gaspar, to ask that he intervene with the French Authorities regarding an armistice.
He is also responsible for discussing the conditions required for a truce.

This peace seeking intervention eventually led to the signature of the Harmand Treaty on 25 August 1883.

Unfortunately this treaty was only the beginning of a number of concessions to France.

Article one read: "Nam recognises and accepts the protection of France. France controls all Nam's relations with foreign nations including China." Article two read: "The province of Binh Thuan is attached to Cochinchina." There were the two main clauses aiming to subject Vietnam to French control [..] The Nguyen Dynasty had just lost its Mandate of Heaven.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

Tran Tien-Thanh's Illness and Discharge

The First Regent then sollicited another period of rest to nurse his dysentery.

After multiple requests for leave, he was finally discharged from the Private Council and from the Ministry of War.

However the emperor asked him to preserve his existing functions as Director of the Annals and Director of the Calendar.

He was also authorised to leave the official residence attached to the Ministry of War and to regain his own home.

Tran Tien-Thanh therefore moved to the house which he had had built in Cho-dinh. It was a one storey house built on the land where his own mother had established her business decades ago.

Hiep-Hoa's Political Manoeuvres

With the Harmand treaty signed, emperor Hiep-Hoa became a pathetic public figure.

It is obvious that the treaty had destroyed whatever prestige Hiep Hoa could have at the court and among the population. It was also a good pretext for the regents to openly oppose his authority. In the presence of the entire court, Ton That-Thuyet refused to kowtow and verbally abused the emperor.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

Regent Ton-That-Tuyet of fierce patriotism, stubborn and brutal had at his disposition the entire army which he organised with method and discipline. Meanwhile Nguyen-Van-Tuong possessed both sharp intelligence and cunning. The Co-Regents enjoyed such power, that no one, neither at court nor in the provinces, dared contest.

But emperor Hiep-Hoa was no longer a child and he was not resigned to be a puppet in the hands of those who had placed him on the throne. He was waiting for an occasion to rid himself of his irksome tutors.

When accused of dictatorship, Ton-That-Tuyet, to diminish the hostility held in his opinion, proposed that his suvereign discharge him from his military position. This was the occasion that Hiep-Hoa had been waiting for.
He seized it and appointed Ton-That-Tuyet to the Ministry of Rites and later to the Ministry of Administrative Affairs as a remplacement for Nguyen Trong-Hop. Ton-That-Tuyet continued to direct the Ministry of War until a successor was designated.
He was now very wary of his emperor.

But now remained Nguyen-Van-Tuong.

One day, the emperor's two close advisors, Huong-Sam and Huong-Phi who had just been elevated, the first to the rank of Secretary General of Noi-cac and the second to Vice Minister of Administrative Affairs, dared to publically criticise the politics of the Co-Regents during a court gathering.

In a secret vote addressed to the throne, they asked that Regent Nguyen-Van-Tuong be condemned to death. To give more weight to their proposition, they added a clause in the document indicating that they had the agreement of First Regent, Tran Tien-Thanh.

During this political exchange which involved several messages, the eunuch who had been asked to deliver a message for the emperor made an error of delivery. The emperor, furious about this error, condemned the eunuch to thirty blows. The eunuch decided to get revenge for this punishment which he found unjustified. He therefore informed the Co-Regents of the secret correspondence.

Chapuis also indicates that the emperor sought help from the French:

His increasing hostility [that of Ton That Tuyet] led Hiep Hoa to fear for his life and to seek protection from the French Resident Champeaux with whom he discussed plans to dismiss the Regents. Unfortunately, Thuyet got wind of the conversation and Hiep Hoa's fate was sealed.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

The Revenge of the Co-Regents

At this juncture, Co-Regents Nguyen-Van-Tuong and Ton-That-Thuyet decided to immediately hold a court reunion with the aim of legalising their conjoined decision: to eliminate emperor Hiep-Hoa and his First Regent, Tran Tien-Thanh.

"On November 28, 1883, taking advantage of Champeaux's absence from Hue, Ton That Thuyet had Hiep Hoa arrested. In a closed session of the court, Thuyet accused the emperor of having squandered the national treasury, ignored the regents' advice and secretly plotted with the French by signing the Harmand treaty. Hiep Hoa was forced to abdicate. He was sentenced to death for which he had to choose between a sword, a three-meter-long scarf or a mixture of opium and vinegar. He chose the last one and died at dusk on November 29, 1883. All his supporters were murdered."
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

The Noble First Regent

What old Tran Tien-Thanh wanted most is to live tranquilly in his retreat; he remained well away from the intrigues and the factions in the palace. But the discovery of the plot against the Co-Regents had suggested an alliance between the two advisors, Huong-Sam and Huong-Phi, and the First Regent.

Proof of the First Regent's complicity would be difficult to obtain. Therefore, the Co-Regents considered his refusal to sign a document in favor of the emperor being dethroned, as a moral confirmation of their suspicions.

Effectively when Tran Tien-Thanh was handed this document and asked to sign, he merely appended a few lines in his own hand:

"Deposition and enthroning are two very important affairs.
How can such things renew themselves so frequently?
Being already retired, I dare not take part in them."
- translated from Tran family sources

By expressing so crudely his protestation against the Co-Regents' decision (and cynically alluding to their previous deposition of Ung-Chan), the First Regent knew that he had just signed his own death warrant. Because to refuse to bend to their desires would be interpreted as siding with their adversaries, notably the emperor and his advisors. This would not be tolerated by the Co-Regents.

Oscar Chapuis makes a note of this:

Because third regent Tran Tien Thanh protested against the treatment inflicted on Hiep Hoa's followers, he was killed by Thuyet's assassination squad.
- Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai

The Assassination of Tran Tien Thanh

On the night of 28 November 1883, Ton That-Thuyet ordered a detachment from his personal guards to go kill Tran Tien-Thanh.

This group was composed of guards and armed with lances and sabres. It was headed by Huong-Hang, Huong-Chuc and Huong-Te. All three men were from the royal family, and were grand children of the defunct emperor, Minh-Mang.

It was past midnight when the detachment arrived to the private home. The house comprised a main building on the ground floor facing the border of Gia-hoi street. In the middle section of this building was a sealed door with two large pivotting panels which permitted access to a corridor on the left side of the inner courtyard. It was this corridor which led to a simple building where Tran Tien-Thanh was resting.

The cacophony produced by the guards as they began to violently hit the double doors with their weapons, awakened the neighbours in the district, who believing the intruders to be brigands, shouted out that "this was the house of the First Regent and it was not prudent for them to touch it."

During this time, Tran Tien-Thanh was in the building upstairs together with his favourite concubine Le-Thi-Nhu and a couple of servants which he had kept with him. Under his orders, all the other family members, had been sent to their home in the village of Minh-huong. He clearly knew the guards would be coming for him.

The attack is sudden. The guards break through the front doors and penetrate inside the house. They are preceded by a man who holds in his hands a red box, normally used to carry court documents for their transmission.

The three detachment leaders shout out in unison:

"His Excellency is invited, in the name of the Regent Council, to come down for an urgent affair!"
- translated from Tran family sources

The old man obeys. He dons the black robe that his favourite concubine presents to him. With the help of her left arm supporting him, he begins to descend the staircase.

He is only halfway through the staircase and has barely buttoned up his black robe that he is assailed by the guards who transperce him with their lances.

In an admirable demonstration of love, Le-Thi-Nhu projects herself forward to protect him with her right arm and is thus wounded.

Tran Tien-Thanh, collapses and expires, held in the arms of the woman who among all his concubines, was the one he loved most and whom he had wanted to keep near him to witness his last moments.

Aftermath of Tran Tien-Thanh's Death

The next morning, the servants took the news of Tran Tien-Thanh's tragic end to the rest of his family who came in haste. They brought back his body to the village. The scandal of his death was suppressed by terror. The Thua-Thien province governor actually knew who the authors of this crime were but he declared that it was an act of piracy or brigands and he failed to open an enquiry.

Tran Tien-Thanh's death had no disarming effect on his adversaries who promptly sought his posthumous degradation, relegating him to the mere title of "Minister of War".

An allocation of 700 bundles of sapeques was attributed to the family for the funeral. The Court did not take part.

The Court did, however, send a few hundred soldiers and marines under the commandment of two brigadiers and three squadron leaders. A large roofed
boat and four other small boats serving as escorts were also lent out.

The body was buried on mountainous terrain in the hamlet of Nguyet-bieu in Huong-thuy. It was a location that the deceased had himself chosen when he was alive.

His cult name is Van-Nghi Tran Tien-Thanh.

The Gia-hoi Home Curse

Following this gruelsome assassination, the family neglected the building on Gia-hoi street and rejoined their family residence in the village of Minh-huong.

Their old home, site of the murder, was rented out. Being highly supersitious, the Vietnamese refused to live there. The building saw a succession of tenants, mostly Chinese businessmen who did not remain for long. Ill luck, notably in the form of bad deals, illnesses, reversal of fortunes and brutal deaths seemed to plague anyone who lived there...

Tran Tien-Thanh's Children

First Regent Tran Tien-Thanh had two wives and four concubines who together gave him 23 children.

Luong Thi-Thuy (1817 - 1887) was First wife.
She was the daughter of Luong-Tien-Tuong who was Minister of Finance under the reign of emperor Thieu-Tri.
She produced 10 children.

One boy:
Tran Tien-Dan (1850 - 1881) - who is my great great great grandfather!!

Nine daughters including:
Thi-Khuong
Thi-Dieu (1848 - 1905)

Huynh Thi-Gam (1833 - 1904) was Second wife. She was like him, descendant of a Chinese migrant family who had set up residence in Hanoi. He married her during his short stay there.
She produced 7 children.

Three boys including:
Tran-Tien-Hoi (1869 - 1929) - who became governor of Nghe-an
Four daughters including:
Thi-Nhu-Tien (1866 - 1900) who was chosen to be part of emperor Tu Duc's harem and was renamed Qui Nhan.
Thi-Co (1868 - 1927)

Nguyen Thi-Trac (1830 - 1913) was the first concubine he took.
She produced 4 children.

Three boys including:
Tran Tien-Huan (1857 - 1898)
One girl:
Thi-Nhan (1855 - 1929) who married the scholar Nguyen-Lo-Trach

The other concubines were:

Tran Van-Thi-The
Le Thi-Nhu
Ton Nu-Thi-Dieu


Back to Tran Genealogy Index

Tran Sy Ich

Born in Gia-Dinh (Saigon) in 1743, Tran Sy was Tran Vy's fifth son. He was only four years old when he and his parents regained the village where his ancestral home was located.

Early Struggles

At nine, he began to attend school. In his youth he possessed a sickly nature which proved ruinous to the quality of his studies. He was given the name "Ich" by one of his uncles. One day, this same uncle took him aside to encourage him. He said:

"Everything that belongs to your father, belongs to you; ensure that it prospers such that it becomes as useful to you as possible."

Following this interview and after conscientious efforts in an exam, Sy Ich had to come to terms with the fact that as of yet, he had not completed a single action to honor his parents. This tormented him deeply.

As a result, Sy Ich further concentrated himself on his studies. He became especially attuned to the older generation from which he would acquire precious knowledge that he hoped to pass on to his children and he abandoned himself wholly to the study of literature.

Adult Life

When he reached working age, his efforts were rewarded. He found a job as an administrator for the imperial court and obtained the court title "Noi-Han".

Tran Sy Ich shared his life with three women and they gave him a total of 13 children:

Cao Chung Truong (1752 - 1785) was First wife. She had 6 children including 4 boys and 2 girls.

Tran Thai-Duat (1752 - 1823) was Second wife. She had 1 boy.

Tong Xuan-Qui (1758 - 1819) was his concubine. She gave birth to 6 children including 3 boys and 3 girls.

Consequences of the Tay Son Uprising

The Dai-Viet had since been ruled by the Nguyen lords in the South (based in Hue) and the Trinh lords in the North (based in Hanoi) who controlled the figure head emperor. But in 1770, the Tay Son brothers namely Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Lu and Nguyen Hue, led a political rebellion against the Nguyen army. This was called the Tay Son rebellion.

During those times, my ancestors were from the mandarin class. As such they would probably have been known as corrupt and oppressive. To what degree they were corrupt, if at all, I will never know. But given the rife corruption in the imperial court, it was essentially for the peasant cause that the Tay Son brothers led their revolt.

In 1778 after having defeated the Nguyen army and murdered the entire Nguyen family except for Nguyen Anh, who escaped, the Tay Son brothers were then locked into battle against the Trinh lords in the North and then later, against the Manchu army from China who had come to restore the figure head Vietnamese emperor.

It was following the Manchu defeat, when the youngest of the Tay Son brothers, Nguyen Le, proclaimed himself emperor of unified Vietnam under the name Quang-Trung, that my ancestor, Sy Ich, refused to serve the usurper and promptly gave his resignation to the court. He was not the only intellectual who refused to serve Quang-Trung.



Nevertheless, there were some interesting changes to arise from Quang-Trung's reign.

The new Emperor distributed land to the poor peasants, encouraged the artisans that had been suppressed, allowed religious freedom, re-opened Vietnam to international trade and abolished Chinese as the official language of the nation. The new official language was Vietnamese written in the script called Chữ nôm.
- Wikipedia, Tay Son Dynasty

I wonder how my ancestors, who probably prided themselves in their Chinese literacy, would have taken the official language change.

When Quang-Trung died, his young successor was quickly toppled by the legitimate Nguyen heir, Nguyen Anh. He became the very Confucian orthodox emperor, Gia Long (1762 - 1820).

At this point, my ancestors, being the Confucians they were, would have breathed a sigh of deep relief. And so in 1802, when Gia Long ascended the throne, Tran Sy Ich proudly regained his post in service to the court.

Honor Your Parents

Sy Ich eventually did honor his parents.

To begin, the excellent quality of his court service, his honesty and his charitable manner were highly praised by all the Lords and souveraigns that he served in his lifetime.

In his spare time, Sy Ich pursued his father's Gia Pha and wrote several biographies.

When he died in 1814, he was given the cult name On-Muc Tran Sy-Ich.

And later, when emperor Tu Duc was in the 32 year of his reign, he conferred Sy Ich with the posthumous title of:

Gia-Nghi Dai-Phu Thiem-Su-Phu Thiem-Su

Similarly, his first wife, Cao Chung Truong, was accorded the posthumous title of:

Chanh Tam-Pham Thuc-Nhan


Back to Tran Genealogy Index

Tran Vy

It is to Tran Vy that my family owes much of the research and integration of the first elements constituting the Tran "Gia Pha".

Over 2000 years ago, imperial edicts in Vietnam required that local administrators establish family registries in which they recorded all names, marriages, births and deaths within a family. Known as gia pha (family history), such registries have their origin in ancient China and are found elsewhere in Asia, including Japan. [..] Family registries are more common in the northern and central parts of the country.
- Insight Guides, Vietnam, APA Publications

Early Life

After the death of his two older brothers, Don Tinh Tran Than (1699 - 1758) and Nguyen Luan Tran Tiem (1703 - 1751) together with their descendants, Man Truc became the head of the family. He became responsible for ensuring the continuation of the family lineage and for presiding over the ancestral cult.

Man Truc was actually only a three months old foetus when his father, Tran Ton died of cholera in 1714. He lived with his mother until the age of 8 until one of his paternal uncles adopted him and sent him to school. He was such a poor student that even his older brother took note of his poor aptitude for studies.

I find this last note interesting considering it betrays the relative importance that the Tran family placed on education and intellectual prowess. It also implies that Man Truc along with his brothers were expected to fill their father's shoes and become equally apt scholars.

Would Man Truc succeed in overcoming his initial childhood lapses to fulfill family expectations? Read on.

Coastal Merchant

Man Truc did what many people do to escape self-fulfilling prophecies. He changed his environment, away from negative pressure. At 17 years old, he decided to leave his family and go far away...by way of the ocean to the south of the Dai-Viet, in Gia-Dinh (Saigon).



In Gia-Dinh, Man Truc began a commercial enterprise. After saving enough capital, he invested in the construction of junks which in turn, were critical to the operation of his commercial activities.

I assume, based on what is to follow in this fairy tale account, that like his great uncle, Tran Hong, Man Truc was also well versed in traditional medicine.

I also assume that at this stage, he took the name Tran Vy. This is the name that the account uses from now on.

The Healer and the Crow

One day, a crow with a shell inside its beak came to land on the prow of one of Tran Vy's junks which were moored along the port. Seeing this, Tran Vy tried to shoo the bird away. According to Vietnamese scholar Huu Ngoc, in Vietnam, crows herald a bad omen and are symbols of evil. But in China, the crow is the bird of the sun and brings light on earth.¹

Keen to protect himself and his business against any bad omens, Tran Vy tried all he could to persuade the bird to fly off. But all his efforts were futile: the bird remained perched obstinately on the junk. It would not budge.

So our ancestor decided to lead a small enquiry and soon discovered that the bird in question belonged to an old woman. This woman suffered from a affliction that none of the doctors she had consulted so far, had been able to treat. In time, she had learnt that the junk owner, Tran Vy enjoyed a certain reputation as a healer. And so she had found no better means to attract his attention than to send her crow. This was how the dark bird had come to perch itself on one of Tran Vy's junks.

Her stratagem succeeded. Tran Vy was soon persuaded to visit the old woman and to administer a medical treatment. The medication that he prescribed turned out so efficient that the old lady soon regained her health. To thank him for his attentive care, she gave her daughter, Trinh Thuan Cung Nhan, in marriage.

Tran Vy's 19 Children

In the course of his life, Tran Vy shared his life with four women comprising two wives and two concubines.

His first wife, Trinh Thuan Cung Nhan (1719 - 1757) who he married in Gia Dinh, gave him 9 children including 7 boys and 2 girls.

His second wife, Duong Thi Nhu-Nhan (1737 - 1770) produced 4 children including 2 boys and 2 girls.

His first concubine, Thi Nho-Nhuan (1743 - 1801) produced 5 children including 3 boys and 2 girls.

And finally, his second concubine, Le Thi Nhu, gave birth to 1 boy.

I suppose that Tran Vy must have been very wealthy in order to be able to afford this many women. I wonder whether the high male count among Tran Vy's children was natural or if it was brought upon by female infanticide or foeticide as a result of the preference for male heirs in this family's patriarchal culture. This I will never know.

Return Home

At 26, some time after marrying his first wife and having already had several children, the successful merchant Tran Vy, confident in the sense that he had now fulfilled, if not surpassed, family expectations and perhaps longing to regain his roots, finally returned home to his natal village.

Tran Vy lived until the old age of 80. Much of his spare time was employed in the research and compilation of the Tran Gia Pha.

When Tu Duc (1829 - 1883), often regarded as the last independent emperor of Vietnam, was in the 32 year of his reign he gave Tran Vy the posthumous title of:

"Trung-Thuan Dai Phu Han-Lam-Vien Thi-Doc Hoc-Sy"

At the same time, Tran Vy's first wife was given the title:

"Thanh Tu Phan Cung Nhan"


¹Huu Ngoc, As the Crow Flies, So Does its Meaning, Vietnam News - The National English Language Daily, Jul 2004.


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Tran Ton

Tran Ton, the eldest son of Tran Tong was born on 15 September 1675. At his birth, he was named Nginh Nhat.

He became a studious man, part of this social class easily recognisable through their ong quyen, a cylindrical container of lacquered wood which was used to encase rolled documents and other literary work.

Tran Ton married early with a woman called Du Thi Diem. He became a father at the age of 20 years old. His first son was called Nguyen Le.

Around this time, Tran Ton set forth on a journey to China to regain the natal province of his grandfather, Thi-To. During his stay, Tran Ton visited members of his family that were still alive and paid his respects at the tombs of his Chinese ancestors. Note that according to ancestral worship practices and also according to the filial obligations set out by Confucian morality, it was considered (and still is) an important duty of Vietnamese and Chinese descendants to maintain their ancestors' cult and to respect such dates as their ancestors' death anniversary...a task my grandmother fulfills to this day.

I noticed that Tran Ton divorced. In those days, divorce was very much taboo. Incidentally, having children was considered important for assuring the perpetuation of the family line and to ensure the maintenance of the ancestral cult. So I wonder whether the reason for this divorce was the lack of children from his first wife. Either way, Tran Ton remarried with Tu-Thuc Tran-Van-Dai and had seven children:

Three Boys: Nguyen-Luan, Nguyen-Hoan, Man-Truc
Four Girls: Thi-Nguyet, Thi-Doai, Thi-Qua, Thi-Lan

Tran Ton died of cholera around the same time as his parents, on 28 October 1714.
He was only 39 years old.

His cult name is Tanh Tien Tran Ton. He was buried near his parents' tomb at the foot of a mountain in the village of Phan-xa in the province of Quang-tri.

His second wife survived cholera. She lived to the age of 84 and died on 7 April 1766. Her remains were initially placed near her husband's and later moved to the foot of the Da Bac mountain, in the village of Chau chu (10 km from Hue) in the district of Huong-thuy in the province of Thua-thien.


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Candeau Genealogy Index

Yves Candeau (1924 - 1996) - Childhood

Yves Candeau - German Prisoner

Yves Candeau in Indochina

Yves Candeau in West Africa

Origins

Jean Candau (b. circa 1670-1680, d. post 1727)

Pierre Candau (b. circa 1700, d. unknown)

Jean-Baptiste Candau (1730 - 1784) - Captain of the "Uzbek", Slave trader

Jean-Baptiste Antoine Candeau (1768 - 1817) - Corsair, Captain of "L'Intrepide" and "L'Infatigable"

Mutation to Candeau

Pierre Marie Candeau (1777 - 1852) - Knight of the (Royal) Legion of Honor

Leopold Jules Candeau (1815 - 1890) - Knight of the (Royal) Legion of Honor,
Frigate Captain, Commandant of a New Caledonia mission under Napoleon III

Auguste Candeau (1859 - 1929) - Knight of the Legion of Honor

The Children of Auguste Candeau

Marcelle Candeau (1889 - 1964)

Marie Candeau (1892 - 1971)

Marguerite Candeau (1894 - 1983)

Pierre Candeau (1895 - 1982)- father of Yves Candeau

Renee Candeau (1897 - 1937)

Jacques Candeau (1901 - 1988) - brother in law of Albert Camus

Tran Hong

Nothing much is known of Tran-Duong-Thuan's first son, Tran Tong. Like his father, he was a Chinese migrant to the Dai-Viet. In 1714, he and his wife died of cholera following an epidemic which had spread in the region. When he died at 71, he left a son called Tran Ton. He received the cult name Duc Thien Tran Tong and his remains are on the slope of a hill situated in the hamlet of Ma-da not far from the village of Phan Xa in the province of Quang Tri.

I will now look at Tran Hong who was Tran-Duong-Thuan's second son.

Hong was a sino-vietnamese born on 13 May 1681. He studied Chinese medicine.

In this period, he was a renowned and well respected doctor, particularly in the Gia Định province where he practiced for more than 10 years.

It should be noted, however, that before the French colonization, the official Vietnamese name of Saigon was Gia Định. In 1862, the French discarded this official name and adopted the name "Saigon", which had always been the popular name.
- Wikipedia, Ho Chi Minh City

In his spare time, Hong consecrated his time on genealogical research.

His wife was called Dac. She originated from the village of Su-lo-ha. Dac gave him 6 children:

• Three boys: Dai-dao, Dai Duyen, Dai-Thinh
  
• Three girls: Thi-Linh, Thi-Nhan, Thi-Sanh
  

On 11 March 1730, Tran Hong died at the age of 50. His funerary eulogy was pronounced by M. Nguyen Bai, another medical practitioner from the region who was himself retired at the time.

His cult name is Man Chanh Tran Hong.
His remains are at the foot of the mountain in the village of Duong Xuan in the district of Huong Tra.


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Tran-Duong-Thuan

Our story begins in China during 1611 when our first known TRAN family ancestor was born in the village of Ngoc-chau-thuong of the district of Long Khê, in the province of Fujian. The Middle Kingdom, or China, was then governed by the Ming emperor Wanli (1573 – 1620).



Aside from being a region where coastal trade and merchant businesses flourished, Fujian, during the Ming dynasty, was also a centre of publication producing a mass volume of books including almanacs, novels, joke books and law or moral guides ¹.

Economic Problems

This was not a happy time for our first known Chinese ancestor. It was characterised by high taxes incurred mostly by the farmers who were themselves overseen by landlords¹. Inflation had risen to ridiculous levels, with the mode of currency changing several times since the inception of the Ming dynasty by emperor Hungwu (1328 - 1398).

The Ming emperors were beginning to incur the consequences of their extravagant living. The Ming army was no longer agriculturally self-sufficient as Hungwu had originally intended centuries ago so as to relieve the burden from the peasant population. The empire was in dire financial deficit: its treasury was empty. Even government food relief had to be sourced from philantropists or wealthy merchants who were often ordered to alleviate the plight of starving peasants ². This was a far cry from wealthy times when the humane Zhu Gaozhi (1378 - 1426) was generously dispensing aid to the people and scolding his ministers for not acting more promptly during a famine.

Political Problems

Further issues had arisen from the despotism of the eunuchs who over the centuries following the Yong Le (1360 - 1424) period had gained increasingly more power and often acted independently of the emperors to further their own self-interests. For example, in 1620, when our ancestor was merely 9, emperor Tianqi (1605 - 1627) succeeded to the dragon throne. But soon, Tianqi's affairs were largely managed by an usurping eunuch called Wei Zhongxian and by the young emperor's wet nurse...

During the period 1621-1637, ancestor Tran-Duong-Thuan would have witnessed a political crisis involving the Ming eunuchs. It originated from a craftsmen uprising following yet another brutal increase in commercial taxes by the governing eunuchs.

In 1627, these uprisings were followed by important insurrections in the Northeast of the country because the armies were finding it difficult to meet refurbishment requirements after their budget had been decreased.

To make matters worse, the disatisfied peasants soon joined the uprisings which continued right up until the end of the Ming dynasty.

In the meantime, the Jurchen tribes had begun their invasion of China from the Northeast.

Famine and Epidemics

According to Brook ², the population in this period had grown to a level far exceeding that of any Ming period. This caused additional pressure on resources. Brook explains that from 1580 onwards, there were recurring floods, droughts and cold cycles. For example when Tran-Duong-Thuan was 26 years old, he would have heard of the famine in Jiangxi, a province to the west of Fujian, where people were so hungry that they were driven to filling their stomachs with soil dug deep from the ground.

The consequences of particular famines remained relatively short term until the great epidemic of 1641. Entering into China from the northwest, it raced down the Grand Canal to infect most of densely populated Jiangnan, then made a second pass through many of the same areas the following year. A gazetteer in northern Zhejiang records that over half the population fell ill that year, and that in 1642, 90 percent of the local people died. Another gazetteer across the border in South Zhili records that in 1642 the corpses of epidemic victims were scattered everywhere.²

Tran-Duong-Thuan's Plan

This then was the state of the Middle Kingdom when our our ancestor Tran-Duong-Thuan reached 30.

To protect himself from the often bloody conflicts which accompanied the revolts and political uprisings, Tran-Duong-Thuan began to seriously consider leaving his natal province to regain the Dai-Viet (eventually Vietnam). In particular, he contemplated settling in the south, in the Thừa Thiên province. Once there, he hoped that the local authorities would recognise him as a political refugee.

His plan was to leave his wife behind because she was tending to her ill mother. This exile would, or so he thought, only last for a very short period, the time required for the calm to return in his country. At this moment, he would return to China, back to his village where his wife would be waiting for him…

In 1643, his wife whose name, date of birth and death remain unknown to us, had born him a son which they named Tran Tong.

Shame

And then the worse came.
The Jurchen armies took Beijing and adopted the ruling name “manchu”. They installed a new dynasty called Qing. In 1644, the first Manchu emperor, Sunzhi decreed that:

• Mixed marriages (e.g. between the Hans and Manchus) were forbidden
  
• Manchuria would no longer be opened to the Han Chinese
  
• Han Chinese must be segregated from the Manchus in large cities
  
• Possession of Chinese peasants was to pass from the landlords to the Manchus
  
• It was obligatory for all males to shave their heads and grow a long plait, following Manchurian custom.
  
• It was obligatory for all men and women to wear the Qing clothing.

This was ironic since the Jurchens themselves had been sinicised by the Ming emperor, Yong Le centuries before. And now, in a cruel twist, they were imposing their custom to the Chinese.

Ming Clothing

Qing Clothing
Source: Panda Gator

Being stripped of his national identity and personal dignity would have taken its toll on Tran-Duong-Thuan. He decided that he would not submit to the Manchus and would remain loyal to the Ming. Soon after these new rules were imposed, he made a decision. He would leave China.

Sadly, he did not take his wife and child with him. She remained behind to take care of her mother. But what was a woman’s worth in those days anyway?

New Life in the Dai Viet

When Tran-Duong-Thuan arrived in the Dai-Viet, it was ruled by emperor Le-Thanh-Tong of the Le dynasty. While the emperor reigned as figurehead, authority was detained by the Trinh lords in the North and the Nguyen lords in the South.

Not long after his installation in the Thừa Thiên province, Duong-Thuan took a second wife. She was a Vietnamese woman from the village of Su-lo-ha.
As these were not recorded, we do not know her name, birth date or the date of her death. However she should not be confused with a purchased concubine. She was a legitimate second wife.

In the meantime, Duong-Thuan’s son Tran-Tong had joined him in the Dai-Viet.

Later, he and his wife had a son, his second, which they named Tran-Hong.

Hope for Descendants

Duong-Thuan died at age 79 on 12 April 1688. He had remained loyal all his life to the Ming form of dress. He gained posterity under the cult name “Thi-To”.

His mortal remains were buried on the slope of a hill in the hamlet of Tu-tay, in the village of An-cuu of the district of Huong-thuy of the Thu-thien province.

According to Chinese geomancy specialists, the tomb’s site is excellent because it is surrounded by hills and flowing water which is beneficial to Duong-Thuan’s descendants and future generations under the condition that no funerary monument in the form of a spiral shell is erected in this region…

References:
¹ Chan, Albert. The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty. University of Oklahoma Press, Hong Kong, 1982.
² Brook, Timothy. The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China, University of California Press, 1999.



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Of China-bashing, Tibet and the Olympics...

I am not enthused by the China-bashing.

For years now, I made a decision to avoid television as much as possible.
Current affairs programmes, in particular, irritate me. Sensationalism makes me angry, unfair media representations make me angry, juxtaposition of out of context photos with mindless voice overs makes me angry...

I used to sit in front of the box many years ago. My silent viewing was punctuated by loud, intermittent, "bullshits".
"Bullshit!" I would cry out like an old man.
One day it hit me.
I was becoming my Dad!! That's exactly what he does...
The discovery sparked some hysterical laughter. I switched off the television and walked away.

I have a name for television. I call it the fear mongering, advertising tool. That's all it is. Occasionally I watch comedy shows but since I've discovered that there are plenty of Gad Elmaleh YouTube videos, I no longer need television. So we haven't bothered replacing the CRT box. That's right: I shun the plasma. It's not a stylish commodity for me. My ideal house is devoid of television.

So about China... and Tibet...

No country is innocent.
Every country makes mistakes. Every country makes a strategic decision to endorse beliefs that aligns with its nationalistic interests.

I leave the question as to whether China could claim sovereignty over Tibet during the Ming dynasty (i.e. the last Han Chinese dynasty) to other historians. All I can say is that during that period, given they had much to benefit from it, Tibetans were only too happy to pay tribute to the Chinese emperors. But the question of whether this tributary relationship established Tibet as a subservient vassal of China or whether China saw Tibet as an independent kingdom is still under debate. There are many opposing views.

What do the words "Free Tibet" mean?
I'm not really sure.

For Chinese nationalists, "Free Tibet" means splitting their country. They take offense at this because, they say, it recalls the Divide and Rule policy of foreign imperialist powers. To "Free Tibet" means to set a precedent for the other 56 ethnic groups in China who may also desire to be free...a possibility, especially in Yunnan.
But when you have 56 ethnic minorities, the results could be disastrous. Chaos.
Can you imagine 56 ETAs in Spain?

The phrase "Free Tibet" also provokes defensiveness in the Chinese, and rightly so, because it implies that Tibetans are currently slaves and that since the toppling of the feudalistic monk regime, the Tibetans have suffered more. This is a myth.

Michael Parenti looks at the Tibet myth here.

I really like this article because it dispels the spiritual shroud that clouds popular perceptions of Tibetan monks. Michael Parenti examines Tibet's old feudal practices. He looks at how people were treated by the monks before egalitarian ideals were introduced by the communists. He acknowledges the wrongs suffered by Tibet during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) but he also notes, what is all too easily ignored by foreigners, that China, as a whole, was impacted and often suffered during the Cultural Revolution. Finally, Parenti outlines the economic, infrastructure, educational and health benefits that communism has brought to Tibet. These can not be ignored.

Let me leave you on that note: at the Sydney Olympics, the last thing Australians would have wanted is to have the international community demonstrating with banners to "Free Arnhem Land!!"

And to put it in Wired terms, China-bashing is so Tired.