King Tran Anh Tong, a Sample of Self -Correction and Self-Perfection

Tran Anh Tong (1276-1320) came to the throne in 1293, when the ‘Oriental courage’ was shining and the national destiny was flourishing, and he soon became a virtuous and good king. He was praised in history as "the king who had so excellent an inheritance that enabled him to bring about a universal peace, better politics, prosperous culture and regime, and become a good king of the Tran dynasty."

Although Anh Tong was not born with an outstanding talent, he bravely admitted his shortcomings and mistakes and endeavoured to perfect himself. In his seventh year on the throne he narrowly escaped a serious punishment by Nhan Tong to dismiss him as the king. Unfortunately, when he had a hangover after a drink and outslept the Ngo hour (11am to 1pm), Nhan Tong made a visit to the capital from the Thien Truong palace (in Nam Dinh). Nhan Tong was so angry that he immediately got back on the boat to go home and ordered the court’s mandarins to show their presence at the Thien Truong palace next day. When the king came to himself he got very scared and asked the young scholar Doan Nhu Hai to compile a petition to beg his father’s pardon. Doan Nhu Hai then hurried on a light boat to pursue Nhan Tong. Reading the petition, Nhan Tong was very moved by the regretful and heartfelt wording and soon gave Anh Tong an imperial audience. The father severely warned the king: "I have other sons to mount the throne. I am still alive but you behave like that, let alone when I am no more later on." Forgiven by his father, king Anh Tong was so elated. From then, the young king gave up drinking and devoted all his heart and mind to the kingdom’s affairs.

Anh Tong greatly admired those with talent. He gave promotion to, and made best use of, any talented person regardless of his age and origin. For example, Doan Nhu Hai was only a young scholar without fame, but upon realising his talent through the petition that deeply moved Nhan Tong, the king promoted him to the post of mandarin in charge of the Court's affairs. Someone was jealous and spoke ill of him as "a nursing baby." Four years later, thanks to his excellent diplomatic job, he was praised by Nhan Tong himself as "a clever man" and was promoted to the post of first assessor of a minister. But when Anh Tong was generous in giving promotions to the Court mandarins, Nhan Tong warned him: "The kingdom is as small as a palm, why have there been so many promotions?" Anh Tong realised his mistake and was very cautious in giving the next promotions. The more important the position was, the more cautiously he made the promotion. Anh Tong was so prudent that even when Nhan Tong recommended a high position for courtier Nguyen Quoc Phu, who was concurrently a chief clerk, he refused to obey his father because the mandarin was addicted to alcohol.

His way of self-correcting and self-perfecting, strict enforcement of the laws with full respect and thoughtfulness in dealing with his relatives together with his talent and good conduct in handling national affairs was acclaimed by contemporaries as well as the next generations of historians. Anh Tong can be compared to good kings in the nation’s history who advocated "education in the family first, the family then serving as the pattern for outsiders to follow," that is why "the country became more civilised and the people became richer and more prosperous."

By BAO ANH