The mystery of the prophecy surrounding the assassination of King Dinh Tien Hoang

According to official history, Dinh Tien Hoang had the eldest son, Dinh Lien, but he made the youngest son, Xiang Lang, the Crown Prince. Therefore, at the beginning of the year of the Rabbit 979, Dinh Lien was angry and ordered someone to kill Xiang Lang. In November (lunar calendar) of that year, an official, Do Thich, dreamed that a star fell into his mouth, thinking it was a harbinger of becoming a king, so he killed both Dinh Tien Hoang and Dinh Lien. Dinh Tien Hoang has been king for 12 years, at the age of 56 years. He was buried in Truong Yen mountain mausoleum, Hoa Lu capital.

However, according to some researchers, Do Thich was not the culprit who killed the king. Do Thich was just an eunuch, with a small, humble position, with no prestige or circle of wings. Compared to Thich, in the court, there were friends of King Dinh such as Nguyen Bac, Dinh Dien, Luu Co… all held great authority, both in literature and in martial arts. Therefore, Do Thich could not dream of subduing the great ministers of the Dinh dynasty to sit on the throne.

Therefore, around the murder case of King Dinh Tien Hoang, there were many theories put forward, revolving around power struggles in the court at that time. At the same time, there are quite a few prophecies handed down in folklore about this case. Although it is impossible to confirm whether these prophecies are the words of the latter to cover the case or not, these are still details worth considering.

The fateful encounter between Dinh Bo Linh and the abbot of Giao Thuy pagoda

Giao Thuy pagoda is Co Le pagoda, Nam Dinh today. Here, when he was young, Dinh Bo Linh met the abbot of Giao Thuy pagoda, and the monk had a prediction about his fate.

Book “Dai Viet historical record of money” it is recorded that:

When the king was still young, he often fished in the Giao Thuy River, pulling the net to get a big pearl but bumping into the bow of the boat, missing a corner. That night, he went to sleep at Giao Thuy pagoda, hid pearls at the bottom of a fish basket, and waited to go to the market to sell fish in the morning. At that time the king was sleeping soundly, there was a strange light in the basket, the monk of that temple called up to ask the reason, the king told the truth and took the jade to show it. The Master lamented, “I can’t tell you how rich and rich the day I will be, I just regret that it doesn’t last long.”

About this event book “Thien Nam Luc Luc” write that:

Heaven has determined the old way,

Ngoc Khue is for waiting for the emperor.

Usually there is aura,

Waking up in the morning and night by the side of the worm.

Bo Linh asked us, Mr.

“What’s wrong with the river in the morning?”

Then they said, now:

It’s been twelve years in this river.

“Vietnamese history acting” The Mac Dynasty wrote:

Received a gold treasure,

Hit the front of the boat with a missing angle.

In the morning, the teacher asked before and after,

Ngoc Khue thought to bring it to the teacher to see.

Looking back and forth,

It took a long time for the teacher to open his mouth.

Blessed is my son,

The next day, he becomes the lord of the country to rule the world.

Happy thoughts don’t last long,

Long story has the number of heavenly statues divided.

The oracle predicts the murder of King Dinh Tien Hoang

Folklore also circulates that, in 974, 5 years before the murder of Dinh Tien Hoang, an oracle appeared that said:

Do Thich Thi Dinh Dinh,

Le joined the Holy Spirit,

The top edge of the polyhedron,

The path of great humanity,

Twelve proclaimed great king,

The ten evils are incomparably good,

The ten octogenarians,

The second capital of the tenth century.

Does that mean:

Do Thich killed two Dinh,

The Le Dynasty was famous,

Fighting for many epics,

The streets are empty.

Twelve proclaimed great kings,

All evil, not one good,

Eighteen children ascended to the heavens,

Next twenty days.

This oracle talks about Do Thich plotting to murder father and son Dinh Tien Hoang and Dinh Lien (Do Thich thi Dinh Dinh), and also says that a person surnamed Le will call himself Dai Vuong, later corresponding to Le Hoan.

A Taoist’s prediction about Duong Van Nga

After Dinh Bo Linh was murdered, his 6-year-old son, Dinh Toan, was too young to take care of the country, so Le Hoan worked as a regent, claiming to be Vice Vuong.

At this time, the Song Dynasty had smashed the sand fortresses in the country, unified China, and the Song army in the north took advantage of the recent death of King Dinh, so they brought their troops to attack Dai Co Viet.

In the face of an urgent situation, where someone needed to unify the forces to prepare to fight the enemy, Queen Duong Van Nga put on a long robe for Le Hoan so that he could take the throne. After Le Hoan ascended the throne, he also established Duong Van Nga as empress. This led historians to suspect that Le Hoan and Duong Van Nga might have participated in the assassination of Dinh Tien Hoang.

In folklore, there is a story that, when Duong Van Nga was born, often cried at night, there was a Taoist passing by, seeing the baby crying endlessly, immediately came to see and said:

Hold on, hold on, hold on!

One shoulder carries both mountains

After the Taoist finished speaking, the baby stopped crying. The Taoist saying was fulfilled when Duong Van Nga later married both Kings Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh. Whether Duong Van Nga participated in the assassination of Dinh Tien Hoang, is it also fate?

Looking back on the fact that King Dinh Tien Hoang was assassinated

The historian Ngo Si Lien commented that:

The emperor raised a career that no one did not rely on in heaven. But saints do not rely on divine orders to do all their duties. The work has been done, the more worried about prevention. Modifying the official criminal justice ceremony is to protect people’s hearts. Set many times the door, signal the guard is to prevent violent people. Because the desire is not the end, the work of life has no end, it is impossible not to take precautions… So the Tien Hoang cannot live his whole life because he has not done all the human work, it is not the order of heaven to not help. Also because the king could not keep the whole life, making the oracle theory triumph, the next life could not help but be fascinated by it.

Just like the case of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lo, Nguyen Trai’s concubine, who was falsely accused by the perpetrators of being the mother snake of the young snakes that Nguyen Phi Khanh, Nguyen Trai’s father, accidentally killed; It is possible that the folk tales about Dinh Tien Hoang were created by his persecutors to legitimize the killing of the king. Although the Nguyen Trai case also has quite a few more reasonable prophecies, it’s worth checking out (See article: Twice receiving a prophecy, Nguyen Trai still can’t escape the fate of being killed by the three tribes)but in this modern day, we cannot go back in time to see what is the real prophecy.

Looking back at the fact that King Dinh was assassinated from a historical perspective, some researchers believe that Le Hoan was the Vice King when Dinh Toan ascended the throne, forbidding the late Dinh family along with the loyalists Nguyen Bac and Dinh. Dien and Pham Hap starting an army against Le Hoan may be manifestations of Le Hoan’s plot to usurp. Today, the number of temples worshiping these loyalists is much higher than the few temples dedicated to Le Hoan and Queen Duong.

The researchers hypothesized that Le Hoan’s actions were supported by Duong Van Nga. In the context of the Dinh dynasty at that time, there were 3 princes, the eldest was Lien, the second was Toan, and the youngest was Xiang Lang. As long as the eldest son, there are many merits; Xiang Lang was loved by the king again, so he made him crown prince even though he was only 4 years old, it was difficult for him to show higher qualities than Dinh Lien. Tien Hoang had 5 queens; There may have been a rivalry between the 5 queens about the future of the crown prince.

In this competition, Duong Hau chose Le Hoan as a prop. After Dinh Lien killed Xiang Lang, Dinh Tien Hoang did not punish Dinh Lien, but still planned to let Lien follow. Perhaps this displeased Queen Duong when she thought that before placing Xiang Lang above Lien, now Lien must also be below Toan; and Duong Hau acted with Le Hoan.

According to some researchers, one of the reasons why the Song Dynasty invaded Dai Co Viet was because Dinh Lien, who went back to the Song Dynasty and was ordained by the Song king himself, was harmed. The consecration of Lien shows that the Song Dynasty acknowledged Lien’s throne. In the name of punishing the traitors, the Song Dynasty launched an army. Le Hoan’s success in the resistance war against the Song may have led the people to forgive him (See article: The Vietnamese king who dared to attack China was not blamed but was also given a jade belt).

The researchers also hypothesized that Do Thich was just someone who was accidentally present at the scene after King Dinh’s father and son were harmed (because he was a mandarin in the inner city) and at that time he could not justify his innocence when many people struck. He hurriedly fled and was arrested and guillotined after 3 days, becoming a victim of the scheme of Le Hoan and Duong Hau.

Author Le Van Sieu in the book “Civilized Vietnam” make another hypothesis:

During the royal war between the queens, Xiang Lang’s mother chose Nguyen Bac as her wing. When Xiang Lang was killed but the perpetrator Dinh Lien was not punished, she had the intention of revenge and joined Nguyen Bac to use Do Thich to kill. Then Nguyen Bac followed her orders to kill Thich to “destroy speech”.

However, this assumption also has some unsatisfactory points. Nguyen Bac is a friend “most important” of Tien Hoang since childhood. The relationship between him and Tien Hoang was very close, the view that he had the intention to betray Tien Hoang was a bit forced. Even though you have a belly “worship” Rank Lang, not? “worship” Lien (selecting the future owner) can only kill Lien, but not also the Tien Hoang. Secondly, if Nguyen Bac wrongly ordered Do Thich to kill Dinh’s father and son, after Thich finished his act, he must immediately “welcome” captured Thich immediately and slashed immediately, unable to hide for up to 3 days, because if he escaped and fell into the hands of others, he would reveal himself, so he would be revealed as the mastermind.

Also author Le Van Sieu in the book “Civilized Vietnam” One more assumption is made:

Do Thich was the “scam” of the Song Dynasty, killing the father and son of King Dinh to confuse the court and give the Song Dynasty the opportunity to bring troops to invade. Because China is a big country, Dai Co Viet’s side, even if they knew, did not dare to “make a big deal” of that deceit, only focusing on fighting back later.

This assumption is the least convincing. King Dinh’s father and son were killed in October 979. Le Hoan replaced the Dinh house in July 980, more than half a year later (after the Dinh dynasty’s loyalists had been eliminated). The Song Dynasty did not bring troops until March 981, which is nearly a year and a half after King Dinh’s father and son were harmed. If the Song Dynasty planned to harm the father and son of King Dinh to capture, they must prepare their troops and wait for news “Killed Jiaozhi of the District King” is to cross the border right away so that the Southerners get “Lightning can’t stop listening” only then can you get it.

The truth is that the news of King Dinh’s death came quite late. According to Dai Viet historical record, King Dinh’s father and son were harmed from October 979, until June 980, Tri Ung Chau of Song Dynasty, Hau Nhan Bao, submitted a petition to Tong Thai Tong saying that they should attack Giao Chi and from In July of that year, King Song began to mobilize troops. Until Le Hoan ascended the throne (July 980), heard the news that the Song Dynasty mobilized troops and sent a letter of solicitation, in October of that year, still claiming the name of Dinh Toan, he asked to succeed his father Tien Hoang to send a letter to the king. Song to postpone the army. At that time, the Song Dynasty still used it cautiously “celebration” to lure in advance. If the Song Dynasty was the mastermind and did not want to use troops, at least mobilize early to close the border, threaten and then send envoys to threaten Giao Chi to submit. The truth is that the Song Dynasty mobilized its troops late and launched the army late, giving Le Hoan enough time to quell the internal rebellion, maintain his humanity and prepare for victory.

Although the story of the murder case of King Dinh has not been completed, the latter still have to think a lot before the verse:

Happy thoughts don’t last long,

Long story has the number of heavenly statues divided.