Jump to content

Hàm Nghi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emperor Hàm Nghi
咸宜帝
Hàm Nghi in 1900
Emperor of Đại Nam
Reign2 August 1884 – 19 September 1885
PredecessorKiến Phúc
SuccessorĐồng Khánh
RegentTôn Thất Thuyết & Nguyễn Văn Tường
Emperor of Nguyễn Dynasty
Reign2 August 1884 – 19 September 1885
PredecessorKiến Phúc
SuccessorĐồng Khánh
Born(1871-08-03)3 August 1871
Imperial City, Huế, Đại Nam
Died14 January 1944(1944-01-14) (aged 72)
Algiers, Algeria, France
Burial
Thonac, Dordogne, France
SpouseMarcelle Laloë
IssuePrincess Nguyễn Phúc Như Mai
Princess Nguyễn Phúc Như Lý
Prince Nguyễn Phúc Minh Đức
Names
Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch (阮福膺𧰡)
Nguyễn Phúc Minh (阮福明)
Era name and dates
Hàm Nghi (咸宜): 1884–1885
Posthumous name
None
Temple name
None
HouseNguyễn Phúc
FatherNguyễn Phúc Hồng Cai (son of Thiệu Trị)
MotherConcubine Phan Thị Nhàn
ReligionRuism, Buddhism

Emperor Hàm Nghi (Vietnamese: [hâːm ŋi], chữ Hán: 咸宜 lit. "entirely right",[1] 3 August 1871 – 14 January 1944), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch (阮福膺簡), also Nguyễn Phúc Minh, was the eighth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. He reigned for only one year (1884–85).[2]

Biography

[edit]
See also: Cần Vương movement

On 4 July 1885, a nationwide insurrection against the French broke out under the leadership of the two regents Nguyễn Văn Tường and Tôn Thất Thuyết, acting in the name of the emperor. The French stormed the palace and Tôn Thất Thuyết took Emperor Hàm Nghi and three empresses into hiding. Hàm Nghi went to the hills and jungles around Laos along with Tôn Thất Thuyết's force. While they waged guerrilla warfare against the French occupation forces, the French replaced Hàm Nghi with his brother, Đồng Khánh, who was enthroned as the Emperor of Đại Nam.

In October 1888, after a series of setbacks, Hàm Nghi was hiding in an isolated house near the spring of the Nai river, with Tôn Thất Thiệp, the second son of Tôn Thất Thuyết, and a few attendants.[3] There, he was betrayed by the head of his Muong guards, Trương Quang Ngọc, and captured on 1 November, while Thiệp was killed. He was turned over to French officers on 2 November.[4]

Capture and exile to Algeria

[edit]
The capture of Hàm Nghi

In September 1888, at the time Hàm Nghi was staying at Tuyên Hóa district (now Minh Hóa district) in Quảng Bình, lieutenants (suất đội) Nguyễn Đình Tình and Trương Quang Ngọc voluntarily surrendered and was inquired by the French at Đồng Cá fort. They made an agreement to bring troops to capture the emperor. On the midnight of September 26, 1888, Hàm Nghi was captured while sleeping, meanwhile Tôn Thất Thiệp was being stabbed to death. He was only 17 years old. When being captured, the emperor pointed straight at Trương Quang Ngọc and said:

"Mi giết ta đi còn hơn là mi mang ta ra nộp cho Tây."
lit. 'You better kill me than hand me over to the Westerners.'

From that night onwards, Trương Quang Ngọc transferred Hàm Nghi through multiple other forts of the French army before arriving at Thuận Bài fort on the afternoon of November 14, 1888. The French organized "a very solemn welcome" for him, but he acted as if he wasn't Emperor Hàm Nghi and refused to recognize so. Then, Lieutenant Bonnefoy transferred Tôn Thất Đàm's letter to Hàm Nghi, but Hàm Nghi threw the letter under the table and acted as if it had nothing to do with him. When Nguyễn Hữu Viết, admiral of Thanh Thủy, was being brought to him to recognize the emperor, Hàm Nghi also pretended not to know him. But then, when Nguyễn Nhuận, his former teacher, went to see him, he happened to stand up and immediately bowed his teacher. Only then was the French assured that it was Hàm Nghi. From Thuận Bài, they brought Hàm Nghi through Bố Trạch and Đồng Hới before heading to the Thuận An estuary. They finally arrived at the port on November 22.

At that time, the Huế court had learned of Hàm Nghi's arrest. Emperor Đồng Khánh, installed by the French, sent officials from Thừa Thiên and the Ministry of War to welcome him back to Huế. But the French were afraid of people getting agitated seeing the emperor, so they informed the Privy Council that Hàm Nghi was now in an "unusual mood", and that it would be "inconvenient" to return to the capital, and that they needed to send him to recuperate elsewhere for a while. In spite of this, the French had drawn up a plan to exile him to Algeria. On the day before he was sent aboard a ship, Resident-Superior Pierre Paul Rheinart then informed him that the Queen Mother was seriously ill, and if the king wanted to visit her, he would bring her back to meet him. Hearing this, King Ham Nghi replied: "I am already imprisoned, my country has been lost, how can I dare to think about my parents and siblings anymore?".[note 1]

Hàm Nghi was exiled on 12 December 1888 to French Algeria, where he arrived on 13 January 1889. He was deposed and were officially titled Duke Ưng Lịch.[5] The Cần Vương movement, however, would still go on for several more years back, many fighting in his name. He was placed under house arrest in El Biar, under the guard of a captain named Vialard. An annual annuity of 25,000 francs was paid to him by the budget of the Ministry of the Colonies.[citation needed]

  • Emperor Ham Nghi in coronation date, 1884
    Emperor Ham Nghi in coronation date, 1884
  • Cần Vương movement declaration.
    Cần Vương movement declaration.
  • Picture of capturing emperor Hàm Nghi by French army in 26/9/1888 in Quảng Bình.
    Picture of capturing emperor Hàm Nghi by French army in 26/9/1888 in Quảng Bình.
  • Emperor Ham Nghi after being captured by the French in 1888
    Emperor Ham Nghi after being captured by the French in 1888


Marriage

[edit]

He married a French woman, Marcelle Laloë, on 4 November 1904. They had three children:

  • Wedding of Emperor Hàm Nghi in French Algeria
    Wedding of Emperor Hàm Nghi in French Algeria
  • Wedding of Emperor Hàm Nghi in French Algeria
    Wedding of Emperor Hàm Nghi in French Algeria
  • Former emperor and his painting
    Former emperor and his painting
  • Former Emperor enjoyed painting during exile
    Former Emperor enjoyed painting during exile
  • Former emperor in his old age in French Algeria.
    Former emperor in his old age in French Algeria.
  • Former Emperor at his private house in Algeria.
    Former Emperor at his private house in Algeria.

Death

[edit]

Hàm Nghi died on 14 January 1944 at the age of 72, and was buried in Algiers. During his exile, he had bought the Château de Losse in Thonac, Dordogne, in southwest France. In 1965, Charles de Gaulle proposed to his daughter, Countess de la Besse, to transfer his body to Thonac, where he still lies in a simple grave. In 2002, Vietnam sent a delegation to France to seek permission from Princess Nhu Lý (De la Besse died in 2005, in her 97th year) to move her father's remains to the former Imperial capital of Huế. Her family has so far refused.[7]

Honors

[edit]

Some cities in Vietnam have streets named after him.[8]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ In Vietnamese: "Tôi thân đã tù, nước đã mất, còn dám nghĩ gì đến cha mẹ, anh em nữa."

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Derived from Classic of Poetry: "Yin should have received the appointment was entirely right" (殷受命咸宜, translated by James Legge)
  2. ^ Bruce M. Lockhart, William J. Duiker Historical Dictionary of Vietnam 2006 Page 150 "Hàm Nghi (1872–1943). Emperor (r. 1884–1885) of the Nguyén dynasty after establishment of the French protectorate in 1884. Brother of Emperor Kiến Phúc, ...
  3. ^ Spencer Tucker -Vietnam – 1999 Page 36 "In july 1885 Vietnamese nationalists acting in the name of Emperor Hàm Nghi led a brief rebellion, launching a major attack on the French at the fort of Mang Cá near the capital. This failed, whereupon Hàm Nghi fled to Quang Tri Province and ..."
  4. ^ Baille, 1890; Devillers, 1998, pp. 398–469; Gosselin, 1900, pp. 150–56; Gosselin, 1904.
  5. ^ Vũ Ngự Chiêu. p. 889.
  6. ^ Vũ Ngư Chiêu (2000). Các vua cuối nhà Nguyễn 1884-1945. Tập 3. Houston: Văn Hóa. pp. 890–1.
  7. ^ Nguyên Cao Duc, Georges (2007). Un empereur aimé: Hàm Nghi (PDF). p. 5.
  8. ^ Vietnam Country Map. Periplus Travel Maps. March 2002. ISBN 0-7946-0070-0.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Baille. "Souvenirs d’Annam 1886–1890" E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Paris (1890, viii + 266 pp.)
  • Devillers, Philippe. "Français et Annamites. Partenaires ou ennemis? 1856–1902", Denoël, 1998, 517 pp.; ISBN 2-207-24248-X (2-207-24248-X)
  • Gosselin, Charles. "Le Laos et le Protectorat Français". Librairie académique Didier, Perrin & Cie, Paris (1900, 349 pp.) Available here or here
  • Gosselin, Charles. "L’empire d’Annam". Préface de Pierre Baudin, Perrin. Cie: Paris (1904, xxvi + 560 pp.)
  • Bergoend, Isabelle. "Le Dagobert optique". Editions Thierry Marchaisse (2015, 240 pp.)
[edit]
Preceded by Nguyễn dynasty Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hàm_Nghi&oldid=1287156844"