Gia Long - Family and Succession

Family and Succession

Gia Long had three wives. In 1780, during the war against the Tay Son, he married Tong Thi Lan, the daughter of a Nguyen general. She bore him two sons, the first being Crown Prince Nguyen Canh, and later Nguyen Phuc Chieu, who died shortly after birth. Following Gia Long's ascension to the throne, she became Empress Thua Thien. Sometime during the war with the Tay Son, he married his second wife Tran Thi Dang, a daughter of one of his ministers. She bore him three sons, Nguyen Phuc Dam, Nguyen Phuc Dai and Nguyen Phuc Chan, and was posthumously given the title of Empress Thuan Thien. After his conquest of Vietnam, Gia Long, took his third wife, Le Ngoc Binh. A daughter of Le Hien Tong, the second-last emperor of the Le Dynasty, she was betrothed by Emperor Quang Trung to his son Quang Toan. After Gia Long defeated the Tay Son and executed Quang Toan, he took her as his wife. Binh bore him two princes, Nguyen Phuc Quan and Nguyen Phuc Cu, and princesses An Nghia Ngoc Ngon and My Khue Ngoc Khue. Gia Long had almost 100 concubines who were daughters of his mandarins; Gia Long did not favour polygamy but he did so to secure the loyalty of his inner circle.

As Crown Prince Nguyen Canh had died of smallpox during the war against the Tay Son, it was assumed that Canh's son would succeed Gia Long as emperor, but in 1816 Nguyen Phuc Dam, the son of his second wife, was appointed instead, and ruled as Minh Mang. Gia Long chose him for his strong character and his deep aversion to westerners, whereas Canh's lineage had converted to Catholicism and were reluctant to maintain their Confucian traditions such as ancestor worship. Before his ascension, Nguyen Phuc Dam was reported to have praised the Japanese for having expelled and eradicated Christianity from their country. Gia Long told his son to treat the Europeans respectfully, especially the French, but not to grant them any position of preponderance. Gia Long died on 3 February 1820 and was buried at the Thien Tho Tomb and posthumously named Thế Tổ Cao Hoàng đế.