Personal Life
In his personal life Thien followed the Confucianist-Western modernism which he adopted in his public life. In founding a family, he married a person with a clear Confucian background, Lệ Vân (Lovely Cloud), whose great grandfather was the well known Confucian scholar and mandarin Nguyen Trong Hiep. Assigned by the emperor to negotiate with France after French troops had occupied the Imperial capital of Huế in 1883, he persuaded the French not to abolish the Nguyễn monarchy and annex Vietnam, but to accept it as a protectorate instead. Le Van's grandmother was the daughter of a well known poetess, Cao Thi Ngoc Anh, herself daughter of a Confucian scholar, Cao Xuan Duc, well known as a great Minister of Education in the Imperial Government of Vietnam, a contemporary of Nguyen Trong Hiep.
Unlike many young women of her generation, Le Van not only went to college, but was allowed to travel to France for further study. Another "modern" side to this marriage: neither Thien nor Le Van sought prior permission from their parents before their engagement. Another infringement of traditions was that they got married in Paris, in a simple ceremony with a small attendance instead of an elaborate and lavish wedding party involving a large gathering presided by the parents surrounded by all members of the two families. When their daughter was born they usurped their parents’ traditional prerogative by naming her themselves, Thuỳ Lan (Sweet Orchid).
Read more about this topic: Ton That Thien
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