When King Trần Anh Tông first became king, he really liked drinking and sneaking out of the palace with his guards, pretending to be a normal person. There were times, while out exploring, some troublemakers threw a brick and hit him on the head! When his father, the retired emperor Trần Nhân Tông, heard about it, he just shook his head in disappointment.
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Đoàn Nhữ Hài was a very smart and talented man who worked as a royal official during the time of three kings from the Trần Dynasty in Vietnam: King Trần Nhân Tông, King Trần Anh Tông, and King Trần Minh Tông. He was good at helping the country both inside and outside, especially in dealing with other nations. Because of his great work, King Trần Nhân Tông liked him very much and even let him marry Princess Nguyệt Hoa.
One time, the old king (Thượng hoàng Trần Nhân Tông) came back to the capital for a surprise visit. He went to check on the palace and saw that the new king, Trần Anh Tông, was drunk and sleeping. This made the old king very upset, and he quickly returned to his home in Thiên Trường. He also told all the royal officials to come the next day to hear an important announcement—he was thinking about replacing the king!
Later that day, King Trần Anh Tông woke up and heard what had happened. He became very scared. On his way out of the palace, he passed a temple and saw a young scholar named Đoàn Nhữ Hài standing at the gate. The king brought him inside and asked him to help write a letter to say sorry to the old king.
Right there, Đoàn Nhữ Hài wrote the letter for the king. The king was so impressed, he immediately took a small boat, brought Đoàn Nhữ Hài with him, and went to see the old king.
The next morning, they arrived at Thiên Trường and gave the letter to the old king. At first, the old king said nothing. Later that afternoon, even though it started raining heavily, Đoàn Nhữ Hài kept kneeling outside in the rain, not moving at all. The old king finally asked if he was still out there. When told yes, he had the letter brought to him.
After reading the heartfelt words, the old king was touched. He called the king in and said, “I have other sons who could be king too. If you act like this while I’m still alive, what will happen when I’m gone?” The king bowed and said sorry many times. When the old king found out that Đoàn Nhữ Hài wrote the letter, he said, “This letter truly speaks my heart.” He forgave King Trần Anh Tông.
Another time, Đoàn Nhữ Hài was sent on a mission to a country called Champa (Chiêm Thành). In the past, all Vietnamese messengers had to bow to the king of Champa before reading the emperor’s letter. But Đoàn Nhữ Hài did something different. He placed the emperor’s letter on the table and said, “I have traveled far to bring this letter from our emperor. Seeing this letter is like seeing the emperor himself. I should bow to the letter first before we read it.” Then he turned to the letter and bowed.
By doing this, he showed respect to his own emperor and avoided bowing to the Champa king. The Champa king couldn’t argue with that. From then on, thanks to Đoàn Nhữ Hài, Vietnamese messengers didn’t have to bow to the Champa king anymore.
Regarding the King Trần Anh Tông, after almost got fired from the king position by his father, he changed himself for better, and later a very good king.
The Brave Plan to Protect Đại Việt
Even though the Yuan Dynasty (in China) was trying to keep peace with Đại Việt during Emperor Yuan Chengzong’s time, some of the local border officials were not so kind. Between the years 1311 and 1312, officials from the Yuan side attacked the Thái Nguyên area of Đại Việt five times and captured 5,000 people, taking them away to China. One official even stole gold and farmland, and captured our merchants.
If Đại Việt stayed quiet and did nothing, these border attacks would only get worse. And if we only sent letters or messengers to complain, it would take too long and might not solve the problem. So, the Trần Dynasty decided to act—this time with a military response. But it wasn’t a wild or risky move. It was carefully planned.
At that time, the Yuan Dynasty had many problems of its own, so they weren’t ready to start another war with Đại Việt. But they were still storing food, weapons, and supplies near our border. That was dangerous for us because they could attack anytime.
Long before, when the famous Mongol leader Kublai Khan was still alive, he had planned to send a huge army to invade Đại Việt for the fourth time—with half a million soldiers, 1,000 ships, and tons of supplies! Even though that attack never happened, many of those supplies remained near our border, waiting.
So the Trần army decided to strike first—to do two things at once: punish the troublemaking officials and destroy the enemy’s storage camps to stop future attacks.
There’s a story from the Complete Annals of Đại Việt that says in the year 1300, when General Trần Hưng Đạo was very sick, King Trần Anh Tông came to visit. The king asked, “If something bad happens and the northern enemy attacks again, what should we do?”
Hưng Đạo Vương gave a wise answer. He said:
In the past, great leaders like Triệu Vũ and Lý Thường Kiệt didn’t just wait for the enemy to invade—they attacked first when the time was right.
In some times, strong leaders united the people and built strong fortresses to stop invasions.
During the last invasion, we worked together, and that’s how we won.
If the enemy comes fast like fire or wind, we can fight back directly.
If they come slowly, like worms eating leaves, we need to play smart—like a game of chess.
And most importantly, we must take care of our people, let them rest and grow strong. That’s the best way to protect the country
Hưng Đạo Vương reminded the king that sometimes, attacking first is the best way to defend the land.
In early 1313, the Trần army crossed into southern China. From today’s Hà Giang province, over 30,000 soldiers, including 3,000 on horseback, attacked Trấn Yên in Guangxi, burned storage buildings, and returned safely.
Although being a brave man, Anh Tông tried to escaped the tattoo on his thighs. The story said that once, the retired emperor invited Anh Tông to the royal palace and said, “Our family comes from brave riverfolk. We’ve always valued courage. For generations, we’ve tattooed dragons on our thighs to remember our roots as warriors.” There was even a tattoo artist waiting outside, ready to give the king his dragon tattoo! But while the retired emperor looked away, Anh Tông quietly slipped out and ran back to his palace. His father understood—and never brought up the tattoo again
In the spring of 1301, the retired emperor Trần Nhân Tông visited the Kingdom of Champa, where he was warmly welcomed by King Chế Mân. He stayed there for almost 9 months. During the visit, he promised to marry his daughter, Princess Huyền Trân (King Anh Tông’s younger sister), to Chế Mân.
Later, Chế Mân sent many messengers asking about the wedding. Most of the Trần officials didn’t agree with it, but two high-ranking ministers—Prince Trần Đạo Tái and Trần Khắc Chung—supported the plan. In the summer of 1306, King Anh Tông finally agreed. Princess Huyền Trân traveled to Champa and became queen. As a wedding gift, Chế Mân gave Đại Việt two large provinces: Ô and Lý. King Anh Tông renamed them Thuận and Hóa.
However, the people living there didn’t want to follow Đại Việt’s rule. So the king sent a Đoàn Nhữ Hài to calm things down. He handed out land, cancelled taxes for many years, and appointed local leaders to help rule. Thanks to these actions, the area became peaceful.
But just a year later, in the summer of 1307, King Chế Mân passed away. According to Champa’s customs, when a king died, the queen had to die too by being burned on a funeral fire. When King Anh Tông heard this terrible news, he quickly sent Trần Khắc Chung on a secret mission—not just to mourn, but to rescue his sister!
Trần Khắc Chung pretended to attend the funeral, but he had a clever plan. He secretly helped Princess Huyền Trân escape, brought her to the coast, and together they sailed back safely to Đại Việt.
Reference:
https://www.doantoc.vn/lich-su-va-ho-dhoan/dhoannhuhai
https://danviet.vn/vua-tran-anh-tong-mang-30000-quan-danh-vao-dat-nguyen-ket-qua-ra-sao-20220921154503193-d1044880.html
Wikipedia: Trần Anh Tông
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