Thanh Thai (Thành Thái)

Vietnamese. Name of an Emperor of the Nguyen (Nguyễn) Dynasty, who reigned for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907 AD. He was born on 14 March 1879, as Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu (Nguyễn Phúc Bửu), the son of Emperor Duc Duc (Dục Đức) and Empress Dowager Tu Minh (Từ Minh), Duc Duc was a cousin and adopted son of Emperor Tu Duc whom he succeeded, though he reigned for only three days due to a power struggle that emerged at the imperial court after Tu Duc's death. Thanh Thai is said to have been a progressive and patriotic ruler, and has been described as a man of the people, a monarch who cared deeply for his country, friendly with western civilization, and very intelligent. To escape the constant scrutiny of French spies who had infiltrated the palace, Thanh Thai feigned to be insane, enabling himself to work harder for Vietnamese autonomy while waiting for the right time to throw off French colonial rule. Though, on his way to join a resistance movement in China, he was arrested by the French who forced him to abdicate and in 1907 installed his son Duy Tan (Duy Tân) as the new Emperor (fig.), while Thanh Thai was exiled to South Vietnam, But when Duy Tan also rebelled against the French, they were in 1916 both exiled to Reunion Island. In 1945, Thanh Thai was allowed to return home but was kept under house arrest. He died in Saigon on 24 March 1954, at the age of 75. He today has a memorial altar (fig.) among the other Nguyen Emperors inside the Citadel in Hue (fig.). 回