Khải Định

Khải Định ( 啟 定 )
Prince name	Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo ( 阮福寶 嶹 )
Personal name	Nguyễn Phúc Tuấn ( 阮福昶 )
Born	October 8, 1885
Died	November 6, 1925
Term of office	May 17, 1916 to November 6, 1925
Ara designation	Khải Định ( 啟 定 )
Temple name	Hoằng Tông ( 弘 宗 )
Posthumous name	Tuyên Hoàng Đế ( 宣 皇帝 )
Different title	Phụng Hóa Công
Resting place	Ứng Lăng ( 應 陵 )
Era period	May 18, 1916 to February 13, 1926

Emperor Khải Định ( Hán tự : 啟 定 ; * October 8, 1885 in Huế ; † November 6, 1925 ibid) was the twelfth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty . On May 18, 1916, he was enthroned as emperor and held this office until his death. His real name was Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Đảo, also Nguyễn Phúc Tuấn, as an acronym he chose “Khải Ärnh”, which means something like “promoter of peace and stability”. His era under this motto began on May 18, 1916 and ended on February 13, 1926.

Instead of the “Emperor of Vietnam”, Khải Định, like the other late emperors of the dynasty, is also known as the “Emperor of Annam ” or - instigated by France - “King of Annam”. The family name "Nguyễn Phúc" also occurs as "Nguyễn Phước".

biography

The future emperor was the eldest son of the ninth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, Đồng Khánh (1864–1889), his mother was his second wife Tiên Cung Dương Thị Thục (1868–1944), who later became the emperor's widow Khôn Nghi Xương Đức. When his father died in 1889, he was not selected as the new emperor, probably also because of the suspicion that his father's disease could be hereditary. When a new emperor was needed in 1916, who was promoted to Duke Phụng Hóa Công in 1906, was already the father of a son, and his father had worked unconditionally with the French, and so far the son too - so the choice now fell on him.

A new emperor had become necessary in 1916 because the previous emperor, Emperor Duy Tân , had taken part in an uprising against French rule and thereupon - like his father, the former emperor Thành Thái - had been banished from Vietnam.

Khải Định lived up to expectations. He may not have been satisfied with his subordinate role, but he legitimized colonial rule, complied with all the demands of the French, and worked closely with them. His opponents therefore saw him as a paid employee of the French colonial administration. This was despite the fact that in 1922 at a conference of states and territories dependent on France in Paris he spoke out in favor of an end to the brutal forms of colonial rule, for more cooperation with the Vietnamese ruling class, for joint rule over Indochina. Without result - since there was not yet a strong independence movement that could have forced concessions, France saw no need to give its rule milder forms, let alone to share power.

It is sometimes claimed that the autonomy or independence and well-being of the people were the goals of Ki nh. For the devout Buddhist, who visited the Thiên Mau Tu pagoda every day , only peaceful paths, diplomatic means, were permissible. In reality, Khải Định signed the orders to arrest nationalist leaders, such as Phan Bội Chau (1867–1940), for the execution of their followers, forcing many of them to go into exile. Already extremely unpopular as a result, it only increased in 1923 when he authorized the colonial administration to increase the farmers' taxes - in part to finance his palatial grave complex. This made the miserable situation of many farmers even worse.

Nationalists like Phan Châu Trinh (1872–1926) accused him of handing the country over to the French, of allowing his people to be exploited, but of living in luxury himself. Similar to Nguyễn Ái Quốc, the later Hồ Chí Minh (1890–1969), who made fun of him in his play "The Bamboo Dragon" as a French doll whose rule is purely ceremonial, without substance.

In his study (1916)

After all, Khải Định promoted a more modern education and training, also for girls. So the old, extreme conservatism-reproducing system of testing mandarins was abolished. His visit to France in 1922, during which he also visited the colonial exhibition in Marseille , was the first visit to Europe by a Vietnamese monarch. This also counteracted the traditional tendency of the local elites to isolate themselves, and was a step towards reducing Vietnam's backwardness, especially in the technological field. Khải Định did not completely reject reforms of the state structures, as long as they remained purely formal. One such idea was, for example, to elect a national assembly, which should only have a consultative function. None of this was realized.

During the reign of Khải Định, Vietnam was quiet. The defeat of previous rebellions had an effect. However, the forces that were later to fight foreign and domestic oppression began to form anew, on the basis of old and new ideologies.

Like his father, Khải Định was in poor health. One of his concubines describes him as "physically weak" and as "not interested in sex". Eventually he became addicted to drugs. On November 6, 1925, he died of tuberculosis in the Kiến Trung Palace .

Khải Định is buried in the Ứng Lăng mausoleum , which is located at Châu Chữ , about 10 km from Huế. Architecturally, it mixes Vietnamese with French elements.

Mausoleum of Emperor Khải Định

family

In addition to four concubines and ten concubines, Khải Định had two main wives - in 1907 he married for the first time, then in 1913 Đức T (Cung (born January 28, 1890; † November 9, 1980 in Hu,), as Empress Đoan Huy Hoàng Thái H ,u, her real name Name was Hoàng Thị Cúc. Her grave is in Dương Xuân Thượng , about 7 km from the center of Huế.

Khải Định had no daughters and - with Đức Từ Cung - only one son, Nguyễn Phúc Thiển or Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy (1913–1997), who grew up and was brought up in France. In 1926 he succeeded him as Emperor Bảo ải on the throne.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Khải Định was proclaimed as emperor one day before the enthronement, on May 17, 1916, cf. The Nguyen Phuoc Dynasty . 4dw.net. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} monarchist view of the Nguyen Dynasty (English and Vietnamese)

Web links

Commons : Emperor Khải Định  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Images of the Khải Định tomb