Gia Long - Emperors, Timeline and Facts

Gia Long was born as Nguyen Phúc Anh on 8 February 1762 as the son of Nguyễn Phúc Luân and Nguyen Thi Hoan.

His father was the designated heir of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát of southern Vietnam. However, the Khoat’s will of succession was changed when he was in his deathbed and instead Luan’s younger brother Nguyễn Phúc Thuần ascended the throne in 1765.

His father Luan was then arrested and killed. His uncle Thuan too lost his position as the lord of southern Vietnam soon and was killed during the Tay Son rebellion led by his rivals in 1777. Several members of the ruling family were killed, and Nguyen Anh was one of the few members to have survived this assault.

Fearing for his life, the young Nguyen Anh fled to Ha Tien on the southern coastal tip of Vietnam. Here he had the good fortune of meeting Pigneau de Behaine, a French priest who became his adviser and helped him escape from his enemies.

Nguyen Anh escaped to the island of Pulo Panjang in the Gulf of Siam with the help of the priest. The priest was a Catholic who hoped that in the future Nguyen would help him expand the Catholic Church in South East Asia.

Nguyen Anh contemplated asking for aid from European forces and considered soliciting help from the English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. However, Pigneau advised him against seeking help from the Dutch and thus Nguyen Anh asked the priest to appeal for French aid.

Pigneau enlisted French volunteers and managed to procure several shipments of arms and munitions. Meanwhile Nguyen Anh assembled his forces at home and abroad, and when Pigneau arrived, he managed to consolidate his hold on southern Vietnam.

The French officers trained Nguyen Anh’s forces in modern warfare and introduced them to Western technology to be used in the war effort. Some of the French officials, including Jean-Marie Dayot and Olivier de Puymanel were instrumental in constructing naval vessels and fortifications.

While the French officers trained his armed forces, Pigneau, and other missionaries helped purchase munitions and other military supplies for the army. The French priest also advised him on important matters and acted as the de facto foreign minister until his death.

Empowered by the French aid, Nguyen Anh consolidated his army and secured victory over rival claimants at Hue and Hanoi in 1802. He proclaimed himself, Gia Long, the Emperor of Nguyễn Dynasty. After more than two decades of continuous fighting, Gia Long had unified what is now modern Vietnam.

Upon assuming power he implemented a classical Confucian education and civil service system. He modernized the country’s defensive capabilities and strengthened its dominance in Indochina.

Gia Long was a cautious ruler and is not known for being innovative. He felt that foreign trade was not essential to Vietnamese development and thus failed to adopt new European technologies or expand his country’s commercial ties with the European nations.

He ruled for almost two decades over the course of which he established an efficient postal service and built public granaries to stock harvests as a buffer for future famines. He also brought about significant monetary and legal reforms.

He was instrumental in unifying what is now modern Vietnam. As a ruler, he modernized the country’s defensive capabilities and established an efficient postal service and built public granaries to stock harvests as a buffer for future famines.

Gia Long married for the first time in 1780, during the war against the Tay Son. His first wife was Tong Thi Lan, the daughter of a Nguyen general. She gave birth to two sons, the eldest being Crown Prince Nguyen Canh.

Later on he took a second wife, Tran Thi Dang, the daughter of one of his ministers. She bore him three sons.

He married for the third time after he conquered Vietnam. His third wife was Le Ngoc Binh, the daughter of Le Hien Tong, the second-last emperor of the Le Dynasty. Le Ngoc gave birth to two sons and two daughters.

In addition to his three wives, he had a number of concubines, around 100 in number.

Gia Long died on 3 February 1820 and was buried at the Thien Tho Tomb. He was posthumously named Thế Tổ Cao Hoàng đế.