Đinh Phế Đế

Đinh Phế Đế 丁廢帝
Emperor of Đại Cồ Việt
Reign	979–980
Predecessor	Đinh Tiên Hoàng
Successor	Lê Đại Hành (Early Lê Dynasty)
Born	974
Died	1001
Full name Đinh Toàn (丁璿) Đinh Tuệ (丁穗) Era name and dates Thái Bình (太平): 979–980
House	Đinh Dynasty
Father	Đinh Bộ Lĩnh
Mother	Dương Vân Nga

Đinh Phế Đế (974–1001) was the second and also the last king of Đinh dynasty. His born name is Đinh Toàn (丁璿) or Đinh Tuệ (丁穗). He is the offspring of Đinh Tiên Hoàng and his famous empress Dương Vân Nga (Đinh Bộ Linh conferred the title of Empress on five consorts).

Early years

He was the second son of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, after Đinh Liễn and before Đinh Hạng Lang. After Đinh Bộ Lĩnh confers Crown prince on Đinh Hạng Lang, Đinh Liễn angrily killed his younger brother. However, he was able to ascend the throne because of an absurdity that arose when a small official named Đỗ Thích dreamed of his accession to the throne and subsequently assassinated both Đinh Bộ Lĩnh and Đinh Liễn. Đinh Toàn obviously became the last heir of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh and enthroning him became inevitable.^[1]

Short reign

His accession took place during his childhood, which made him only a nominal king without any power. All power was wielded by the Regent Lê Hoàn, who some months later became the founder of Lê Dynasty. During this short reign, there were some events happening in his court. Two officials, Đinh Điền and Nguyễn Bặc, feared most power concentrated in Lê Hoàn's hands could soon replace the Đinh dynasty with one of Lê Hoàn. And also they suspected that he and Dowager Empress Dương Vân Nga had a liaison that was intolerable. They maneuvered a mutiny opposed Lê Hoàn but it was rapidly suppressed.

The prince consort Ngô Nhật Khánh fled to Champa, and convinced their monarch, Parameshvaravarman I, to dispatch a naval fleet to attack the Hoa Lư capital. However, this campaign ended in disaster when a surprise storm sank many of the vessels.^[2]:56

In 980, after hearing about the demise of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, the Song emperor despatched his army to defeat Đại Cồ Việt(one of preceding names of Vietnam). In that circumstance, Dowager Empress Dương Vân Nga and the court unanimously enthroned Lê Hoàn. After battling the Song army twice, Lê Hoàn (now King Lê Đại Hành) expelled the invaders from his realm. As such, the reign of Đinh Toàn de facto came to the end.

Later years

After being dethroned, Đinh Toàn became "Vệ Vương", a noble title similar to that of landlord or some kin of the king which have delighted him and was dubbed. By the year 1001, when repressing the rebellion Cửu Long in Thanh Hóa Province, he was hit by an arrow and died immediately at the age of 27. Nowadays, historical book have named his title "Đinh Phế Đế", which means "the deposed King of the Đinh Dynasty."

Notes

1. Some modern historians hypothesize that Dương Vân Nga intrigued with Lê Hoàn to assassinate Đinh Bộ Lĩnh and Đinh Liễn to enthrone her son, but this is not popularly confirmed
2. Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., ISBN 9747534991

References

• Đại việt sử kí toàn thư.