Biography

Emperor Thiệu Trị was much like his father, Minh Mạng, and carried on his conservative policies of isolationism and the entrenchment of Confucianism. Highly educated in the Confucian tradition, Thiệu Trị had some curiosity about the West, but like his father was very suspicious of all non-Vietnamese outsiders. At this same time, the French were in a colonial race with Great Britain in Southeast Asia and were pushing hard for stronger relations with Indochina. This, just as in the reign of Minh Mạng, also brought up Christian missionaries, mostly Spanish and French, who ignored the ban. When Trị began to imprison the missionaries, it prompted an immediate response from France. In 1843, the French government sent a military expedition to Indochina with orders to protect and defend French interests, free the illegal missionaries, if possible without causing an international incident.

Trị's determination to eliminate all Roman Catholic missionaries from his country could not be reconciled with a peaceful relationship with France. In 1845, this almost prompted a clash between Vietnam and the American warship USS Constitution which attempted to force Trị to free the missionary Dominique Lefèbvre, who had repeatedly come to Vietnam illegally multiple times. The French task force reached Tourane on 23 March 1847, and demanded that the safety of French nationals be assured and for Thiệu Trị to cease the persecution of missionaries.

The imperial mandarins put off delivering the emperor's reply and fighting broke out. Thiệu Trị had fortified the coast, but the French forces easily defeated the Vietnamese due to the Nguyễn dynasty's inferior equipment. All of the Vietnamese coastal forts were destroyed and three Nguyễn junks were sunk before the French squadron sailed away. Thiệu Trị called all missionaries enemy spies and demanded that all Christians should be executed on the spot. The mandarins did not put this order into effect and Emperor Thiệu Trị died shortly afterwards; no missionaries were actually ever executed during his reign.

Family

生平

紹治帝原名阮福曧（），明命四年三月十日（1823年），明命帝御賜新名阮福綿宗（），是明命帝的長子，為佐天仁皇后胡氏華所生。不過胡氏華在其出生十三天之後便逝世了，明命十一年（1830年）正月，受封為長慶公（）。

明命二十一年十二月二十八日（1841年1月20日），明命帝逝世。紹治元年正月二十日（2月11日），皇長子長慶公在太和殿正式登基，並按帝系冊將阮福綿宗改名阮福暶，是為紹治帝。奉明命帝的遺命，張登桂、武文解、阮知方、林維浹擔任輔政大臣，執掌朝政。

紹治帝繼位的時候，由於柬埔寨女王安眉被張明講遷到嘉定（今胡志明市）囚禁，高棉人發動了大規模反對阮朝統治的起義。在由博丁德差率領的暹羅軍隊的支持下，流亡暹羅的柬埔寨王子安東回到柬埔寨，希望復國。林森也在南圻的茶榮一帶發動反對阮朝的暴動。雖然有張明講、黎文德、阮公著、阮進林、林維浹率大軍鎮壓，但南圻叛軍、高棉人和暹羅軍隊互相聲援，因此仍無濟於事。謝光巨建議放棄柬埔寨之地，紹治帝遂召駐守南榮城（今金邊）的張明講回朝。阮朝軍隊也開始從柬埔寨撤退。安敦奪取了烏棟城，成為了新的柬埔寨國王。

阮進林、阮公著率軍自柬埔寨回到南圻攻打林森叛軍。但林森得到了暹羅軍隊的支援。紹治帝派黎文德為總統，率軍前去鎮壓。由阮知方、阮進林守前江，阮公著、阮公仁守永濟，範文典、範文仁守後江，三路並進，擊敗暹羅援軍，迫使其逃往柬埔寨。

不過由於安東不滿暹羅的統治，派人向紹治帝求救。1845年，紹治帝派武文解經略柬埔寨之事，率阮知方、尹蘊、尊室議攻入柬埔寨，並包圍了烏棟城。博丁德差與阮知方、尹蘊締結了和約，約定不再幹涉柬埔寨內政，柬埔寨同時向阮朝和暹羅朝貢。1846年，安東派人到阮朝朝貢，越南軍隊自此退出柬埔寨。翌年，紹治帝冊封安東為「高蠻國王」，並封安眉為「郡主」。

紹治帝與其父明命帝一樣，對西方國家持保守和敵對的態度，不過紹治年間禁教比明命年間相對緩和。紹治帝依然延續明命帝的政策，對逮捕外國傳教士的人進行獎勵，並將被捕獲的傳教士送往順化監禁，命他們翻譯西方書籍。1845年，法國軍艦「女英雄」號（Héroine）駛入沱㶞港（今峴港），艦長法萬·勒韋凱（Favin Lévêque）要求釋放5名被囚禁在順化的傳教士。紹治帝同意釋放這5名傳教士。此後紹治帝又陸續將順化的傳教士全部釋放。

1847年，法國政府得知越南不再有被囚禁的傳教士的時候，派遣德·拉皮埃爾（De Lapierre）、夏爾·里戈·德·熱諾伊利（Rigault de Genouilly，即黎峨）分別率領兩艘軍艦來到沱㶞，要求越南解除對天主教的禁令。3月23日，正值雙方展開商議之機，法國人發現有兵船停在軍艦附近，並且看見了岸上的炮臺和防禦工事，懷疑阮朝朝廷對他們有敵意，便開炮擊沉了所有兵船，然後起錨離開了沱㶞。紹治帝大怒，再次重申了禁教令，並加強了對國內天主教徒的鎮壓。

紹治七年年九月二十七日（1847年11月4日），紹治帝逝世，葬於昌陵。次子阮福洪任改名阮福時並繼位，是為嗣德帝。嗣德帝為他上廟號憲祖（）、諡號紹天隆運至善純孝寬明睿斷文治武功聖哲章皇帝（）。

家族

後宮

子女

紹治帝有二十九子三十五女。

影視形象

腳注

注釋