Emperor Duc Duc

Early one morning in the capital at Hue, a young man sat bent over a book in a study house. His face was still boyish. His eyes moved slowly along the page, following each line of characters one by one. The study house was called Dục Đức.

From the name of that very house, people later called the young man Dục Đức. It was a lovely name, born in a place of books, from early mornings spent patiently cultivating virtue.

The old records give his full name as Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Chân, though at first he was called Ưng Ái. He was born in 1852, right there in Hue. His father was Thoại Thái Vương, a son of Emperor Thiệu Trị. So royal blood ran in his veins from the day he was born.

In 1869, when he had just turned 17, Emperor Tự Đức chose him as an adopted son. The emperor gave him the name Ưng Chân and let him live in the Dục Đức study house, to look after his studies. A 17-year-old, trusted by the emperor, with so many hopes placed on him. The name Dục Đức stayed with him from those days of study.

Then, in 1883, he stepped onto the throne. But he was emperor for just three days, the shortest reign of any emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. That was Vietnam's last royal dynasty, which reigned from 1802 to 1945. Three days, like a breeze passing by. This story will touch on them lightly, and move on to the brightest part.

And yet the most beautiful thing he left to the world did not lie in the throne. It lay in a child, a son.

That son was Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân, his seventh child, born in 1879. The boy Bửu Lân grew up to be a man that any father would be proud of, beyond all measure.

He became Emperor Thành Thái, the tenth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He was an emperor who loved his country with all his heart. He loved to learn new things. He was fascinated by machines, he was fascinated by vehicles, and he wanted to understand everything modern in his time. Above all, he cared for poor people. Often he left the palace quietly, to see for himself and find out how his people lived.

The father had grown up in a house named for cultivating virtue. And the son became a kind and patriotic emperor who cared for his people. It was as if all the good things the father had cherished were lived out fully by the son.

The old records say that after Thành Thái became emperor, he conferred honors on his father. The son offered him the most dignified titles, out of love and gratitude. The father had been emperor for just three days, but the son had become emperor too, and he came back to honor his father with all his heart. Some fathers leave the world no throne and no power. They leave something that lasts far longer, a son of good character.

The name Dục Đức began in a study house, where a young man sat over his book, cultivating virtue. That name did not go out with three short days. It lived on in his son, a patriotic emperor who loved learning and cared for his people. Even now, when people speak of Emperor Thành Thái, they can trace his virtue and kindness back to a father, and to a house named Dục Đức.