Emperor Tran Hien Tong

A boy sits on a golden throne in the court, a seat so wide that it seems made for a tall, strong man. His small feet do not yet touch the floor, and his tiny hands rest on arms of the throne that are far too broad for them. He is about ten years old, and he is the emperor.

His personal name was Trần Vượng. The histories remember him by a grander name, Emperor Trần Hiến Tông. He was a son of Emperor Trần Minh Tông, and he took the throne in 1329, when he was only about ten years old. He belonged to the Trần dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400.

Ten is an age for play, for being led by the hand by a mother or a father. Yet this boy put on the emperor's robe and carried on his small shoulders the whole of Đại Việt, an old name for Vietnam. It was a very wide country for such young shoulders.

But he was never left to stand alone. Right behind him stood his father, Emperor Trần Minh Tông. The histories say the boy was so young that his father took on every matter, large and small, and the running of the court, and guided his son in it. He had not given his son a throne and walked away. He stayed behind him, and led him one step at a time.

It is easy to picture how it went: every morning, when the boy emperor came into court, his father was there. When a matter was hard, or a written character was strange, or something puzzled the boy, the father explained it gently. A kind grandfather might guide a grandchild's hand through the first strokes of writing. In the same way, the father held his son's hand and showed him the work of the country, one task after another.

And this is the finest part of the story. The father let his son sit on the throne to watch, to listen, and to grow used to the work of a ruler. Day by day the boy grew on that very throne. The timid hands that once rested so lightly now rested more firmly on its arms, and his eyes were less bewildered by the business of the court. A boy became a youth, and a youth became a steadier young man with each passing day.

This way of standing behind a son is called Thái thượng hoàng. It describes a father who has given the throne to his son and stepped back, yet never leaves his side. He watches in silence and gives advice. It is a fine and special mark of the Trần. Generation after generation, the fathers of the Trần emperors did the same. They handed over the throne early and stood behind their sons, so that the young could learn to carry the country without ever feeling alone.

He sat on that throne until 1341. Twelve years went by, twelve seasons of rice ripening, and the boy grew up quietly with his father beside him. Through those years Đại Việt lived in relative peace. Before his time, the Trần had beaten fierce armies three times, and by his reign the war drums had fallen silent, leaving only calm, gentle days. On the throne sat a growing boy. Behind him stood a kind father, firm as a great tree that gives shelter.

There are things that are simple, and yet warm in a way that stays with a person. They are like the way fathers and grandfathers, through all the generations, have loved and taught the children of a family.

On the wide golden throne, a boy sits with small hands that do not shake with fear. Behind him, his father's warm hand rests quietly on his shoulder, and helps him grow a little more each day.