Princess Thien Thanh

In the palace of the Trần dynasty, long ago, a princess was about to leave for her husband's house. The odd thing was that her husband's family bore the same name as hers. They were Trần too. Her name was Thiện Thành, and people called her Princess Thiện Thành.

She was the daughter of Emperor Trần Thái Tông, the first emperor of the dynasty. The Trần dynasty ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400. Thiện Thành grew up in the palace in its earliest days, when the whole Trần family was working side by side to build up the family's fortunes.

When she came of age, she married a man from the Trần family itself. He was Trần Quốc Tuấn, whom people usually call by the grand name Trần Hưng Đạo.

It was a very special match. The two came from the same family root, and now they came together into one household. They were like two branches of a great tree that reached out in opposite directions and then twined around each other, so that both shade the same courtyard. Her marriage joined the two branches of the Trần family into one warm home.

Her husband later became a great general of the country. In those days a powerful army from the far north, the Mongols, came across the border more than once. The country needed someone to lead its soldiers. That man was her husband, who stood with the soldiers and people of Đại Việt to defend the land. Đại Việt is an old name for Vietnam.

Yet behind a great general on the field, there is always a quiet home he can return to. The one who looked after that home was Princess Thiện Thành. She carried no sword and never went into battle. Her work was much quieter, and without her hands a home could never be whole.

The husband and wife lived side by side and raised a houseful of Trần children. Among them were Trần Quốc Nghiễn and Trần Quốc Tảng. She watched her children grow from day to day, and in time they followed their parents in carrying on the work of the family and of the country. It was a precious home, where father, mother and children all gave their hearts to the homeland.

Because of that devotion, later generations gave her a lovely title. They honored her as Nguyên Từ quốc mẫu. The words quốc mẫu mean the kind mother of the whole country. A princess who quietly kept the ways of her household became, in the hearts of the Vietnamese people, a mother to everyone.

Back in the palace of the Trần, long ago, two branches of one family had come together into a single home. The gentle wife kept the warmth of the house. The husband, with his great purpose, guarded the land. And a houseful of children grew up in love. Generations of Trần descendants grew up in that kind of home, and its warmth is still remembered today.