Tran Quoc Toan

The old tale says his fingers closed tighter and tighter, until the orange in his palm burst without his noticing. The hand belonged to a teenage boy. He was not looking at the orange at all. He was looking toward the river landing, where princes and commanders sat in council about the affairs of the country, and he was not among them. His heart burned like a fire.

The boy was Trần Quốc Toản, a young member of the Trần royal house. He held the title Hoài Văn Hầu. The Trần dynasty ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400.

The year was 1282, and dark clouds were gathering from the north. The Yuan Mongol army, a very strong force, was preparing to sweep down into Đại Việt once again. The Yuan were the Mongol dynasty then ruling China. Đại Việt is an old name for Vietnam. Facing this danger, Emperor Trần Nhân Tông called a great council at the Bình Than landing. He summoned the princes and commanders to plan together how to resist the enemy and how to share the guarding of the key strongpoints.

Trần Quốc Toản was there too. But he was far too young. According to historical records he was about 15, though some sources say 16. Because he was so young, he was not allowed to sit in the council with the grown men.

The enemy was drawing near. Everyone was given a share in caring for the country. Only he had to stand outside, because he was a boy. That hurt kept rising in his heart, and then it turned into something very different: a resolve.

But the finest part of the story comes next.

The boy did not stand there sulking or sad. He went back to his own lands and set about a very big task. He gathered his kinsmen and the strong young men of the region, more than a thousand people in all, a whole army raised by one teenager. Day and night he trained with them in martial skills, in handling weapons, in marching in ranks, getting ready for the day they would go to the front.

He also had a great flag made. On its cloth he had six golden characters embroidered. They read: "Defeat the mighty enemy, repay the emperor's kindness." A boy who had not even been given a seat at the council had built, on his own, an army and a flag with so great a purpose.

Three years later, in 1285, the Yuan army marched into Đại Việt. The whole country rose to resist. This time Trần Quốc Toản did not have to stand outside. He led his own army, carrying the flag with its six golden characters, and stood shoulder to shoulder with the Trần forces in the resistance.

The great flag stretched taut in the wind. The six golden characters caught the sunlight and blazed. Beneath it walked a whole column of people, gathered and trained by a single boy. It was more than a flag. It was the spirit of a young man who believed that he, too, could help protect his country.

Vietnamese people have told the story of Trần Quốc Toản from one generation to the next. He did not wait for anyone's permission. He raised an army of his own and embroidered a flag of his own.

A small orange in the palm of a hand, and from it grew so great a purpose. He was the boy who once crushed an orange because he could not yet help. Then he built an army with his own hands, under a flag of six golden characters that was all his own.