Gia Long

Emperor Gia Long
嘉隆帝
Emperor of Việt Nam
Reign1804–1820
PredecessorĐại Việt renamed to Việt Nam
SuccessorMinh Mang
Emperor of Đại Việt
Reign1802–1804
PredecessorNguyễn Quang Toản of Tây Sơn dynasty
SuccessorĐại Việt renamed to Việt Nam
RegentMinh Mạng (1818–1820)
Emperor of Nguyễn dynasty
Reign1802–1820
PredecessorDynasty established
SuccessorMinh Mạng
King of Nguyễn
Reign1780–1802
PredecessorNguyễn Phúc Dương
SuccessorEnd of Military Commander
Born8 February 1762
Phú Xuân, Đàng Trong, Đại Việt
Died3 February 1820 (aged 57)
Imperial City, Huế, Việt Nam
Burial
SpouseEmpress Thừa Thiên
Empress Thuận Thiên
More than 100 concubines
IssueNguyễn Phúc Cảnh
Nguyễn Phúc Đảm
13 other sons and 18 daughters
Names
Nguyễn Phúc Ánh ()
Era name and dates
Gia Long (): 1802–1820[a]
Regnal name
Đại nguyên súy Nhiếp quốc chính (大元帥國政 "Commander in chief and the regent", 1778–1780)[1]
Nguyễn Vương ( "Prince of Nguyễn", 1780–1802)[2][a]
Posthumous name
Khai thiên Hoằng đạo Lập kỷ Thùy thống Thần văn Thánh võ Tuấn đức Long công Chí nhân Đại hiếu Cao hoàng đế
開天弘道立紀垂統神文聖武俊德隆功至仁大孝高皇帝
Temple name
Thế Tổ ()
HouseNguyễn Phúc
FatherNguyễn Phúc Luân
MotherNguyễn Thị Hoàn
ReligionRuism

Gia Long (Vietnamese: [zaː lawŋ] (North), [jaː lawŋ] (South); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unified territories that constitute modern-day Vietnam until 1945.

A nephew of the last Nguyễn lord who ruled over south Vietnam, Nguyễn Ánh was forced into hiding in 1777 as a fifteen-year-old when his family was slain in the Tây Sơn revolt. After several changes of fortune in which his loyalists regained and again lost Saigon, he befriended the French Catholic Bishop Pierre Pigneau de Behaine. Pigneau championed Nguyễn Ánh's cause to regain the throne to the French government and managed to recruit volunteers, however that soon fell through. From 1789, Nguyễn Ánh was once again in the ascendancy and began his northward march to defeat the Tây Sơn, reaching the border with the Qing dynasty by 1802, which had previously been under the control of the Trịnh lords. Following their defeat, he succeeded in reuniting Vietnam after centuries of internecine feudal warfare, with a greater landmass than ever before, stretching from the Qing's borders down to the Gulf of Siam.

Gia Long's rule was noted for its Confucian orthodoxy. He defeated the Tây Sơn rebellion and reinstated the classical Confucian education and civil service system. He moved the capital from Hanoi south to Huế as the country's populace had also shifted south over the preceding centuries, and built up several fortresses and a palace in his new capital. Using French expertise, he modernized Vietnam's defensive capabilities. In deference to the assistance of his French friends, he tolerated the activities of Roman Catholic missionaries, something that became increasingly restricted under his successors. Under his rule, Vietnam strengthened its military dominance in Indochina, expelling Siamese forces from Cambodia and turning it into a vassal state.


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