Biography

Trần Ích Tắc was born in 1254 as the fifth son of the Emperor Trần Thái Tông, he was entitled Prince Chiêu Quốc in May 1268. Besides his elder brother the Emperor Trần Thánh Tông, Prince Chiêu Quốc had two other famous brothers who were grand chancellor Prince Chiêu Minh (Chiêu Minh vương) Trần Quang Khải and Prince Chiêu Văn (Chiêu Văn vương) Trần Nhật Duật, both Trần Quang Khải and Trần Nhật Duật were important generals of the Trần Dynasty during the second Mongol invasion of Đại Việt. Although Trần Quang Khải was a famous poet and Trần Nhật Duật was well known for his knowledge, the most famous prince of the Retired Emperor Thái Tông before the war was still Trần Ích Tắc. It was said that Prince Chiêu Quốc was not only intelligent but also fond of learning, besides a broad knowledge of history, art, literature, Trần Ích Tắc was even a skilled player of cuju and xiangqi. The palace of Prince Chiêu Quốc in Thăng Long was a renowned school of the capital where educated many scholars including some future prominent officials of the Trần Dynasty such as Mạc Đĩnh Chi or Bùi Phóng.

In 1279, the Yuan Dynasty had the decisive victory over the Song Dynasty in the Battle of Yamen which marked the end of the Song Dynasty and the total control of Kublai Khan over China. As a result, Kublai Khan began to expose his attempt to take over the southern countries like Đại Việt or Champa. In December 1284, the second Yuan's invasion of Đại Việt was opended under the command of Kublai Khan's prince Toghan. Đại Việt was attacked in two directions, Toghan himselft conducted the infantry invaded from the northern border while Yuan's navy under general Sogetu advanced from the southern border through Champa's territory.

In order to avoid the pressure of Yuan's force, the Retired Emperor Thánh Tông and the Emperor Nhân Tông decided to retreat from Thăng Long to Thanh Hóa on March 1 of Lunar calendar 1285. In the same month, Prince Chiêu Quốc Trần Ích Tắc, Marquis Văn Chiêu (Văn Chiêu hầu) Trần Lộng and several officials of the Trần Dynasty surrendered to prince Toghan. According to Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư, Thái Tông was presaged the defection to the north of Trần Ích Tắc before his birth while Trần Ích Tắc also soon exposed his purpose of fighting his elder brother for the throne even by the foreign force. Therefore, on this occasion, Prince Chiêu Quốc decided to defect to the Yuan side with the hope that they would help him take over the position of Emperor of Đại Việt. The defection of Trần Ích Tắc and several high-ranking official of Trần royal court did had an adverse impact for the Trần Dynasty in the beginning of the war of resistance, but Trần clan and royal court were still united by the effort of the Retired Emperor, the Emperor and other important figures like Trần Hưng Đạo, Trần Quang Khải, Trần Nhật Duật. The harmony of them was one of the main factors that led to the victory of the Trần Dynasty over the Mongols' second invasion.

Right after the failed attempt in 1285, the Yuan Dynasty began to prepare for the third major campaign against Đại Việt with the pretext of helping Trần Ích Tắc return as King of Annam. Their 1287 campaign was eventually ended by the Battle of Bạch Đằng on March 8 of Lunar calendar 1288, where Yuan navy was almost destroyed by the troops of Trần Hưng Đạo. In 1289, Trần Emperor issued an order in which the family name of every defected member of Trần clan was changed to Mai (枚), for example Trần Lộng (陳弄) was renamed as Mai Lộng (枚弄), being the only defected prince of Trần clan, Trần Ích Tắc was exempted from this order but he was called in historical accounts of the Trần Dynasty by the name "Ả Trần" ("the woman named Trần").

After the defeat of the Yuan Dynasty in their third invasion of Đại Việt, Trần Ích Tắc continued his life in Ezhou, Hubei, he often appeared in provincial authority when Đại Việt ambassador went to China. One time he met the ambassador Nguyễn Đại Phạp (阮代乏) who was once a scribe in the palace of Trần Ích Tắc's brother, Prince Chiêu Đạo (Chiêu Đạo vương / 昭道王). When Trần Ích Tắc showed his scorn about the profession of Nguyễn Đại Phạp in the past, the ambassador of Đại Việt said: "Things changed. Đại Phạp, once a mere scribe for Prince Chiêu Đạo, now became an ambassador, just like the Mandarin Tắc, once a prince of the Emperor, now became a defector" ("Việc đời đổi thay, Đại Phạp trước vốn là tên biên chép cho Chiêu Đạo vương, nay là sứ giả, cũng như Bình chương xưa kia là con vua, nay lại là người đầu hàng giặc"). It seemed that Trần Ích Tắc felt ashamed after that event and he did not appear anymore when Đại Việt ambassador was there. He died in 1239 in foreign soil far from his homeland.

In 1354 Chen Youliang, the founder of the rebel Chen Han regime in the late Yuan Dynasty tried to mobilise support from Đại Việt. However the Emperor Trần Dụ Tông refused to help him because the Trần Dynasty needed to concentrate their force in the southern border against Champa. In the account about this event, Ngô Sĩ Liên noted that the Chinese leader Chen Youliang (陈友谅；Vietnamese: Trần Hữu Lượng), founder of Chen Han in China, was the son of Trần Ích Tắc.

Works

• Củng cực lạc ngâm tập (拱極樂吟集)

背景

陳益稷於1254年出生在昇龍，是陳太宗的第五子。1268年5月，受封為昭國王。在陳益稷的兄弟中，除了長兄陳聖宗以外，還有兩位著名的兄弟：上相太師昭明王陳光啓和昭文王陳日燏。陳光啓和陳日燏在第二次元越戰爭中陳朝抗擊元軍的重要將領。雖然陳光啓擅於作詩，陳日燏也博學多識，但在戰爭發生之前太上皇陳太宗最賞識的兒子仍然是陳益稷。據說陳益稷不僅博學而且多智，在歷史、藝術、文學等方面很有才華。陳益稷也是蹴鞠和象棋的高手。陳益稷所居住的宮殿立即成為昇龍的學術中心，不少越南的知識份子紛紛投靠到他的門下，其中包括了莫挺之和裴放。

歷史

1279年，元朝軍隊在崖山海戰中擊敗了南宋，南宋滅亡。從此以後，忽必烈完全控制了中國。此後，忽必烈希望征服越南和占城。1284年12月，忽必烈派遣兒子鎮南王脫歡入侵越南。另一方面，唆都率領元軍進攻越南南方的占城國，兩面夾擊越南。

為了避開元軍的兵鋒，太上皇陳太宗和當時的皇帝陳聖宗決定於1285年3月1日（陰曆）撤出昇龍，來到清化。同月，陳益稷、昭文侯陳弄以及其他一些陳朝官員向脫歡投降。根據《大越史記全書》的記載，上皇早已預料到陳益稷會叛逃元朝，因為之前陳益稷曾試圖藉助外國的力量與長兄爭奪皇位。而恰恰就在這時，陳益稷決定投降元朝，希望藉助元朝的力量，將自己扶上大越的皇位。陳益稷等陳朝宗室的投降，使陳朝在戰爭初期受到非常不利的影響，不少人主張投降。但在上皇陳太宗、皇帝陳聖宗以及陳國峻、陳光啓、陳日燏等主張派的影響下，陳朝繼續抗擊元軍，並最終擊退了元朝的第二次進攻。

1285年，在第二次失敗後，元朝計畫發動第三次進攻，立陳益稷為安南國王，1287年正式入侵大越。但於1288年3月8日的白藤江之戰後，元朝水軍為陳國峻所敗，第三次入侵宣告失敗。1289年，陳朝皇帝下令將叛逃元朝的宗室的陳姓改為「枚姓」，例如「陳弄」被改名為「枚弄」。雖然陳益稷由於是皇帝的親弟弟而受到了豁免，但其在史書中的名字被改為「妸陳」，意思就是「像婦女一樣懦弱膽小的陳某」。

在元朝第三次入侵失敗之後，陳益稷被遷往湖廣行省的鄂州，成為該省的平章，度過其餘生。當陳朝使團出使元朝時，常常在湖廣行省的行政機構中同使團見面。一次，他同陳朝使者阮代乏見面，阮代乏則是陳益稷親兄長昭道王陳光昶的屬下。阮代乏向元朝諸官員行禮，唯獨不向陳益稷行禮。陳益稷非常生氣，斥責了他。但阮代乏也以投降元朝斥責了陳益稷。陳益稷十分慚愧，此後不敢再同陳朝使者見面。1329年，陳益稷客死鄂州。至順元年（1330年），元朝賜謚忠懿王。兒子沱江宣撫使陳端午於元統元年（1333年）入朝覲見元順帝，受命襲爵安南國王。

1354年，陳漢政權的建立者陳友諒遣使赴陳朝，要求陳裕宗發兵協助攻打元朝。但陳裕宗將其軍事力量重點放在了南方的占城，因此拒絕了陳友諒的要求。在《大越史記全書》的此項記載中，吳士連註解，稱陳友諒是陳益稷的兒子。

腳註