King Le Long Dinh's mother was a Cham?

Abstract

After the death of King Le Dai Hanh, his third son Le Long Viet ascended the throne for 3 days before being assassinated by his younger brother and Le Dai Hanh’s fifth son, Le Long Dinh. Le Long Dinh ruled on the throne for 4 years, before passing away at 24 (986 - 1009). Official  History of Dai Viet (Dai Viet su ky toan thu, hereafter DVSKTT) recorded that Long Dinh’s mother was "Chi hau Dieu Nu". In the footnotes of the DVSKTT (published in 2000), there is a passage about Long Dinh’s mother as follows: “Dai Viet su luoc” (Book 1, 21a) suggests that Long Viet's mother was a "maiden maid" (hau di nu) (a daughter of a Cham maid). However, in the footnote also of the official history printed in 2017, it is written: "Dai Viet history (book 1, 21a) records that Long Viet's mother is a "maid maid" (daughter of a Chiem maidservant). Not only DVSKTT, but other historical records about the king’s mother are also vague and inconsistent. In particular, Viet Su Luoc recorded that the mother of Le Long Viet and Le Long Dinh was “Mau so hau di nu” but most of the translations have not mentioned her as a Cham person. The inconsistent and ambiguous historical records about the mother of King Le Trung Tong and King Le Long Dinh revealed only partly the mysterious identity of this woman. This article will contribute to shedding some light on the origin of the mysterious lady.