The royal edict of King Chiêu Thống after being conferred the title of King of Annam

Abstract

      On January 22nd, in the 53rd year of Qianlong’s reign (December 19th, 1788), Tôn Sĩ Nghị brought the royal seal to confer the title of King of Annam upon Lê Duy Kỳ. Ten days later, on the 2nd day of the twelfth lunar month in the 53rd year of Qianlong’s reign (December 28th, 1788), King Chiêu Thống sent his first letter to the Qing court to express gratitude to King Qianlong for sending troops to help him restore the capital. This was also the first official document sent by Lê Duy Kỳ to China, bearing the seal of the newly appointed King of Annam. Although the royal decree from the Qing emperor and the gold-plated silver seal sent to Annam, along with Lê Duy Kỳ’s thank-you letter hold little historical significance, they are still traces of a bygone era and valuable primary source materials. Therefore, we have translated them to fill in the missing parts of a turbulent period that few people paid attention to.