Tô Trung Từ

Tô Trung Từ (chữ Hán: 蘇忠詞, ?-1211) was a high ranking general near the end of the Lý dynasty in the History of Vietnam, and attempted to usurp the Lý dynasty during his reign of the dynasty's royal court. He was born in Lưu Gia village in Thái Bình province.

Not much is known about Tô Trung Từ's past, other than that he is the brother-in-law of Trần Lý, who married his sister Tô Phu Nhân, and that he was a relative of Tô Hiến Thành, who was one of the most prominent mandarins at the time during the Lý dynasty. He was also the uncle of several prominent members of the Trần clan, such as the Marquis Trần Tự Khánh, Trần Thị Dung who was the last empress of the Lý dynasty and Trần Thừa who was the head of the Trần clan and whose grandson, Trần Cảnh would later become the first emperor of the Trần Dynasty. Prior to the incident of Quách Bốc's rebellion, where general Quách Bốc ousted the emperor Lý Cao Tông in 1209, which marked the beginning of the downfall of the Lý dynasty, Tô Trung Từ was a mandarin in the royal court and was acquainted with the emperor Lý Cao Tông and his son Lý Huệ Tông, also known by his birth name Lý Sảm, the penultimate ruler of the Lý dynasty.

The reign of Emperor Lý Cao Tông was a time of chaos, confusion and discord, arousing much discontent from the general populace. Then, in 1209, Emperor Cao Tông was suggested by Vietnamese official Phạm Du to kill Phạm Bỉnh Di, who was a rival official of Phạm Du. Emperor Cao Tông toke Du's advice and ordered the killing of Bỉnh Di. Quách Bốc, who was a general under Bỉnh Di went to avenge his master as a result and thus attacked the capital, temporarily installing Lý Thầm as the emperor. As a result, Emperor Cao Tông fled to Quy Hoá, while prince Lý Sảm, his mother and his two younger sisters fled to Hải Ấp in Thái Bình province, which was under Trần Lý's governance.

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