Trần Quốc Toản

Trần Quốc Toản
Marquis Hoài Văn
Born	1267 Thien Truong, Đại Việt
Died	1285 Như Nguyệt River, Đại Việt
House	Trần Dynasty

Marquis Hoài Văn Trần Quốc Toản (1267–1285) was a marquis of the Trần Dynasty who was well known for his active role in the second war of resistance of Đại Việt against the Mongol invasion. Although there were only a few historical records about Trần Quốc Toản, he is still widely known as an example of patriotism in Vietnam while he participated and ultimately sacrificed himself for the country at a very young age. Today, story about Trần Quốc Toản is taught in Vietnamese schoolbooks and many places in Vietnam are named in honour of this young hero.

According to Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam, Marquis Hoài Văn (Vietnamese: Hoài Văn hầu) Trần Quốc Toản was born in 1267 during the reign of the Emperor Trần Thánh Tông.

In 1279, the Yuan Dynasty had the decisive victory over the Song Dynasty in 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. It was said that facing threat from the north, in October 1282, the Retired Emperor Trần Thánh Tông and the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông gathered all members of royal family, the Trần clan and officials in royal court in Bình Than to discuss about the unadvoidable war. Although being a member of the royal family, Trần Quốc Toản was not invited because the 16-year-old marquis was too young to be considered in the meeting. As a result, Marquis Hoài Văn felt so ashamed and stimulated that he crushed an orange with his own hand and began to mobilize his house servants and relatives for the purpose of fighting against the Yuan Dynasty. Eventually, Trần Quốc Toản was able to form an army of over one thousand soldiers and he created himself a flag with six characters:

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