Gia Long

Gia Long (<a href="/facts/Ch%25E1%25BB%25AF_H%25C3%25A1n/1aRhRRQU">Chữ hán</a>: 嘉隆) (Vietnamese: [zaː lawŋ] (<a href="/facts/Hanoi/0W2xfMQN">North</a>), [jaː lawŋ] (<a href="/facts/Ho_Chi_Minh_City/TyQxqTmQ">South</a>); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the <a href="/facts/Nguy%25E1%25BB%2585n_dynasty/BUwd9crg">Nguyễn dynasty</a>, the last <a href="/facts/List_of_Vietnamese_dynasties/wpM6CM0a">dynasty of Vietnam</a>. His dynasty would rule the unified territories that constitute modern-day Vietnam until 1945.
A nephew of the last <a href="/facts/Nguy%25E1%25BB%2585n_lords/REGzX0nX">Nguyễn lord</a> who ruled over <a href="/facts/%25C4%2590%25C3%25A0ng_Trong/eDAtxLU0">south Vietnam</a>, Nguyễn Ánh was forced into hiding in 1777 as a 15-year-old when his family was slain in the <a href="/facts/T%25C3%25A2y_S%25C6%25A1n/lha3xHLY">Tây Sơn</a> <a href="/facts/T%25C3%25A2y_S%25C6%25A1n_wars/YaB6gX0T">revolt</a>. After several changes of fortune in which his loyalists regained and again lost <a href="/facts/Saigon/TyQxqTmQ">Saigon</a>, he befriended the French <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic</a> Bishop <a href="/facts/Pierre_Pigneau_de_Behaine/3Vfjbupx">Pierre Pigneau de Behaine</a>. Pigneau championed Nguyễn Ánh's cause to regain the throne to the French government and managed to recruit volunteer; however, that soon fell through. From 1789, Nguyễn Ánh was once again in the ascendancy and began his northward march to defeat the Tây Sơn, reaching the border with the <a href="/facts/Qing_dynasty/5j6r4p5m">Qing dynasty</a> by 1802, which had previously been under the control of the <a href="/facts/Tr%25E1%25BB%258Bnh_lords/BpzfuSW0">Trịnh lords</a>. Following their defeat, he succeeded in reuniting Vietnam after centuries of internecine feudal warfare, with a greater landmass than ever before, stretching from the Qing's borders down to the <a href="/facts/Gulf_of_Siam/N0RLjG0m">Gulf of Siam</a>.
Gia Long's rule was noted for its <a href="/facts/Confucianism/Nlbwgmxw">Confucian orthodoxy</a>. He defeated the <a href="/facts/T%25C3%25A2y_S%25C6%25A1n_rebellion/lha3xHLY">Tây Sơn rebellion</a> and reinstated the classical Confucian education and civil service system. He moved the capital from <a href="/facts/Hanoi/0W2xfMQN">Hanoi</a> south to <a href="/facts/Hu%25E1%25BA%25BF/pVE8ueMW">Huế</a> as the country's populace had also shifted south over the preceding centuries, and built up several fortresses and a <a href="/facts/Imperial_City%2c_Hu%25E1%25BA%25BF/Hc6DdThq">palace</a> in his new capital. Using French expertise, he modernized Vietnam's defensive capabilities. In deference to the assistance of his French friends, he tolerated the activities of Roman Catholic missionaries, something that became increasingly restricted under his successors. Under his rule, Vietnam strengthened its military dominance in Indochina, expelling <a href="/facts/Rattanakosin_Kingdom_(1782%25E2%2580%25931932)/008IpyQN">Siamese</a> forces from <a href="/facts/Post-Angkor_period/GEhtymKK">Cambodia</a> and turning it into a vassal state.

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Gia Long