Giang Văn Minh

Giang Văn Minh (, 1573 - 1638) was a Vietnamese mandarin and envoy of the Revival Lê dynasty.

Biography Giang Văn Minh has the courtesy name Quốc Hoa (國華), posthumous name Văn Trung Tiên Sinh (文忠先生). He was born on 6 September 1573 in the village of Đường Lâm near Sơn Tây. In 1628, he ranked third (Thám hoa) in the Imperial examination. In 1631, he was promoted to be an officer of the Thái bộc tự.

Mission to Ming dynasty and death In December 1637, he was appointed by the Lê Emperor as chief envoy of a diplomatic mission to the court of the Ming dynasty. At the time of his mission, although the Mạc dynasty had fled to Cao Bang, the Ming still recognized both dynasties with the aim of prolonging the Lê-Mạc war. Giang Văn Minh's mission arrived in Yanjing (now Beijing) in 1638. When the audience came, the Ming court still hesitated to abolish recognition to the Mạc Dynasty. The Ming Emperor bestowed the embassy a couplet as follows:The bronze pillars refer to Ma Yuan's copper columns that were erected during Ma Yuan's suppression of the Trưng Sisters' uprising, implying that the Ming Dynasty was still controlling Dai Viet. According to a 19th-century genealogy of the Giang Family (Vietnamese: Giang Thị gia phả, chữ Hán: 江氏家譜), when faced with such arrogance, Giang Văn Minh boldly responded with the sentence: The line recalls the fact that the Vietnamese defeated various Chinese dynasties three times on the Bạch Đằng River. At that time, this couplet was considered a deep insult to the Ming Emperor, who ordered Giang Văn Minh to be killed and his belly cut open to see "how bold and daring the Annamese envoy was", then had his body embalmed with mercury and brought back to his country. When his body arrived at Thang Long Citadel, Emperor Lê Thần Tông and Lord Trịnh Tráng paid homage to his coffin. He was posthumously awarded the title of Left Minister of Public Works, and bestowed the sentence:

Family Parents: Giang Văn Tâm (father) Wife: Đỗ Thị Children: 2 sons (Giang Văn Trạch, Giang Văn Tôn) and 7 daughters