Kieu Cong Tien

Kiều Công Tiễn (chữ Hán: 矯公羡) (870 - 938) was a general in the court of Dương Đình Nghệ, a Vietnamese Jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân who took over the position in 931. In 937, Kiều Công Tiễn assassinated the Jiedushi to seize his position and thus provoked a revolt led by Ngô Quyền who sought revenge his lord and father-in-law Dương Đình Nghệ. In response to the attack, Kiều Công Tiễn appealed to Liu Yan, the emperor of Southern Han, for reinforcements but he was defeated and executed by Ngô Quyền before the army of Southern Han entered the country. Ngô Quyền subsequently won a decisive victory over the Southern Han in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River and would go on to inaugurate the continuous independence of Vietnam for the first time in nearly a thousand years.

History According to Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam, the date of birth of Kiều Công Tiễn was unknown but he was from Phong Châu (now Phú Thọ, Vietnam) where he was a notable of the region. but there are some sources such as the Khâm định Việt sử thông giám cương mục or the Việt Nam sử lược of Trần Trọng Kim use the transcription Kiểu Công Tiện. In several ancient historical books of China like the New History of the Five Dynasties, his family name (矯, Kiều) was recorded by another character 皎 which is often transcribed as Kiểu in Vietnamese. In the third month of lunar calendar in 937, Kiều Công Tiễn assassinated Dương Đình Nghệ in order to seize his position of Jiedushi. Nine months later, Ngô Quyền, another general of Dương Đình Nghệ, commanded his army from the Ái province (now Thanh Hóa) to rise a revolt against Kiều Công Tiễn in revenging his lord and father-in-law Dương Đình Nghệ. Because of his action against Dương Đình Nghệ and the call on Chinese aid, Kiễu Công Tiễn is denounced by many Vietnamese historians as a usurper in history of Vietnam.