Lược Sử Dòng Tộc
Trần Văn "Câu Quảng"

TRAN VAN CAU QUANG 

CLAN HISTORY

I. THE VIETNAMESE TRAN CLAN HISTORY

The Tran clan is one of the popular clans in Vietnam; according to the Statistics of Social Science Publisher publishing in 2022, the Tran clan ratio in the Vietnamese population is 10.3%. Where and when the Vietnamese Tran clan originated is still a research topic among historical scientists and the Tran descendants; there are now some articles on the Tran clan online that could be consulted

According to official history, Mrs. Man Thien (Tran Thi Doan), the Hai Ba Trưng mother, was considered to be the person carrying the most ancient Tran clan in Vietnam. Of course, maybe have a some person before Mrs. Man Thien who had carried the Tran clan, but there is no information in the history. The Hai Ba Trung uprising event on January 30, Tan Suu Lunar year (the year 41 AD) shown Tran clan has settled in Vietnam since before Christ. Therefore, the descendants of the Tran family have achieved glorious victories in defending the country, such as the Ms. Trung Sisters, whose deeds are remembered for thousands of years in the history of the Vietnamese nation. 

In addition, before the Tran dynasty, some well-known people from the Tran clan, such as Tran Lam, a famous general in the twelve warlords period in the tenth century, or Mr. Tran Dien was known as the Vietnamese founder of jewery profession

Almost of researches on the Tran clan in Vietnam has concentrated on the Tran dynasty, some hypotheses on Wikipedia:

Tran (Mandarin: 陳) is a clan in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, and other locations in the world. The Tran clan is the most famous in South China and Taiwan, occupying about 11% of the population. In Singapore, the Tran clan was sometimes written as Chen in the Latin alphabet. In Guangdong province, they write Chan. Some of the other Latin are Tan in Malaysia, Tang, Ding, Zen in Fujian and Shanghai, ちん in Japan, Chun or Jin 진, Kim in Korea

By etymology, Tran, also known as a metaphor is Dong A (East A) due to Tran (陳) include two Mandarin words are East (東) and A (阿). When the Tran dynasty achieved victories in three resistances against the Mongol invasion, the fighting spirit of the Tran dynasty’s army and people is known as “Eastern A Spirit.”

The Tran ancestor in Vietnam stems from the Man ethnic group in Tan Chau district, Phuc Kien province, China. Mr. Tran Quoc Kinh came from Phuc Kien to Vietnam about the year 1110, during the reign of King Ly Nhan Tong (1072-1127), initially settled at An Sinh commune, Dong Trieu district, Quang Ninh province; lived by fishing on the river, and gradually moved to Tuc Mac, Thien Trương district, Nam Dinh province. Up to his son, their ancestor’s grave was moved to Tam Duong, Long Hung province, which is now a territory belonging to Thai Binh. Tran Hap gave birth to Tran Ly and Tran Hoang Nghi. Tran Ly gave birth to Tran Thua (later Tran Thai To), Tran Tu Khanh, and Tran Thi Dung. Tran Hoang Nghi gave birth to three sons: Tran An Quoc, Tran An Bang, and Tran Thu Do. 

Under the Le Thanh Tong period, this clan had to transfer to the Trinh clan. After ascending to the throne and killing Tran Cao, Le Loi granted royal titles and granted surnames to some high-ranking officials, such as Tran Nguyen Han into Le Han. After Tran Nguyen Han was killed, the Le dynasty tracked down his descendants, which led to his son, Tran Trung Khoan, also known as Trung Luong, having to leave and change into the Quach clan, and Tran Dang Huy transferred to the Dao clan. 

Two months after Le Thanh Tong ascended to the throne, he issued a decree changing the names of all those who were using the taboo name of Empress Dowager Pham Ngoc Tuan. The King, citing the reason the Empress Dowager’s surname was Pham, and her name was Ngoc Tran, issued a decree throughout the capital and in all provinces that wherever the surname “Tran” was found, it should be changed into “Trinh”. This order was completely performed, and everybody had to obey. The Trinh Khanh case, for example, had the original Hoang clan, after that changed into the Tran clan, but had to transfer into the Trinh, up to Tran Khac Minh, who was Trinh Khanh’s grandchild, returned back Tran clan.

However, some studies disagree with the Wikipedia hypothesis. Old Buff posed the following question:

The Tran dynasty stems from where? In Vietnamese official history, it is written that the Tran dynasty originated from fishermen who lived on the river system of northern Vietnam. Up to Mr. Tran Hap moved ashore and became a local chieftain in the lower Red River Delta region, gradually rising to the political stage in the latter part of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century. Furthermore, the official history sources have not provided further details about the origins of the Tran dynasty before Mr. Tran Quoc Kinh, who was Tran Hap’s father. 

A lot of historical unofficial sources and forums have used documents from the family genealogy of the exiled Tran clan, specifically A Tran, Tran Ich Tac in China, claiming that the Tran dynasty originated from the Man Viet people in the Qinzhou district, Fujian province, migrated to Vietnam around 1110 during the reign of Ly Nhan Tong

On the occasion of discussing the origins of the Tran dynasty, Old Buff offered some questions

If the migration of the Tran dynasty ancestors around 1110 years was true, what was the reason? All the initial years of the 12th century, althought North Song dynasty was fighted to Kim dynasty, the Fujian region, in the south, was outside the battlefield and was not affected. Furthermore, the fishing villages had no contact or were controlled at all levels by the Song dynasty government, so it may not have been the foreign invasion or internal oppression reason for leaving their homeland!

If the Tran ancestors truly lived in Min Viet, then after more than 1000 years of assimilation into the Han people, they were deeply Sinicized, so it would be difficult to integrate into the Dai Viet population. The official history has not recorded any cultural conflicts between the Tran fishers and the farmers in the Red River Delta. Of course, there would be those who said that the intermarriage of the Tran dynasty is a traditional difference. Mr. Buff argued that at that time, due to beliefs and the three religious were common origin in Dai Viet was not at all as extreme as the Confucianism that dominated in the Later Le and Nguyen dynasties. Furthermore, the intermarriage stemmed from Tran Thu Do’s political reforms in front of the transferring throne harem lesson, in the fortune decline period of the Ly dynasty

If the Tran dynasty ancestors were truly in Min Viet, then they would certainly have retained many connections in terms of customs, traditions, and bloodlines with them from their native land. These elements were very strong existences in the Han people or the sinicized Viet people who migrated to live due to livelihood or war, as we have seen later on. However, the Tran dynasty itself had no relation with the Min Viet region land. Even their power was still strong when received pleas for peace and alliance from Tran Huu Luong for participating against the Yuan Army and Ming Taizu Chu Nguyen Chuong, the Tran dynasty had not participated in the struggle for royal power and territorial ambitions in the Central Plains as well. This was not suitable with logic if considering the land ambitions of feudal powers

The Tran dynasty had created a Buddhist lineage with strong Vietnamese characteristics – the Truc Lam meditation line was completely different from the other prevalent meditation lineage in China at that time.

Recording the Tran dynasty genealogy originated from Min Viet. The descendants of A Tran – Tran Ich Tac may have fabricated their origin to avoid discrimination by the Han people in the exiled Tran Ich Tac region

The above is a brief opinion of Buff, displayed to clarify inaccurate notes about the origin of the Tran dynasty, which some forums and unofficial historical sources have recorded. Looking forward to receiving your discussion information

Therefore, the problem is still very attractive to study, and hoping that it will be clarified gradually about the Vietnamese Tran dynasty lineage origin. However, as mentioned above, the Tran lineage that appeared in Vietnam is very early, before Christ, so far over 2.000 years, and the Tran clan descendants have been taking part in building and protecting the Vietnamese homeland. There are many descendants of the Tran clan, descendants, especially the Tran dynasty has brought glory to the nation. We are the Vietnamese Tran clan people, definitely following the example of our ancestors detemining to build our clan stronger day by day, taking part in building and protecting Vietnam’s beloved homeland, becoming a democratic and wealthy nation 

II. THE QUANG NAM TRAN CLAN HISTORY

The Tran clan is one of the clans that appeared very early in Quang Nam province, according to research on many of the Tran clan branch at Quang Nam that almost all of the Tran clans stem from Nghe An and Thanh Hoa province migranting and settling in Quang Nam during many different periods.  The clan branch Tran Phuoc at Thanh Chau, Duy Xuyen, for example, or at Loc Dai, Que Son; Nui Lo, Dai Loc; or Phu Triem, Dien Ban, is one of the branches of the large Tran clan at Quang Nam. Until now these braches descendants up to the 24th and 25th generation. Besides, there are a lot of the Tran Van clan branches in Quang Nam; however, these branches are disjointed and not connected as the Tran Phuoc due to their family tree not connected together. It should be to prefer some online articles

III. TRAN VAN CAU QUANG HISTORY

Tran Van Cau Quang is one of the clans that has settled at Lang Chau land, Mau Hoa Trung commune, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province, now in Dinh An neighborhood, Nam Phuoc town, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province. From the first to the 12th generation then Tran Van Cau Quang clan has settled for over 250 years so far. The Tran Van Cau Quang’s settled interval at Lang Chau is much less than that of the other clans

The first ancestors of Tran Van Cau Quang had settled on the Cho Cui River quay on boats. At that time, the Cho Cui river wharf, Tiem Ruou, was the bustling gathering place for trading on the right bank of the Thu Bon river, following towards Hoi An. Many people from far and wide came to trade and business exchange very much more, especially Tiem Ruou, which had a dealership of the famous French Sika brandy company, so the trading was very lively

The Tran Van Cau Quang clan residents had lived on boats so they may be the fishermen or businessmen trading and exchanging commodities on boats. After that, when their number of descendents has been going up, they gave up boat living and go to a abshore for settling, due to have no any public land so they had to buy the private land for living, at the initial time they lived adjacent together and gradually building a village with its name was Cau Quang Village, the Cau Quang Village was recognized by government and asigned the Village Chief for governing. There were very few other clans that stayed at Cau Quang Village, so the entire Village Chiefs and Village positions were all taken by Tran Van Cau Quang descendants in succession.

To distinguish themselves from other Tran Van clans, the Tran Van ancestors initially called their clan name Tran Van at Cau Quang. From that time until now, the clan name, always accompanied by the village name, has been Tran Van-Cau Quang.

In the family tree, the first ancestor of Tran Van Cau Quang was Mr. Tran Van Con without the name of his wife. Mr. Tran Van Ke, son of Mr. Tran Van Cong, was the second ancestor without the name of his wife as well. Mr. Tran Van Gao was the third ancestor, the same as his father and grandfather; there was not his wife’s name

Mr. Tran Van Sanh was the fourth generation in his family, with Mrs. Chau Thi Trinh, his first wife, who bore two sons and three daughters. His second wife, Mrs. Van Thi Canh, gave birth to six sons. The family has grown significantly through six generations. Mr. Tran Van Sanh’s eight sons established eight branches, from the first to the eighth; however, the sixth and seventh branches have no descendants. All other branches—first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and eighth—continue to have descendants.

The Tran Van Cau Quang clan has had up to the 12th generation so far. There are a few descendants was famers, the remaining followed handicrafts, such as primarily carpenters, some were business merchants, and a few were government officials throughout various periods.

The descendants of the Tran Van Cau Quang clan have a strong spirit of learning; every family strives to provide their children with an education to escape poverty. Some have earned doctorates in medicine, master’s degrees in IT and economics, and a considerable number have graduated from university. However, the academic paths of the clan’s descendants have not been very smooth; truly talented individuals who have made significant contributions to academia and society have yet to emerge.

In terms of economic life, the descendants of the clan have only reached the lower middle class or below; none have accumulated significant wealth, nor do they own large trading or manufacturing businesses with substantial resources.

The clan descendants are currently scattered throughout the country. A small number live in Hanoi and Thanh Hoa (branch 8), a relatively large number live in Quang Nam and Da Nang (branches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), a few live in Nha Trang (branches 1, 3), Dong Nai (branch 4), Daklak and Dak Nong (branches 1, 3), and a small number live in Saigon (branches 3, 4). A small number have settled abroad in countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia (branches 3, 4). The total number of clan members currently living in the aforementioned locations is approximately 400 (this is incomplete statistical data from the 2016-2017 family tree revision)

The following is research by Mr. Tran Cong Tan (branch 3, the 9th generation) on the origin of the Tran Van Cau Quang clan. We would like to introduce it to our descendants so they can read and participate in studying the origins of our clan

“The origin of Tran Van Cau Quang clan”

Our Tran Van Cau Quang clan ancestors stemmed from Northern migrants to Quang Nam during the reign of Le Hien Tong King (1740 – 1786) by boat; to date, there have been 12 generations until now, nearly 250 years. Regarding the northern homeland, it has not found on the family tree, but according to the tales of elders, maybe our ancestors were the original Thanh Hoa people.

The first ancestor was Mr. Tran Van Cong, with all together his family migrating to the south by boat, at first time anchored his boat at the fisher village on the left bank of the Thu Bon River, near the Cau Lau bridge head at present (1740 – 1786)

Up to the third generation was Mr. Tran Van Gao, who had a good living, so starting to buy Lang Chau village land for establishing his residence at the end of the 18th century, in the reign of Canh Thinh King (1792 – 1802). The Lang Chau Village was on the right bank of the Thu Bon River, opposite the cho Cui fishing village, belong to Tiem Ruou hamlet now, near the Cau Lau bridge foot. Tiem Ruou is the location where the French had placed the Sika brandy firm, where the well-known white brandy was produced and distributed, a monopoly in Quang Nam. Previously, there was a crossing ferry that serviced people from both river banks

By the fourth generation, Mr. Tran Van Sanh, thanks to merchant forest agricultural products such as pepper, cinnamon, sugar, and silk, fabric from Quang Nam was going everywhere by large boats along the sea line, so becoming richer, he had two wives, gave birth to 8 sons and 3 daughters. His children all have had a good living, continuing to buy land from Lang Chau Village for settlement, the adjacent residential areas, making a crowded cluster and forming a village, in which almost all were the Tran Van clan. In this crowded group, there are some Dao and Nguyen clan families (the Minh Mang king (1820 – 1841)

At that time, the descendants had gathered and had enough conditions to establish a village. Our ancestors asked the local government for permission to form Cau Quang Village (in the reign of Thieu Tri King, 1841 – 1847). This village had a place name but did not have the territory; most Cau Quang villagers were the Tran Van clan’s descendants, so all the village positions were taken by clan people. The first Cau Quang village chief was Mr. Tran Van Thu, the fifth generation. In the vicinity of Cau Quang village, there were a lot of Tran clans, such as My Xuyen Tay – Ma Chau has had 8 Tran clans, including Tran Viet, Tran Huu, Tran Tan, Tran Phuoc, and Tran Duc. Hence, each Tran clan had to accompany a pronoun for differentiating together, for instant Tran Van – Xuyen Tay, Tran Van – Bau Cua … therefore, when the Cau Quang village was established, then our Tran Van clan was called Tran Van Cau Quang.

In this interval, our clan’s worship house might have been built

Up to the seventh generation, our ancestors had just built the family tree. As per the clan family tree formed in 1939, the preceding family tree had burnt down due to fire, so it was lost; there were no preserved information records. The clan family tree in 1939 was written starting from the ancestor migranted in Quang Nam up to the fifth generation. Eight sons of Mr. Tran Van Sanh (the fourth generation), who were the heads of each branch later. Every branch held an identical family tree book.

From 1945 to 1975, the nation experienced continuous wars, natural disasters such as floods occurring annually, especially the Thin lunar year flood (1964), sweeping away villages, houses, eroding the land, and the clan worship house was also swept away, losing everything*.

War and natural catastrophe forced our clan relatives to scatter everywhere. Until now, most people have settled at the other location, at present in Nam Phuoc town, which has only about 30 families living dispersed

After 40 years of turmoil, with descendants scattered across the four corners of the earth, there was an urgent need to prevent them from forgetting their roots, especially after many decades and generations had been born. Therefore, in 1999, the Family Council decided to revise the family genealogy, using the 1939 genealogy of the Fourth Branch, the only remaining copy preserved by Mr. Tran Nguyen (8th generation), as the source. The genealogy restoration committee is headed by Mr. Tran Nguyen, with Mr. Tran Ngan (8th generation) as Vice-Chairman and Mr. Tran Huynh (9th generation) as Secretary, along with several members from various branches of the family. The funding for compiling the genealogy was provided by the descendants of Mr. Tran Xuan Dien (8th generation) and Mr. Tran Loc (8th generation).

In 2009, during the Family Council elections, Mr. Tran Huan (9th generation) became Chairman of the Family Council and proposed a second revision of the family tree, recognizing that the 1999 family tree contained many shortcomings and errors. At that time, the construction of the worship house was still incomplete, so the Family Council focused on finishing the worship house construction and did not revise the genealogy. In 2015, during the Family Council elections, Mr. Tran Huan was re-elected Chairman, restarting the family tree revision. A two-year timeframe was set for genealogy revision completion, with Mr. Tran Huynh as the head of the family tree revision committee.

The current clan cemetery is located in My An hamlet, Dinh An neighborhood, Nam Phuoc town. Previously, the burial of the deceased followed the guidance of geomancers, with graves scattered in many places. In 1975, the government allocated land in My An to each clan, and all graves were consolidated in one place. Afterward, the Clan Council renovated the cemetery, and all graves have been repaired, giving it a solemn and aesthetically pleasing appearance.

The clan’s worship house was probably first established around the time of Cau Quang village’s founding; it is unknown whether it had been renovated before that. The worship house grounds, covering 500 square meters, are located in Lang Chau, An Binh hamlet, Tiem Ruou village. In 1939, the clan council renovated the worship house, but it was destroyed during the wars of 1945-1954. In 1955, the clan rebuilt it at the same location. War and floods caused further damage, with the worship house grounds being swept away and the land eroded into the river.

In 1990, the Family Council, then chaired by Mr. Tran De, mobilized descendants to rebuild the worship house on a plot of land donated by Mr. Tran Cao Hoa (8th generation) in My An hamlet, Dinh An neighborhood, Nam Phuoc town, near the family cemetery. In 1999, due to economic difficulties, the main hall was built rather small. In 2007, the Family Council decided to build a new main hall with a reinforced concrete roof, while the old main hall was retained as a front hall. Mr. Tran Cao Hoa donated additional land to build a kitchen.

The construction of the clan worship house lasted from 2000 until it was completed in 2007.

Regarding daily life, our ancestors, upon first arriving in Quang Nam, lived in the floating village of Cho Cui, making a living through trading and fishing (according to the family genealogy compiled in 1939, “fishery and commerce”). By the third generation, they had settled in Lang Chau, engaging in the trade of agricultural and forestry products. By the fourth generation, they were trading by boat, traveling between the North and South by sea. Subsequent generations flourished, with some families migrating to Tien Phuoc, Tam Ky, and Dai Loc to settle and pursue various professions, including trading, medicine, and teaching. Notably, in their hometown, the majority of descendants are carpenters. Mr. Tran Nhuoc (8th generation), also known as Mr. Xa Ba, developed and passed on the craft to his descendants, and many still practice this trade today.

Currently, descendants of the Tran Van Cau Quang clan have settled throughout the country and abroad, working in various professions such as construction, trade, factory workers, civil servants, doctors, engineers, etc.

In terms of cultural life, previous generations, from the 1st to the 5th generation, studied classical Chinese, primarily focusing on reading and writing. From the 6th generation onwards, some individuals studied classical Chinese and even took the provincial examinations, such as Mr. Tran Van Dat (7th generation).

It wasn’t until the 1940s that Mr. Tran Van Tinh and Mr. Tran Loc, sons of Mr. Tran Van Chien (7th generation), went to study at a high school in Hue.

The war from 1945 to 1975 lasted 30 years, disrupting education, with only a few families able to send their children to school until the end of secondary school.

After 1975, education received increasing attention, and today, descendants of the clan have graduated from university and postgraduate programs in various fields such as engineering, architecture, bachelor’s degrees, medicine, master’s degrees, and doctorates…

Over nearly 300 years, from a single family to the Trần Văn Câu Quảng clan, our ancestors have endured countless hardships and achieved a proud result. This success is due to our ancestors always prioritizing morality in educating their descendants, using humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness as guiding principles for future generations.

As their descendants, let us strive to uphold the traditions of our forefathers, build a prosperous family and clan, and contribute to a thriving society.

Duy Xuyen, April 6, 2017

CLAN’s GENEALOGY RESTORATION COMMITTEE