In the 60s of the 20th century, the cover of Time magazine published a photo of an Asian woman, this Asian woman dressed in traditional southern clothing, graceful, graceful, elegant temperament, showing the intellectual beauty of oriental women.
It's no secret that only well-known or influential people have the potential to be on the cover of Time magazine, so who is this Asian woman in traditional South clothing?
She is the wife of Diệm, the younger brother of South Vietnamese President Diệm, and Tran Li Chun, known to the outside world as the "first lady" of South Vietnam.
Many people will wonder, isn't "first lady" supposed to be used to address the wife of a country's leader?
Tran Li Chun's husband Diệm Dinh Diệm is not the president, but only the president's younger brother, how can she be called the first lady of South Vietnam by the outside world?
The reason is simple: former South Vietnamese President Diệm never married.
During Diệm's presidency, as his sister-in-law, Chen Li Xuan has been performing wife diplomacy for him in the international community, similar to the role played by former US President Trump's daughter Ivanka in the international arena, so she is known as the "first lady" of South Vietnam.
To put it simply, Tran Li Chun, the "first lady" of South Vietnam, was only because her husband's brother never took a wife, nothing more.
Speaking of Tran Lai Chun, the de facto "first lady" of South Vietnam, one must mention the first South Vietnamese president, Diệm.
Diệm was born in 1901 to a family of feudal bureaucratic landowners in Hue, Vietnam, where his father Diệm Đồng Khồng served as the ceremonial and palace supervisor of the Bảo Đại dynasty and his eldest brother Diệm Đồng was governor of Quang Nam Province for 15 years.
At the age of 21, Diệm took advantage of his family's power in the Bảo Da Dynasty to effortlessly become the magistrate of Chao Rong District, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.
During Diệm's more than 40-year political career, he changed three foreign masters and became a lackey of the imperialist rule of the Four Dynasties.
By oppressing and exploiting his own people, befriending foreign masters, staining his hands with the blood of his own people, and stepping on the corpses of his own people, he gradually climbed to the highest peak of the political arena until he became the first president of South Vietnam.
In 1922, after Diệm became the magistrate of Chaofeng County, he rose to prominence by desperately suppressing his own people to curry favor with French imperialism, and soon after the magistrate of Chaofeng County was promoted to magistrate of Hailang County, Ninh Thuan Province, and Binh Thuan Province of Quang Tri Province.
In 1933, at the age of 31, Diệm was promoted by his French masters to become the official Shangshu of the Bao Da Dynasty, in charge of the military department and the official department (in 1933, Bao the Great Emperor reorganized the cabinet, changing the original seven ministries into five ministries, of which the military department was merged into the official department), and the power fell to the government and the opposition for a time.
However, just as Diệm was about to take his political career further, an accident occurred.
When Diệm tried to break away from France and establish a parliament controlled by the Vietnamese feudal bureaucracy alone, his French masters abandoned him and forced him to resign from all his posts in favor of another pro-French high-ranking official of the Bảo Dynasty, Pham Qiong.
For a long time thereafter, Diệm was not allowed to enter the court for half a step.
When the Japanese invaded Vietnam in 1940, Diệm, who was bent on re-entering the political arena, did not think about it, turned around without the slightest hesitation and defected to Japanese imperialism, secretly gathering a large number of former Vietnamese officials dissatisfied with Bao Da, Pham Qiong, and the French colonial government to form a pro-Japanese clique.
On the one hand, they became traitors, collecting intelligence for the Japanese invaders and stealing documents from the French colonial government to the Japanese invaders; On the one hand, he colluded with Uncle Bao in Japan to premeditate to overthrow the Bao Da regime and make Uncle Bao return to China to establish a new puppet regime close to Japan.
The Japanese invaders were able to finally kick away France and occupy Vietnam, and Diệm and other Vietnamese traitors made a great contribution.
However, Diệm, as a hero of the Japanese invaders in the invasion of Vietnam, was not reused by the Japanese invaders in the end, and originally he agreed with the Japanese invaders to make Uncle Bao Da the emperor of Vietnam and he the prime minister of Vietnam.
However, the Japanese did not do this later, and still used Bao Da as emperor, and Bao Da did not trust Diệm at all, and the Japanese did not strongly demand that Bao Da must make Diệm the prime minister, so in the end, Diệm's dream of prime minister came to naught.
"To be a dog is to look like a dog", since Gan is a lackey of the Japanese invaders, it is not surprising that Diệm was abandoned by his master, even if he is unwilling, he must have the consciousness of being abandoned.
The Japanese invaders were untrustworthy, and Diệm could only be furious in secret, angrily denouncing the Japanese invaders, the master, for turning their faces and denying people, but apart from this, he could do nothing and could do nothing.
After the surrender of Japan, Diệm saw the opportunity again, and ran to Hanoi, Vietnam, to return to the arms of his French masters and become a spy for the French army in Indochina.
At this time, as in the past, in order to regain the favor of his French masters, Diệm became even more frenzied, completely did not see himself as a Vietnamese, and intensified his oppression and exploitation of his own people.
On the one hand, Diệm helped France suppress and sabotage the Vietnamese people's anti-French activities, and on the other hand, he actively wooed and bought lackeys for France, organized the so-called "nationalist movement", and operated between Saigon and Hong Kong many times, plotting to help Bảo the Great restore the Emperor, thus fulfilling his dream of prime minister, even if the prime minister was a puppet.
Similarly, Diệm's relentless efforts and madness were not met with the "gratitude of France" to Emperor Paul.
In their eyes, the capricious Diệm was just a villain and just a dog leg that could be used but never reused, so even after the restoration of Baoda, he still did not realize his dream of being a prime minister.
In 1950, for its own interests in Southeast Asia, U.S. imperialism began to vigorously interfere in the internal affairs of Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, so Diệm turned to the United States again, seeing the United States as his new master.
In September of the same year, Diệm rushed to the United States and befriended then-Republican Senator Nolan and Cardinal Spelman.
Later, under their arrangement, Diệm went to the seminary in Decheng, Lake Island, New Jersey, for three years of training, and became a loyal lackey of the US imperialists in the guise of Catholics.
As far as Diệm was concerned, this act of traitorous defection to the enemy was not in vain, and the United States was much more "moral" than France and Japan.
In 1954, with the support of the United States, Diệm returned to Vietnam and became Prime Minister of Vietnam, finally fulfilling half of his lifelong dream.
One year later, with the support of the United States, Diệm took a step further in his political career, deposing Bảo the Great and becoming the president of the Republic of Vietnam, and since then he has been the de facto ruler of South Vietnam except for the United States.
With Diệm becoming president of South Vietnam, the Diệm family naturally ascended to heaven and became the first family in South Vietnam, and important military and political positions in South Vietnam were controlled by the Wu family.
In addition to Diệm himself as president and prime minister, defense minister, and leader of the "National Revolutionary Movement Party", his second brother Diệm Dinh Sook was the archbishop of Hue district, controlling all churches, parishes and priests in South Vietnam, and controlling all religious affairs in South Vietnam;
The fourth brother, Diệm, was the chief political adviser to the Presidential Office, the leader of the "Industrious People's Party", and the head of the secret service who controlled the real political power in South Vietnam;
The fifth brother, Diệm Dinh Thien, was ambassador to Britain and controlled South Vietnamese ambassadors to European countries and South Vietnam's foreign trade; The sixth brother, Diệm Dinh Jin, was the head of the security forces in the central Vietnamese region and held real military and political power here; Godson Wu Chung-hyo is the Minister of Civil Affairs.
Except for the Wu family, who are all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, and have in-laws with the Wu family, their clansmen can enter the South Vietnamese military and political circles to hold important positions as long as they have a little ability.
For example, Chen Lichun, the protagonist of this article, was able to enter the southern upper echelons because of her in-law relationship with Diệm's fourth brother, Diệm.
Trịnh Li Xuan herself served as a member of the South Vietnamese National Assembly, controlled the women's group of the South Vietnamese semi-military organization, controlled the country's foreign exchange, dominated the South Vietnamese industrial and commercial system, and became the de facto "first lady" of South Vietnam.
Her father, Tran Van Van is ambassador to the United States, her mother is an observer of South Vietnam to the United Nations, and her brother-in-law, Nguyen Wou Chu, is interior minister.
After talking about the history of Diệm, let's focus on Chen Lichun.
Compared with the Wu family, Chen Lichun's mother clan is better than him, and in terms of status and background, it is superior and deeper than the Wu family.
Chen Lichun's father's family lineage is not comparable to the official family of the Wu family, but her mother is much superior to the Wu family, and her mother is the cousin of the last emperor of Vietnam, Bao Da, that is, the Vietnamese royal family, and her life is extremely prominent.
However, compared with the Wu family's prosperity, the Ruan family is already thin and thin, except for the false name of the imperial family, there is no real power, and it has been controlled by France, Japan and the United States.
Of course, the skinny camel is bigger than the horse, although the Ruan royal family has become a puppet royal family, there is not much real power, no different from the mascot, but the background is still there, the royal family is always the royal family, and the living environment is far better than that of the civilian family.
As the niece and granddaughter of Emperor Bảo and her father was also a child of Vietnamese nobility, Chen Lichun lived a good life of eating and opening her mouth to reach out since she was a child, and because Vietnam was a French colony at that time, and her father was a student studying in France, she was deeply influenced by French culture and spoke French more fluently than Vietnamese.
Most of the aristocratic children of the last dynasty had common diseases - arrogance, profligacy, and extravagance, and Chen Lichun was no exception.
Chen Lichun's parents doted on her very much, almost obeying her words, giving whatever she wanted, not to mention beating, even scolding, completely offering her as a princess.
Their almost bottomless spoiling also made Chen Lichun's character extremely arrogant and proud, and he must try his best to get what he wants, even if it is cleverly plundered.
In addition, because Chen Lichun received Western-style education since she was a child, think about it, she has been influenced by the French culture of colonial Vietnam since she was a child, can she be okay? The edification of colonial culture has made Chen Lichun not regard herself as a Vietnamese since she was a child, but as a "high" Frenchman, looking down on Vietnamese culture, let alone caring about the life and death of the Vietnamese people.
Since she was a child, she has cultivated this arrogant and domineering character and forgetting her ancestors, and it is no wonder that Chen Lichun was later spurned by her own people, and even the Western media called her "Mrs. Dragon" (the embodiment of evil in the West), and she was very despised and received a flood of bad comments.
Imagine, who can afford a person who can abandon even his own country and even his own people?
However, no matter what Chen Lichun's comments are later, I have to say that although Chen Lichun is arrogant and arrogant at this time, she still has some vision and foresight, which can be seen from her choice of husband.
In 1943, 18-year-old Chen Lichun went on a hunger strike despite her family's opposition, insisting on marrying Diệm, who was twice his age at this time and had not served in the DPRK.
Although Diệm's family lineage was illustrious, his father was the Shangshu of the Ministry of Ceremonies and the Minister of Palace Supervisor of the Bảo Da Dynasty, but he himself did not hold any important position in the court, and since he was a son, according to the Vietnamese etiquette law at that time, Diệm's title, official rank and other blessings could not be inherited by Diệm.
And although the Wu family lineage is prominent, it is still inferior to Chen Lichun's family lineage, and there are not no families with equal or higher status than the Wu family at that time, such as Fan Qiong's Fan family, Wang Cida's Wang family, and Zun Tan's Zun family.
Moreover, although the Wu family was prominent, because Diệm planned to establish the Vietnamese own parliament, Diệm was ousted by the French, and the Wu family vaguely meant to be in the middle of the family.
At this time, Chen Lichun also insisted on marrying Wu Tingyi, who could be his father, except for foresight, I think there is really no other reason to explain, after all, with Chen Lichun's family background, what kind of young talent she wants, but she is about to marry Wu Tingyi, whose family has lost power and is much older than herself, which can only be said to have vision.
Facts have proved that Chen Lichun chose the right one, and she bet on this treasure and later brought her hundreds of times, thousands of times the return.
In June 1954, Diệm, with the support of the Americans, became Prime Minister of Vietnam, Minister of Interior and Defense, and two months later became the leader of the "Industrious Revolutionary Party", and since then Diệm's family has officially entered the highest echelons of the Vietnamese state.
With Bảo Đại completely reduced to a puppet emperor, Diệm's family became the de facto first family of the state of Vietnam.
The following year, under the manipulation of the United States, the State of Vietnam became the Republic of Vietnam, Bảo Đại was deposed, and the former Prime Minister of Vietnam Diệm was proclaimed President of the Republic of Vietnam.
From this moment on, the Diệm family became the righteous first family in South Vietnam, the most powerful family.
Later, under the arrangement of Diệm, the children of the Wu family and his in-laws entered the upper echelons of South Vietnam, held important positions, and controlled the military and political power of South Vietnam.
At this time, as the wife of Diệm's fourth brother, Diệm Đồng, Tran Lai Xuan also began to enter the South Vietnamese upper echelon, serving as a member of the South Vietnamese National Assembly, and controlling the women's group of the semi-military organization, controlling the foreign exchange of the South Vietnamese country, dominating the South Vietnamese industrial and commercial system, and becoming the de facto "first lady" of South Vietnam.
Chen Lichun has strong political ambitions, and from our historical point of view, she dreams of becoming a strong political woman like Wu Zetian and Cixi.
However, Chen Lichun has the same political resources as Wu Zetian and Cixi, but does not have the political ability of Wu Zetian and Cixi, simply put, she has a heart but is powerless, she is just a femme fatale.
Since becoming the de facto "first lady" of South Vietnam, Tran Li Xuan has immediately set about adding leverage to her political career.
However, her political skills are too small and her understanding of politics is too naïve, so what she does often backfires, and she is often seen pursuing contradictory and incomprehensible policies.
For example, in order to gain the support and support of South Vietnamese women, she has publicly advocated women's independence, but her policies are gradually restricting the freedom of Vietnamese people, including women.
Her ridiculous "Moral Protection Law" not only forbade people to dance, sing love songs, prohibit free love, divorce with presidential approval, and even restrict female contraception, which made her criticized by the people of South Vietnam.
In addition, she not only repeatedly "acted against yin and yin", but also appointed cronyism, and used her right to control South Vietnam's foreign propaganda affairs to appoint her father as South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, her mother as South Vietnam's observer to the United Nations, and even her brother-in-law was assigned posts.
What is even more excessive is that because Diệm and Chen Lichun are all Christians, they also openly suppressed Buddhism, which occupies the mainstream of domestic religion, in South Vietnam, strictly controlling and suppressing the lives and beliefs of Buddhists, and even forcing them to convert to Christianity.
In addition to suppressing Buddhists and treating their own people, Diệm and Chen Lichun and others only knew about exploitation and oppression, using their power to plunder the hard-earned money of the Vietnamese people, causing countless Vietnamese people to have their families surrounded by disciples, and even their families were destroyed and killed, and the people were full of complaints.
However, because of the support of the United States, the Diệm political clique initially held a strong grip on South Vietnam, and even though there were many complaints and anger in South Vietnam, it did not affect their support for the Diệm clique.
However, with a series of events that followed, the United States gradually abandoned its support for Diệm's political clique.
In the 1963 self-immolation incident, Chen Lichun's statement on this matter not only made her disgusted by the Western world, but also gradually lost the support of the West with the Diệm political clique.
After Shi Guangde's self-immolation incident, Chen Lichun did not come forward to explain the incident, nor did he appease those monks and people who participated in the procession, but said to the outside world without humanity and shame:
"Applause for seeing a good show of monk meat barbecue"; "Let them bake it, and we'll clap our hands and applaud," Chen even accused Shi Guangde of not being a patriot because they used imported gasoline to set themselves on fire.
Chen Lichun's dehumanizing speech was reported by Western media and aroused the dissatisfaction of people around the world, including the United States.
At that time, Chen Lichun's arrogant speech also aroused strong dissatisfaction with then US President John F. Kennedy, who personally called Diệm and warned him not to go too far.
However, under the influence of Chen Lichun, Diệm not only ignored it, but also sent Chen Lichun on a lecture tour to the United States to scold Kennedy for not being righteous and directly "declaring war" on Kennedy.
The actions of Chen Lichun and Diệm made Kennedy gradually realize that the current Diệm political clique has begun to break away from the control of the United States, and if it does not react, it will not be possible to do things that damage the interests of the United States, and even make the United States suffer dumb losses.
After careful deliberation with senior government officials and staff, Kennedy finally decided to launch a military coup in South Vietnam to replace Diệm as a disobedient puppet president by re-supporting a Vietnamese who was willing to obey the United States.
In November 1963, the head of the South Vietnamese army, Duong Van Van staged a military coup d'état with the support of the United States, and Diệm and Diệm were shot and killed by the rebels in an armored vehicle.
At the time of the military coup, Chen Lichun was on a lecture tour in the United States, so she narrowly escaped.
Although Chen Lichun escaped by chance, she lived the rest of her life extremely miserable, first the eldest daughter Wu Dinh Lishui died in a car accident, and then her own brother became a suspect in strangling her own parents, and then she wandered around Europe alone until she died of illness in Rome, Italy on April 24, 2011.
Few people's lives, like Chen Lichun, are divided into two completely different parts, the first half of their lives are infinitely beautiful, with honorary titles such as royal relatives and first ladies, and enjoy the glory and wealth that the world can enjoy; The second half of his life was extremely miserable, he died in a foreign land, her husband died in a coup, her daughter died in a car accident, her younger brother strangled her parents, and almost the whole family died.