1. The Connection to Trần Quốc Uất (Price Minh Hiến)

For a long time, when referring to the Second Prince – one of the Four Princes in the worship of Saint Trần – many online sources have claimed that he corresponds to the historical figure Trần Quốc Uất.

According to legend, the Four Princes are the four sons of Saint Trần. However, Trần Quốc Uất was actually an offspring of Emperor Trần Thái Tông. His relationship to Saint Trần was that of cousins, which is entirely distinct from the father-son relationship shared by the other three princes. Furthermore, his official title recorded in historical annals is Prince Minh Hiến [明憲王].

Based on these facts, it is clear that the Second Prince is not Trần Quốc Uất, son of Emperor Thái Tông. This confusion likely stems from the historical event where Prince Minh Hiến gathered his troops at Vạn Kiếp alongside the other three princes: Prince Hưng Vũ, Prince Hưng Nhượng, and Prince Hưng Trí.

2. Royal Title: Hưng Hiếu or Hưng Hiến?

The literary work Hưng Đạo Vương by Lê Văn Phúc and Phan Kế Bính (published in 1914) uses both titles – Prince Hưng Hiếu and Prince Hưng Hiến – interchangeably when referring to the Second Prince.

However, we found no record of a character titled “Prince Hưng Hiến” in official historical texts. On the other hand, the historical figure “Prince Hưng Hiếu” is documented in the Complete Annals of Đại Việt. The Complete Annals notes that Prince Hưng Hiếu achieved military merit by suppressing a hill-tribe rebellion along the Đà River during the reign of Emperor Minh Tông, as well as quelling the Ngưu Hống tribe revolt under Emperor Hiến Tông.

In the book Văn Chầu Trần Triều Hiển Thánh (Ritual Hymns for the Saint of the Trần Dynasty), published in 1934, the hymn for the Four Princes contains the following lines:

“Firstborn son was Prince Hưng Vũ,
Second-born was Prince Hưng Hiếu.”

Given that this title perfectly aligns with the naming pattern of the other three princes, we respectfully propose that the title of the Second Prince should be formally recorded as Prince Hưng Hiếu [興孝王].