Ly Tu Than

The old chronicles say

The affair begins with the Old Book of Tang's sentence about the Ly households. That word Ly is the name of a group of people in Linh Nam, written with a character entirely different from the Ly that is the family name of Ly Tu Tien or Ly Tu Than, and a Ly household belongs to that group, not to some family named Ly. Ly Tu Tien and Ly Tu Than are two different men: Tu Tien is the ringleader killed by Dien Huu before the siege began, while Tu Than is one of those who led the troops besieging the seat afterward, together with Dinh Kien. The Old Book of Tang names both; the New Book of Tang has only Dinh Kien; the Tu tri thong giam has only Ly Tu Than.¹³²

According to the Old Book of Tang, Dien Huu shut the gates and held out waiting for relief, but was killed by Tu Than in the end; afterward the adjutant of Que Chau, Tao Huyen Tinh, led troops against them, captured them, and beheaded Tu Than and his men beneath the walls. The Tu tri thong giam tells it along a different line, adding a sentence neither Tang history has, that the Ly households refused to comply, and says the seat was not merely besieged but stormed and taken by Tu Than and his men before Dien Huu was killed; those beheaded afterward were also Tu Than and his men.¹²