Minh M?ng (17911841; born Nguy?n Ph?c ??m, also known as Nguy?n Ph?c Ki?u) was the second emperor of the Nguy?n Dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 14 February 1820 until 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Canh, had died in 1801. He was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam and his rigid Confucian orthodoxy. As Gia Long aged, he took on a more isolationist foreign policy, and as a result favored Minh Mang especially for his outlook. Minh Mang was a classicist who was regarded as one of Vietnam's most scholarly monarchs. He was known as a poet and was regarded as an emperor who cared sincerely about his country and paid great attention to its rule. The dragon symbolises power in both Vietnamese and Chinese. The stylised dragon map is written in Han Tu or Chinese characters.