Trưng sisters

The Trưng sisters (Vietnamese: Hai Bà Trưng, 𠄩婆徵, literally "Two Ladies [named] Trưng", c. 14 – c. 43) were Vietnamese military leaders who ruled for three years after rebelling in AD 40 against the first Chinese domination of Vietnam. They are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam. Their names were Trưng Trắc (Hán tự: 徵側; Chinese pinyin: Zheng Ce; Wade–Giles: Cheng¹ Ts'e² ) and Trưng Nhị (Hán tự: 徵貳; Chinese pinyin: Zheng Er ; Wade–Giles: Cheng¹ Erh⁴). Trưng Trắc was the first woman to be a Vietnamese monarch as well as the only queen regnant in the history of Vietnam (Lý Chiêu Hoàng was the second woman to take the reign and is the only empress regnant).

Trưng sisters
The Trưng sisters ride elephants into battle in this Đông Hồ style painting.
Vietnamese	Hai Bà Trưng
Hán-Nôm	𠄩婆徵
Literal meaning	Two ladies Trưng

The sisters were born in Giao Chi, in rural Northern Vietnam, a commandery of the Han dynasty (and in modern Northern Vietnam). The dates of their births are unknown, but Trưng Trắc was older than Trưng Nhị. The exact dates of their deaths are also unknown but both died around CE 43 after a battle against an army led by Ma Yuan.

The Trưng sisters were highly educated under the watchful eyes of their father; they excelled in both literature and martial arts. Both were in line to inherit their father's land and titles.[1]

Historical background

The former Qin commander Zhao Tuo (Wade–Giles: Chao T'o) established the state of Nanyueh in 204 BC, had conquered Âu Lạc in 180 BC, incorporated the Vietnamese realm into Chinese rules.[2] In 112 BC, Emperor Wu of Han dispatched soldiers against Nanyue and the kingdom was annexed in 111 BC during the ensuing Han–Nanyue War. Nine commanderies were established to administer the region,[3] three of which are located in modern-day northern Vietnam. Revolts against the Han began in AD 40 led by the Trưng sisters. [4]

Biography

The Trưng sisters were daughters of a wealthy aristocratic family of Lac ethnicity.[5] Their father had been a Lac lord in Mê Linh district (modern-day Mê Linh District, Hanoi). Trưng Trắc (Cheng Ts'e)'s husband was Thi Sách (Shi Sou), was also the Lac lord of Chu Diên (modern-day Khoái Châu District, Hưng Yên Province).[6] According to Chinese records, Thi Sách was "of a fierce temperament", and Su Ting attempted to restrain him with legal procedures, literally tied him up with the law. Trưng Trắc fearless stirred her husband to action and became the central figure in mobilizing the Lac lords against the Chinese.[7] In March[8] of AD 40, Trưng Trắc and her younger sister Trưng Nhị (Cheng Erh), led the Lac Viet people to rise up in rebellion against the Han.[8][9][10] The Hou Han Shu recorded that Trưng Trắc launched the rebellion in avenge the killing of her dissent husband.[6] It began at the Red River Delta, but soon spread to other Lac tribes and non-Han people from an area stretching from Hepu to Rinan.[5] Chinese settlements were overran, and Su Ting fled.[7] The uprising gained the support of about sixty-five towns and settlements.[9] Trưng Trắc was proclaimed as the queen.[8]

In AD 42, the Han emperor commissioned general Ma Yuan to suppress the rebellion with 32,000 men. The rebellion of the two sisters was defeated in the next year as Ma Yuan captured and decapitated Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, then sent their head to the Han court in Luoyang.[11]

The Sung dynasty poet and calligrapher Huang T'ing-chien (1045–1105) compared the Trưng sisters to Lü Chia, the prime minister of Nanyue who resisted Han Wu di's army in 112 BC:

Lü Chia refused treasonous brides;

Trưng Trắc raised her shield to resist oppression[12]

Sources

The primary historical source for the sisters is the 5th century Book of the Later Han compiled by historian Fan Ye, which covers the history of the Han Dynasty from 6 to CE 189. The secondary source, but the primary popular source, is the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Dai Viet) compiled by Ngô Sĩ Liên under the order of the Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and finished in 1479.

Chinese Sources

The Chinese traditional historical accounts on the Trưng sisters are remarkably brief. They are found in several different chapters of the Book of the Later Han, the history for the Eastern Han Dynasty, against which the Trưng sisters had carried out their uprising.

Book of Later Han; 5th century CE

Chapter eighty-six of the Book of the Later Han, entitled Biographies of the Southern and the Southwestern Barbarians,[Note 1] has this short passage:[13][14]

In the 16th year of the Jianwu era (40 CE), Jiaozhi (交阯; WD: Chiao-chih) woman Zheng Ce (徵側; SV: Trưng Trắc) and her younger sister Zheng Er (徵貳; SV: Trưng Nhị) rebelled and attacked the commandery['s strongholds]. As for Zheng Ce, she was the daughter of the Luo general of Miling prefecture (麊泠; SV: Mê Linh). She was married as wife to Shi Suo (詩索; SV: Thi Sách), a man in Zhouyuan (朱鳶; SV: Chu Diên). She was remarkably heroic and couragerous. Su Ding (蘇定; WD: Su Ting), the administrator of Jiaozhi restrained her (them?) with law; Ce became infuriated, rebelled, and attacked. Thus, the barbarian villages in Jiuzhen (九眞; WD Chiu-chen), Rinan (日南; WD:Jih-nan), Hepu (合浦; WD: Hop'u) all supported her. All in all, she took sixty-five strongholds and established herself as queen. Jiaozhi's governor and administrators could but defend themselves. (Emperor) Guangwu thus decreed that Changsha (長沙; WD: Ch'ang-sha), Hepu, and Jiaozhi, all must furnish chariots and boats, repair roads and bridges, dredge obstructed waterways, and store foods and provisions. In the 18th year (42 CE), he dispatched Wave-Subduing General Ma Yuan (馬援 ; WD: Ma Yüan), Building-and-Boat General Duanzhi (段志 ; SV: Đoạn Chí) [and Household General Liu Long (劉隆; WD: Liu Long),[Note 2] who led over 10,000 troops from Ch'ang-sha, Guiyang (桂陽; SV: Quế Dương); Lingling (零陵; SV: Linh Lăng); Cangwu (蒼梧; SV: Thương Ngô) on a punitive expedition. Summer next year (43 CE), in the fourth month, Ma Yuan devastated Jiaozhi, beheaded Zheng Ce, Zheng Er, and others; the rest all surrendered or scattered. He advanced and attacked the Jiuzhen's rebel Du Yang (都陽; SV: Đô Dương) and others, routing and subduing them. He exiled over 300 rebel leaders to Lingling. Thus the regions beyond the Ridge were entirely pacified.

Chapter twenty-four, the biographies of Ma and some of his notable male descendants, had a parallel description that also added that Ma was able to impress the locals by creating irrigation networks to help the people and also by simplifying and clarifying the Han laws, and was able to get the people to follow Han's laws.

Records of Jiao Province's Outer Territories, 4th century CE

An older, yet less-known account, from the now-lost Records of Jiao Province's Outer Territories (交州外域記) was quoted in the 6th-century word Commentary on the Water Classic (水經注) by Northern Wei geographer Li Daoyuan:[15]

Later, the son of Zhouyuan's Luo general, named Shi (詩; SV: Thi), asked[Note 3] the daughter of Ming[Note 4] ling's Luo general, named Zheng Ce (徵側; SV: Trưng Trắc), to be his wife. Ce was a bold and courageous human being. Alongsides Shi, she uprose and rebelled, attacking and devastating Jiao Province, as well as reducing the Luo generals into subordination. Zheng Ce made [herself] queen. Starting from Miling prefecture, she occupied two divisions Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen, and for two years taxed the people. Later on, the Han (court) dispatched Wave-Subduing General to lead troops on a punitive expedition. Ce and Shi fled into the Golden Gorge (金溪 SV; Kim Khê). Ma Yuan hunted them down and captured them after three years. Now [from] Western Shu [there were] also troops dispatched on punitive expedition against Ce and Shi and others and all those commanderies and prefectures were pacified; then magistrates were instituted there.

The traditional Chinese accounts differed from Vietnamese traditional accounts in many places: Chinese accounts do not indicate oppression of the Vietnamese population by the Chinese officials and Su Ding's killing of Trưng Trắc's husband. In the Chinese account, the Trưng sisters did not commit suicide. Chinese sources also contradicted accounts in Vietnamese folk history that the Trưng sisters' retainers followed their examples and also committed suicide.

Excerpts from Complete Annals of Đại Việt, 1479

Trưng Sisters, national heroines of Viet Nam are honoured with a parade of elephants and floats in Saigon, 1961

The third book of Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Dai Viet),[16][17] published in editions between 1272 and 1697, has the following to say about the Trưng Sisters:

In the year Kỉ Hợi [Ji Hai, 39 CE] (It was the 15th year of the era of Emperor Guang Wu of Han, Liu Xiu), the administrator of Jiaozhi, Su Ding, governed with greed and violence. Queen Trưng raised troops and attacked.

[...]

Queen Trưng reigned for three years. The queen was remarkably strong and courageous. She expelled Su Ding and established a nation as queen, but as a female ruler, she could not accomplish the rebuilding [of the nation]. Her taboo name was Trắc, and her family name was Trưng, but was originally Lạc. She was the daughter of a Lạc general from Mê Linh from Phong Châu, and she was the wife of Thi Sách from Chu Diên County. Thi Sách was the son of another Lạc general, and the child of each of both houses married each other. (The work Cương mục tập lãm [Gangmu Jilan] erroneously indicated that his family name was Lạc.) Her capital was Mê Linh. [...]

Her first year was Canh Tí [Gengzi, 40 CE]. (It was the 16th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the second month, the queen was bitter because the governor, Su Ding, used the law to restrain her and also harbored a grudge against him for having killed her husband. She, therefore, along with her younger sister Nhị, rose and captured the commandery capital. Ding was forced to flee. Nam Hải, Cửu Chân, Nhật Nam, and Hợp Phố all rose in response to her. She was able to take over 65 cities and declare herself Queen. Thereafter, she began to use the family name of Trưng.

Her second year was Tân Sửu [Xin Chou, 41 CE]. (It was the 17th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the second month, there was a solar eclipse on the last day of the (lunar) month. The Han court, witnessing that as Lady Trưng had declared herself queen, captured cities, caused much distress in the border commanderies, thus ordered Trường Sa, Hợp Phố, and Giao Châu (now ours) to prepare wagons and boats, repair the bridges and the roads, dredge the waterways, and store foods and provisions, and also commissioned Wave-Subduing General Ma Yuan and Fule marquis Liu Long as his assistant in order to invade.

Her third year was Nhâm Dần [Renyin, 42 CE]. (It was the 18th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the first month, Ma advanced, following the coastline and the mountain(paths). He went for over a thousand li and reached Lãng Bạc (west of Tây Nhai in La Thành was (a place) named Lãng Bạc) He battled with the queen, who saw that the enemy's army was large. She considered her own army to be disorderly and feared that it could not stand. Therefore, she withdrew to Forbidden (禁 Jìn) Gorge. (The Forbidden Gorge was referred to in history as Golden (金 Jīn) Gorge.) The army also thought that the queen was a woman and could not win, and therefore scattered. The national continuation again ended.

[...][Note 5]

Her fourth year was Quý Mão [Guimao 43 CE]. (It was the 19th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the first moth, Queen Trưng and her younger sister warred against Han army; they were abandoned and both were defeated and perished. Ma Yuan chased down the remaining multitude, Đô Dương and others. When chased to Cư Phong,[Note 6] [Đô Dương and others] surrendered.

[...]

The locals admired and mourned the Trưng Queens; they erected a temple for worshipping. The temple is located at in Hát River commune, Phúc Lộc Prefecture; there is also (another temple?) in the old territory of Phiên Ngung.

Procession of elephants in the Trưng Sisters' Parade in Saigon, 1957

Lê Văn Hưu (Trần dynasty's historian) wrote:

Trưng Trắc, Trưng Nhị are women; with one single cry [they rallied] the commanderies of Cửu Chân, Nhật Nam, Hợp Phố; and sixty-five strongholds beyond the ridge heeded their call. They established a nation and proclaimed themselves as queens as easily as their turning over their hands. We can see that we Viets have the potentials to achieve the status of hegemons and monarchs. Regrettably, since after the Triệu Dynasty until before Ngô Dynasty, in the span of more than one thousand years, the men themselves merely hung their heads, wrung their hands, and became vassals and servants to Northerners (Chinese). Don't they men feel ashamed considering that the two Trưng were women? Alas! They may say they have thrown themselves away. The reign of Trưng Queens started in the year of Canh Tý and ended in Nhâm Dần, for a total of 3 years (40–42).

Ngô Sĩ Liên (the Complete Annals chief compiler) wrote:

Lady Trưng was infuriated by the oppressive Han administrator. With her raised arm and one single yell, she almost rebuilt our Viet national continuation. Her heroic mettle during her lifetime not only prompted her nation-building and proclamation of queenship but also, even after she perished, hamper disaster and hinder peril. Whenever disasters, like flood or drought, happen, no prayers go unanswered. The same for the younger Trưng sister. For she, a woman, possessed the gentleman's virtue, and her heroic and courageous spirit, between heaven and earth, does not deteriorate even though her body alrealdy perished. Couldn't men have nourished that upright and honest spirit?

Cultural significance

A statue of the Trưng Sisters in Ho Chi Minh City

Nationalism

The Trưng Sisters are highly revered in Vietnam, as they led the first resistance movement against the occupying Chinese after 247 years of domination. Many temples are dedicated to them, and a yearly holiday in February to commemorate their deaths is observed by many Vietnamese. A central district in Hanoi called the Hai Bà Trưng District is named after them, as are numerous large streets in major cities[18] and many schools.

The stories of the Trưng Sisters and of another famous woman warrior, Lady Triệu, are cited by some historians as hints that Vietnamese society before sinicization was a matriarchal one, where there are no obstacles for women in assuming leadership roles.

Even though the Trưng Sisters' revolt against the Chinese was almost 2000 years ago, its legacy in Vietnam remains.[19] The two sisters are considered to be a national symbol in Vietnam. They represent Vietnam's independence. They are often depicted as two women riding two giant war elephants. Many times, they are seen leading their followers into battle against the Chinese. The Trưng sisters were more than two sisters that gave their life up for their country, they are powerful symbols of Vietnamese resistance and freedom.

Their strong defiance and devote for Vietnamese freedom nonetheless, has been greatly appreciated by not just Vietnamese but even foreign leaders. The U.S. President Donald Trump has recalled their heroism to be one of the greatest achievement of Vietnamese people during the APEC Vietnam 2017.[20]

Temples

Temples to the Trưng Sisters or Hai Bà Trưng Temples were found from as early as the end of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam.[21] The best known Hai Bà Trưng Temple is in Hanoi near Hoàn Kiếm Lake.[22][23][24] Other Hai Bà Trưng temples are found in Mê Linh District (Vĩnh Phúc Province), Phúc Thọ District (Hà Tây Province) and Hoàng Hoa Thám Street, Bình Thạnh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

Women's status

One reason for the defeat is desertion by rebels because they did not believe they could win under a woman's leadership.[25] The fact that women were in charge was blamed as a reason for the defeat by historical Vietnamese texts in which the historians ridiculed and mocked men because they did nothing while "mere girls", whom they viewed with revulsion, took up the banner of revolt.[26] The historical poem containing the phrase "mere girls", which related the revolt of the Trung Sisters while the men did nothing, was not intended to praise women nor view war as women's work, as it has been wrongly interpreted.[27][28]

See also

• Lady Triệu
• Phùng Thị Chính
• Copper columns of Ma Yuan
• Bùi Thị Xuân

Notes

1. The use of the word barbarians is historical, and is translated as used in the original Chinese texts.
2. Liu Long was not mentioned here, yet Hou Hanshu's Account of Liu Long recorded that he also participated in this campaign against Trưng Trắc, and that he caught Trưng Nhị at the Forbidden Gorge (禁谿), beheaded over 1,000, and subdued over 20,000 rebels
3. The original manuscript contains no punctuation. The two characters "詩索", to be read as 'Shi/Thi asked', were instead misread as the name Shi Suo/Thi Sách; 索 "to ask" is the main verb of this sentence "後朱䳒雒將子名詩索𥹆泠雒將女名徵側爲妻"
4. 𥹆 míng is possibly a clerical error for 麊 mí
5. Lê Văn Hưu's remark is entered here
6. Possibly at Hải Vân Pass, see Lê Thành Khôi's Histoire du Viet Nam des origines a 1858 (Paris: Sudestasie, 1981)

References

1. Rajapaksha, Piumi. "Hai Bà Trưng: The Story of Vietnam's Elephant-Riding Warrior Princesses". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
2. Holcombe 2001, p. 149-150.
3. Yü 1986, p. 453.
4. Gernet 1996, p. 126.
5. Brindley 2015, p. 235.
6. Lai 2015, p. 253.
7. Taylor 1983, p. 38.
8. Bielestein 1986, p. 271.
9. Yü 1986, p. 454.
10. Kiernan 2019, p. 78.
11. Kiernan 2019, p. 80.
12. Taylor 1983, p. 335.
13. Hou Hanshu, Vol. 86
14. As quoted in Gujin Tushu Jicheng Vol. 421
15. Li Daoyuan Commentary on the Water Classic, Vol. 37
16. "Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư – Ngoại Kỷ Quyển III" (in Vietnamese). Institute of Social Studies Vietnam. 1993. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
17. "Complete Historical Annals of Đại Việt - Outer Annals, Third Volume" (in Chinese).
18. Vietnam Country Map. Periplus Travel Maps. 2002–2003. ISBN 0-7946-0070-0.
19. Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David: Vietnam Past and Present: The North (History and culture of Hanoi and Tonkin). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN B006DCCM9Q
20. "Remarks by President Trump at APEC CEO Summit | Da Nang, Vietnam". The White House.
21. Taylor 1983, p. 336.
22. Stewart 2018, p. 88-89.
23. Stewart 2018, p. 97.
24. Taylor 2007, p. 163.
25. Taylor 1983, p. 41.
26. John P. McKay; Bennett D. Hill; John Buckler; Clare Haru Crowston; Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks; Patricia Buckley Ebrey; Roger B. Beck (2012). Understanding World Societies, Combined Volume: A Brief History. Bedford/St. Martin's. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4576-2268-7.
27. Gilbert, Marc Jason (June 25, 2007). "When Heroism is Not Enough: Three Women Warriors of Vietnam, Their Historians and World History". World History Connected. 4 (3).
28. Taylor 1983, p. 334.

Bibliography

• Holcombe, Charles (2001). The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B.C. – A.D. 907. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2465-5.
• Gernet, Jacques (1996). A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7.
• Yü, Ying-shih (1986), "Han foreign relations", in Twitchett, Denis C.; Fairbank, John King (eds.), The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 377–463
• Bielestein, Hans (1986), "Wang Mang, the restoration of the Han dynasty, and Later Han", in Twitchett, Denis C.; Fairbank, John King (eds.), The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 223–290
• Li, Tana (2011), "A Geopolitical Overview", in Li, Tana; Anderson, James A. (eds.), The Tongking Gulf Through History, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 1–25, ISBN 9780812205022
• Lai, Mingchiu (2015), "The Zheng sisters", in Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Stefanowska, A. D.; Wiles, Sue (eds.), Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E, Taylor & Francis, pp. 253–254, ISBN 978-1-317-47591-0
• Brindley, Erica (2015). Ancient China and the Yue: Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, C.400 BCE-50 CE. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-107-08478-4.
• Taylor, Keith Weller (1983). The Birth of Vietnam. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07417-0.
• Kiernan, Ben (2019). Việt Nam: a history from earliest time to the present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-190-05379-6.
• Stewart, Iain (2018). Lonely Planet Vietnam. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-787-01931-7.
• Taylor, Philip (2007). Modernity and Re-Enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-9-812-30438-4.

External links

• Trưng sisters Tuyet A. Tran & Chu V. Nguyen