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Their rebellion was short lived, however, as the Chinese gathered a huge expeditionary army under the veteran general [[Ma Yuan (Han Dynasty)|Ma Yuan]] to suppress the rebellion. The Trưng sisters were defeated and committed [[suicide]] by drowning themselves in the [[Hát River]] in AD 43.
Their rebellion was short lived, however, as the Chinese gathered a huge expeditionary army under the veteran general [[Ma Yuan (Han Dynasty)|Ma Yuan]] to suppress the rebellion. The Trưng sisters were defeated and committed [[suicide]] by drowning themselves in the [[Hát River]] in AD 43.


According to legend, [[Phung Thi Chinh]], a pregnant captain of a group of soldiers who were to protect the centre of Việt Nam, gave birth on the [[front line]]. With her baby in one arm, and a sword in the other, she continued to fight the battle. She committed suicide along with the Trưng sisters and also took her newborn baby's life.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}
According to legend, [[Phung Thi Chinh]], a pregnant captain of a group of soldiers who were to protect the centre of Việt Nam, gave birth on the [[front line]]. With her baby in one arm, and a sword in the other, she continued to fight the battle. The chinese captured and killed the sisters. .{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}


==Cultural Significance==
==Cultural Significance==

Revision as of 06:40, 17 April 2013

File:Dongho haibatrung.jpg
The Trưng sisters ride elephants into battle, Đông Hồ style painting

The Trưng sisters (Vietnamese: Hai Bà Trưng; literally: two ladies Trưng[1]) (c. 12 - AD 43) were leaders who rebelled against Chinese rule for three years, and are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam. Their names were Trưng Trắc ( ) and Trưng Nhị ( ).

The sisters were born in Giao Chỉ in what is now 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 AD 43.

Trưng sisters
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetHai Bà Trưng
Hán-Nôm𠄩

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 189AD. The secondary source, but primary popular source, is the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Đại Việt, chữ Hán: 大越史記全書) compiled by Ngô Sĩ Liên under the order of the Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and finished in 1479.

Book of the Later Han, 5th Century

The Chinese traditional historical accounts on the Trưng sisters are remarkably brief. They are found in two 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.

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

In the 16th year of Jianwu [40], Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ) [modern northern Vietnam and extreme western Guangdong and western Guangxi] women Zhēng Cè (Trưng Trắc) and Zhēng Èr (Trưng Nhị) rebelled and attacked the commandery capital. Zhēng Cè was the daughter of the sheriff of Miling (Mê Linh; 麊泠) County, and she married a man named Shi Suo (Thi Sách; 詩索) from ....(Chu Diên) [Note 2] She was a ferocious warrior. Su Ding (蘇定), the governor of Jiaozhi Commandery, curbed her with laws. Cè became angry and rebelled. The barbarian towns of Jiuzhen, Rinan, and Hepu Commanderies all joined her, and she captured sixty five cities and claimed to be queen. The governors of Jiaozhi Province and the commanderies could only defend themselves. Emperor Guangwu therefore ordered the Changsha, Hepu, and Jiaozhi Commanderies to prepare wagons and boats, to repair the roads and bridges, to open the mountain passes, and to save food supplies. In the 18th year 42, he sent Ma Yuan the General Fubo and Duan Zhi (段志) the General Lochuan to lead ten odd thousands of men from Changsha, Guiyang, Linling, and Cangwu Commanderies against them. In the summer of the next year 43, Ma recaptured Jiaozhi and killed Zhēng Cè, Zhēng Èr, and others in battle, and the rest scattered. He also attacked Du Yang (都陽), a rebel of the Jiuzhen Commandery, and Du surrendered and was moved, along with some 300 of his followers to Lingling Commandery. The border regions were thus 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.

The traditional Chinese account therefore does not indicate abuse of the Vietnamese population by the Chinese officials. It implicitly disavows the traditional Vietnamese accounts of massive cruelty and of the Chinese official killing Trưng Trắc's husband. There is no indication in the Chinese account that the Trưng sisters committed suicide, or that other followers followed example and did so. Indeed, Ma, known in Chinese history for his strict military discipline, is not believed by the Chinese to have carried out cruel or unusual tactics. That account is in contrast to the Vietnamese.

Excerpts from Complete Annals of Đại Việt, 1479

Procession of elephants in the Trung Sisters's Parade in Saigon, 1957
A statue of Trưng Sisters in Ho Chi Minh City.

The third book of Đại Việt Sử ký toàn thư (大越史記全書 Complete Annals of Great Viet),[2] published in editions between 1272 and 1697, has the following to say about the Trưng Sisters:

Queen Trưng ( Zhēng) reigned for three years. The queen was strong and intelligent. She expelled Tô Định (蘇定 Sū Dìng) and established a kingdom as the queen, but as a female ruler could not accomplish the rebuilding of the state. Her taboo name was Trắc ( ), and her family name was Trưng, but was originally Lạc. She was the daughter of General Lạc from Mê Linh from Phong Châu, and she was the wife of Thi Sách (詩索, Chinese Shī Suǒ) from Chu Diên County. Thi Sách was the son of General Lạc's doctor, and they arranged the marriage. (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 [AD 40, Gengzi]. (It was the 16th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the second month, the governor of Wangku Commandery, Tô Định, punished her under the law, and she also hated Định for having killed her husband. She therefore, along with her sister Nhị, rose and captured the commandery capital. Định 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 [AD 41, Xinchou]. (It was the 17th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the second month, there was a solar eclipse, and the moon was dark. The Han saw that as Lady Trưng had declared herself queen and captured cities, causing much distress in the border commanderies. It thus ordered Trường Sa, Hợp Phố, and our Giao Châu to prepare wagons and boats, repair the bridges and the roads, dredge the rivers, and store food supplies. It commissioned Mã Viện (Ma Yuan) as the General Fupo and Liu Long the Marquess of Fule as his assistant in order to invade.

Her third year was Nhâm Dần [AD 42, Renyin]. (It was the 18th year of Han Dynasty's Jianwu era). In the spring, the first month, Mã followed the coastline and entered Sui Mountain. He went for over a thousand li and reached Lãng Bạc (west of Tây Nhai in La Thành was named Lãng Bạc) He battled with the queen, who saw that the enemy's army was large. She considered her own army to be ill-trained, and feared that it could not stand. Therefore, she withdrew to Jin (禁) River. (Jin River was referred to in history as Jin (金) River.) Her followers also thought that the queen was a woman and could not be victorious, and therefore scattered. Her kingdom therefore ended.

Lê Văn Hưu (one of the historians editing the annals) wrote:

Trưng Trắc, Trưng Nhị are women, with a single cry led the prefectures of Cửu Chân, Nhật Nam, Hợp Phố, and 65 strongholds heed their call. They established a nation and proclaimed their rule as easily as their turning over their hands. It awakened all of us that we can be independent. Unfortunately, between the fall of the Triệu Dynasty and the rise of the Ngô Dynasty, in the span of more than one thousand years, men of this land only bowed their heads and accepted the fate of servitude to the people from the North (Chinese). The reign of Trưng Nữ Vương [Trưng Queens], started in the year of Canh Tý and ended in Nhâm Dần, for a total of 3 years (40-42).

Traditional Vietnamese Account

The Trưng sisters were born in a rural Vietnamese village, into a military family. Their father was a prefect of Mê Linh (), therefore the sisters grew up in a house well-versed in the martial arts. They also witnessed the cruel treatment of the Viets by their Chinese overlords. The Trưng sisters spent much time studying the art of warfare, as well as learning fighting skills. When a neighbouring prefect came to visit Mê Linh, he brought with him his son, Thi Sách. Thi Sách met and fell in love with Trưng Trắc during the visit, and they were soon married.

Rebellion

With Chinese rule growing extremely exacting, and the policy of forcible assimilation into the Chinese mold, Thi Sách made a stand against the Chinese. The Chinese responded by executing Thi Sách as a warning to all those who contemplated rebellion. His death spurred his wife to take up his cause and the flames of insurrection spread.

In AD 39, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, after successfully repelling a small Chinese unit from their village, assembled a large army consisting mostly of women.[citation needed] Within months, they had taken many (about 65) citadels from the Chinese, and had liberated Nam Việt.[3] They became queens of the country, and managed to resist subsequent Chinese attacks on Việt Nam for over two years.

Defeat

Their rebellion was short lived, however, as the Chinese gathered a huge expeditionary army under the veteran general Ma Yuan to suppress the rebellion. The Trưng sisters were defeated and committed suicide by drowning themselves in the Hát River in AD 43.

According to legend, Phung Thi Chinh, a pregnant captain of a group of soldiers who were to protect the centre of Việt Nam, gave birth on the front line. With her baby in one arm, and a sword in the other, she continued to fight the battle. The chinese captured and killed the sisters. .[citation needed]

Cultural Significance

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, occurring in February, to commemorate their deaths is observed by many Vietnamese. A district in Hanoi called the Hai Ba Trung district is named after them. In addition, numerous large streets in major cities[4] and many schools are named after them.

The stories of the Trưng sisters and of another famous woman warrior, Triệu Thị Trinh, 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 Trung Sisters' revolt against the Chinese was almost 2,000 years ago, its legacy in Vietnam remains.[5] 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 a times, they are seen leading their followers into battle against the Chinese. The Trung sisters were more than two sisters that gave their life up for their country, they are powerful symbols of Vietnamese resistance and freedom.

Temples

Temples to the Trung Sisters, as the two Trưng Nữ Vương, are found from as early as the end of the Third Chinese domination of Vietnam.[6] The best known Hai Bà Trưng Temple is in Hanoi near Hoan Kiem Lake.[7][8] Other Hai Bà Trưng temples are found in Mê Linh, Vĩnh Phúc, Phúc Thọ district, Hà Tây and Hoàng Hoa Thám Street, Bình Thạnh, TPHCM.

Notes

  1. ^ The use of the word barbarians is historical, and is translated as used in the original Chinese texts.
  2. ^ Shi's home is rendered 朱? (Zhu ?), where ? is a character that is not in Unicode and therefore unavailable online.

References

  1. ^ Marie-Carine Lall, Edward Vickers Education As a Political Tool in Asia 2009 - Page 144 "... to the official national autobiography, the legends relating to the origins of the nation are complemented by other legends of heroes in order to constitute the Vietnamese nation's pantheon: Hai Bà Trưng, Lý Thường Kiệt, Trần Hưng Đạo, etc."
  2. ^ "Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư - Kỷ Thuộc Hán" (in Vietnamese). Institute of Social Studies Vietnam. 1993. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  3. ^ Nola Cooke, Tana Li, James Anderson The Tongking Gulf Through History 2011- Page 8 "When the Trưng sisters rose against the Han administration in 40 C.E., the sound of bronze drums must have reechoed throughout the gulf, as the peoples of sixty-five citadels, from as far south as modern central Vietnam and as far north as ..."
  4. ^ Vietnam Country Map. Periplus Travel Maps. 2002–03. ISBN 0-7946-0070-0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ The Birth of Vietnam - Page 336 Keith Weller Taylor - 1991 "The Trung sisters' posthumous cult was popular in the independence period. It is recorded that, during a drought, King Ly Anh-tong (1138-75) went to the Trung sisters' ancestral temple and ordered Buddhist priests to pray for rain." ..."Today, their temple is at An-hat in Phuc-loc. The temple hall is majestic and well cared for."
  7. ^ Lonely Planet Vietnam 10 - Page 97 Nick Ray, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Iain Stewart - 2009 this temple (Map pp88-9; Ptho Lao) was founded in 1142. A statue shows the two Trung sisters (who lived in the 1st century AD) kneeling with their arms raised in the air, as if they are addressing a crowd..
  8. ^ Philip Taylor Modernity and Re-Enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam Page 163 2007 -"Stories associating violent death with powerful female deities such as the Trưng sisters and Lady Liễu Hạnh are also known ... A description of the altar display at the Two Trưng Sisters' northern temple prompted Tạ Chí Đại Trường to suggest ..

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