The Trưng sisters, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị,, known in Vietnamese as Hai Bà Trưng (Vietnamese pronunciation: [haj ɓà ʈ͡ʂɯŋ], 𠄩婆徵, "Two Ladies [named] Trưng") or simply Hai Bà ("The Two Ladies"), 14 – c. 43), were Lạc Việt military leaders who ruled for three years after commanding a rebellion in AD 40 against the first Chinese domination of Vietnam. Trưng Trắc was the first female monarch in Vietnam, and she was posthumously recognized Queen Trưng in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư. They are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam.
The Trưng sisters were born to a wealthy aristocratic family in Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ), a commandery of the Chinese Han dynasty in modern-day northern Vietnam. Following the death of Trưng Trắc's husband at the hands of the Chinese governor, the sisters rose up in rebellion, which quickly spread from the Red River Delta to a broader area stretching from Hepu to Rinan. At the height of the uprising the sisters and their allies controlled some sixty-five towns and settlements, with Trưng Trắc being proclaimed queen regnant. In 42 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han sent a punitive expedition force led by general Ma Yuan to crush the rebellion. The sisters were defeated a year later, after which they either were executed or committed suicide.
Historical background
The former Qin commander Zhao Tuo (Trieu Da in Vietnamese) established the state of Nanyue in 204 BC and had conquered Âu Lạc in 180 BC, incorporating the Vietnamese realm into his own. In 112 BC, Emperor Wu of Han dispatched soldiers against Nanyue and the kingdom was annexed in 111 BC during the ensuing Han conquest of Nanyue. Nine commanderies were established to administer the region, three of which were located in what is now northern Vietnam. Revolts of local tribes against the Han began in 40 AD led by the Trưng sisters.
Biography
The Trưng sisters were daughters of a wealthy aristocratic family of Lạc ethnicity. Their father had been a Lạc lord in Mê Linh district (modern-day Mê Linh District, Hanoi). Trưng Trắc's husband, Thi Sách (Shi Suo), was also the Lạc lord of Chu Diên (modern-day Khoái Châu District, Hưng Yên Province). Su Ding, the Chinese governor of Jiaozhi province at the time, is remembered for his cruelty and tyranny. According to the Book of the Later Han, Thi Sách was "of a fierce temperament", and Su Ding attempted to restrain him with legal procedures, literally to behead him without trial. Trưng Trắc was stirred to action by her husband's killing and became the central figure in mobilizing the Lạc lords against the Chinese. In March of 40 AD, Trưng Trắc and her younger sister Trưng Nhị led the Lạc Việt to rise up in rebellion against the Han.
The Book of the Later Han recorded that Trưng Trắc launched the rebellion to avenge the killing of her husband. It began at the Red River Delta, but soon spread to other Lạc and non-Han peoples from an area stretching from Hepu Commandery to Rinan. Chinese settlements were overrun, and Su Ding fled. The uprising gained the support of about sixty-five towns and settlements. Trưng Trắc was proclaimed as queen regnant. The status of Trưng Nhị was not mentioned in Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư. According to Việt Nam sử lược, Trưng Nhị jointly reigned as co-king/queen but according to folk literature, Trưng Nhị became a vice-king/queen.
In 42 AD, the Emperor Guangwu of Han commissioned general Ma Yuan to suppress the rebellion with 20,000 troops. The rebellion of the two sisters was defeated in the next year as Ma Yuan captured and decapitated Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, and then sent their heads to the Han court in Luoyang.
The Song dynasty poet and calligrapher Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) compared the Trưng sisters to Lü Jia, the prime minister of Nanyue who resisted Emperor Wu's army in 112 BCE:
Lü Jia refused treasonous bribe;Trưng Trắc raised her shield to resist oppression
Historiography
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 Eastern Han dynasty from 6 to CE 189. Other Chinese sources are the Shui Jing Zhu (6th cen), Book of Sui (7th century), Tongdian (8th century), Book of the Southern Barbarians (written in 862 by Fan Chuo),... 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 AD
Chapter eighty-six of the Book of the Later Han, entitled Biographies of the Southern and the Southwestern Barbarians, has this short passage:
In the 16th year of the Jianwu era (40 AD), 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/he(?) was/They were(?) remarkably heroic and courageous. Su Ding (蘇定; WD: Su Ting), the administrator of Jiaozhi restrained her (them?) with law; Ce became infuriated, rebelled, and attacked. Thus, the barbarians 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), Tower-ship General Duan Zhi (段志; WD: Tuan Chih) [and Household General Liu Long (劉隆; WD: Liu Long)], 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 this parallel description:
Then Jiaozhi woman Zheng Ce and [her] younger sister Zheng Er rebelled; [they] attacked and the commandery was lost. The barbarians in Jiuzhen, Rinan, Hepu all supported [the Zheng sisters]. The rebels captured over sixty strongholds beyond the Ridge; Ce established herself as queen. Then a sealed decree honored Yuan as Wave-Subduing General, assigned Fule Marquis Liu Long as his assistant, dispatched Tower-ship general Duan Zhi, etc. southwards to attack Jiaozhi. When the army reached Hepu, Zhi fell ill and died; [the Emperor] decreed that Yuan command his [Zhi's] soldiers also. Then [Yuan's army] advanced along the coastline and the mountains, opening a path over thousands of li long. In the spring of the 18th [Jianwu] year (40 CE), [Yuan's] army reached up to Langbo (浪泊; SV: Lãng Bạc), fought with the rebels, routed them, decapitated thousands, [and] over tens of thousands surrendered. Yuan chased Zheng Ce to the Forbidden Gorge (禁谿; SV: Cấm Khê); defeated many times, the rebels then scattered and fled. The first month of next year (43 CE), Zheng Ce and Zheng Er were beheaded, their heads sent to Luoyang. Yuan was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xinsi, [his] fief [containing] three-thousand households. Yuan then slaughtered oxen, and distilled wines, and rewarded the soldiers [and] officers [for their] hard work...
Yuan commanded over 2,000 tower-ships big and small, over 20,000 soldiers, advanced and attacked the bandit Zheng Ce's remnants Du Yang (都羊, SV: Đô Dương) et al., from Wugong (無功; SV: Vô Công) to Jufeng (居風, SV: Cư Phong), beheading [or] capturing over 5,000; south of the mountains everywhere [was] pacified. Yuan reported that Xiyu prefecture (西於; SV: Tây Ư) had 32,000 households, its boundaries [were] over thousands of li from the court; he requested that [Xiyu prefecture] be divided into two prefectures: Fengxi (封溪, SV: Phong Khê) and Wanghai (望海; SV: Vọng Hải); [the request] was granted. Yuan immediately seized the momentum, established commanderies and prefectures, repaired the strongholds and ramparts, dredged the irrigation canals, and benefited the people. [Yuan] reported [to the Emperor] Yue law and Han law differed in more than ten rules; towards the Yue people, the old rules were clarified in order to restrain them. Henceforth, the Luoyue (駱越) obeyed General Ma's laws.
Autumn of the 20th year (44 CE), [Ma Yuan] brought the troops back to the capital; the troops had been suffering from miasma and epidemic, four to five died out of ten. Yuan was bestowed a military carriage; in court-meetings, [he] ranked among the Nine Ministers.
Records of Jiao Province's Outer Territories, 4th century AD
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:
Later, the son of Zhouyuan's Luo general, named Shi (詩; SV: Thi), asked the daughter of Ming ling's Luo general, named Zheng Ce (徵側; SV: Trưng Trắc), to be his wife. Ce, as a human being, possessed mettle and courage. 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.
In the 9th month of 19th year of the Jianwu era [43 CE], Ma Yuan reported to the Emperor that: 'I prudently added 12,000 crack-troops in Jiaozhi to the main army for a total of 20,000 men; as well as 2,000 vessels and vehicles, ever since entering Jiaozhi; now [our army] has become [even] stronger.' In the 10th month, Yuan [went] southwards and entered Jiuzhen; when he reached Vô Thiết prefecture (無切縣), the rebels' leader surrendered. He advanced and entered Dư Phát (餘發), rebels' leader Chu Bá (朱伯) abandoned the commandery and escaped into the deep jungles and great marshes where rhinoceroses and elephants gathered and goats and buffaloes numbered in the thousands; then, elephants were seen as in herds of several hundreds. Yuan again divided his troops, [and dispatched them] into Vô Biên prefecture (無編縣) – which was the Jiuzhending 九真亭 [prefecture] during Wang Mang['s era]. When [Ma Yuan] reached Cư Phong (風縣), the [rebels'] leader did not surrender; [Ma Yuan] then beheaded several tens to hundreds. Jiuzhen was then pacified.
Differences
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; though Ma Yuan himself confirmed that Su Ding was greedy and cowardly. 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.
Vietnamese chronicles
Excerpts from Complete Annals of Đại Việt, 1479
The third book of Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Dai Viet), published in editions between 1272 and 1697, has the following to say about the Trưng Sisters: