Happy March everyone! March is a month chock full of events and activities. For the mathematicians, 3/14 is Pi Day. For the Irish and others who’ve adopted Ireland’s culture, 3/17 is St. Patrick’s Day. And for the literary enthusiasts out there, 3/15 marks the Ides of March, the date notoriously immortalized in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar.
For us at the VNHELP office, we are happy to see March commemorated as International Women’s History Month. Why not take the opportunity to honor some of the celebrated women in Vietnamese culture through a “Women of Vietnam” series?
We’re kicking off the series with the Trung Sisters, better known to many Vietnamese as “Hai Bà Trưng.”
If you grew up in a Vietnamese household, then you are sure to have heard of the names of these two sisters floated before. If not, here’s your chance to be privy about two of the most celebrated figures in Vietnamese history.
The Trung Sisters
The Trung sisters were Trac and Nhi Trung. They grew up during the first century, at a time when Vietnam was still under the domination of China’s Han dynasty, in a northern prefect called Me Linh. Their father, General Lac, was the leader of Me Linh, and made sure his daughters were well-versed in the martial arts.
Their story made it into the history books after the execution of Trac’s husband catalyzed a major revolt led by the sisters themselves. As many versions of the story have it, Trac’s husband, Thi Sach, had been the son of a neighboring prefect’s leader. Trac and Thi had an arranged marriage, but were blessed with a love-filled matrimony. Trac’s husband was kind and brave. When the Han leader of the region, To Dinh, began demanding excessive taxation from the Vietnamese, Thi Sach stood up to him. And for that, he was killed.
Trac was not one to sit by and let her husband die in vain. With her sister, she rounded up thousands of supporters and allies, rose up, and pushed back the Han colonizers. Trac and Nhi gained more supporters as they continued their campaign. It is said that people willingly followed the Trung Sisters’ lead because they were descendants of Lac Long Quan, the mythical father of all Vietnamese people, but truly it was their leadership skills that eventually helped them win back 65 cities from the Hans.
With their conquest, the Trung Sisters united the region and ruled as queens. They came to be known as Trưng Nữ Vương in Vietnamese.
But their reign was short-lived. Three years after installing themselves as queen, the Hans once again came back to challenge the Trung Sisters. This time, the sisters didn’t have enough forces to fend back the Hans this time because many of their allies had already returned home to regions far away. Eventually they were defeated, and some say the Sisters drowned themselves in a river so as to die honorable deaths.
It’s a tragic story in the end, yes, but the Trung Sisters’ story also represents resilience and courage to the people of Vietnam. To draw a comparison to a more well-known story from the Occident, they were like France’s Joan of Arc–times two. Prior to their uprising, Vietnam had been dominated by the Hans for 247 years without any leaders brave enough to stand up to oppression in such manner. The fact that it was two women who eventually took the charge made the story all the more inspiring. Some historians even use this story to suggest that Vietnam might have been a matriarchal society before the culture became steeped in Confucian traditions.
Today, the Trung Sisters continue to be honored throughout Vietnam. The image of two valiant women riding in on elephants adorns many artistic pieces, their names are used to name schools and public spaces, and their story serves as an inspiration to both women and men alike.
Image via Wikimedia Commons