Bùi Thị Xuân ( vi-hantu, , d. 1802) was a Vietnamese female general during the Tây Sơn's era.

Biography

General Bùi Thị Xuân was born in Bình Khê District (now Tây Sơn District),

Bình Định Province B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

. She is said to have learned martial arts as a child, and was reputedly a strong woman. Legend has it that she once rescued

Trần Quang Diệu Trần Quang Diệu ( vi-hantu, , 1760–1802), also called Nguyễn Quang Diệu ( vi-hantu, ), was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Diệu was the husband of female general Bùi Thị Xuân. He and Vũ Văn Dũng, Võ Ðình Tú ...

, who later became her husband, from a tiger. She and Trần Quang Diệu joined the Tây Sơn Rebellion early, and won many battles. She helped the Tây Sơn army train

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

, which participated in many battles. She became known as one of the five principal women in the Tây Sơn Dynasty.George Edson Dutton ''The Tây Sơn Uprising: Society and Rebellion'' 2006 Page 236 "The latter is an account of the noted Tây Sơn female general Bùi Thị Xuân. Both of these texts Were Written in the second half of the nineteenth Century" When

Phú Xuân Phú Xuân (富春) was the historic capital of the Nguyễn lords, the Tây Sơn dynasty, and later became the Nguyễn dynasty's capital (renamed Huế). History In 1306, the King of Champa Chế Mân offered Vietnam two Chăm prefectures, Ô ...

(

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

) fell to

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long ( (''North''), (''South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unifie ...

, she followed king Cảnh Thịnh to Nghệ An, commanded 5000 troops and fought the Nguyễn forces in Trấn Ninh ( Quảng Bình Province). In the second month of 1802, the Nguyễn forces became victorious. She joined her husband in Nghệ An and they were captured together by the Nguyễn forces. Both of them were executed; her husband was either beheaded or skinned, while she and her teenage daughter were crushed to death by an elephant. Today, she is celebrated as a Vietnamese hero. Many major cities have schools and streets named after her.

References

1802 deaths Deaths due to elephant attacks Incidents of cannibalism People executed by torture People from Bình Định province Tây Sơn dynasty generals Women in war in Vietnam Women in 19th-century warfare Vietnamese rebels Year of birth unknown {{vietnam-mil-bio-stub