Lady Triệu ( vi, Bà Triệu, ,

Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...

: 226 - 248) or Triệu Ẩu (,

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: ); was a warrior in 3rd century

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

who managed, for a time, to resist the rule of the Chinese Eastern Wu dynasty. She is also called , although her actual given name is unknown. She is quoted as saying, "I'd like to ride storms, kill

orcas The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...

in the open sea, drive out the aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man." The uprising of Lady Triệu is usually depicted in modern Vietnamese National History as one of many chapters constituting a "long national independence struggle to end foreign domination."

Background

In 226,

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

sent 3,000 troops to reassert direct Chinese control over

Jiaozhi Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...

and also to eradicate the

Shi Xie Shi Xie () (137–226), courtesy name Weiyan, also rendered as Sĩ Nhiếp in Vietnamese, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. He served as th ...

family. Sun Quan's forces captured and beheaded Shi Hui along with all of his family, then stormed

Jiuzhen Jiuzhen (Vietnamese: Cửu Chân, Chinese: 九真) was a Chinese commandery within Jiaozhou. It is located in present-day Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam. Michel Ferlus (2012) and Frédéric Pain (2020) propose that 九真 Old Chinese Old Chin ...

and killed ten thousand people, along with surviving members of Shi Xie's family. Sun Quan divided Jiaozhi into two separated provinces, Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. In 231, Eastern Wu again sent a general to Jiuzhen to "exterminate and pacify the barbarous Yue tribes."

Biography

In 248, the people of

and

districts of Jiaozhou province rebelled against the Wu Chinese. A local woman named Triệu Ẩu in Jiuzhen led the rebellion, followed by a hundred chieftains led fifty thousand families in her revolt. Eastern Wu sent Lu Yin to deal with the rebels, and put Lady Trieu to death after several months of warfare. Although Chinese records did not mention lady Trieu, she was described by Le Tac, a 13th-century Vietnamese scholar exiled in

Yuan China The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

in his Annan zhilue as a woman who had a

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

-long breast and fought on an elephant in battle.

K. W. Taylor K is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet. K may also refer to: General uses * K (programming language), an array processing language developed by Arthur Whitney and commercialized by Kx Systems * K (cider), a British draft cider manufact ...

argued that "the resistance of Lady Trieu was for them (Chinese) simply a kind of stubborn barbarism that was wiped out as a matter of course and was of no historical interest." Catherine Churchman (2016) indicates that Taylor is mistaken. According to Churchman, the oldest and also most detailed record of Lady Trieu came from ''Jiaozhou ji'' of

Liu Xinqi Liu Xinqi (; born October 1956) is former Chinese military officer and politician who served as commander of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps from 2011 to 2017, until he was investigated by the party's anti-graft watchdog and China's t ...

, and was quoted in the ''

Taiping Yulan The ''Taiping Yulan'', translated as the ''Imperial Reader'' or ''Readings of the Taiping Era'', is a massive Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia compiled by a team of scholars from 977 to 983. It was commissioned by the imperial court of the Song ...

'' (c. 980).

Jin intervention

In 263, Lu Hung (呂興), a prefecture in Jiaozhou, gained supports from local people and soldiers, murdering Wu administrators Sun Hsu (孫諝) and Teng Hsun (鄧荀), then sent envoys to

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

requesting military assistance. Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen and

Rinan Rinan (; vi, Nhật Nam), also rendered as Jih-nan, was the southernmost commandery of the Chinese Han dynasty. It was located in the central area of modern-day Vietnam between Quảng Bình and Bình Định provinces. It was administered by ...

were transferred to Wei. In 265,

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...

replaced Cao Wei, immediately sending Yang Chi to annex Jiaozhou with local supports. In 268, Wu dispatched two generals, Liu Chun and Hsiu Tse to reconquer Jiaozhou, but were repelled by Jin armies. In 270 Jin and Wu armies clashed in

Hepu Hepu (), alternately romanized as Hoppo, Hopu or Hop'u, is a county under the administration of Beihai City in southeastern Guangxi, China. It borders Lianjiang (Guangdong) to the southeast, Bobai County to the northeast, the Gulf of Tonkin to t ...

. The Wu general, Tao Huang contacted with Luong Ky, a local commander collaborating with the Jin and convinced him to switch sides to the Wu, enabling the Wu army to recapture Jiaozhi's ports and main towns in 271. Fighting continued in the countryside until 280, when Jin destroyed Wu, reunifying China.

Vietnamese account

Traditional

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

'' (大越史記全書 ''Complete annals of Great Viet''), written during the

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...

, said the following about Lady Trieu:

The Mậu Thìn year, 48 (11th year of Emperor Diên Hy of Han (Han Yanxi 漢延熙); 11th year of Xích Ô (Chiwu 赤烏)). The people of Cửu Chân (Jiuzhen 九真) again attacked citadels, the prefecture was in rebellion. The Wu king appointed the Hành Dương Imperial Secretist Lục Dận u Yin(some sources said Lục Thương u Shang to Inspectorship of Jiaozhou. Dận arrived, used the people's respect for him to call them to lay down arms, people surrendered, numbering more than 30,000 households, and the prefecture was once again peaceful. Afterwards, a woman from the Cửu Chân commandery named Triệu Ẩu assembled people and attacked several commanderies (Ẩu has breasts 3 thước .2 mlong, tied them behind her back, often rides elephants to fight). Dận was able to subdue er (Giao Chỉ records only write: In the mountains of Cửu Chân commandery there was a young woman surnamed Triệu, with breasts 3 thước long, unmarried, assembled people and robbed the commanderies, often wore gilded coarse tunics and toothed footwears (or toothed footwears made from gilded coarse clothes?), and fought while sitting on an elephant's head, after she died she became an immortal).

Modern

Việt Nam sử lược ( vi-hantu, 越南史略, french: Précis d'Histoire du Việt-Nam, lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim ...

(''A Brief history of Vietnam''), a history book that was written in the early 20th century by Vietnamese historian

Trần Trọng Kim Trần Trọng Kim (Chữ Nôm: ; 1883 – December 2, 1953), courtesy name Lệ Thần, was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a state established with the support of Impe ...

, said the following about Lady Trieu:

In this year on Cửu Chân prefecture, there was a woman named Triệu Thị Chinh who organized a revolt against the
Ngô Ngô () is a Vietnamese surname, related to the Chinese surnames Ng (name), Ng, NGO (disambiguation), Ngo and Wu (surname), Wu. Notable people with the surname Ngô *Ngô Văn Dụ Chairman of the Central Commission for Inspection of the Communist ...
u Our ietnamesehistory recorded that lady Trieu was a people of Nông Cống district. Her parents were dead all when she was a child, she lived with her older brother Trieu Quoc Dat. At the age of 20, while she was living with her sister-in-law who was a cruel woman, she rieu Thi Trinhkilled her sister
in-law In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship which each party to a marriage has to the relations of the other part ...
and went to the mountain. She was a strong, brave and smart person. On the mountain, she gathered a band of 1,000 followers. Her brother tried to persuade her from rebelling, she told him: "I only want to ride the wind and walk the waves, slay the big whales of the Eastern sea, clean up frontiers, and save the people from drowning. Why should I imitate others, bow my head, stoop over and be a slave? Why resign myself to menial housework?". The Mậu Thìn year, 48 because of the cruelty of Ngô umandarins and misery of people, Trieu Quoc Dang revolted in Cửu Chân prefecture. Lady Trieu led her troops joined her brother's rebellion, soldiers of Trieu Quoc Dat made her leader because of her braveness. When she went to battles, she usually wore yellow tunics and rode a war-elephant. She proclaimed herself (The Lady General clad in Golden Robe).
Giao Châu Jiaozhou (; Wade–Giles: Chiao1-Cho1; vi, Giao Châu) was an imperial Chinese province under the Han and Jin dynasties. Under the Han, the area included Liangguang and northern Vietnam but Guangdong was later separated to form the province of ...
Inspector Lục Dận sent troops to fight er she rieu Thi Trinhhad managed to fight back the Ngô uforces for 5 or 6 months. Because of the lack of troops and fighting alone, she rieu Thi Trinhcould not manage to fight a long war and was defeated. She fled to Bồ Điền commune (present-day Phú Điền commune, Mỹ Hóa district) and then committed suicide. Later, the Nam Đế (Southern Emperor) of
Early Lý dynasty The Early Lý dynasty ( vi, nhà Tiền Lý; Hán Nôm: ), also called the Former Lý dynasty or Anterior Lý dynasty, was a dynasty which ruled Vietnam from AD 544 to 602. Its founder Lý Bí assumed the title of "Southern Emperor" ('). ...
praised her as a brave and loyal person and ordered
is followers In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' i ...
build her a temple, and gave her the title of "" (Most Noble, Heroic and Virgin Lady). Present day in Phú Điền commune, in the Thanh Hóa province there is a temple
or her Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H * Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...

Other accounts

The earliest mention of Trieu Thi Trinh can be found in the " Jiaozhou Ji"(交州记) written in the Jin dynasty, and collected in the

. In the book ''Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945'' written by

David G. Marr David George Marr (born September 22, 1937) is an American/Australian historian specializing in the modern history of Vietnam. Marr was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Henry George (an auditor) and Louise M. (a teacher; maiden name Brown). M ...

, an American Professor, told the story of Trieu Thi Trinh as follow: Trieu Thi Trinh was a woman who had breasts. She also had a voice which sounded like a temple bell, and she could eat many rice pecks and walk 500 leagues per day. Moreover, Trinh had a beauty that could shake any man's soul. Because of repeated altercations, she killed her sister-in-law and went to a forest in which she gathered a small army and attacked the Chinese. When her brother tried to persuade her from rebelling, she told him:

I only want to ride the wind and walk the waves, slay the big whales of the Eastern sea, clean up frontiers, and save the people from drowning. Why should I imitate others, bow my head, stoop over and be a slave? Why resign myself to menial housework?

After hearing Trinh's words, her brother decided to join her. At first the Chinese underestimated Trinh for her being a female leader but after some encounters, they feared her because of her gaze. Three centuries later, she still offered spiritual support for male Vietnamese opponents of the Chinese. During the 11th century she was honored by the Ly court with a lot of posthumous titles. During the

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Wa ...

became Vietnam's national ideology and many scholars aggressively tried to bring the practices of Trieu Thi Trinh into conformity with Neo-Confucianism. Nevertheless, she survived all their manipulations.

Historical differences

Most available information comes solely from Vietnamese sources that were written during or after the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. However, the ''

Sanguozhi The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (Records of the Three Kingdoms), a classical Chinese historical account, does mention a rebellion at this time in the commanderies of

(; vi, Giao Chỉ) and

(, vi, Cửu Chân, links=no):

In the 11th year of Chiwu (赤烏) 48in Jiaozhi (交趾), Jiuzhen (九真) rebels attacked walled cities which caused a great uproar. Lu Yin (陸胤) was given rank of the Inspector of Jiaozhou by the Sovereign of Wu. He took his troops and entered the southern border and sent word to the rebels. He used his craftiness to convince them to accept his terms. nGaoliang (高涼), the commander Huang Wu (黄吳) with 3,000 households came out to surrender. Lu Yin now led the army south to that region. He announced his sincerity o the aboriginesand distributed gifts. The emaining100 rebel leaders and 50,000 households, who had been unruly and unapproachable, kowtowed o Lu Yin Thus the territory was handed over peacefully. At once Lu Yin was given the rank of General who Tranquilizes the South. Again he was sent on a
punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...
against the rebels in Cangwu (蒼梧). He defeated them quickly. From start to finish Lu Yin's military troops totaled 8,000. (Later commentaries also cited that Lu Yin then helped to plant crops and kept the people fed.)

Keith W. Taylor, an American professor, explained these differences as following:

Chinese records do not mention Lady Trieu; our knowledge of her comes only from Vietnamese sources. From this it is evident that the events of 248 were remembered differently by the two sides. The Chinese only recorded their success in buying off certain rebel leaders with bribes and promises. The resistance led by Lady Trieu was for them simply a kind of stubborn barbarism that was wiped out as a matter of course and was of no historical interest. On the other hand, the Vietnamese remembered Lady Trieu's uprising as the most important event of the time. Her leadership appealed to strong popular instincts. The traditional image of her as a remarkable yet human leader, throwing her yard-long breasts over her shoulders when going into battle astride an elephant, has been handed down from generation to generation. After Lady Trieu's death, her spirit was worshipped by the Vietnamese. We owe our knowledge of her to the fact that she was remembered by the people.

Legacy

Triệu Thị Trinh is a greatly celebrated hero and many streets are named after her in Vietnamese cities (there are Bà Triệu streets in

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 ...

Hà Nội Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, and several other cities). File:Newone - tượng Bà Triệu núi Nưa.jpg, Statue at Nui Nua File:Den-tho-ba-trieu.jpg, View from outside of the gate of Bà Triệu Temple in Hậu Lộc District, Thanh Hóa Province File:TuongBaTrieu.jpg, Statue of Bà Triệu inside the temple

In popular culture

In the 2019 HBO television series, '' Watchmen'',

Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...

plays a trillionaire CEO named Lady Trieu. Trieu's mother is seen in a flashback quoting one of the historical Triệu's famous sayings. In video games: * The community-based mod 'Make them Unique' (MTU) in Total War: Three Kingdoms. * The Vietnamese tower defense video game "Vua Thủ Thành". * The Chinese video game "Historica". * The South Korean video game "Kingdom Story". * The Japanese collectible card video game "

Sangokushi Taisen is a hybrid physical and digital collectible card game for the arcade, on the Chihiro arcade board. It is a real-time strategy-based game set in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history and the 14th century Chinese novel ''Romance of the Th ...

". * The Japanese video game "Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV". * The 4X strategy video game ''

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliza ...

'', in which she is known as Bà Triệu. In physical collectible card games: * The Japanese collectible card game "

". * The Japanese collectible card game "Daisenran!! Sangokushi Battle". * The Vietnamese collectible card game "Sử hộ vương". In physical board games: * The Vietnamese board "Đại Việt Kỳ Nhân".

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms (220-265)
Chapters 69-78 from the Tzu chih t'ung chien of Ssu-ma Kuang / Translated and Annotated by Achilles Fang ; Edited by Glen W. Baxter.

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Trieu 3rd-century Vietnamese people Women in ancient Chinese warfare Vietnamese rebels 225 births 248 deaths 3rd-century women rulers Women in 3rd-century warfare 3rd-century monarchs in Asia Women in war in Vietnam Vietnamese monarchs Deified Vietnamese people 3rd-century Vietnamese women