Ngô Văn Sở (, died 1795) was a general of the Tây Sơn dynasty. Born in Tuy Viễn District (modern Tây Sơn District), Bình Định Province, he joined the Tây Sơn army at an early age. In 1787, Vũ Văn Nhậm led an army north into Tonkin. Sở and Phan Văn Lân followed the army to assist him. Nhậm occupied Thăng Long (modern Hanoi), executed Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, and installed Lê Duy Cận as a puppet "Prince Regent" ( ''giám quốc''). Sở and Lân reported Nhậm's actions to emperor Quang Trung, who subsequently had Nhậm executed. The emperor then left Tonkin, leaving Sở, Lân, Nguyễn Văn Tuyết,

Nguyễn Văn Dụng Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...

Trần Thuận Ngôn Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

, and

Ngô Thì Nhậm Ngô Thì Nhậm ( vi-hantu, 吳時任, 1746–1803) was an important Vietnamese scholar and official who served several regimes during the turbulent last decades of the eighteenth century. He had served as an official for the Trịnh lords before ...

in Thăng Long to watch over Cận.'' Việt Nam sử lược'', Quyển 2, Chương 10'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

invaded Vietnam to reinstall the deposed emperor Lê Chiêu Thống of

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 ...

. Sở ordered Cận to write a letter to the Qing viceroy

Sun Shiyi Sun Shiyi (, Vietnamese: Tôn Sĩ Nghị; 1720 – 1796), courtesy name Zhizhi (), pseudonym Bushan (), was an official of the Qing dynasty who served as the Viceroy of Liangguang and of Liangjiang during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. A ...

. Describing himself as a popular ruler, Cận tried to persuade Sun to retreat, but his plea was rejected. Realizing the Tây Sơn army could not stop the Chinese army from marching to Thăng Long, Sở accepted the suggestion of Nhậm, abandoned Thăng Long, and retreated to Tam Điệp, and sent Nguyễn Văn Tuyết to Phú Xuân (mordern Huế) to ask support.'' Việt Nam sử lược'', Quyển 2, Chương 11 Huệ and Sở then defeated the Chinese army in the Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa. After the war, Huệ attempted to find a peaceful solution with Qing China. Sở was sent to China as a member of the diplomatic corps. Finally, Nguyễn Huệ was recognized as the new ruler of Vietnam by the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

. The child emperor Nguyễn Quang Toản ascended the throne in 1792. The following year,

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. His ...

was attacked by the Nguyễn lords. Nguyễn Nhạc was defeated, and asked for Toản's help. Sở led troops to reinforce Quy Nhơn together with Phạm Công Hưng, Nguyễn Văn Huấn and Lê Trung, and the Nguyễn army had to retreat.'' Việt Nam sử lược'', Quyển 2, Chương 12 Sở was a political ally of

Bùi Đắc Tuyên Bùi Đắc Tuyên (, died 1795) was a mandarin of the Tây Sơn dynasty. Born in Tuy Viễn District (mordern Tây Sơn District), Bình Định Province, he was a son of Bùi Đức Lương, an elder brother of Bùi Thị Nhạn, and an uncle ...

. In 1795, Sở was sent to Tonkin to replace

Vũ Văn Dũng Vũ Văn Dũng (, died 1802), or Võ Văn Dũng, was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. He and Võ Ðình Tú, Trần Quang Diệu, Nguyễn Văn Tuyết (Commander Tuyết), Lê Văn Hưng, Lý Văn Bưu, Nguyễn Văn Lộc (Commander ...

. Dũng was ordered to return to Phú Xuân, but on the way there,

Trần Văn Kỷ Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

persuaded him to stage a coup against Tuyên, who was subsequently arrested and thrown into prison. Sở was arrested by

Nguyễn Quang Thùy Nguyễn Quang Thùy () was a Vietnamese prince alive during the Tây Sơn dynasty. Background A son of Nguyễn Huệ, Thùy was also a half-brother of Nguyễn Quang Toản. After Toản ascended the throne in 1792, Thùy was granted the roya ...

and taken to Phú Xuân. He was thrown into the Perfume River together with Tuyên and Tuyên's son Bùi Đắc Trụ.

References

1795 deaths People from Bình Định province Tây Sơn dynasty generals People executed by drowning {{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub