Trần Quang Diệu ( vi-hantu, , 1760–1802), also called Nguyễn Quang Diệu ( vi-hantu, ), was a general of

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (, vi, Nhà Tây Sơn (Chữ Nôm: 茹西山); vi, Tây Sơn triều ( Hán tự: 西山朝) was a ruling dynasty of Vietnam, founded in the wake of a rebellion against both the Nguyễn lords and the Trịnh lords befor ...

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 ...

. Diệu was the husband of female general

Bùi Thị Xuân 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. She is said to have lear ...

. He and

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 ...

, Võ Ðình Tú,

Nguyễn Văn Tuyết 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 s ...

(Commander Tuyết),

Lê Văn Hưng Lê Văn Hưng (March 27, 1933 – April 30, 1975) was an infantry general of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Early life Hưng was born in Hóc Môn, in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, and was raised by his widowed mother, Trương Thị ...

, Lý Văn Bưu, Nguyễn Văn Lộc (Commander Lộc) were known as "Seven Tiger Generals of Tây Sơn dynasty" ( vi, Tây Sơn thất hổ tướng, ). The couple joined the Tây Sơn army in early time. Diệu was promoted to ''Thiếu phó'' (, "Junior Tutor"). In 1789, Diệu was appointed the governor of Nghệ An. There, he was ordered to build a new citadel, ''Phượng Hoàng trung đô'' ().

Nguyễn Huệ Emperor Quang Trung ( vi-hantu, 光中, 1753 – 16 September 1792) or Nguyễn Huệ ( vi-hantu, 阮惠), also known as Nguyễn Quang Bình ( vi-hantu, 阮光平), was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dynasty, reigning from 1788 until 17 ...

planned to use it as the future capital, but later it was abandoned.'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30 In 1792, Diệu was sent to attack

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

together with

Lê Trung Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-co ...

. In the same year, he was called back to

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 ...

when Nguyễn Huệ was critically ill. Huệ ordered Trần Quang Diệu and other ministers to support the successor

Nguyễn Quang Toản Emperor Cảnh Thịnh ( vi-hantu, ), born Nguyễn Quang Toản ( vi-hantu, ; 1783–1802), was the third and last emperor of the Tây Sơn dynasty. He followed his father Quang Trung (Nguyễn Huệ ruled 1788–1792) at the age of 9, and reig ...

on his deathbed. In 1794 Diệu was sent to attack

Diên Khánh Diên Khánh is a Commune-level town (Vietnam), township () and capital of Diên Khánh District, Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam. It was established in 1981. References

Communes of Khánh Hòa province Populated places in Khánh Hòa provinc ...

. A ''coup d'état'' occurred in the next year, the regent Bùi Đắc Tuyên was executed by

Phạm Công Hưng Phạm Công Hưng (范公興, ?–1795) or Phạm Văn Hưng (范文興), was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Phạm Công Hưng was a brother of Phạm Văn Tham and Phạm Ngạn. He also had a sister Phạm Thị Liên, whom wa ...

and

Nguyễn Văn Huấn 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 s ...

. Diệu was not trusted by the three generals because his wife was a niece of Tuyên. Getting the information, Diệu led his army retreated from Diên Khánh, and marched north. When the army reached

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 ...

, Nguyễn Văn Huấn came to meet him and asked for pardon. Diệu did not blame him. Finally, his army stayed at An Cựu. In the same time, an army under Vũ Văn Dũng and

Nguyễn Văn Danh 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 ...

also marched there to defense. A civil war might break out at any moment, which made the young emperor afraid. Later, the crisis was settled by mediation of Phạm Công Hưng; Diệu was persuaded to reconcile with Dũng, and came back to Phú Xuân. He was appointed as one of regents together with Vũ Văn Dũng, Nguyễn Văn Huấn, and Nguyễn Văn Danh. Not long after, he was removed from military leadership.''

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 ...

'', Quyển 2, Tự chủ thời đại, Chương 12

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 ...

besieged Quy Nhơn in 1799. Trần Quang Diệu and Vũ Văn Dũng was sent to reinforce. When marched to Thạch Tân, they found the road was blocked by

Nguyễn Văn Thành Nguyễn Văn Thành ( chữ Hán: 阮文誠; 1758 – 1817) was a Vietnamese general who was governor of Gia Định Province. He conflicted with the emperor Nguyễn Phúc Ánh or Gia Long, on several occasions, including using money reserved f ...

and unable to reach there. Dũng was defeated by Nguyễn army. Diệu concealed the fact. Dũng was thankful, and made friends with him. Hearing the news of defeat, Quy Nhơn surrendered to

Nguyễn lord Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rend ...

, its name was changed to Bình Định. Diệu and Dũng stayed at Quảng Nam. Trần Viết Kết and Hồ Công Diệu, spoke evil of Diệu, the young emperor ordered Dũng to kill Diệu. But, Dũng showed the letter to Trần Quang Diệu. Trần Quang Diệu marched to Phú Xuân, the young emperor had to arrest Trần Viết Kết and Hồ Công Diệu and transferred them to Trần Quang Diệu. In 1800, Diệu and Dũng besieged Quy Nhơn. The siege of Quy Nhơn continued for over a year to June 1801, when the citadel's food provisions were exhausted. In the same year, Nguyễn Ánh attacked the capital Phú Xuân, and captured it. Diệu and Dũng planned to resumed the capital, but the road was blocked by

Lê Văn Duyệt Lê Văn Duyệt)., group=n (1763 or 1764 – 30 July 1832) was a Vietnamese general who helped Nguyễn Ánh—the future Emperor Gia Long—put down the Tây Sơn wars, unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyễn dynasty. After the Nguyễn came ...

. Diệu besieged the citadel more actively.

Võ Tánh Võ Tánh (wikt:武, 武 wikt:性, 性, ?—1801) was an 18th-century Vietnamese military commander, best known for his role as a general of Nguyễn Ánh, who unified modern-day Vietnam and ruled as Emperor Gia Long. Early life Võ Tánh was bor ...

, the Nguyễn general guarding the citadel, requested him to spare soldiers in exchange for Tánh's own life. Tánh committed suicide, Tây Sơn army captured the citadel. The citadel was used as a base camp to attack Nguyễn lord. 30 thousand men under the young emperor marched south to resume the lost territory, but was utterly beaten in the mouth of

Nhật Lệ River The Nhật Lệ River is a river in Đồng Hới city, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. The Nhật Lệ River is 152 km long, of which the Kiến Giang River is 58 km in length, and the Long Đại River is 77 km long. The river ...

. The young emperor fled to

Thăng Long 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 ...

. Diệu and Dũng abandoned Quy Nhơn. Diệu retreated to Laos, then to Hương Sơn District. He did not reached the destination, Thăng Long. Finally, he was captured in Thanh Chương District together with his wife, and transferred to

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 ...

, in where he was beheaded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Quang Dieu 1760 births 1802 deaths Tây Sơn dynasty generals People executed by Vietnam by decapitation Executed Vietnamese people