Đặng Văn Chân (鄧文真, ?–?), or Đặng Văn Trấn (鄧文鎮), was an admiral of the

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Chân was an admiral, his position was ''Đô úy thủy quân'' ("Navy Commandant"). He attacked Gia Định (modern

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

) several times. After the captured of Gia Định, he was left there to assist

Trương Văn Đa Trương Văn Đa (張文多, ?–?) was a General of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Born in Tuy Viễn District (today's Tây Sơn District), Bình Định Province, he was a son of Trương Văn Hiến. Hiến was also the teacher of the Tây ...

. In 1785,

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

ese forces invaded Gia Định, he was sent to

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( ) 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 was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...

for help. He joined the

Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút The Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút (, ) was fought between the Vietnamese Tây Sơn forces and an army of Siam in present-day Tiền Giang Province of Vietnam on January 20, 1785. It is considered one of the greatest victories in Vietnames ...

, and defeated Siamese forces.

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), or Hồ Thơm (chữ Hán: 胡𦹳) was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dy ...

retreated from Cochinchina, and left Chân in Gia Định.''

Việt Nam sử lược ( vi-hantu, 越南史略, , lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim. It covered the period from ...

'', Quyển 2, Tự chủ thời đại, Chương 8 A civil war broke out between

Nguyễn Nhạc Nguyễn Nhạc ( vi-hantu, 阮岳, born 1743, died 1793) was the founder of the Tây Sơn dynasty, reigning from 1778 to 1788. From 1778 to 1788, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor Thái Đức ( vi-hantu, 泰德). In 1788 after his ...

and Nguyễn Huệ in 1787, he joined Nhạc's side. Huệ besieged

, he led the main forces to support Nhạc. Getting the information,

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

returned to Vietnam. Chân was defeated and captured by Huệ, and later surrendered to Huệ. After the

Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa The Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa or Qing invasion of Tây Sơn dynasty, Đại Việt (; ), also known as Victory of Kỷ Dậu (), was fought between the forces of the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty and the Qing dynasty in (a place near ...

, Huệ attempted to find a peaceful solution with

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...

. Chân was sent to China as a member of the diplomatic corps.'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30 Quy Nhơn was attacked by

Nguyễn lord Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

in 1793. Nguyễn Nhạc was defeated, and asked for Toản's help. An army under Phạm Công Hưng, Ngô Văn Sở, Nguyễn Văn Huấn and Lê Trung was sent to reinforce Quy Nhơn. In the same time, Chân led 50 ships to assist them. They forced Nguyễn army to retreat.''

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

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Tây Sơn dynasty generals 18th-century Vietnamese people {{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub