Nguyễn Nhạc ( vi-hantu, 阮岳, born 1743, died 1793) was the founder 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 ...

, reigning from 1778 to 1788. From 1778 to 1788, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor Thái Đức ( vi-hantu, 泰德). In 1788 after his younger brother proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung, Nguyễn Nhạc resigned from his title as Emperor and declared himself as King of Tây Sơn. Nguyễn Nhạc and his brothers, namely Nguyễn Lữ and

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 ...

, known as the Tây Sơn Brothers, ended the centuries-long civil war between the two feudal families, the

Trịnh Lords Trịnh is a Vietnamese family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full na ...

in northern Vietnam and the

Nguyễn Lords The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...

in southern Vietnam, seizing reigning power from these groups and the

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...

Early life

Nguyen was born in Tây Sơn District, Quy Nhơn Province (modern

Bình Định Province Bình Định (平定) was a former northern coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Ngãi to the north, Phú Yên to the south, Gia Lai to the west and the South China Sea to the ea ...

). Vietnamese historian

Trần Trọng Kim Trần Trọng Kim (; chữ Hán: 陳仲金, Kanji pronunciation: ''Chin Jūkin''; ; 1883 – December 2, 1953; courtesy name Lệ Thần (, chữ Hán: 隸臣) was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the sho ...

described him as a courageous and clever man. He had two younger brothers: Nguyễn Lữ and

. Their talents are highly appreciated by their martial arts master, Trương Văn Hiến. Tây Sơn brothers lived by trading

betel Betel (''Piper betle'') is a species of flowering plant in the pepper family Piperaceae, native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious vine, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their lea ...

. Legend stated that Nhạc got a magical sword from barbarians, so he was respected by many people. Later, Nhạc became a tax-collector of Nguyễn lord. He robbed off all tax he had collected, and distributed to poor farmers. He had to flee with his brothers, and became an outlaw. Hiến encouraged Nhạc to revolt against Nguyễn lords: "The prophecy says: 'Revolt in the West, success in the North'. You are born in Tây Sơn District, you must do your best." Nhạc agreed with him.

Revolted against Nguyễn lords

At that time, the lord of

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

Nguyễn Phúc Thuần Nguyễn Phúc Thuần (31 December 1754 – 18 October 1777) was one of the Nguyễn lords who ruled over the southern portion of Vietnam from the 16th-18th centuries. The collapse of the Nguyễn lords intensified during Thuần's reign, many u ...

was young, the regent was a corrupted official,

Trương Phúc Loan Trương Phúc Loan ( vi-hantu, 張福巒, ?–1776) was a mandarin who served under the reign of two Nguyễn lords: Nguyễn Phúc Khoát and Nguyễn Phúc Thuần. In 1765, Nguyễn Phúc Khoát died, and appointed his second son Nguyễn ...

. Loan was so unpopular that people compared him with Qin Hui. There were rumors that Loan changed the former lord's will and throned the young prince Thuần. In 1771, Nguyễn Nhạc, Nguyễn Lữ and Nguyễn Huệ rebelled against Nguyễn lord. They took Tây Sơn District as base camp, aimed to overthrow Loan and enthrone Nguyễn Phúc Dương, the eldest grandson of the former Nguyễn lord. The rebels became famous for their policy: "fair, no corruption, only looting the rich, and help the poor." Soon they were widely supported by poor people. Ethnic minorities in Cochinchina, including Montagnards,

Chams The Chams ( Cham: , چام, ''cam''), or Champa people ( Cham: , اوراڠ چمڤا, ''Urang Campa''; or ; , ), are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia be ...

and Sino-Vietnamese, also took part in the rebellion. The rebels grew rapidly and government troops were unable to put down. One day, Nhạc sat in a prison van, ordered his men to take him 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 ...

. The governor, Nguyễn Khắc Tuyên (阮克宣), was very happy, and threw him into prison. At night, Nhạc escaped from prison and opened the city gate. Quy Nhơn was taken by Tây Sơn army, and used as the new base camp. Then Tây Sơn army marched to Quảng Nam,''

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 Nguyễn army was defeated by the rebels. Nguyễn lord sent his main forces to Quảng Nam, but failed to drive the rebels out of this province.'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30

Conflict with Trịnh lords

Hearing that Cochinchina fell into chaos,

Trịnh Sâm Trịnh Sâm (, 9 February 1739 – 13 September 1782) ruled northern Vietnam from 1767 to 1782 AD. He ruled with the title "Tĩnh Đô Vương" () and was one of the last of the powerful Trịnh lords. Trịnh Sâm defeated the ancient enemy of t ...

, the lord of

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

, sent Hoàng Ngũ Phúc to launch attack on Nguyễn lord using the excuse that they would help Nguyễn lord to arrest the treacherous minister Trương Phúc Loan. Trịnh marched south with little resistance and soon took possession of Nguyễn's capital,

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 ...

.''

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 Đại Việt, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

'', Basic Records, continued compilation 5 Nguyễn Phúc Thuần fled to Quảng Nam, in there he designated Nguyễn Phúc Dương as crown prince. Several months later, Tây Sơn army took Quảng Nam, Thuần had to flee to Gia Định. Not long after, from

Quảng Ngãi Quảng Ngãi () is a city in central Vietnam. It serves as the capital city of Quảng Ngãi Province. Quảng Ngãi City borders Tư Nghĩa District to the South and West, Sơn Tịnh District to the Northwest and Bình Sơn District to the ...

to Bình Thuận was occupied by Tây Sơn rebels. Trịnh army marched to Quảng Nam, and came into conflict with Tây Sơn army. They met in the battlefield in Cẩm Sa (a place in modern Hòa Vang). Nhạc ordered Tập Đình to take the lead and Lý Tài in the middle, Nhạc himself to bring up the rear. Tập Đình was raided by Trịnh cavalry and ultimately led to Tây Sơn's defeat. Nguyễn Nhạc and Lý Tài retreated to Bến Bản. Nhạc prepared for the reception of the crown prince Dương, and went to Quy Nhơn together with him. In the same time, a Nguyễn army under Tống Phước Hiệp (宋福洽) resumed Bình Thuận, Diên Khánh and Bình Khang (modern Ninh Hòa), then recaptured Phú Yên. Tây Sơn army fell in a

two-front war In military terminology, a two-front war occurs when opposing forces encounter on two geographically separate fronts. The forces of two or more allied parties usually simultaneously engage an opponent in order to increase their chances of succes ...

with both Nguyễn lord and Trịnh lord. Nhạc sent an envoy to Trịnh army to sue for peace. Nhạc swore allegiance to Trịnh lord, in return, he received the position ''Tiên-phong-tướng-quân'' and ''Tây-sơn Hiệu-trưởng'' from Trịnh lord. After concluding a peace deal with Trịnh lord, Nhạc married a daughter to Nguyễn Phúc Dương, and urged him to ascend the lord throne, but Dương refused. Nhạc sent a letter to Tống Phước Hiệp. In the letter, Nhạc said he decided to swear allegiance to the crown prince Dương, and prepared to resume the capital Phú Xuân. Nhạc then ordered

to launch a raid on Nguyễn army. Hợp was defeated and fled to Vân Phong. Trịnh army marched to Quảng Ngãi, but most of soldiers died from disease, Hoàng Ngũ Phúc had to retreat. Phúc died of illness on his way back to Phú Xuân; his assistant, Bùi Thế Đạt, was appointed as the successor. Quảng Nam was reoccupied by Tây Sơn army; now, Nhạc could concentrate on fighting against Nguyễn lord. He sent Nguyễn Lữ to the south.

was defeated and fled to

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam, and is part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area. Situated northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), Biên Hòa is connect ...

Establishment of Tây Sơn dynasty

In 1776, Nhạc titled himself ''Tây Sơn vương'' (西山王 "king of Tây Sơn"). He used Citadel Đồ Bàn (

Vijaya Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

) as the capital, and appointed many officials. Nguyễn Phúc Dương was imprisoned in a Buddhist temple; later, he fled to Gia Định, there he was supported by Lý Tài and ascended the lord throne. In the next year, Nguyễn Nhạc was recognized as the new ruler of Cochinchina by Trịnh Sâm. He received the noble rank ''Cung-quận-công'' (恭郡公 "provincial duke Cung") from Trịnh lord. Tây Sơn army marched further south, finally, both Nguyễn Phúc Thuần and Nguyễn Phúc Dương were captured and executed by Nguyễn Huệ. In 1778, Nhạc crowned the emperor, and changed

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a t ...

to "Thái Đức" (泰德), marking the establishment of

. A nephew of Thuần,

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 ...

, managed to escape to

Hà Tiên Hà Tiên is a Provincial city (Vietnam), provincial city in Kiên Giang Province, Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its area is and the population as of 2019 is 81,576. The city borders Cambodia to the west. Hà Tiên is a tourist site of the region th ...

then to Poulo Panjang. In late 1777, the main part of the Tây Sơn army left Saigon and marched north. Nguyễn Ánh landed in

Long Xuyên Long Xuyên (), formally named Thủ Đông Xuyên, is the capital city of An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta region of south-western Vietnam. History In 1789, a group of explorers established a small outpost in the Tam Khe canal, naming i ...

. There, he was supported by many Nguyễn generals, and raised the flag of restoration.

Đỗ Thanh Nhơn Đỗ Thanh Nhơn (died 1781) was an 18th-century Vietnamese military commander. Early life Details of Nhơn's early life are unknown except that he was a low-ranking naval officer of lord Nguyễn Phúc Thuần. The Dong Son army In the early ...

, the leader of Đông Sơn army, also swore allegiance to Ánh. Nguyễn army became much more stronger, and captured many places. Ánh also made an alliance

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 ...

. However, the assassination of Đỗ Thanh Nhơn by Nguyễn Ánh causing the revolt of Đông Sơn army, thus badly weakening the Nguyễn army. Taking this opportunity, Nguyễn Nhạc and Nguyễn Huệ invaded Gia Định and finally recaptured it in 1782. Nhạc returned to Quy Nhơn. In the next year,

Châu Văn Tiếp Châu Văn Tiếp ( 朱文接, 1738–1784), born Châu Doãn Ngạnh ( 朱尹梗), was an 18th-century Vietnamese military commander, best known for his role as a general of Nguyễn Ánh. Early life Born in 1738, Châu Văn Tiếp was a s ...

, a supporter of Nguyễn lord, defeated the Tây Sơn garrison in

Saigon 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 ...

, and invited Nguyễn Ánh to return. Nguyễn Lữ and Nguyễn Huệ were sent to Gia Định, and forced Ánh to flee to

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City; Vietnam's first island municipality. The island has a total area o ...

. In 1785, Huệ defeated Nguyễn Ánh and Siamese navy. Ánh had to flee to Siam.

Nguyễn Huệ's overthrow of Trịnh lords

The ruler of

, Trịnh Sâm, died in 1782. His favorite son Trịnh Cán ascended the lord throne, but soon was deposed in a military coup. The mutinying soldiers installed Trịnh Khải as the new lord. Tonkin fell into chaos. In 1786, an army under

, Vũ Văn Nhậm and Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh marched north to attack

. After the capture of Phú Xuân, Chỉnh encouraged Huệ to overthrow Trịnh lord. Huệ took his advice, marched further north without Nguyễn Nhạc's order, and finally captured Thăng Long.''

'', Quyển 2, Tự chủ thời đại, Chương 9 Nhạc did not want to take Tonkin; he sent an envoy to Phú Xuân to prevent Huệ from marching north, but Huệ had left. Then he got the message that Huệ had captured Thăng Long, and realized that Huệ was hard to be controlled. Nhạc led 2500 men and marched north to meet with Huệ and the Lê emperor. In Thăng Long, Nhạc promised that he would not take any territory of Tonkin. Then he retreated from Tonkin together with Huệ. Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself as ''Trung ương Hoàng đế'' (中央皇帝 "the Central Emperor"). Nguyễn Lữ was given the title ''Đông Định vương'' (東定王 "King of Eastern Conquering"), Gia Định was his fief; Nguyễn Huệ received the title ''Bắc Bình Vương'' (北平王 "King of Northern Conquering") and lived in Phú Xuân, the area north to Hải Vân was his fief.''

'', Quyển 2, Tự chủ thời đại, Chương 10

Civil war between two brothers

Not long after, Nguyễn Nhạc came into conflict with Nguyễn Huệ. A civil war broke out, Huệ besieged Quy Nhơn for several months. The main forces of Gia Định was called back to support Nhạc, but was defeated in Phú Yên, its commander Đặng Văn Chân surrendered to Huệ. Nhạc climbed onto the city wall, and shouted to Huệ: "How can you use the pot of skin to cook meat like that?". It is an old custom, if hunters seized a prey in the jungle without a pot, they would flay it and use its skin to cook meat. Using this metaphor, Nhạc indicated that brothers should not fight with each other. Huệ was moved to tears, and decided to retreat, and reached a peace agreement Nhạc. They chose Bến Bản as a boundary; the area north to

was Huệ's area; the area south to Thăng Bình and

Điện Bàn Điện Bàn () is a Districts of Vietnam, district-level town of Quảng Nam Province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. As of 2015 the district had a population of 229,907. The district covers an area of 214.71 km². The district cap ...

belonged to Nhạc. From then on, they ceased fire with each other.

Final years

Later, Nguyễn Huệ marched north and put down the rebellion in Tonkin. Huệ proclaimed himself as Emperor Quang Trung in 1788, and defeated

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, 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 ...

army in

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 ...

. Meanwhile, the civil war of Tây Sơn brothers had provided Nguyễn Ánh with the chance to go back to Cochinchina again. Nhạc's territory was eroded by Nguyễn lord. During his final years, he only controlled three provinces: Quy Nhơn (modern Bình Định),

and Phú Yên. He was described as "an old man who is resigned to the present state of affairs" by Nguyễn Huệ. Huệ was also worried about the future of Tây Sơn dynasty. Nguyễn Huệ suddenly died in 1792. Nhạc prepared to attend Huệ's funeral, however, the road to Phú Xuân was blocked by 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 re ...

, he had to return, and sent a sister to attend the funeral. In the next year, Quy Nhơn was attacked by Nguyễn lord. When Nguyễn navy reached Thị Nại Port, Nhạc ordered his crown prince Nguyễn Văn Bảo to fight against them. Tây Sơn navy suffered from a double-pronged attack, Bảo was defeated by Tôn Thất Hội (尊室會), Võ Tính, Nguyễn Huỳnh Đức and Nguyễn Văn Thành, and fled back to Quy Nhơn. Nhạc had to ask for Nguyễn Quang Toản's help. 17,000 men under Phạm Công Hưng, Ngô Văn Sở, Nguyễn Văn Huấn (阮文訓) and Lê Trung (黎忠) marched south to reinforce Quy Nhơn. A navy led by Đặng Văn Chân was also sent there in the same time. Nguyễn army had to retreat. Hưng marched into the city, claiming that the emperor of Phú Xuân had taken over it. Nhạc was angry, and died soon after suffering from vomiting blood.''

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

The fate of his offspring

Nhạc's eldest son, Nguyễn Văn Bảo, was stripped off the position, and granted the title ''Hiếu công'' (孝公, "Duke of filial piety") by Nguyễn Quang Toản. The territory of Nhạc was annexed by Toản, Bảo only received Phù Ly (modern Phù Mỹ and Phù Cát) as his fief. In 1798, Bảo launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Toản, and was executed. Tây Sơn dynasty was overthrown by Nguyễn Ánh in 1802. Nhạc's three sons, Nguyễn Thanh (阮清), Nguyễn Hân (阮昕) and Nguyễn Dũng (阮勇), were executed together with Nguyễn Quang Toản and other princes of Tây Sơn dynasty. The tombs of Nguyễn Nhạc and Nguyễn Huệ were razed to the ground, their remains were dug out and crushed into ashes. The skulls of Nguyễn Nhạc, Nguyễn Huệ and Huệ's wife, were locked up in prison in perpetuity. It was said that Nguyễn Huệ had desecrated the tombs of Nguyễn lords before, Nguyễn Ánh did that to "revenge for the ancestors" ( 爲九世而復讎).'' Đại Nam thực lục chính biên'', kỷ 1, vol. 19 Two other sons, Nguyễn Văn Đức (阮文德), Nguyễn Văn Lương (阮文良), and grandson Nguyễn Văn Đâu (阮文兜, son of Nguyễn Văn Đức) escaped, they hid in countryside secretly. In 1831, they were found by

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

, and executed by waist chop.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Nhac Year of birth unknown 1793 deaths People from Bình Định province Mandarins of the Nguyễn lords Tây Sơn dynasty emperors 18th-century Vietnamese monarchs Founding monarchs in Asia Posthumous executions