Ngô Văn Sở (, died 1795) was a general 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 ...

. Born in Tuy Viễn District (modern Tây Sơn District),

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 ...

, he joined the Tây Sơn army at an early age. In 1787, Vũ Văn Nhậm led an army north into

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 ...

. Sở and Phan Văn Lân followed the army to assist him. Nhậm occupied Thăng Long (modern

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

), executed Nguyễn Hữu Chỉnh, and installed

Lê Duy Cận Lê Duy Cận ( vi-hantu, 黎維𬓑, ?–?) or Lê Duy Cẩn, was a Vietnamese prince during Revival Lê dynasty. Cận was the second son of Lê Hiển Tông. In 1769, his elder brother, Lê Duy Vĩ, was stripped of his position as Crown Pr ...

as a puppet "Prince Regent" ( ''giám quốc''). Sở and Lân reported Nhậm's actions to emperor

Quang Trung 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 ...

, who subsequently had Nhậm executed. The emperor then left Tonkin, leaving Sở, Lân, Nguyễn Văn Tuyết,

Nguyễn Văn Dụng 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 ...

, Trần Thuận Ngôn, and

Ngô Thì Nhậm Ngô Thì Nhậm or Ngô Thời Nhiệm ( 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 t ...

in Thăng Long to watch over Cận.''

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, Chương 10'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30

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 ...

invaded Vietnam to reinstall the deposed emperor Lê Chiêu Thống of

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 ...

. Sở ordered Cận to write a letter to the Qing viceroy Sun Shiyi. 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 Nhậm's suggestion, abandoned Thăng Long, and retreated to Tam Điệp, and sent Nguyễn Văn Tuyết 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 ...

(modern

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

) to ask for support.''

'', Quyển 2, Chương 11 Huệ and Sở then defeated the Chinese army in 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 ...

. 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, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

. The child emperor

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 ...

ascended the throne in 1792. The following year,

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 ...

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.''

'', 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. Early life Bùi Đắc Tuyên was born in Xuân Hòa village, Bình Phú commune, Tuy Viễn district (modern Tây Sơn District), Quy Nhơn citadel (modern thuộc huy� ...

. In 1795, Sở was sent to Tonkin to replace Vũ Văn Dũng. Dũng was ordered to return to Phú Xuân, but on the way there, Trần Văn Kỷ 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 ( vi-hantu, ; died 1802) 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, Th� ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngo, Van So 1795 deaths People from Bình Định province Tây Sơn dynasty generals People executed by drowning