Trương Văn Đa (張文多, ?–?) was a General of

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 ...

. Born in Tuy Viễn District (today's 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 was a son of

Trương Văn Hiến Trương Văn Hiến (張文獻, ?–?), also called Giáo Hiến (教獻, lit. "Teacher Hiến"), was a scholar of Revival Lê dynasty. Born in Nghệ An, he was a retainer of Trương Văn Hạnh. Hạnh was a teacher of Nguyễn Phúc Luân ...

. Hiến was also the teacher of the Tây Sơn brothers (

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 ...

Nguyễn Lữ Nguyễn Lữ ( vi-hantu, 阮侶; died 1787), also known by the title of Đông Định vương (東定王, "king of Eastern Conquering"), was one of the Tây Sơn brothers who formed short-lived Tây Sơn dynasty of Vietnam. Biography Lữ had t ...

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 ...

), and encouraged them to revolt against

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 ...

. Trương Văn Đa joined the Tây Sơn army while he was young and married a daughter of Nguyễn Nhạc. In 1783, Nguyễn Lữ and Nguyễn Huệ defeated the army of

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 ...

and forced

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 ...

to flee to Pulo Condore. Under Trương Văn Đa, a navy launched an assault. As a result, Ánh had 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 ...

, then to

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 ...

.''

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 Huệ retreated from Cochinchina and left Đa in 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 ...

).'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30 In 1785, Siamese forces invaded Gia Định. Realizing they would be unable to beat the enemy, Đa retreated to

Mang Thít Mang may refer to: Places *Mangshi, county-level city in Yunnan, China People *Anton Mang (born 1949), German motorcycle racer *Henry Mang (1897–1987), Canadian politician *Mang of Xia, ruler of the Xia Dynasty, China *Maximilian Mang (born 2 ...

and sent Đặng Văn Chân 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. There, 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. In the next year, Nguyễn Lữ was granted the noble rank ''Đông Định vương'' ("King of Eastern Conquering") and given Gia Định as fief. Đa was later replaced by

Phạm Văn Tham Phạm Văn Tham (范文參, ?–1789) or Phạm Văn Sâm, was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Phạm Văn Tham was an elder brother of Phạm Ngạn and Phạm Công Hưng. He also had a sister Phạm Thị Liên, whom was Nguyễ ...

and called back to Quy Nhơn. Đa became the teacher of Crown Prince Nguyễn Văn Bảo. He retired after Nguyễn Nhạc's death.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Tây Sơn dynasty officials Tây Sơn dynasty generals People from Bình Định province 18th-century Vietnamese people {{Vietnam-mil-bio-stub