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Women: An integral part of Vietnam’s past, present & future

Throughout Vietnam’s rich history, women have played a pivotal role in making Vietnam what it is today.  In celebration of International Women’s Day, Tonkin Voyage Travel will be covering two women who played an important role in shaping Vietnam’s cultural and spiritual history. They had brains, gumption and are pretty much the doyennes of women getting some serious retribution!

The Trưng sisters

 Vietnamese women

   The story of Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhi is truly one of female empowerment. Born into a military family around 12 A.D, their father was a high-ranking representative of the Hung Dynasty which was under intensifying Chinese rule. Vietnamese people were increasingly becoming oppressed with little money and rising taxes.  Under Vietnamese tradition, women had many civil and legal rights such as owning property, being a warrior, receiving an education and largely equal working freedom. Yet with Chinese culture becoming more dominant, Vietnamese women were losing all their privileges. Having grown up entitled to an education, owning property and free to practice their military interests, the Trưng sisters did not see their future as docile wives. 

   When they were in their twenties, the Trưng sisters protested to the Emperor to let him know how unfair his ways were and that the Vietnamese people were struggling. The Emperor denied their pleas and sent them on their way. Years later, when Trưng Trắc’s husband rebelled against yet another drastic increase in taxes, he was executed by the Emperor making Trưng Trắc blood boil. Rather than succumb to her anger and grief, Trưng Trắc and her sister began to form an army to retaliate against the Chinese. When this came to light to the Emperor, he brushed off the threat and let them be. Not surprisingly, he found the concept of two women starting an army comical.

   Utilising their military upbringing, the sisters recruited thirty-five of their female friends and family (even Mum joined!) to be generals and trained them how to fight. The Trưng sisters and their thirty-five female generals travelled throughout the country and taught their Vietnamese comrades martial arts, war strategy and how to fight with armour. When the day came, they had recruited 80,000 Vietnamese (many who were women) to revolt against the Chinese. Below are the words Trưng Trắc roared before she went to battle.

“Foremost, I will avenge my country,

Second, I will restore the Hung lineage,

Third, I will avenge the death of my husband,

Lastly, I vow that these goals will be accomplished.”

- Trưng Trắc

   Unprepared for the skill and the sheer number of the Trưng sisters force, the Chinese retreated from Vietnam.  Under Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhi’s rule, they abolished hefty taxes and reinstated Vietnamese traditions. For the next three years, they engaged in constant battles against the Chinese and successfully continued to defend their country.

   Feeling completely disgraced that he had lost to two female generals (now Queens), the Emperor increased the size of his army immensely and the Trưng sisters were badly defeated in 43 A.D. Knowing that they were going to lose due to the sheer size of the Emperor’s army, many of the Trưng sisters soldiers deserted Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhi’s who refused to stand down. They fought until the very end when rather than be captured by the Chinese, they committed suicide by drowning themselves in the Red River.

  That’s the story of the Trưng sisters in a nutshell.  To this very day, Vietnam highly reveres the Trưng sisters with temples, pagodas and annual holidays.  Have a look around Hanoi and you’ll see ‘Trưng’ almost everywhere. We’re proud to say at Tonkin Voyage Travel, the street we work on “Hai Ba Trưng” is named after this powerful duo. To finish, we’ll end on a quote from Vietnamese folklore describing these inspirational Vietnamese heroines.

“When the enemy is at the gate, the woman goes out fighting.”

Sources:

Charin, K. (2015). The Trung Sisters – We are family. [online] Sheroesofhistory.wordpress.com. Available at: https://sheroesofhistory.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/the-trung-sisters-we-are-family/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2017].

How Stuff Works, (2010). The Trung Sisters vs China. [podcast] Stuff You Missed in History Class. Available at: http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/the-trung-sisters-vs-china.htm [Accessed 2 Mar. 2017].

Reese, L. (1996). Female Hero: The Trung Sisters (Women in World History Curriculum). [online] Womeninworldhistory.com. Available at: http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine10.html [Accessed 2 Mar. 2017].

Trung Sisters History. (2017). [video] Youtube: Tiffany Dang.

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