c. 14–43
Vietnamese sisters who led an early revolt against Han rule.
The Trưng Sisters — Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị — were Vietnamese noblewomen who, about the year 40, led the first great rising of their people against the rule of Han China. They are honored as the first to reclaim Vietnamese independence, and among the earliest women to rule in Asia.
When the Chinese governor executed Trưng Trắc’s husband, the sisters raised the Lạc lords and the country behind them. Their revolt swept the Red River delta and beyond, taking by tradition some sixty-five towns, and Trưng Trắc was proclaimed queen.
For three years they held a free Vietnam. Then in the year 42 the emperor sent his veteran general Ma Yuan with a great army, and the next year the rising was crushed.
By the Chinese record the sisters were captured and beheaded; by the beloved Vietnamese tradition they chose to drown themselves rather than submit. For two thousand years Vietnam has honored them as its founding heroines. Honored among the Great Ones of every civilization; kept here so the memory is never lost.
Kept with honor.
References
Biography drawn from the public historical record, verifiable against the sources above.
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Submitted by the Honored Ancestors Editorial Committee.
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