THE
TRUNG SISTERS
ABOUT
THEM
The Trung
sisters, Trung
Trac and Trung
Nhi, were born to a Vietnamese lord during
the first century, a time when China ruled Vietnam. They grew up watching
the Chinese cruelties to the Vietnamese and so spent their childhoods also
mastering the art of warfare and weaponry.
In a.d. 40 a Chinese
commander killed Trung Trac's
husband. In retaliation, the Trung sisters
organized civil war. With the support of nearby tribal lords, they formed
an army of 80,000. Thirty six of the generals
were women. Within months the sisters had
retaken 65 cities. They managed to keep the Chinese out for two years during
which the sisters
ruled the area as co-queens.
When the Chinese
finally won back the area, the Trung sisters
committed suicide rather than
surrender. A
nearby pregnant noblewoman-warrier, not knowing of the sisters' defeat
continued to
fight on, delivering
her baby on the battlefield and then carrying her baby while she fought.
When
informed of the
sisters' suicide,
she slit her own throat and that of her baby. The people of
Vietnam celebrate the sisters' memory
every year with a national holiday.
QUOTE
"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. "
-
Trung Trac
All the male heroes
bowed their heads in submission;
Only the
two sisters proudly
stood up to avenge the country.
•A fifteenth
century poem
Literature
commemorates the Trung sisters
Trung Trac
and Trung Nhi
were women;
they
gave one shout and all the prefectures of Cuu-chan, Nhat-nam, and Ho-p'u,
along with sixty-five
strongholds beyond the passes, responded to them,
and, establishing
the nation,
they
proclaimed themselves
queens as easily
as turning over their hands,
which shows that
our land of Viet was able to establish a royal tradition.
What a pity that,
for a thousand years after this,
the men of our
land bowed their heads,
folded their
arms, and served the northerners;
how shameful
this is in comparison with the two Trung sisters,
who were womyn!
Ah, it is enough
to make one want to die!
- Historian
Le Van Huu, 13th century
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