Trung Sisters Rebellion History of Ancient Vietnam

this video is part of project revolution where these 19 fantastic history focused YouTube channels are each discussing a different revolution from ancient to modern eyes stay tuned to the end of the video for a little more information on this so you can get started binge watching in the year 14 ad the first Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus died at the age of 75 while around that same time two girls were born on the other side of the world who would grow up to challenge the other great imperial power of the day the Han Chinese Empire the sisters trunk try and Trung me were the daughters of a minor military official in charge of a rural district primarily populated by farmers in the Red River Delta region in the north of what is now Vietnam around 125 years before they were born the Han Chinese Empire conquered the kingdom of Nam Viet also known as nan Yu and Chinese sources this kingdoms population was an amalgamation of the u people a non Chinese ethnic group from what is now southern China the indigenous inhabitants of the Red River Delta and its surrounding regions known as the LOC Viet people and Chinese descendents of the Qin Dynasty that had preceded and opposed the rise of a Han Empire Nam Viet tried to avoid war by paying a tribute consisting of a large amount of precious woods ivory and pearls and other luxury items but this was not enough the Han Chinese were initially very savvy in administering the region they efficiently extracted luxury resources lightly taxed the population and largely allowed local rule through the native Vietnamese LOC Lords who exercised much of the political and military control that would have been visible to common people however this changed over time and the Han Chinese began a program to assimilate the local people they first started with the nobility and the administration which was largely successful and then worked their way down to the common people which proved to be incredibly unpopular especially with women the Confucian patriarchal values the Chinese sought to instill ran in direct contrast to Locke Viet culture where women equally participated in nearly every political and economic area of society this situation was made worse with the arrival of a new Chinese governor - Dinh not content with his official salary he began demanding bribes for the most basic functions of government to work he dramatically increased existing taxes such as the tax on salt and invented new ones making it illegal for people to fish in the deltas many rivers without first paying attacks for example the people protested and petitioned the governor to lower their taxes and undo the cultural reforms to didn't ignore them this was went wrong track slightly older of the two sisters and her husband gathered a meeting of the local nambia aristocracy to plot a revolt the governor to Dhin spies discovered the identities of the plotters they were then rounded up and executed including trunk tracks husband who was hung and displayed over the city gate the governor - din did not order trunk track or the other women who likely participated in the plot executed as he likely viewed their dead husband's as the only threat potential that this plot had or perhaps the extremely unpopular governor was attempting to demonstrate mercy and generate goodwill with the people he was ruling what - din likely didn't know or realize the importance of was that the trunk sisters who were the daughters of a military prefect had been taught the arts of war using weapons and strategy since a young age by both their parents the Trung sisters continued to plot a revolt and trained the local peasants and the use of weapons in 39 ad they surprised and defeated the Chinese garrison stationed in their hometown upon receiving word of the sister's rebellion and that their ragtag army included a large number of women the governor - din and his military advisors pretty much thought this was hilarious they initially organized little to no effective military opposition to the rebellion and likely spent more time joking about it as they believed local Garrison's in the area would be able to quickly brush them aside and handle the situation they could not have been more wrong the Trung sisters took villages and then towns and finally fortified cities their small army grew and grew until it was over 80,000 strong the Trung sisters have pointed over 60 female generals including their mother who were able to independently command troops in a battlefield situation many of these women were likely the widows of the men who were executed for attempting to organize the previous revolt this army besieged and captured 65 fortified cities and Chinese military strongholds these campaigns were waged at such an effective and rapid rate that all Chinese organized opposition was constantly too little and too late and by the spring of 40 ad patron sisters had captured the provincial capital - din was able to escape by shaving off his hair and wearing a disguise tract was crowned queen and her sister Chandni was crowned vice regent they immediately repealed they hated tax and cultural reforms and were unchallenged and ruled peaceably for close to two years the Chinese emperor guangwu Dee then dispatched perhaps his most renowned and successful general my yuan in 41 ad to reconquer his lost territory even though he commanded a vast army of veteran soldiers he was far more cautious than his predecessors had been and did not underestimate the trunk sisters as his army slowly advanced southwards a well-built road was constructed behind them securing his supply lines to China during ma you'ens two-year campaign he was continually successful in battle and several of the lakh Lords defected and joined his cause the trunk sisters knew that time was not on their side and that they had to force a decisive battle which they did near modern Hanoi Chinese and Vietnamese accounts of the battle in its aftermath vary widely but all of them agree the Mai you won won a resounding victory the fate of the Trung sisters is more unclear they were either killed in battle committed suicide by walking into a river or captured and executed and their severed heads sent back to China as trophies after their death the long second Chinese domination of Vietnam began not long after their death Buddhist cult temples and shrines dedicated to the Trung sisters sprouted up all over Vietnam and even a few in China the romantic image of two young warrior queens rising from humble beginnings to challenge one of the most powerful empires in history and temporarily achieving independence for their country and vengeance before meeting their own tragic end was such a powerful and enticing narrative that their tale was the subject matter for many Vietnamese as well as Chinese writers and poets for more than a thousand years and the Trung sisters often served as a source of inspiration and rallying cry during Vietnam many later wars and revolts against foreign domination in one instance of history not necessarily repeating itself but definitely rhyming 200 years after the Trung sisters death during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history lady true leader which was temporarily successful before being crushed by the Chinese state of Wu today the Trung sisters are a national symbol of Vietnam and are often depicted atop elephants riding them into battle and every year in February many Vietnamese observe a holiday commemorating the deaths of the Trung sisters this video has been part of project revolution the link to the full playlist is at the top of this video's description the next video on this chronologically ordered playlist is history times fascinating video on the Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads or you can go way back in time to stefan Milo's video on the Neolithic Revolution where mankind took its first steps on the road to world domination this has been Epimetheus thank you so much for watching

Channel: Epimetheus

Views: 240,152

Keywords: trung sisters vietnam, history, vietnam, china vietnam, trung trac, trung sisters documentary, trung sisters story, vietnam documentary, ancient history, han china, nanyue, nam viet, vietnamese history, ancient vietnam, trung sisters, Lac viet, Trung Sisters Rebellion, Trung Sisters Rebellion History of Ancient Vietnam, Zhao Tuo, van lang, vietnam chinese, documentary, ancient vietnamese history, vietnam rebellion, vietnam summarized, vietnam explained

Id: wh-u5lyJVLg

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 08 2019