13. Vietnam’s Warrior Princesses Led a Mostly Female Army to Liberate Their Country
Sisters Trung Nhi and Trung Trac (circa 12 AD – 43 AD) are Vietnam’s national heroines, having led an uprising in 40 AD against Chinese domination of their country. Trung Trac, the older sister, was married to a Vietnamese nobleman who defied a particularly oppressive Chinese governor, and was executed for his troubles. So his widow rallied and organized other Vietnamese nobles to resist the Chinese. With the help of her sister Trung Nhi, Trung Trac launched a rebellion near modern Hanoi, that soon became a wildly popular uprising that encompassed the bulk of Vietnam. Unique among armed rebellions, the Trung sisters’ armies were made mostly of women. With those predominately female armies, the sisters seized numerous Chinese forts and citadels. Within a few months, the Chinese were chased out of Vietnam, and Trung Trac was proclaimed queen.
The sisters led armies against the Chinese attempt to reconquer Vietnam, and despite being greatly outnumbered, they kept out the invaders for three years. Eventually, however, the Chinese concentrated an overwhelming force, and in 43 AD, the Trung sisters were finally defeated in battle, captured, and beheaded. The Chinese then reasserted their control over Vietnam, but although the Trung sisters’ independence was short-lived, they succeeded in planting the seeds of Vietnamese national identity. Vietnamese historians assert that if the Trung sisters had not rebelled, Vietnam would have been wholly absorbed and dissolved into China, and there would be no Vietnam.