The Trung Sisters Essays - , Term Papers, Research Papers

The Trung Sisters By: Addison Stout We live in the western world not by the American view but of the Asian view. A place that has been invaded multiply times, not just by the western worlds but, by their own neighbors that were looking to expand territory. For Americans the west is the old world, the world that many of our ancestors came from to form this country where we could be free or freer then being ruled by a King, but yet Americans were not as free as what they originally believed they would be, in this they had to band together to remove the invaders from the west. But, long before we could even imagine time both England and Vietnam had to learn to fight to protect themselves from China that repeatedly kept trying to dominate Vietnam and the expanding Roman Empire that was taking control of the European lands that spread to the British Iles where the Romans would be met with such strong forces that they would have to retreat and regroup before they could attempt to conquer the Iles. This, however, is not about the military conquest of the Chinese or the Roman Empire, but rather the strong women warriors that both armies came up against as they invaded. What makes a woman a warrior queen? Is it her stamina? Is it her ability to fight in a battle? Is it her ability to lead troops into battle and rally them to fight to oust the invaders? For Trung Trac and her sister Trung Nhi, it is all of these things. It is these things that helped these women fight off the invaders from their lands. For both the Trung sisiters it was the 1000 year Chinese control over Vietnam for some others such as Boudicca it was the threat of the Roman Empire to take over her lands. All these women share many things in common all three had to watch as their families where killed by the invaders and either they were raped or their family members where. This is how we find both Trung Trac and Trung Nhi. To understand these women is to first understand the history of Vietnam.During the first century of history of Vietnam there lived two daughters of a powerful lord their names, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi. These daughters as they grew up had to witness the atrocities committed to the Vietnamese people by the ruling Chinese having grown up witnessing such crimes committed against their people would be what helped them to lead a revolt against the ruling Chinese. Since the Trung sisters couldn't stand such cruel treatment to their own people, with the support of tribal lords, they gathered an army of 80,000 people, thirty-six being women, including their mother. By the year 40 A.D., the Trung sisters, along with their army, had liberated sixty-five fortresses and finally drove the Chinese out of Vietnam. The people of Vietnam rejoiced over this tremendous victory and proclaimed Trung Trac to be their ruler. They renamed her "Trung Vuong" or "She-king Trung." Trung Trac established her new court in Me-linh, an ancient political center, in the present day province of Vinh Phu, in the Hong River plain. As the new queen of Vietnam, she cleared out the much-hated tribute taxes imposed by the Chinese officials and tried to restore a simpler form of government that was more in line with traditional Vietnamese values. But these joyful times weren't going to last, in the year 42 A.D., the Chinese were sent to recapture Vietnam under General Ma-Vien. For the next year, the Trung sisters engaged in constant battles. The queen and all her people fought hard to resist the invaders, but the troops were defeated miserably in 43 A.D. Rather than accept the utter defeat and be captured, the Trung sisters chose the traditional Vietnamese way of maintaining honor. They committed suicide by jumping into the Hat-Giang River on the 60th day of the second lunar eclipse. The courage and bravery of these two women have been remembered and admired over the centuries. They have become the topic of many stories, plays, legends, and poems. There are also shrines and monuments throughout Vietnam that still glorify their heroism. One