150) Trưng Trắc

150) Trưng Trắc

Vietnamese Rebel Leader who briefly created and controlled an autonomous Vietnamese state free from Chinese Oppression

Birth Date Unknown, she might have been born in Northern Vietnam

Died: 43 AD, Vietnam

After her husband’s assassination, Trắc overtook control of his movement to thwart the Chinese and push them out of the country.

Nhi, Trắc, and other members of the aristocracy succeeded, for a few years in any case, and the sisters were declared co-queens of the state, the name of which is unknown today.

She was the more diplomatic of the between her and her younger sister Nhị.

Once the Chinese had defeated them, it is said they decided to commit suicide by drowning rather than be taken captive.

Notes:

Sources differ on, well, most of the details. So, here are some of the other versions of the story.

In some tellings, Trưng Trắc took the throne independently.

In others, the sisters were killed in battle rather than commit suicide.

Some of the versions say they fought with other women, including Le Chan, whose family was murdered after she refused to marry a Chinese man, and Phung Thi Chinh, who gave birth on the field of battle, strapped her baby to her back, then leapt back into the fray.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located in my Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki León

National Geographic History Magazine Article "The Trung Sisters" by Nhung Tuyet Tran (July/August 2021 Edition)

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trung-Sisters

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/trung-trac-and-trung-nhi