The sisters Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị are famous figures in ancient Vietnamese history.
Members of the Lac Viet ethnic group, the two sisters grew up in a wealthy aristocratic family in what is now Hanoi.
Most of modern Vietnam is the 1st century CE had been ruled by the Chinese Han Dynasty since 111 BCE. This period is known in Vietnamese history as the First Era of Northern Domination.
The Chinese regional governor in the first half of the 1st century CE was said to be a cruel tyrant. His actions appear to have been the catalyst for a rebellion against Han rule.
Some accounts record that the execution of Trưng Trắc’s husband was the trigger, while others state that she stood to have her substantial future inheritance drastically reduced by new laws. Whatever the case, in 40 CE the Trưng sisters instigated a massive Lac Viet revolt against the Han.
Beginning in the north, the rising quickly spread south to what is now central Vietnam.
It is said that 65 towns declared their support for the Trưng sisters.
The scale of the revolt overwhelmed the local Han forces and they fled northwards.
As the leader of the rebellion, Trưng Trắc was declared queen of a new Vietnamese state, ending almost 250 years of Chinese domination and 129 years of direct Han rule.
However, the Han emperor Guangwu was not prepared to relinquish his southernmost territories so easily.
Late in 42 CE, the general Ma Yuan led an army of more than 30,000 men into northern Vietnam, while a large war fleet sailed down the coast.
Despite their determined resistance, the sisters were outmatched. After suffering several defeats, the sisters were captured in early 43 CE. Ma Yuan had them beheaded and sent their heads to the imperial capital at Luoyang.
Ma Yuan’s victory initiated the period of Vietnamese history known as the Second Era of Northern Domination, which would last more than 500 years.
Though their independent state was short-lived, the Trưng sisters remain heroes in Vietnamese culture to this day. There are many temples all over the country dedicated to their memory and they are prominent symbols of Vietnamese independence, resistance and freedom.