Trieu Thi Trinh
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Triệu Thị Trinh, also known as Triệu Ẩu or Bà Triệu (Lady Trieu) (b. 225 AD - 248 AD) was a female warrior in 3rd century Vietnam who managed to, for a time, successfully resist the Chinese during their occupation of Vietnam. She is described as the Vietnamese "Joan of Arc".
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[edit] Early years
Triệu Thị Trinh was born in Son Trung Village in Trieu Son District, Thanh Hoa province (situated in today's northern Vietnam) on the 2nd October AD 225. She was orphaned at a young age and lived with her brother and his wife until she was twenty years old. It was said that she was treated like a slave in their home.
When she was twenty, she could no longer watch China disrespect Vietnam as she witnessed the cruelty the Chinese inflicted upon her people, and the abuse which was synonymous with sinicisation. She fled into the jungle and set up her own military camp where she went on to amass an army of at least a thousand men and women soldiers.
[edit] Rebellion
Triệu Thị Trinh managed to successfully liberate an area of Vietnam which she claimed as her territory and from there set up her own administration. By the time Thị Trinh was 23 she had defeated Chinese advances on thirty separate occasions. She managed to defend her territory for several months and it was said that she rode into battle on the back of an elephant, clad in golden armour carrying a sword in each hand. A quote from the Chinese at the times goes: "It would be easier to fight a tiger, than to fight the Lady Queen."
However in AD 248 the Chinese managed to defeat Thị Trinh's forces and recaptured the territory which she had previously liberated from them. To protect her honour and to elude death at the hands of the Chinese, Thị Trinh committed suicide by drowning herself in a nearby river. There is another version of her suicide, saying that she was trampled to death by elephants.
[edit] Impact
The stories of the Triệu Thị Trinh and of other famous women warriors, the Trưng Sisters, are cited by some historians as hints that Vietnamese society before Sinicization was a matriarchal one, where there are no obstacles for women in assuming leadership roles.
Triệu Thị Trinh is a greatly celebrated Vietnamese heroine and many streets are named after her in Vietnamese cities. She also has a national holiday dedicated to her, and a part of Hanoi with her name.
