The Trưng Sisters, known in Vietnamese as Hai Bà Trưng (the two Trưng women), are two 1st century women regarded as the national heroines of Vietnam.
According to tradition, Trưng Trắc's husband was a Vietnamese lord. After her husband was killed and she was raped by a Chinese general, Trưng Trắc and her younger sister Trưng Nhị spearheaded resistance to the occupying Chinese for three years before, according to tradition, drowning themselves instead of surrendering in AD 43.
The Trưng Sisters are highly revered in Vietnam, as they led the first resistance movement against the occupying Chinese. Many temples are dedicated to them, and a yearly holiday to commemorate their deaths are observed by many Vietnamese. In addition, numerous large streets in major cities are named after them. They are often depicted riding on elephants onto battle.
The stories of the Trung sisters and of another famous woman warrior, Triệu Thị Trinh , 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.
In Vietnam, the Trung sister are highly regarded by all. They were born in a rural Vietnamese village, their father, a simple scholar/teacher and their mother was a housewife. They still conducted the traditional gender roles, like working in rice paddies and fields, then in the afternoon, they would pratice martial arts and swords.
When their village was raided by the Chinese men, they grew angry and attacked them, easily conquering them both and kicking the small unit out of town. From that, they began to organize miniscule rebel groups and patriots to defend their honor. Rapidly, their army grew to an immense size, mainly consisting of female soldier--by their unique style of martial arts and strategy, the Vietnamese woman moved on and defeated the Chinese men in such a strength. However, there was a large flaw; with an army full of women, and no where left to go, the Chinese men fought nude. By that alone, only the smaller units of men remained, and clearly without the women's help, who fled away because of seeing a man without any clothes and wasn't your husband was an unspeakable taboo, all the male units were wiped out. In such desperation, the two female queens commited suicide to elude ridicule. Afterwards, the Chinese men placed a stone to claim that Annam (the archaic term for Vietnam) belongs to the Chinese Empire, and before they left, he stated that if anyone dared to harm or treat the alter in a disrepectful way, Annam would fall. Despite of this warning, the ever dignified Vietnamese would spit, kick, or hit the alter until it was finally taken down.
Even after the death of the two generals, several other loyal officers would still try to fight a pointless war. There was one woman would randomly charge through Chinese camps, slaying random men and screaming. Finally, after killing many more, she finally commited suicide in hopes to return to her respected commanders.
