As a devoted fan of France's St Joan of Arc, I am as much infatuated with the great female warrior Trieu Au, who has been known as the Joan of Arc of Vietnam for those needing a western point of reference. Trieu Au was born in 222 A.D. at a time when Vietnam was only a Chinese territory. Orphaned early in life she was raised by her older brother and his Chinese wife who treated her with extreme cruelty, forcing her to live like a slave. Finally, Trieu Au killed her sister-in-law and fled to the hills where she began a movement to resist China's despotic rule over Vietnam. Realizing that her own suffering was mirrored by the suffering of her country as a whole, Trieu Au used her great oratoric skills and charisma to rally the people to her cause of freedom.
In 248 Trieu Au set up her own resistance government and organized thousands of Vietnamese people who flocked to her into a formal army to combat China. Trieu Au declared in her fury, "I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales in the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused." She dressed herself in golden armor and rode her war elephant into battle at the head of her ragged but defiant army. Faced with the armed might of the Chinese, Trieu Au stood little chance. The Vietnamese were outnumbered with poor weapons and no military experience but still they fought for the principle of freedom and in reverence to the bravery of Trieu Au.
In about six months Trieu Au and the Vietnamese army was crushed by the Chinese after a valiant struggle. In traditional fashion, Trieu Au refused to accept defeat and drowned herself in a river rather than live inder Chinese domination. Trieu Au is still remembered today and has a pagoda built in her honor. |
