"National Character" - Part 6

     Vietnam in its early history was called the Kingdom of Au Lac, which was conquered by a Chinese general by the name of Zhao Tuo in 207 BC and renamed Nan Yue .  In 111 BC, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty annexed Nan Yue, and it became a part of the Chinese Empire from that date for over a thousand years.
     In 40 AD, two warrior sisters named Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, better known as The Trung Sisters, rebelled against the Chinese and led a rebel force mostly made up of women, and overthrew the Chinese rule. The Trung Sisters established a Vietnamese rule which lasted only for three years before the Chinese once again reconquered Vietnam.  The Trung Sisters were killed and thereby martyred. 
     To the Vietnamese, the Trung Sisters are the founders of Vietnam and heroic figures that are worshipped.  They represented Vietnamese resistance to Chinese rule and demonstrated perseverance and the overcoming of superior forces, the very essence of Vietnamese "national character."  It is quite apparent that at least at that time, Vietnam was very much a matriarchal society.  It appears that women had no obstacles whatsoever in the Vietnamese society and could hold any position or do anything that a man could do.  The Trung Sisters are celebrated in Vietnamese history as the greatest "patriots" of that country who not only fought for the country, but gave their lives!
     It is interesting to note that all incidents or individuals from Vietnam's historical past that illustrate the country's "national character" are:  1. women, 2. women who helped to oust foreign rulers, or at least tried!  All of the important events in Vietnam's history center around fighting and getting rid of foreign powers that ruled over them, which in this case was China.  The Trung Sisters' exploits were recorded by Chinese historians, and although the Chinese versions were not quite as colorful as the Vietnamese, nevertheless, it is clear that they did lead a rebellion against the Chinese and ruled briefly before being killed.  The Trung Sisters are the greatest heroic figures in Vietnamese history.
     After The Trung Sisters, another woman made an appearance, at least according to the Vietnamese accounts, and fought the Chinese.  Somewhere around 225 to 248 AD a woman warrior known as Lady Trieu (Ba Trieu) whose name was Trieu Thi Trinh, led an army of women warriors and fought the Chinese.  She did not succeed in ousting the Chinese, but is said to have caused a lot of problems for the foreign rulers.
     Lady Trieu is described as being very big and strong, an Amazon Warrior!  When someone asked her why she chose to become a warrior, she reportedly responded by saying:  "I'd like to ride storms, kill sharks in open seas, drive out aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man!"
     Although Vietnamese records and folklore mention Lady Trieu, the Chinese historians make no mention of her whatsoever.  It is apparent that she existed only in the imaginations of Vietnamese story tellers.  She was a fantastic figure who wielded a gigantic sword and rode an elephant like most people ride a horse!  Some accounts claim that she was nine feet tall, a huge, fearsome woman.
     The Trung Sisters are idealized and described as extraordinarily beautiful, epitome of Vietnamese beauty and womanhood.  Indeed all depiction of the two warrior sisters show them to be very beautiful and feminine.  Lady Trieu, on the other hand, is not shown as a beautiful, feminine individual.  Rather, she is portrayed in paintings as a sort of a fantastic figure, like a comic book super hero character.  Whatever the case, Lady Trieu also demonstrated incredible courage, perseverance, patience, and patriotism.  She is said to have killed herself rather than be caught by the Chinese.
     It is not surprising that the Vietnamese people think of The Trung Sisters and Lady Trieu as their national heroes who demonstrated true Vietnamese "character."  In the more recent times, Vietnam has had to fight two wars against superior forces to oust the foreign invaders or rulers.
     In 938 AD Vietnam was finally able to shed the yoke of Chinese rule, become independent and establish their own dynasty.  There were civil wars and internal strife from time to time, but overall, Vietnam was an independent country with a series of dynasties until 1862 when the French came and colonized the country.  In its own way, the French rule was even more oppressive than the Chinese.  At least the Chinese did not treat Vietnamese as inferior beings, which the French did!  Throughout the French colonization and rule, there were uprisings and attempts to free the country, but it wasn't until the early 20th Century that anything really happened. 
     In 1941 the French Indochina, of which Vietnam was a part (French Indochina consisted of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), fell under Japanese rule.  The French had capitulated to Nazi Germany earlier, and the Japanese simply walked in when they invaded Southeast Asia in 1941.  Neither the French nor those who sympathized with the French did anything to get rid of the new invader.  The Vietnamese communists, however, led by a man called Ho Chi Minh, fought the Japanese, and in doing so, allied themselves with the United States.  Ho and his followers called Viet Minh, helped America by rescuing downed pilots and guiding them back to safety.  For their help and effort, the United States not only commended Ho and his Viet Minh but promised to help them gain independence when the war was over. 
     Of course that promise was never kept, and Ho and the Viet Minh ended up fighting a bloody war known as the French-Indochina War, and despite the militarily superior French forces with tanks and planes, they were able to defeat the French and gain control of the northern half of the country.  During the entire campaign, Ho and his generals reminded their soldiers of the heroics performed by The Trung Sisters and Lady Trieu.  They reminded the troops that it wasn't the superior arms or equipment that will bring them victory, it was patience, perseverance, and belief in their cause that will lead to victory.  Ho and the Viet Minh surprised the world and defeated the French.
     The French were out of Vietnam but the country was divided, like Korea, north and south.  Ho didn't waste any time and quickly established a guerrilla movement known as the National Liberation Front, and its participants were called Viet Cong.  The Viet Cong began a campaign of terror to disrupt and in some cases simply destroy the established system.  Initially it was just some terrorist activity, but soon it grew into a guerrilla war. The United States got itself enmeshed in that war and before long, it escalated into a full blown war.  The Vietnamese were in an inferior position in that they did not have an air force to support their ground troops, and did not have the latest high tech war equipment.  What they did have was patience, perseverance, belief in their cause, and willingness to fight for as long as it was needed. 
     Once again, they demonstrated those traits that were evident earlier with The Trung Sisters and Lady Trieu, as well as with Ho and the Viet Minh in the French-Indochina War.  Ho constantly reminded his followers to have patience,  He said that America did not have the will to stay the duration in this war and that the anti war public sentiment in America would finally end this war.  He was right, of course.  We didn't lose the war, we left before it was finished.  At one point, after the 1968 Tet Offensive, we had practically destroyed all of VC and NVAs ability to fight in the south.  But, instead of finishing, we went into the "Vietnamization" and left it in the hands of the corrupt South Vietnamese government and army.  Within months of our pull out from that country, it fell to Ho and his communist followers.
     In all of these cases the Vietnamese demonstrated incredible patience and perseverance.  They also believed in their cause and were willing to wait for as long as it would take to attain their goal.  That is the Vietnamese "national character."  You may not agree with the assessment, but that is how it is portrayed and how the Vietnamese see themselves.  Apparently, The Trung Sisters and Lady Trieu are alive and well in the Vietnamese psyche.