Triệu Dynasty
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A Vietnamese Dynasty or the First
There are two major views on the categorization of the dynasty.
1) Triệu Đà--after whom the dynasty is named--was a Chinese general, not Vietnamese. He was General/Governor of the state of Au Lac, the country named by Thuc Phan An Dương Vương which he coveted and conquered. Thus, the Triệu dynasty should be regarded as the period of First Chinese domination, which began when Triệu Đà seized Au Lac in 207 BC and ended in 111 BC.
2) Historians who consider Triệu Đà to be Vietnamese do so on the basis that his seizure of Au Lac and his independent rule of it were an act of defiance of the Western Han Dynasty. They believe that the dynasty he founded, nha Triệu, should be included in the official record of Vietnamese dynastic history. The Triệu Dynasty ended when the Han seized and occupied Vietnam after the fall of Triệu Dương Vương (Triệu Đà's great-grandson) in 111 BC. According to this view of history, the First Chinese domination commenced in 111 BC and lasted until the revolt of the Trưng sisters (or Hai Bà Trưng) which occurred around 40 AD.
Also, even though Triệu Đà was a Han, the people in the kingdom he ruled was the Yue (Yuet/Viet). The laws, customs, and cultures were all Yue. (This is just like the first Hanovers king of Great Britain was a German, but the people he ruled was British). He married a Yue woman and his grand-children had more Yue blood than Han blood. We can see him as a Han but was assimilated to the Yue culture.
Triệu Vu Vương (Zhao Wu Wang) (207 BC-
In the legends of Trong Thuy and My Chau (also known as "The Magic Bow"), Triệu Đà married his son Trong Thuy to An Dương Vương's daughter My Chau to an attempt to steal a magical bow from his in-laws. He thus defeated An Dương Vương in 207 BC and used the bow to seize control of Au Lac. At that time, Au Lac was a minor state further south of Guangxi and Guangdong in China. Having seized Au Lac, Triệu Đà united it with the other states, and controlled and renamed the whole country Nam Việt or Nanyue. Triệu Đà proclaimed himself Triệu Vũ Vương and ruled this country till 136 BC.
Administration & Rule
Knowing the Au Lac's people were famous for their fierce fighting and struggle for independence, Triệu Đà divided the state into 2 regions: Cuu Chan and Giao Chi. Giao Chi now encompasses most of North Vietnam. He allowed each region to have representatives to the central government and thus his administration was quite relaxed and had a feeling of being decentralized. However, he remained in control. Being a talented general and cunning diplomat, he sought a peaceful relationship with China which was in turmoil with the seated Qin Dynasty fighting the strong Han and Luu insurgents.
Triệu Van Vương (
Triệu Đà was succeeded by his grandson (Trong Thuy and My Chau's son) who took the imperial name Triệu Văn Vương 137 BC 125 BC. Totally the opposite of Triệu Đà, Triệu Ho was a weak, feeble-mind king. His inability to quell a rebellion in the West of the country (Man Việt) and inability to persuade the Chinese Han to help him showed his weakness and incapacity. Realizing the weakness of Triệu Văn Vương, the Han Emperor sent an army ostensibly to "help" the Nam Việt army, but with an eye otoreseizing the country should an occasion arise.
Triệu Minh Vương (124 BC-
Triệu Anh Te was the crown prince when his father, Triệu Van Vương, died. Triệu Anh Te's appointment to the position of emperor was a concilatory measure to the Emperor in Chang'an as a sign of Nam Việt's submission and respect. This crown prince, Triệu Anh Te lived most of his life in China. In China he had fathered a son by a Chinese woman (believed by some to be a prostitute by the name Cu Thi). He named the son Triệu Hung. Only when his father, Triệu Văn Vương, died did Triệu Anh Te receive permission to go home for his father's funeral. This happened in 124BC. Triệu Anh Te ascended the throne as Triệu Minh Vương. Not much is known about Trieu Minh Vuong's reign, probably because it is a short one and he was subservient to the Chinese emperor. His Chinese-born son, Triệu Hung, was only about 6 years old when Trieu Minh Vương died. Owing to Triệu Hung's extreme youth, his mother, the Chinese commoner, Cu Thi, became the Empress Dowager.
Trieu Minh Vương's death precipitated the events that would lead to the seizure and domination of Nanyue by the Chinese Han forces.
Triệu Áp Vương (
Triệu Hung, came to the throne under the imperial name of Trieu Áp Vương (some say Ai Vương). Soon thereafter, the Chinese emperor Wudi summoned him and his mother, Cu Thi, to an audience to pay homage in the Chinese Imperial court. The Chinese then sent an army to accompany Cu Thi and Trieu Áp Vương back home to Au Lac under the pretext that the young king needed their protection. By acquiescing to this gesture, both the Empress Dowager and the young emperor Trieu Áp Vương gave the public the impression that they were just puppets in the hands of the Chinese court.
Triệu Dương Vương (111BC)
While they were distracted by chaos in Northern China, in the South, (i.e., in Nanyue) the Han did not notice a general by the name Lu Gia rising to power. First, Lu Gia named Triệu Kien Duc (Triệu Minh Vương's eldest son) the new Emperor to usurp Triệu Áp Vương's thone. Lu Gia's argument is that the current emperor was not of pure Yue blood. The reason Lu Gia selected Triệu Kien Duc was because he was sired by Triệu Minh Vương through one of his Yue concubines. Lu Gia wanted to stir up Yue patriotism at this time for his cause. Triệu Kien Duc took the emperor-name Triệu Dương Vương. The Han Imperial army became aware of the shift in power and began sending troops south to the border of Nam Việt (Nan Yue).
There, the Han crushed the Yue army. Lu Gia and his emperor Trieu Duong Vuong tried to flee the country but then were caught and executed. The Han now had total control and domination over Nanyue until the time of the revolt of the Trưng Sisters, Hai Bà Trưng, led by Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị.
Sources
- Viet Nam Su Luoc by Tran Trong Kim
- Viet Su Toan Thu by Pham Van Son
See also
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