Historical differences[edit source]
There are some historical differences between the Chinese and Vietnamese accounts, however.
Chinese records makes no mention of Trieu Thi Trinh. All available information in regards to Trieu Thi Trinh come from solely from Vietnamese sources that were written during or after the late Ming Dynasty.[8] For example the Sanguozhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), a classical Chinese historical account, does mention about a rebellion at this time in the commanderies of Jiaozhi (交趾; Vietnamese: Giao Chỉ
and Jiuzhen (九真, Vietnamese: Cửu Chân) as following:
In the 11th year of Chiwu (赤烏
[248] in Jiaozhi (交趾
, Jiuzhen (九真
rebels attacked walled cities which caused a great uproar. Lu Yin (陸胤
[of Hengyang (衡陽
] was given rank of the Inspector of Jiaozhou by the Sovereign of Wu. He took his troops and entered the southern border and sent word to the rebels. He used his craftiness to convince them to accept his terms. [In] Gao Liang (高涼
, the commander Huang Wu (黄吳
with 3,000 households came out to surrender. Lu Yin now led the army south to that region. He announced his sincerity [to the aborigines] and distributed gifts. The [remaining] 100 rebel leaders and 50,000 households, who had been unruly and unapproachable, kowtowed [to Lu Yin]. Thus the territory was handed over peacefully. At once Lu Yin was given the rank of General who Tranquilizes the South. Again he was sent on a punitive expedition against the rebels in Cang Wu (蒼梧
. He defeated them quickly. From start to finish Lu Yin's military troops totaled 8,000. (Later commentaries also cited that Lu Yin then helped to plant crops and kept the people fed.) [9]
Keith W. Taylor, an American professor, explained these differences as following:
Chinese records do not mention Lady Trieu; our knowledge of her comes only from Vietnamese sources. From this it is evident that the events of 248 were remembered differently by the two sides. The Chinese only recorded their success in buying off certain rebel leaders with bribes and promises. The resistance led by Lady Trieu was for them simply a kind of stubborn barbarism that was wiped out as a matter of course and was of no historical interest. On the other hand, the Vietnamese remembered Lady Trieu's uprising as the most important event of the time. Her leadership appealed to strong popular instincts. The traditional image of her as a remarkable yet human leader, throwing her yard-long breasts over her shoulders when going into battle astride an elephant, has been handed down from generation to generation. After Lady Trieu's death, her spirit was worshipped by the Vietnamese. We owe our knowledge of her to the fact that she was remembered by the people.[8]