Toe To Toe With China The Sisters Who Defied The Empire ASSASSINS

The Chung sisters know that everything is lost. The pair walk towards the banks of the Hat River in what is now known as Northern Vietnam. They look at the land they've been fighting for. The river curves gracefully, vowing to join other rivers to form the Red River Delta. In the distance, the sharply angled Karst Mountains, and all around them, green countryside, incredibly fertile land for growing rice. The Chung sisters also know who they've been fighting for. The local people who have lived here for thousands of years with their own language and customs. It's the year 43 AD, and the Chinese have ruled here for 150 years. No one has been able to make them leave. No one, that is, until the Chung sisters arrive on the scene. The sisters are young, in their late 20s or early 30s, yet they've managed to achieve something incredible. The only problem is, they just couldn't make it last. So now, the sisters walk together towards the water. Elder sister Chuck and younger sister Nee, but they're often just referred to now as Hai Ba Chung, or the two ladies. Tales of their strength and bravery are shared throughout the region, and those stories become grander and more incredible as they're retold over the centuries to come. We're told that the Chung sisters are incredibly strong, and proud, and beautiful, with long shiny black hair. They wear golden armour. A Mei Lin bird representing their birthplace is carved into the metal of their suits. Silver bells dangle from their belts, and they ride into battle on elephants, a formidable sight to the Chinese. But now, as the sisters reach the edge of the river, it's just the two of them. They step into the currents of the cold, hot river, a final moment together, before they disappear below the surface. Hello my friend, I'm Aslan Pahari, and this is Assassins, the show where we tell the stories of history's most shocking assassinations. Today, the Chung sisters, who died in the year 43 AD, and are commemorated in Vietnamese folklore, The eldest became Queen of the North. The younger sister was second in command. They led thousands of troops and captured cities and towns, returning them to local control. Perched on the edge of a powerful empire, the Chung sisters were the first to defeat the Han Chinese in their homeland. This is their story. But it's a story with competing narratives. One the Vietnamese tell, and another from the Chinese perspective. According to the Chinese, this was a rebellion by the elite, with little support from the peasants. To the Vietnamese, this was an uprising against foreign invaders, who cared little for the people and their traditions. But both narratives do agree on a few things. The Chung sisters were heroic and brave, and highly skilled in battle. They took control of 65 cities and towns, after which elder sister Chuck proclaimed herself Queen. Both versions of the story also agree on what sparked it all. An assassination. It's around 39 to 40 AD, and Han Emperor Guangwu is the imperial ruler. He governs from the capital of the Eastern Han Empire, in Luoyang, part of Henan province. From his palace, the emperor presides over a vast territory across East Asia. But he still keeps a close eye on this small bit of land, on the edge of the vast empire. Because this place matters. The Red Delta region is strategically important for global maritime trade. It connects inland rivers in southern China with the Gulf of Tonkin, which then flows into the South China Sea. And from there, merchant ships carry silk and spices to India, the Middle East, and elsewhere. But to the local people who actually live here, the place is worth much more than trade. They are the ethnic Lak Viets, and everything around them, it's all part of their animistic belief system. The rivers have spirits, the mountains have spirits, the spirits of their human ancestors are here too. For the Lak Viet people, this is a living landscape, where humans and the spirit world constantly overlap. Thi Sac is a Lak Viet lord in the fertile Red River Delta that surrounds modern-day Hanoi. He's a local aristocrat, managing the day-to-day affairs of the empire, doing his bit to keep the wheels turning. But in his spare time, Thi Sac is fermenting trouble. And he has a willing audience. The local aristocracy are sick of all the rules being imposed on them by strangers they've never met. And they're sick of being forced to assimilate to Chinese language and customs, which are fundamentally different from their own. But much of their anger is about money and taxes. Under the feudal system that existed before the Chinese, a small group of aristocrats owned almost everything, including the land peasants lived and worked on. The peasants paid taxes to these feudal lords, but that money stayed in the region. It wasn't shipped off to the north. Now, however, under Chinese rule, those taxes also keep increasing. The Chinese see the situation differently. Their arrival introduced new and improved ways of life to this backwards province. They've brought peace and stability and greater wealth. What's more, these upstart aristocrats are greedy and complain a lot. They say Thi Sac is, quote, of a fierce temperament. And all of these claims have some truth to them. So here we are, around 39 to 40 AD, and word gets out that this local lord, Thi Sac, is trying to incite a rebellion. The Chinese governor overseeing the region is Su Ding, and he quickly realizes that if he doesn't act swiftly and decisively, things could spiral fast. He must force these would-be rebels into submission. So the Chinese governor issues the order to assassinate Thi Sac. Records indicate that not long after, Thi Sac is indeed assassinated. He's decapitated without trial. A quiet fury builds as the news spreads, kind of the opposite of what the governor was hoping for. Most outspoken in her fury is Thi Sac's wife, Chak Chang, the elder of the Chang sisters. A 15th century historian describes the aftermath of the assassination like this. When the enemy arrived, the men bowed their heads. The two Chang sisters alone rose up to lead. The story goes that without waiting for the funeral rites to be completed, Chak Chang takes off her traditional mourning headdress. She calls for people to join her and her sister and fight. There will be time to mourn my husband after victory, she says. This whole tale of the Chang sisters is told from fragments written or remembered over centuries. So another way this story is told is that Chak Chang was always the political agitator in her marriage to Thi Sac. That in some ways, the Chinese assassinated the wrong person. Both were opposed to Chinese control, but it was Chak Chang who led and her husband who followed. Which shouldn't come as a surprise. Before the Chinese arrived, women of this region had much greater power than women in most other parts of the world. They could be leaders, merchants and judges, and they could inherit property. The Chinese put a stop to this, but they couldn't completely rewrite tradition. Case in point, the strong and ambitious mother of the Chang sisters, Lady Man Thien. The Chang sisters grew up in an aristocratic family. Their father was a powerful local lord near modern-day Hanoi. But when he died, their mother refused the Chinese request that she remarry. Vietnamese oral traditions say both parents encouraged their daughters to learn the art of warfare from a young age. And even though they grew up relatively privileged, both were skilled in military strategy and able to wield a sword with great skill. After her husband's assassination, 80,000 soldiers joined Chak and younger sister Nhi. There are 36 female generals in their army. One of these generals is said to be the mother of the Chang sisters, Lady Man Thien. The army fights fiercely, taking 65 towns and cities one by one, eventually forcing the Chinese out of the region altogether. A popular 19th century Vietnamese poem says that even the Han emperor heard of it and was terrified. We don't really know how the emperor reacted to the news of Chinese defeat, but he does send small groups of troops to try and take back their lost territory. The Chinese army has better weapons and greater military experience. But for around three years, the Chang sisters hold their ground, fighting small skirmishes here and there, but keeping their victory intact. It looks like it might hold. But then Han Emperor Guangwu calls on one of his best and most brilliant generals, a man named Ma Yuan. The emperor commands him to go and take back what's been lost. Before he departs, the general is given a title to inspire him, Fu Bo Jiang Jun, which means general who subdues the waves. And that's what he plans to do. General Ma Yuan heads south and mobilizes over 30,000 troops in what is now southern China. The soldiers then begin their long march. And then finally, in 42 AD, the imperial army enters territory controlled by the Chang sisters and comes face to face with their army for the first time. It quickly becomes apparent that the Vietnamese are no match for this large and highly trained force led by General Ma Yuan. Several thousand locals are beheaded and the Chang sisters retreat. The Han army sets off in pursuit, heading towards the Chang sisters' ancestral homeland. The sisters hold off the Chinese for a time, but by 43 AD, they're low on weapons and cut off from supplies and just can't fight anymore. By the end of that year, all pockets of resistance have been stamped out. The Han Chinese empire is in control again. And this is where the Chinese and the Vietnamese versions of events diverge one final time. The Chinese say they captured the Chang sisters, and execute them. And that General Ma Yuan sends their heads as proof to the imperial city of Luoyang. The Vietnamese say things ended differently. Refusing to face the shame and indignity of surrender, the Chang sisters walk together into the Hat River, that beautiful stretch of water surrounded by the land they've fought so hard for. And then they drown themselves. Thank you for watching my friend. What version of events do you believe? The Chinese or the Vietnamese? Let us know in the comments.