Talented female generals of the Tay Son army

(NLDO) - In addition to the Seven Tiger Generals, in the Tay Son army there were also five outstanding female generals of that time, known to the world as the Five Phoenix Generals.

More than 250 years ago, when the Tay Son peasant movement broke out, there were five outstanding girls who were very good at martial arts, swords and staffs; had talent in organizing and training elephant troops, and were known as Ngu Phung Thu (meaning five phoenixes). They were Bui Thi Xuan, Bui Thi Nhan, Tran Thi Lan, Huynh Thi Cuc and Nguyen Thi Dung.

The graceful and majestic beauty of Bui Thi Xuan through the statue of her.

The head of Tay Son Ngu Phung Thu was Admiral Bui Thi Xuan, wife of Thai Pho Tran Quang Dieu - names very familiar in history books. She was from Xuan Hoa village, Tuy Vien district, Binh Dinh province (now Tay Son district, Binh Dinh province).

During her youth, Bui Thi Xuan was both beautiful and brave, a skilled craftswoman, had beautiful handwriting, but wanted to "be a boy", practicing boxing and dancing with swords. Hearing the story of Lady Trieu and Lady Trung riding elephants to fight the enemy, Bui Thi Xuan was eager to follow their example.

At the age of 12, Bui Thi Xuan went to school to learn to read and write. One day, her friends made fun of her with the couplet " Outside is a boy, inside is a girl, pickled cabbage and taro". Angry, she punched her classmate in the face and went home. From then on, she stopped studying literature and stayed home to study martial arts.

Her first teacher was Ngo Manh, Ngo Van So's grandfather, who was given temporary shelter in the family's garden. Grateful for his help, martial arts master Ngo Manh diligently taught his intelligent student. After three years, the teacher passed away, and Bui Thi Xuan had to train herself.

One night, while practicing martial arts, an old woman came to watch, Bui Thi Xuan immediately welcomed her warmly. From then on, every night the old woman came to teach martial arts to Bui Thi Xuan but no one knew her background.

For 3 years, except when it rained, every night the old woman came to teach Bui Thi Xuan boxing, double swords, and martial arts. When Bui Thi Xuan turned 18, her skills were already perfect, so the old woman stopped coming to teach her.

War elephants of the Tay Son insurgents - the terror of the northern invaders. Photo: Vietnam Military Museum.

According to the book Martial Artists of Binh Dinh, after mastering martial arts, Bui Thi Xuan invited some other women in the area to come to her house to practice boxing and sword dancing. Her disciples were initially few, but gradually increased to several dozen. Among them, there was a rather excellent disciple named Bui Thi Nhan, Bui Thi Xuan's aunt but younger.

Therefore, when Bui Thi Xuan followed the Tay Son dynasty, Mrs. Nhan also asked to follow and became a good swordsman among her sisters. After his wife, Mrs. Pham Thi Lien, passed away, Nguyen Hue married Bui Thi Nhan and gave birth to 3 sons: Nguyen Quang Toan, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Nguyen Quang Khanh and 2 daughters. When Quang Trung ascended the throne, Mrs. Nhan was appointed as the Queen Mother. When Quang Toan ascended the throne, she was honored as the Queen Mother.

In addition, in the group of disciples of Bui Thi Xuan, there was also Mrs. Tran Thi Lan, younger sister of Mrs. Tran Thi Hue (wife of Nguyen Nhac), granddaughter of martial artist Tran Kim Hung. Mrs. Lan was taught martial arts by her grandfather, martial artist Tran Kim Hung. She had a special talent for swordsmanship and trained herself to be as agile as a swallow, so she called herself Ngoc Yen. When she heard of Bui Thi Xuan's great martial arts skills, Mrs. Lan sought her out to be friends and shared the same aspirations to help the Tay Son dynasty.

Tourists take souvenir photos at the temple of Admiral Bui Thi Xuan in Tay Son district.

Also in the "five phoenixes" were two ladies Nguyen Thi Dung and Huynh Thi Cuc, from Quang Ngai province. Hearing of Bui Thi Xuan's reputation, these two ladies came to ask to learn from her. In terms of age and talent, the four ladies Dung, Nhan, Cuc, and Lan were all equivalent. They all respected female general Bui Thi Xuan as their teacher, and were close to each other like blood relatives. People at that time called the five ladies Bui Thi Xuan, Bui Thi Nhan, Tran Thi Lan, Huynh Thi Cuc, and Nguyen Thi Dung the Tay Son Five Phunges. Together, the Five Phungs trained and organized a troop of hundreds of elephants and a troop of over 2,000 female soldiers.

The ladies in Ngu Phung Thu later all married generals of the Tay Son dynasty, only Huynh Thi Cuc did not marry, but followed Bui Thi Xuan. When the Tay Son dynasty was in decline, the two female generals Bui Thi Xuan and Huynh Thi Cuc, along with the female soldiers, risked their lives to open a bloody path, breaking the siege of Nguyen Anh's army in Dau Mau ( Quang Binh ), bringing King Canh Thinh safely across Nhat Le river. Mrs. Huynh Thi Cuc heroically sacrificed herself here.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nhung-nu-tuong-tai-cua-nghia-quan-tay-son-196250124124143752.htm