Who they were
Nguyen Hue (1753-1792) was the military genius of the three Tay Son brothers, whose rebellion from the 1770s swept away both the Nguyen and Trinh lord regimes. By reputation he never lost a battle.
What they did
In 1785 he destroyed a Siamese intervention force at Rach Gam-Xoai Mut in the Mekong delta. In late 1788 he proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung. Then, in a forced march timed to the Tet holiday of 1789, he surprised and crushed the Qing expeditionary army that had entered Hanoi in support of the last Le king, at Ngoc Hoi and Dong Da; the victory is commemorated annually at the Dong Da festival. His brief reign pushed reforms - the Nom script in administration, reopened trade - before his sudden death in 1792 at 39. The Tay Son state fell to Nguyen Anh within a decade.
Legacy
He remains one of Vietnam’s most celebrated military heroes.