Who they were
Trung Trac and Trung Nhi were daughters of a local lord in the Red River delta, then under Han rule. By the traditional account, the Han governor To Dinh (Su Ding) executed Trung Trac’s husband, and in AD 40 the sisters raised a revolt in response.
What they did
The rising swept the region; the chronicles say some 65 citadels fell to them, and Trung Trac ruled as queen. The Han general Ma Yuan suppressed the revolt by AD 43. Vietnamese tradition holds that the sisters drowned themselves in the Hat River rather than surrender, while Chinese sources record that they were executed.
Legacy
The sisters stand as Vietnam’s founding heroines of resistance and of women’s leadership. Temples honor them, the Hai Ba Trung festival continues to this day, and districts and streets across Vietnam carry their name.