Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 1: There's a fifteenth century poem from Vietnam that reads, all
Speaker 1: the male heroes bowed their heads in submission, only the
Speaker 1: two sisters proudly stood up to avenge the country. Another
Speaker 1: poem from the seventeenth century echoes a similar sentiment. The
Speaker 1: Han Emperor was extremely furious this insignificant speck of a
Speaker 1: zoo chi, And it was not even a man, but
Speaker 1: a mere girl who wielded the skill of a hero.
Speaker 1: These poems are recounting, albeit a little pompously, the story
Speaker 1: of Hai Bouchung or the Chung Sisters, once queen of
Speaker 1: an independent Vietnam. The meaning of the phrase zao chi
Speaker 1: in the second poem is in reference to Chinese occupied Vietnam,
Speaker 1: where in the year thirty nine, the two sisters raised
Speaker 1: an army of eighty thousand troops and led a revolt
Speaker 1: against Chinese rule. The actual historical story of the Trunk
Speaker 1: Sisters is fascinating, but it's even more interesting to understand
Speaker 1: the role that their story has played in the larger
Speaker 1: culture and how it's evolved over time, if you hadn't
Speaker 1: realized the year thirty nine was a long time ago,
Speaker 1: long enough for a narrative to take on all different
Speaker 1: shapes and sizes, as was the case with Boudica the
Speaker 1: Iceni Queen, another ancient revolutionary that I've talked about on
Speaker 1: this show. Being an iconic figure from the very distant
Speaker 1: past means your story is by and large malleable. It's
Speaker 1: a vailable to be what the country needs it to
Speaker 1: be at any given moment. The Chung Sisters have seen
Speaker 1: spikes of popularity in different moments in Vietnamese history, but
Speaker 1: each time there is a spike, it's through a newfound
Speaker 1: cultural lens. Whether the Sisters are portrayed as nationalists, comrades,
Speaker 1: or feminist icons, there are some details in their story
Speaker 1: that always remain the same. The story of the Chung
Speaker 1: Sisters is that of two sisters wielding the skills of heroes,
Speaker 1: proudly standing up to avenge their country. I'm Danis Schwartz,
Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Though information on the chungs
Speaker 1: is relatively sparse and very across sources, there are some
Speaker 1: things that remain consistent. We don't know exactly when the
Speaker 1: sisters were born, but we do know that Chung Chu
Speaker 1: was older than Chung Ni. We do know that they
Speaker 1: were born under Han dynasty rule of what is now Vietnam,
Speaker 1: a period known as Baktua. The Chungs hailed from Nam
Speaker 1: viet which comprised the north part of modern Vietnam as
Speaker 1: well as parts of southern China. They came from an
Speaker 1: aristocratic family. Their father was a lach lord and Mailing
Speaker 1: which is modern day Mailand District Hanoi. The Lack where
Speaker 1: a group of multi lingual tribal people in ancient northern Vietnam.
Speaker 1: Because of that status, it's believed that the sisters received
Speaker 1: some form of martial arts education. Their role also meant
Speaker 1: that they saw first hand the cruelty and disrespect their
Speaker 1: people were subject to at the hands of Chinese colonization.
Speaker 1: An interesting note about the lach it thought the status
Speaker 1: of luck lord's was passed through the family line of
Speaker 1: one's mother, and, in contrast with Chinese society, wealth was
Speaker 1: inherited from the mother's side of the family as well.
Speaker 1: For years, there has been debate among historians as to
Speaker 1: whether or not ancient Vietnam was a matrilineal society and
Speaker 1: luck practices seemed to point toward confirmation back to the sisters,
Speaker 1: though in all tellings, the story of revolution actually begins
Speaker 1: with a love story. When a neighboring lord came to
Speaker 1: visit me Ling, he brought with him his son, a
Speaker 1: prince named Teesack. Teesock and Tung Trot fell in love,
Speaker 1: and they were soon married. When Teasock became lord of
Speaker 1: the Chudien, he faced off against Soo Ting, the Chinese
Speaker 1: governor known for his cruelty, who carried out the policy
Speaker 1: of forced assimilation. According to the Book of the Later Han,
Speaker 1: Teesock was quote of a fierce temperament, and he took
Speaker 1: a stand, And it was his wife, Chung Chak quote
Speaker 1: of a brave and fearless disposition end quote, who quote
Speaker 1: stirred her husband to action and became the central figure
Speaker 1: in mobilizing the Loach lords against the Chinese end quote.
Speaker 1: What happened next differs across sources, Vietnamese sources, and therefore
Speaker 1: the more widely disseminated ones generally tell the story like this.
Speaker 1: Teasock was made an example of and executed. Upon his death,
Speaker 1: an enraged Chung Cha took charge of their cause and
Speaker 1: was joined by her sister in building an army. Chinese
Speaker 1: sources tell the story a little differently. In their version,
Speaker 1: Teasock was not killed and he was alive and followed
Speaker 1: his wife's leadership as she and her sister took command
Speaker 1: of the army. While it may not seem like the
Speaker 1: most important detail in the larger story of the rebellion,
Speaker 1: the status of Tisak says a lot about the perspective
Speaker 1: of the storyteller. Modern sources will argue that there's no
Speaker 1: evidence Tisak was killed. Vietnamese tellings are influenced by a
Speaker 1: Confucian patriarchal bias. The thinking is, surely Chung Chow couldn't
Speaker 1: have led a revolution and assumed the position of queen
Speaker 1: while her husband was still alive. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: Chinese sources at the time likely had an investment in
Speaker 1: making Vietnamese men look weak. It's frustrating to accept the
Speaker 1: truth that the truth will never be known, but we
Speaker 1: can be confident in our knowledge that Chung Chaw undisputedly
Speaker 1: led the rebellion. In thirty nine, Chat and her sister
Speaker 1: raised an army of eighty thousand troops, whom they led
Speaker 1: to the capital, writing on the backs of their war elephants,
Speaker 1: the image we see in most artistic depictions of the
Speaker 1: sisters through out history, and of course, why wouldn't we
Speaker 1: sisters riding on the backs of elephants. It's amazing. Most
Speaker 1: of their soldiers were in their twenties, and many of
Speaker 1: them were women. There are even Vietnamese sources claiming that
Speaker 1: in one province's army, thirty two of the sixty nine
Speaker 1: generals were women. The book Women Warriors acknowledges that this
Speaker 1: group perhaps even included the Chung's elderly mother, who legend
Speaker 1: says trained the sisters in the arts of war. The
Speaker 1: revolt was successful. They forced Suiting to flee, and within
Speaker 1: a year held sixty five northern citadels at Malang, their hometown.
Speaker 1: The Chung sisters joyfully proclaimed themselves queens of an independent
Speaker 1: state extending from southern China to the present site of
Speaker 1: hugh While they both held the title of queen, Chung
Speaker 1: Cha was the one in charge, with Chung Ni being
Speaker 1: known as more of her companion. One of their most
Speaker 1: remembered policies was the abolishment of the Chinese governor's taxes
Speaker 1: on the Vietnamese people. The Han had imposed monetary taxes
Speaker 1: on the lack despite the lack cultural practice being closer
Speaker 1: to a trade based community. There isn't much of a
Speaker 1: record of the queen's other actions, but that may be
Speaker 1: because their reign was short lived. For two years, the
Speaker 1: sisters ruled the country and were able to successfully fend
Speaker 1: off attacks from the Chinese. That changed, however, when in
Speaker 1: forty two, the Emperor Guangwudi sent one of his best generals,
Speaker 1: Mayun south to reconquer Vietnam. The Sisters once again raised
Speaker 1: their army and fought back with everything they had, but
Speaker 1: they were ultimately defeated in forty three in a battle
Speaker 1: near modern day Hannoi. According to Chinese sources, thousands of
Speaker 1: Vietnamese soldiers were captured and beheaded, and more than ten
Speaker 1: thous and surrendered. Chung Cha and Chong Ni were not
Speaker 1: among them. They refused to surrender willingly to their enemies.
Speaker 1: Stories of the sisters deaths once again differ based on
Speaker 1: where your sources from. It is generally agreed upon that
Speaker 1: they did not surrender, but Chinese sources allege ma Yuan
Speaker 1: captured and executed them and sent their heads to the
Speaker 1: Han Court, Vietnamese sources claim that the sisters committed suicide
Speaker 1: by drowning themselves in the Hot Gung River. Vietnamese sources
Speaker 1: claim that the sisters committed suicide by drowning themselves in
Speaker 1: the Hat Young River now known as the Die. As
Speaker 1: was the case with the story of Chung Chunk's husband,
Speaker 1: the logic behind the biases and cultural investments of these
Speaker 1: different narratives is clear. From the Chinese, we see a decisive,
Speaker 1: brutal victory reclaiming what was in their minds stolen from them,
Speaker 1: even if it had been actually reclaimed by its rightful inheritors.
Speaker 1: For the Vietnamese, the tragedy ends poetically with the sisters,
Speaker 1: who gave everything they had to their homeland, choosing to
Speaker 1: end their lives in its own water. While much of
Speaker 1: the discussion of the Chung sister centers around the idea
Speaker 1: of them, it's also worth thinking about the role that
Speaker 1: their physical bodies in these two alternate endings take. When
Speaker 1: they drown in the head Young, they are dying in
Speaker 1: their own country, returning their bodies to its soil. When
Speaker 1: they're executed by the Chinese, their heads are taken back
Speaker 1: to the Han court to be put on display as
Speaker 1: a show of domination. That's the tricky thing with icons
Speaker 1: from any point in history, even their bodies are absorbed
Speaker 1: into the narratives, and it's impossible to know what the
Speaker 1: truth is. So now let's talk about how the leg
Speaker 1: to see of the Chung Sisters has evolved. Our first
Speaker 1: recorded account of the Chung Sisters comes four centuries after
Speaker 1: their rule, when the Chinese historian Fanie compiled the historical
Speaker 1: records of the later Han, and it wasn't until twelve
Speaker 1: seventy two that the Sisters entered Vietnamese records. When lev
Speaker 1: On Who, the court historian of the Chong dynasty, wrote
Speaker 1: them into the official dynastic histories. He cited their rule
Speaker 1: as one of the earliest Viet kingdoms, prompting future historians
Speaker 1: to do the same. He even referenced Chung Chunk as
Speaker 1: a female king, and that title has persisted. As more
Speaker 1: historians added to the record, the scope of the Chong
Speaker 1: sisters legacy expanded. Another early archivist would tell us that
Speaker 1: just three years after their final defeat, locals built a
Speaker 1: temple to honor the sisters, where the locals would come
Speaker 1: in times of need to ask the sisters for aid.
Speaker 1: There's a story recognizing the spiritual role the Chongs played
Speaker 1: during this time. During a great draft, the twelfth century
Speaker 1: emperor Lion Thong ordered Buddhist masters to perform rituals to
Speaker 1: pray for rain. The rain did come, and soon after
Speaker 1: the emperor dreamed of two women riding steel horses and
Speaker 1: pulling the rein behind them. A fourteenth century text of
Speaker 1: the tale describes the women's appearance in the dream, quote
Speaker 1: their faces were fair, and their brows like willows. Their
Speaker 1: robes were green, and their trousers read. Their hats were red,
Speaker 1: and they wore belts and quote. When the emperor asked
Speaker 1: them who they were, they responded, we are the Chong sisters.
Speaker 1: We have responded to your request and have made the rain.
Speaker 1: When the emperor awoke, he ordered the restoration of their
Speaker 1: temple and made offerings to honor their spirits, and he
Speaker 1: gave them the title Divine Chase. Ladies. We don't have
Speaker 1: time to unpack everything behind that title, but I do
Speaker 1: think it's worth thinking about portraying the sister specifically as Chased.
Speaker 1: In connection with the Vietnamese version of events, in which
Speaker 1: Cheung Cha is a widow performing her rebellion in honor
Speaker 1: of her late husband. The emphasis on their fair faces
Speaker 1: and willowy browse is also part of a repeating theme.
Speaker 1: Not only are the Trunk Sisters military prowesses celebrated throughout history,
Speaker 1: but so is their supposed beauty. These descriptions elevate their
Speaker 1: status to something mythological and distinctly feminine, which falls in
Speaker 1: line with narrative surrounding iconic women across cultures. Athena is,
Speaker 1: after all, the goddess of wisdom and warfare, but she's
Speaker 1: known just as well for the countless depictions of her beauty.
Speaker 1: People love to talk about Boudica's flaming red hair. Through
Speaker 1: these texts on the Chung Sisters, we see a conflict
Speaker 1: as to how to characterize them. They're often described in
Speaker 1: terms typically reserved for men when it comes to their
Speaker 1: wartime prowess, yet there's an emphasis on their appearance fitting
Speaker 1: traditional feminine beauty standards and Chung trucks case a strong
Speaker 1: devotion to her husband. It's a conflict that will evolve
Speaker 1: over time but never quite resolve. They're usually made to
Speaker 1: be everything at once, both fierce masculine kings but also beautiful, devoted,
Speaker 1: chaste widows. The sisters gained their next boost in popularity
Speaker 1: years later, when Vietnam was struggling against French colonialism in
Speaker 1: the early twentieth century. Here we begin to see the
Speaker 1: sisters show up more frequently in works of art and
Speaker 1: theater as a means of protesting the French government. In
Speaker 1: one famous drama written by the anti imperialist activist Bongboche,
Speaker 1: Uh Cheong Cha is worried that she cannot lead the
Speaker 1: army after her husband's death as a quote, mere woman,
Speaker 1: and so she passes the responsibility to her nephew, who
Speaker 1: also dies. Chung Ni advises her elder sister quote not
Speaker 1: to behave just like ordinary women, but to rise to
Speaker 1: the occasion only at the point that no men are left.
Speaker 1: In the story, once the sisters capture the Chinese governor,
Speaker 1: they read out a list of the crimes of the invaders.
Speaker 1: As the historian Sarah Womack points out in her article
Speaker 1: The Remakings of a Legend, the Chung story serves several
Speaker 1: purposes at this time. One it advocates for its author's
Speaker 1: belief in an armed resistance movement, and two, in explicitly
Speaker 1: listing the evils of a foreign oppressor. WOMAC additionally argues
Speaker 1: that for all of its progressive values, the play quote
Speaker 1: opposes women's liberation even as it endorses Vietnam end quote.
Speaker 1: In this telling, the addition of the nephew character, who
Speaker 1: never appeared in any original records, serves to further distant
Speaker 1: Chung Cho from her authority. She passes off the role
Speaker 1: of leader until she is the last possible choice. The
Speaker 1: play even goes so far as to make repeated jokes
Speaker 1: at women's expense. The author seems to be implying that
Speaker 1: the Chung's revolution has all of the bones for a
Speaker 1: perfect allegory. It's just too bad that they happen to
Speaker 1: be women. At the same time, the Chungs were beginning
Speaker 1: to appear in feminist texts with a catch. You see,
Speaker 1: the French were heavily monitoring the Vietnamese press, looking for
Speaker 1: anything with nationalist sentiments. So Women's News, a liberal periodical
Speaker 1: covering social, political, and economic news, had to get clever.
Speaker 1: In their March six, nine thirty issue, the day that
Speaker 1: traditionally commemorates the sister's death, the magazine tells the story
Speaker 1: of the chungs in a way that the French would
Speaker 1: read as more feminist leaning than nationalist. Chung Chra's husband
Speaker 1: is killed, but there's an emphasis on her taking up
Speaker 1: arms out of the love of her people and her
Speaker 1: deceased husband, rather than out of anger or as a
Speaker 1: last resolve. There's no added nephew here either. There is
Speaker 1: mention of the women generals we read about in earlier texts,
Speaker 1: and an emphasis on how the people revered Chung Chra
Speaker 1: as their queen. This version of the story returned to
Speaker 1: the sisters their active role, which the play had stripped
Speaker 1: them of their skilled warriors and respected queens. And because
Speaker 1: this magazine story is so focused on, let's say, their
Speaker 1: girl power, the nationalist subtext could make it through French censorship.
Speaker 1: As you might have guessed, the next big boom in
Speaker 1: Chung popularity was in the mid twentieth century, when the
Speaker 1: state was divided into North and South Vietnam on both
Speaker 1: sides of the seventeenth Parallel. The iconography of the sisters
Speaker 1: appeared on posters, monuments, and all kinds of artwork. We
Speaker 1: also have photos from around this time of the Habang
Speaker 1: Tung Parade in Saigan, where women rode down the street
Speaker 1: on the backs of elephants. To honor the sister's legacy.
Speaker 1: A statue was even commissioned by Madame Knew, the de
Speaker 1: facto First Lady of South Vietnam, who likened herself to them.
Speaker 1: Citizens could also post their mail with a stamp that
Speaker 1: featured an artistic depiction of New standing alongside the sisters.
Speaker 1: The First Lady had extensive political influence and power and
Speaker 1: was unabashedly aggressive, remembered as the quote Dragon Lady for
Speaker 1: her tendency towards violent word choice. As a political figure,
Speaker 1: she established the Women's Solidarity Movement, a female paramilitary organization,
Speaker 1: the purpose of which was to rally women to join
Speaker 1: the fight against the Viet Cong. Knew herself was often
Speaker 1: pictured flashing her handgun in public. Aligning herself with the
Speaker 1: Chongs made sense, but instead of the Chinese, her targets
Speaker 1: were the communist North and the French imperialists. Let's just
Speaker 1: say it is dangerous territory to begin even throwing the
Speaker 1: word feminist around anything to do with Madam Knew. Though
Speaker 1: she famously pushed for the passing of morality laws, which
Speaker 1: included banning abortion, contraceptives, divorce, even dance halls and beauty pageants.
Speaker 1: In North Vietnam, the Chong story took on a different role,
Speaker 1: as one could infer, Rather than aligning the Chongs with
Speaker 1: anyone figure, their narrative became one of collective action, turning
Speaker 1: the clock back just a few years to nineteen forty nine.
Speaker 1: The historian Womax cites another work from a local journal.
Speaker 1: This one was called The People's News and They're telling
Speaker 1: of the story uniquely concentrates on the Chong's mother, Mantien,
Speaker 1: setting the stories traditional heroes to the side. It was
Speaker 1: she who led her daughters and son in law in
Speaker 1: revolt against the Chinese, with quote comrades from across the land,
Speaker 1: organizing proops of female soldiers to aid in their fight.
Speaker 1: The mother led her troops and those of Taisak, while
Speaker 1: Chong Ni assumed responsibility of forming people's organizations and local resistance.
Speaker 1: Chong Cha, the typical main character, only enters the narrative
Speaker 1: once her husband is murdered. This plot point takes on
Speaker 1: a completely unique role in this version of the story.
Speaker 1: Tisak started out following the command of his mother in law,
Speaker 1: but quote fault heard in his dedication to armed rebellion
Speaker 1: and tried to work within the Chinese system for reform
Speaker 1: end quote. Almost immediately he was betrayed and killed by
Speaker 1: his quote imperial masters. In the end, mother and sisters
Speaker 1: are portrayed as martyrs. The quote Flowers of Independence teasacks death,
Speaker 1: instead of being a tragic stand against Chinese oppressors, was
Speaker 1: the natural result of collaborating with the enemy. It's a
Speaker 1: message Womack assesses to any wavering moderates who might have
Speaker 1: been reading the paper. In contrast to the first play
Speaker 1: about the sisters that I mentioned, we see a greater
Speaker 1: unity between the Vietnamese independence movements and women's movements in
Speaker 1: later versions of the stories. The introduction of the Chung's
Speaker 1: mother into the narrative reflects a theme in Northern propaganda
Speaker 1: that emphasized the importance of the role of the Vietnamese mother.
Speaker 1: But despite the emphasis on the Chung's families military capabilities
Speaker 1: and that telling, women in the Northern military were often
Speaker 1: only considered capable of handling support duties, and they faced
Speaker 1: restrictions on engaging in direct combat. After all, women are
Speaker 1: the flowers of independence. What connects all of these cultural interpretations.
Speaker 1: We hear that history is written by the victors. But
Speaker 1: that's not always necessarily true, because when the lines between
Speaker 1: history and legend are blurred, history is perhaps written over
Speaker 1: and over again. At the risk of quoting Hamilton's there
Speaker 1: is something to be said for who tells your story?
Speaker 1: With just a few concrete historical elements to their narrative,
Speaker 1: the Chung Sisters can be anything and everything to whoever
Speaker 1: needs them. That's the story of the Chung Sisters and
Speaker 1: their legend in Vietnam. But keep listening after a brief
Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear a little bit more about how
Speaker 1: they're interpreted in the present day. The Chung Sisters haven't
Speaker 1: just been staples in Vietnamese written word. Their iconography is
Speaker 1: present in music as well. Just this year, a prominent
Speaker 1: theater in Htm City staged a new version of Ting
Speaker 1: Chong Mei Ling seven Kyloon, or reformed opera about the Sisters,
Speaker 1: using young performers and incorporating modern techniques. The director's goal
Speaker 1: was to interest more young people in the piece of history.
Speaker 1: Kai Lung is a uniquely Vietnamese style of theater that
Speaker 1: originated in the nineteen twenties, combining opera and spoken drama.
Speaker 1: The drum. Sound of Mailing, as its title roughly translates,
Speaker 1: is one of the art form's most iconic productions, staged
Speaker 1: many times with many of Vietnam's top opera performers. One
Speaker 1: of the play's most famous songs is a farewell from
Speaker 1: Chung Chalk to Teasack before his execution. Even as she
Speaker 1: says goodbye to her husband, her heart is still with
Speaker 1: her country. The lyrics translate incredibly roughly to the sky
Speaker 1: of our southern country is dark, the enemy so violent
Speaker 1: throughout the country. I'm displeased with my personal happiness. Sacrifice
Speaker 1: our blood and bones together with all people. Do not
Speaker 1: forget the oath. If that's not operatic, I don't know
Speaker 1: what is. Noble Blood is a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood
Speaker 1: is hosted by me Danish Sports. Additional writing and researching
Speaker 1: done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder
Speaker 1: and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by rema Il Kali,
Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams and Matt Frederick For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.