Lady Trieu

The footsteps of an elephant fall on a dirt road, deep and firm. A great elephant is coming, and on its back sits a woman. Her armor glows gold in the sun. On her head she wears a bright hat made of ivory. She sits straight and calm, steady as an old tree that nothing can shake. The people call her Lady Triệu.

Her real name was Triệu Thị Trinh. She lived in the land once called Cửu Chân. Her home was the area of Quan Yên, in today's Thanh Hóa Province. In her time, the country lay under the rule of the Eastern Wu, a Chinese kingdom of that time. People had to hand over their wealth and bow their heads. They dreamed of living free on their own land.

Legend says the picture of Lady Triệu that people know best is the one of her going into battle. She rode an elephant, wore golden armor, ivory clogs and an ivory hat. The picture is so striking that people have loved to retell it, passing it from mouth to mouth, even though the old histories do not record it in detail. Its grandeur is why it has stayed with her for more than 1,700 years.

People remember her not only for her courage, but also for one saying. Tradition holds that she once declared what she wanted. She wanted to ride the strong wind and tread the fierce waves of the sea. She wanted to drive out the Eastern Wu and win back her homeland. She would never stoop and bow her head to serve another person as a concubine.

Ride the strong wind. Tread the fierce waves. That was how a woman of long ago spoke of her dream. It was not a small dream. It was a very large one, a country that was free.

In the year 248, that dream became action. She and her fighters rose in revolt from Phú Điền, a place tied to Mount Tùng. That land lies in Thanh Hóa. Her brother, Triệu Quốc Đạt, was a powerful leader in the region. When he was gone, every eye in the ranks turned to her. Her officers and soldiers raised her up, a woman, as their commander, to lead them all.

A woman as commander. In those days, that was rare. Her soldiers admired her and gave her a lovely title, Nhụy Kiều Tướng quân. People also say that even her opponents were wary of her and called her Lệ Hải Bà Vương. These names were the way common people showed their love and respect for her.

The uprising spread across the whole region. People still say it shook all of Giao Châu. That was an old name for a region that included northern Vietnam. Her spirit of never bowing lit a belief in many hearts, that the Vietnamese people deserved to live free.

The road ahead was hard. Even so, people remember her calm gaze, looking forward, and the gold of her armor shining in a time of turmoil. What stays in the heart is not who won or lost. It is the courage of a woman who dared to stand tall, and who dared to dream a great dream for her whole people.

The people who came after have never forgotten her. In Thanh Hóa, through many generations, families still tell their children the story of the woman on the elephant. Every year at festival time, they return to offer incense and to recall her dream of freedom.

And whenever someone hears elephant footsteps on a dirt road, deep and firm as they always were, she appears in the mind. Golden armor catches the sun and shines once more. The woman sits straight on the elephant's back, her eyes on what lies ahead. She does not look toward fear. She looks toward a wide sky, where a strong wind waits to be ridden, and toward a beautiful dream, a homeland at peace and free.